Charles Mather MacNeill 1872 - 1923

I would like to introduce to you my father's best friend, Charles Mather

MacNeill.

The first time I saw this picture I was sitting on the hardwood floor in my

parents home, playing with my toys. My father walked up to me, he was

VERY angry, he shoved this picture in my face and said, "This is my best

friend and I want you to remember it. Don't you ever forget, study this

picture and never forget Charley was my best friend."

I took the picture and to this day it is a favorite of mine. Why did my father get so mad, you wonder. Its because the Tutt family was going around saying that C.L. was my dad's best friend. My father was going to

make sure I knew the truth and to this day I will not print the picture of

my dad and C.L.

Charles Mather MacNeill was the son of Dr. J. Edward MacNeill, he had one sister named Eloise.

They lived in Denver, Colo. but his dad was from Vermont. Charley was a go getter, he was a year younger then my father and my dad always thought of him as a brother. In fact he once said that Charley acted more like a brother then his real brothers.

Charley was a partner in everything my dad did. He was a partner in the Broadmoor and president for the Utah Copper, Chino, Alaska mines and more. The list is staggering from Africa mines to Alaska and Charley even did businesses that my dad didn't get involved in. He was the energizer bunny of his time. He and my dad tried to do the hotel business before the Broadmoor. It was in Penrose, Colo. but it failed. The hotel still stands in that city today.

Charley was rich and powerful, with that comes enemies and he had them. The biggest enemy was The Western Federation of Miners, they were the mafia of that time. They had hit men and Charley was on the list. No matter what you read, they murdered Charley. He did not die from pneumonia, my father could not help him. How they did it I will never know because my dad could not bring himself to talk about it. He would start then hang his head and no more words would come out.

Charley was married to Marion Parsons Irwin, they had a house in New York and apartments at the Antlers Hotel here in Colorado Springs. I always thought that it was strange, living at The Antlers when he was a partner of The Broadmoor. I know he had his reasons, it just makes me wonder what they were. They had no children but Charley was the guardian of a boy and girl. The children were not related to each other and I could find nothing out about them. If my father ever mentioned them then I don't remember it. Marion was in Europe when Charley died, she left for Europe in 1921 and did not come back till 1924. She remarried in 1925.

Charley was a Colonel in WWI. There are no monuments or memorials to him, in fact history has all but forgotten him. Except for a little girl, who made a promise to always remember her daddy's best friend.

So, here's to you Charley the bestest friend Spencer Penrose aka Philip Thomas Penrose ever had.

Meme

Hi, everyone!
Lydia of Writerquake tagged me for this and since its my first one I will be copying from her the rules.
The Rules:
respond and rework
answer questions on your blog
replace one question
tag eight other people (Lydia, and I agree, that the rules should be reduced to tagging three blogs if the person prefers)

TAGGED BLOGS

BethNiquettefineart
Random Cards
MaryContrary

I also, will copy another thing from Lydia because she says it so well :) is the fact that if you don't have the time or inclination to be a part of this one please don't give it another thought!

1. If one song were to describe your life, what song would it be?
Circle Of Life from The Lion King, music by Elton John

2. Which item of clothing do you wear most?
T-Shirts, comfortable. Only time I dress up anymore is when we go to the Broadmoor for dinner.

3. What's for dinner?
It's taco night, my husband has a lot of stomach problems, one night we have a heavy dinner,(meat, potatoes, salad) the next night we have a light dinner. Tonite is the nite for light!

4. Last thing you bought?
Dog toys, denti-bones and puppie chow.

5. What are you listening to?
James Galway performing Mozart. He plays the flute and does Mozart so well.

6. Favorite holiday spots?
Besides home, the Broadmoor Hotel and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

7. Reading right now?
The Lost Books of Merlyn by Douglas Monroe

8. Favorite film?
I have two, "Lilo and Stitch" then its "Meet the Robinsons". Can you tell I'm a Disney fan, the first movie I saw was with my dad in my dad's hotel theatre, "Sleeping Beauty".

9. Okay, what were you thinking about just then?
How people will think I'm a little strange because I'm over 50 and I love Disney films :)

10. First spring thing?
Open the house up and let fresh air in.

11. Funniest thing you saw in your life?
Henry Winkler in public acting like the Fonz instead of himself

12. Who's your hero/heroine?
My father

13. Share some wisdom?
You can have all the money in the world but you can't buy time, use it well - Philip Thomas Penrose

14. If you were a tree, what tree would you be and why?
A mighty Oak, the oak tree has always been in the Penrose family. It's strong and its roots go deep.

15. Fictitious characters who made a lasting impression on you?
Chatty Cathy - after my father, best friend and her mother were murdered, I stopped talking. My mother sent a chatty cathy to me, I pulled the string and the doll said "I love you". I hugged that doll so tight and said "I love you too". Needless to say everyone was pleased that I talked again.

16. 4 words to describe you?
Heart of a child.

17. What is your favorite city in the world and why?
I would have to say Colorado Springs because its home.

Billionaires Meeting

When I first heard that the billionaires of America had a meeting, it took me back to April 1912.
Back then the billionaires of America had a meeting on European shores, they were going to take their money elsewhere because the U.S. was planning on taxing individuals.

A lot of people were upset about taxing individuals and spoke against it including the author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Does anyone remember what happened April 1912, if you don't then you should. It was the sinking of the Titianic and believe me people, an iceberg did NOT sink it. There was a bomb on that ship, how do I know because they tried to blame my Uncle Francis for it. He was going to be the governments scapegoat but it didn't work out that way.

My Uncle didn't do it and the government knew it but they tortured my Uncle anyway. One man did not make that trip his name was Rockefeller and he was the one that my family believed planted the bomb and government officials were in on it. Because of what Rockefeller did, when my father opened his hotel (Rockefeller was one of the first guests) my father physically threw him out of the hotel. All newspapers printed that the Rockefellers left the hotel because of paint fumes. Ha, my father said it felt good to throw him out.

There was another meeting my father attended, when he came home he told my mother he was not going to do what "they" wanted. She told him he had to, she was frightened, she reminded him what they had done to my Uncle. When he told her that "they" were planning an assassination, she said she would find a way to thwart "them". Things didn't turn out like my mother wanted but my father didn't do what "they" wanted. It cost him his life but he was true to his feelings and his country. And of course in the rich and poor circles it was not good to be loyal to a Penrose because my father stood his ground. The person who carried out what my father would not was rewarded with my father's money.

So, when you see these meetings, it is not what they say they are and its not for the good of the people or the country.

Inside This Author's Mind

This is an old oil painting picture of me, I was in my early thirties.
Taking a quick break from my manuscript. had to do some research on
my dad's old friend Charles MacNeill, it took awhile and mentally wore
me out because it was very hard to find out about him. I'll share about him in another post.

Have a few new ideas for a fiction book, I love writing fiction because it
comes out of my head and I don't have to research that much. I got an email from my publisher. They are doing a new thing where you make a
video about your book and they put it on YouTube. Not my cup of tea.

I was thinking earlier, i am a creative person and I love writing because
I am not in the public eye. I don't do book signings and I don't write to be in the top ten. I write because I want to share my stories, if one person enjoys what I have written then I am happy and my goal is complete.

I am a simple person that enjoys what she has been given. In my earlier days I tried runway modeling (what a bust that was), was in 3 differant singing groups and tried acting. None of it was done to become famous, I just had a creative drive in me that wanted to try and find something I felt comfortable with. I found it in writing, for me its like walking around in my favorite pair of shoes, very comfortable.

So, those are my thoughts today, hope everyone is having a good week. I sure have enjoyed reading your posts.

Is It Just Me Or What?

Did anyone prepare you for getting older? I was not prepared when the hairs in my nose decided to come out where I would have to trim them, nor was I prepared when hair grew on my upper lip. Or when the cute moles on my face grew and had to be removed, then there was the size 3 body that I had for over 40 years changed, the hips spread, the flat stomach now looks like a bowling ball and no matter how much the exercise or lack of food I have there is no weight loss (sigh)

No, no one prepared me for getting older. When I think of myself, I think of the slim childish person that my heart says I am. Then I look in the mirror and say "this is not me, where did I go?" It reminds me of the movie Peter Pan when the little boy looks into Robin Williams eyes and says "Oh, there you are Peter." I look into the my eyes and say "oh, there you are."

Ahh, the world may not see it but I'm still the childish person I've always been no matter what changes my body goes thru. So, I'll just save the size 3 clothing, my body may not be able to fit in it but my heart always will :)

Hope everyone has a good week!

Forgiveness

This picture is Magdalene Chan's "Forgiveness"

My last post was a little heavy so I am following it with this picture and

these sayings:

Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies.

Nelson Mandela

Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean.

Dag Hammarskjold

I embrace these sayings today.

Charles Leaming Tutt

Today is my birthday and as a treat to myself, I am breaking a

silence about the family that has hated the Penrose's for over 4
generations, the Tutt family. They have printed and paid people

to print untruths and half truths about

us. To the right, pic of 4 men, my
Uncle Spencer is the one wearing the
hat, C.L. Tutt is man at end with both

hands in pockets picture taken in 1894. Next pic is my dad in the 1920's, small pic is my dad, taken
around 1894

Charles Leaming Tutt, called C.L., had a father who died in the Civil War, he was a doctor who studied in Vermont and then became a doctor under my grandfather in Penn. The war broke out and my grandfather went to Sutterlee Hospital, Tutt went elsewhere. With his father dead C.L. and his mother lived with her father, who was a merchant and lived about 4 blocks away from the Penrose house. This is how he met my Uncle Spencer, who was a year older then he was. C.L. and my Uncle liked to wheel and deal, they were gamblers at heart. C.L. came to Colorado Springs around 1884, he had relatives here. He wanted my Uncle here because my Uncle was a millionaire due to his mine in AZ, which was netting one million dollars a year.

When C.L. came to Colorado Springs he got into real estate, he was not a lawyer but he ended up in a lot of court cases concerning wills and ended up with the decease's property (this runs in the family because this is what they did to me.) C.L. died in 1909, I had a person say to me that he was murdered. I joked back and said if he was murdered then it was one of his mistresses. So, I looked up his last year on earth and found out, he was in another court case concerning a will where he was going to end up with all the money. If he was murdered then it most likely had to do with that.

So, C.L. has one living son C.L. Jr. who is married to Eleanor, they move to Calif where they have 3 sons C.L. the 3rd born in 1911, William Thayer born in 1912 and Russell Thayer born in 1913. C.L. Jr comes back often to Colo Springs to see his mom, mistress and business. He is an investment lawyer and becomes my dad's lawyer. He has a daughter by his mistress born in 1912, her name is Josephine. I don't know what happened to her mother but Eleanor, C.L.'s wife, accepts Josephine into the family as her own. They change her birthdate to 1919, making her younger then she really was (this had to be hard on her, I know because they did the same thing to me but made me older and it was hard on me.)

Josephine is not the only illegitimate kid, there was Karl who was my fathers chauffeur and Susan who was my dad's secretary daughter. All the while C.L. was going to church and saying what a good man he was. Then he would say my dad was the "ladies man". Not true, I was there the day C.L. asked my dad if he would tell everyone that five year old Susan was his daughter. My dad said, "NO, I've always claimed my own and you need to claim yours. You just want everyone to think I am a S.O.B. when you are the S.O.B. (my dad used the words, not the letters). There was also another son by his second wife, all of them worked at the hotel except the eldest.

The Tutts have always used the Penrose's as their scapegoats, this is because Russell and William always wanted to be Penrose's and knew they were not. C.L. Jr was my dad's investment lawyer, do you know in 1930 my dad, who had 20 companies made only $8,000.oo while C.L. made $18,000.00. You can see how he was stealing my dad blind. My dad didn't trust the Tutt's but he trusted the Guggeinheim's. The only reason that the Tutt's were around was because of Julie, she handled some of the finances and she soon learned that trusting them was a mistake but it was too late for everyone.

Russell Thayer Tutt is the man that murdered my father, he came into our house and shot my dad twice then turned the gun on me. A friend of my father's took the bullet for me, he lived but Tutt would try again two more times and those people did not live. They stopped trying to murder me because they kept screwing up and they paid out money to hush people up, it was getting too expensive. So, they forced a family to take me and keep me out of sight.

During that time the Tutts spread gossip that I murdered my father, then it was I was retarded, the next lie was I was a lesbian, the next lie was that I liked children. The lies were a screen to make people hate me so no one would talk to me and find out the truth. Friends were hand picked and paid, so they were not really friends. All the while Russell stole and stole.

The Tutts are a lot of things and one thing they are not is honest. They are best friends with Bush Jr., they ran in the same crowd as Cheney (Cheney didn't like them), they let Hoover bug the hotel. Every man who ran for the white house and stayed at the hotel became President. In the 1960's when the Denver police department was cleaned out because of ties to the mafia a lot of money was spent to keep the Tutt name out of the connection with the criminals. I would not be surprised if, on his death bed, Russell Tutt said he didn't kill my father. His friend Jack Ruby made a death bed confession too and it was a lie. Birds of a feather flock together.

Yes, the Penrose's and Tutt's go back a long way but they are not friends. The Tutt's never do the right thing, they lie to cover up their wrong doings, they always blame someone else and they believe you can buy yourself any person on the planet. I am not the only one they have wronged, there have been many others. A legacy that started in the 1880's and still going. Gee, isn't that something to be proud of.

And don't get me wrong, they did do some good. You see their believe is for every 5 people you murder then you do a good thing for 5 people.

So, I've aired my feelings and I know I need to forgive these people for what they have done. I find it diffcult, maybe somebody has some words of wisdom for me. I keep thinking of that Rod Stewart song, Forgiveness. maybe someday I'll be able to forgive.

Happy Birthday, Daddy

May 10th is my dad's birthday. My father was always a kid at heart and I related to him very well being a kid myself. One of his favorite places to go was the zoo and the

Will Roger's Shrine.

We would stand at the shrine and look out over Colorado Springs, my dad always had his binoculars and he would look towards Penrose, Colorado (a town named for him). He always loved that town, he said he always felt alive when he was there.

My father would talk to me for hours, I was like a mini tape recorder. As I look back I realize, all of my dad's closest friends were gone and I was the only one he could confide in. There was also another reason, he was dying. Cancer was eating away at my tall vibrant father and he wanted to tell me about the Penrose family and the family secrets.

Horseback riding was a love of his, Goldie was the name of one of his horses. She was a palomino and a very gentle soul. My father also loved polo, which he played very well. He lived life to it's fullest even as the vultures circled. His life was fulled with problems as all lives are but he made the most of it.

Cancer did not kill my dad, he was murdered and the man who did it, got away with it. Justice is not only blind, she can be bought.

We had a motto in our family, "keep looking to the stars". I have no idea what it means but every night I look to the stars and say hello to my dad.

For My Mother

My mother didn't want me, she already had a daughter. Her son died when

he was young and mothering was not in her genes. She came from a lifestyle

where the hired help raised your children, that is how she was raised. I had

a nanny, I called her nana (her real name was Mary and she married my

dad's chauffer). I do not know how long nana was with me, I told her once

that my mom didn't love me. She said that was ok because she loved me.

After my dad died, my mother went on to run his business for a few short

years. I was placed in the home of one of my dad's friends (they were forced to take me). What I did not know was my mother was fighting to bring me

home. Her last fight came when she showed up one day at my junior high, she was not alone, Russell Thayer Tutt came also. In the principals office (Mr. Place, the principal was also there) she begged Tutt to let her take me home, he refused he said she could have his children but it would come with a price. She pleaded for me, crying that she wanted her own child. Tutt told her that he was more powerful

then the president of the united states and for her to take one more look at me because she

would never see me again. My mother cringed.

He escorted my mother out of the office and it was the last time I saw her. Her parting words were "I love you, rosebud."

This is part of a song I wrote for my mother:

She wasn't the virgin Mary or Esther the famous queen

but she was the greatest woman I knew, she was mom

sweet mom to me

You won't find a book written about her or a painting that

holds her face, it's in my heart this woman is famous

It's in my heart she has a place.

Happy Mother's Day, Momma

Thank You

I recieved a Friendship Badge from Beth of bethliniquetteart.blogspot.com
Thank you so much Beth! It touched my heart so deeply. Thank You