The Grand Dame

I have waited awhile to comment on this but you knew that I would at some time.

The Grand Dame has a new owner and I know that he will be good to her. She will retain her president, who is a good man and she has flourished under his care. Tho, I can say that I have not enjoyed the changes to her during the Gaylord ownership but we all, as we get older, have to do things to keep up our appearances. The Grand Dame is no different.

She has sat overlooking her domain with quiet dignity.  She has welcomed all who have taken shelter under her wings. She has given nourishment to the body and souls of all that have sought her out.  Her calmness and beauty added to their stay.

And under her new owner she will continue to do so. I love The Grand Dame and will always love her. She is a part of my soul, I feel her heartbeat everytime I visit her. And I will continue to do so.

I know Mr. Anschutz will take good care of this jewel and I wish The Grand Dame the very best under his ownership.

Exploring The Past

I was reading the newspaper the other day and saw an older house for sale. The paper had done an article about it and said that one of the owners of the house had been friends of my dad. Soooo, I had to research it.

The house is at 1830 Wood Ave (it is beautiful and selling for 1.1 million) The article said Berne & Portia Hopkins were friends of my dad, they might have been but Portia never lived in that house. This is what I found out:

Berne Hopkins was married to Isabel in 1908, they had one son by the name of Winchester. Berne made his millions in oil but started out in the railroad. They bought the house on Wood Ave in 1915.

By 1923 Isabel has filed for a separation, which she  got $600,000. That was a LOT of money back then. The gazette paper printed that Berne married Portia in 1924, there are even pictures. Butttt, Berne & Portia's marriage certificate says they were married April 16, 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri.

See, that's what I like about our newspaper, they can predict the future and even include pictures, lol.

The house on Wood Ave was sold in 1923 to William Ehlers. Isabel disappers from the pages of history. Berne, in 1923, has bought a farm in Iowa, the name of it is Ben Marks Farm. He has announced that he will be living there.

By 1925, Berne and Portia are living in St. Louis. Berne owns, what is called, Family Hotels on Armour Blvd., its what we call an apartment complex now. It has become part of the historic district in St. Louis but is not called Family Hotels, its called Pre World War ll apartments.

The last I find of Berne is from the gazette paper in 1956, saying he has passed away. I do not know what became of Portia.

The house by the way, was sold to Don Alexander in 1938. He is another colorful person in Colorado Springs history but that is another story.

Pics From Denver Post

I bought these photos of my dad from the Denver Post. The first one was taken in 1956 or 1957. Herschel Schooley, my dad and the little girl is Diana Sandefer. The Sandefer family knew my mother. Diana passed away about 5 years ago.

The second picture is my dad, unkown girl and Mayor George Birdsall. It was taken in 1943, the last year George was mayor of our city. I thought maybe the little girl was my sister Jinx but she looks a little to young. Jinx was 12 in 1943, I don't think this little girl looks like a 12 year old. I could be wrong. I don't know what my sister looked like when she was younger and no one is left alive who could tell me if this is her or not. And of course, I have no pictures of my sister when she was younger. I did an update on this post in Feb. The girl that I thought might be Jinx is none other then Shirley Temple at around the age of 12 or older, Shirley was born in 1932 so that makes this picture around 1944. My dad looks real good for being dead since 1939, lol. Another piece of proof that Spencer Penrose did not die in 1939!

Both of these pictures were taken at the rodeo here in Colorado Springs.

It is wonderful to have a picture of my dad in 1956. I look at it and its like he's here with me now. Its a nice feeling :)

E.K. Gaylord

picture courtesy of Historical Society of Oklahoma

This is a picture of E.K. Gaylord, he was a fascinating man and you can read about him by googleing his name. He lived to be 101 years old, I met him when I was 3 and that is what I'm sharing about.

My father and I were in the lobby of his hotel when Mr. Gaylord came out of the elevator. He was as tall as my daddy and I liked him at first glance. Mr. Gaylord came towards us and said to my father,"I didn't know you had grandchildren." I giggled, my father replied, "This is my daughterand I wanted you to meet her." Mr. Gaylord looked a little shocked.

My father looked down at me and told me to wait, he had business to discuss with Mr. Gaylord. They walked a few feet away, talked, then shook hands. When my father came back to my side, he said to me, "This is the man I am selling the hotel to. If something happens and I am unable to do that, I want you to sell it to him. Don't fight him on anything, I have given him my word. Do you understand?" I nodded yes. "Good," my father went on, "I have also told him, that you are to be given a home here at the hotel anytime you need it." At the time I did not see the reason behind this, I would always be with my father was my thinking.

Mr. Gaylord lived to be 101, he never saw my father's words carried out. My father's hotel would be sold to his son long after he died. Mr. Gaylord was told that I had died. It's a shame he never got to be the owner, it was a dream of his my father told me.

And I will always remember the tall thin man who was so nice.

Discovery

pictures of Shirley Temple courtesy of Shirley Temple website

In January, I shared photos that I had gotten from the Denver Post of my dad. The first photo you see is one those photos. I shared that I thought maybe the little girl was my sister Jinx but I wasn't sure who she was.

I thought about this picture and finally last night, it came to me. I did research and sure enough, the girl who is around 12 is none other than Shirley Temple.

Shirley Temple started acting in 1932 at the age of 3, she retired from show business in 1950 at the age of 21. The picture of her in the tux was her last picture for Century 21.

I love discoveries :)

Naming My Blog

When I first started my blog, the name I wanted for it was "Looking To The Stars". This phrase was very important to me. My father repeatably told me to look to the stars.



But, when I set my blog up, I thought they were asking for the name you wanted for your blog, not your name. So, I typed in Looking To The Stars instead of my name and then I had to use "Looking to the Sun and Stars" as my blog title.



Of course a smart person would know that a new blogger could make a mistake like that. But, someone who is stupid or mean would think otherwise.



And yes, I have two (read it, people) two names. My father had two names, my mother had two names. A rose by any other name, smells just as sweet. For those who do not understand this saying, it means that no matter what tag is put on something it is still the same thing. The only reason I have two names is that Russell Thayer Tutt Sr paid to have my name changed. Read it people, PAID.


So, this is the reason my name comes up as Looking to the stars, no mystery, just an honest mistake.

Mr. Gaylord and Me

My in laws came for a visit and as always, we where going to take them to The Tavern @ the Broadmoor for dinner.



I love The Tavern, the food always agrees with us, so I was looking forward to it but when I called for reservations, I was informed they were closed for remodeling. Bummer! We went to another place, not as good but okay.



I had been going down memory lane before this, remembering the first time I met Mr. Gaylord. (The Gaylord family now owns about 80% of the Broadmoor).



I was standing in the lobby with my father when Mr. Gaylord, a tall thin man, was taking his leave of the hotel. He came often for a visit.


He walked over to my father and said, "I didn't know you had any grandchildren." I piped up and said, "This is my daddy." Mr. Gaylord was quite shocked. He and my father conversed with Mr. Gaylord asking if my father was leaving the hotel to me. My father said yes along with her half sisters. Mr. Gaylord's face became very grave and he replied, "I see." They talked some more and came to a verbal agreement about something.



As he walked away, my father took my hand and said, "I'm going to sell the hotel to Mr. Gaylord." My father had to explain to me what that meant, I replied "But, where will you work?" My father laughed, he had a wonderful laugh, and said "Oh, I think I'll find something. Maybe, we'll travel. Would you like that?" I answered, "yes"



Then my father got real serious and said to me, "I want you to remember something, what ever happens and you end up with the hotel don't sell to anyone but Mr. Gaylord. I have given him my word and I expect you to honor my word, this is very important to me. Do you understand?" I nodded yes. He also said that he had arranged for me to have a home at the hotel as long as I lived and needed it. He said that Mr. Gaylord was a man of honor and I could trust him.



Things did not happen as my father planned, my father's will disappeared and so did I. My father's word to Mr. Gaylord was not honored. In the 1980's the Gaylord family were able to buy 65% of the hotel, in 1992 they were able to get 80%. The bottom line is Mr. Gaylord should have had the hotel in 1959.


He and my father have both passed on. I am the only one left who knows of a verbal agreement between two honest men and my father was a very honorable man.

Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind

Picture courtesy of PPLD- Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind - 1900's


I have always had a love for this school, it was built in 1874, William Jackson Palmer (founder of Colorado Springs) donated over 300 arces to this school. It still stands and operates today though most of the land has been sold. I had the rare chance to spend a few days there. This is my story.

One Christmas morning, in the late 1950's, I was playing with my presents (a tea set was among them). My father was sitting in his favorite chair watching me.. I looked up and my dad's head slumped to the side, I walked up and gently touched him and told him to wake up, he didn't. My mother and cook (who was my favorite) came in and I told them daddy was sleeping. They called the doctor, who still made house calls


My father had a heart attack, he recovered but the doctor thought it would be better if my parents moved to a better climate. My father loved Colorado Springs, this runs in the Penrose blood-we find a city and its like a comfortable old shoe. For my Uncle Boies it was Philly, Uncle Richard it was New York, for Uncle Francis it was Ireland, for my dad it was Colorado Springs.


So, plans were made, my mother started letting the staff go. She would take them into the kitchen and I would never see them again. I thought that my mother was making them disappear and if I went into that kitchen, she would make me disappear. One day, she asked me to go into the kitchen to say good by to cook. I ignored her and I kept on ignoring her.


She thought something was wrong with me, the doctor was called in. He looked at my ears and noticed my ear canals were much smaller then normal. He thought I might be going deaf, he suggested that my parents take me to the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind. They had more experiance then he and they could help me.


So, a little bag was packed with my new tea set and my dad took my to the school. My room was very bleak but I had a room mate. She was about 8 and her job was to find out if I could hear or not and how much. I had a great time at this school, there were kids my age and we played. It was so much fun and one night I confessed to my roomie why I had been ignoring my mother.


She went to the heads of the school and reported to them, my father came and they told him. He laughed and took me home. When he told my mother, she was pissed. She only got madder when my dad said we were not going to leave Colorado Springs. My father explained to me about the disappearing staff.


So, the staff had to be hired back, some came, some didn't. Cook did and I was very happy. I missed my friends at the Deaf School, so I asked my father if I could go visit my roomie. He came up with a plan to have my roomie come live with us but when he went to the school, he was told she had died. It bummed me out and my dad said it wasn't a good idea for me to ever go back there and I never have.


My mother made me pay for a long time but it was still the best few days I had and I still love that school and the people in it.

William Jackson Palmer Statue

Pictures courtesy of the State of Colorado and PPLD

Hi, guys! I need your help. These pictures are the statue of William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs. This statue has been redone and I am hoping that someone out there has an old picture of this statue with the hat in the hand. That's the way it used to be. And now the story behind the statue (you know me, I have to share the truth behind things).

Palmer died around 1906 and the people in Colorado Springs felt there should be a statue of him. That statue didn't come to be till 1926, two of his three daughters were there for the unveiling and they did not notice. Or if they did, they did not say a word.

Palmer had done a grave injustice to a friend of Spencer Penrose's. I do not recall what the injustice was but it was terrible enough for Penrose to go to the sculptor and pay a huge amount of money to have his own face put on the statue instead of Palmer's. And there it stood for many years, people thinking it was Palmer when it was Penrose. For Spencer Penrose it was a pay back for the terrible thing Palmer had done to his friend and every time he went by the statue he felt satisfaction.

The statue was redone and I do not know when. They took Spencer off the horse and put Palmer on it. The statue of Spencer, they put downtown. One person took a picture of it and said Penrose looks like he is taking a crap.

My husband laughed when he heard this and said "yes, the city sh-t on him and his daughters and now he's sh-tting back on the city" I agree with him. :)

Me

These two pictures were taken the same day and they both are me. The PPLD has the costume one as Pauline but that's not true.

I remember the day it was taken and where. Louise was the woman taking care of me, she drove me up to my parents house in the Broadmoor area. Inside the house there were a lot of people, they were nuns and priests (I did not know that then).

My mother greeted us and immediately started to put this costume over my dress, telling me a picture was going to be taken. Louise left us alone and I begged my mother to let me come home. She told me this was no longer our home and then asked if I wasn't happy with Frank and Louise. Before I could answer, Louise walked up, I stopped talking. I knew that if I said anything Louise would make me pay. My mother seemed to understand and said "I see. I'll try to get you back." That never happened.

So, it was time to take the picture. A man with a long red and black robe with a funny red hat walked up, "So, this is her." My mother bowed her head, "Yes, Father," she replied. Well, you know me, I had to pipe up and say "this is your father!" My mother told me to hush. "You are not raising her in the faith," he asked. My mother kept her head bowed and kept silent. "It's just as well that she isn't," he said. My mother let out a sigh like air coming out of a balloon.

He took the picture, then walked up to me "I hope I never see you again," he told me. Turning to my mother he said, "I'm going back to Rome tonight, this just might save your life." (I did not know what he was talking about then, I do now, but I cannot share that with you now).

My mother took off the costume but let me keep the bracelets. So, I left my mother and the home I once had. Louise made another stop, the house they used to live in. She made me stand in the front yard, pulled my hair back and used spit to flaten my bangs (ick),telling me to put my hands behind my back and she took the picture above. The sun was glaring in my eyes and I had a hard time looking up because of it.

So, there you have it. A picture of me and me :)

Where An Address Leads

picture courtesy of PPLD

This is a picture of my dad, Merton and Ruth Bogart, it says they are on the SS Empress of Canada. Of course I always check these things out, mainly because at PPLD they said Merton was my dad's secretary. Merton was C.L. Tutt's secretary, so that was one strike against this pic.

So, I did my detective work. Yes, they were on the same ship. My dad in 1st class, the Bogart's were in cabin. My dad's destination was Niu, Honolulu. The Bogart's destination was 5621 Kalanianaole Highway, Honolulu. Both places are Niu, so I don't know where my folks stayed.

But, I followed the address and this is what I found:

200 years ago King Kamehamha I gave 2,400 arces to Alexander Adams, a British sea captain. The captain was head of the kings first navy. The land passed down to Adams grand daughter, Mary Lucas.

Starting in the 1950's much of the land was subdivided into residential housing going to Mary's children Charlotte Cassiday and Mary Pfluger. Her grandson, Ben Cassiday Jr was given 5699 Kalanianaole Highway in 1940, he got the property 5621 when Mary died in 1965.

I don't know if Mary lived at 5621 when my parents went to Honolulu or if she rented it or if one of her relatives lived there. But there is a tie there, Ben Cassiday Jr. is now a retired Air Force General. He was at the Air Force Academy here in the Springs from 1955-1959. He has lived at the 5621 address since 1973, he retired in 1972. His son, Ben Cassiday III has lived at the 5699 address since 1982.

And wouldn't you know, this family is in a dispute over the family money and trusts. When I read about the feud, it was like welcome to the club. But, at least in my case it wasn't my own family member's, it was my dad's lawyer that stole from me. At least these people are old enough to fight back. I was 3 and I had no one on my side.

But, I thought it a hoot that an address would connect Mary Lucas, Ben Cassiday, my parents, the Tutt's and Merton Bogart all together. And what's happening to the Cassiday's now, happened to me many years ago.

You never know where an address will lead :)

Terrorism, Is It?

I have been wanting to do this post for a few days but I have had problems on my blog. So, here it is. I know you've heard that they have arrested a few people in Denver on Terrorism charges. I don't know if these people are innocent or not, what I do know is that the papers and TV have already found them guilty.

Does anyone remember McCarthy and the communist scare? His stupidity caused a lot of pain for a lot of innocent people.


Let me tell you about something you don't know, its called the Cointelpro. After McCarthy was winding down, the FBI (under Hoover, who wanted dirty little secrets on everyone because he had one of his own) started the Cointelpro. It started in 1956 and ran till 1971. This is what it was: a dirty tricks program, planting forged documents to create suspicion that a key person was an FBI informant, spreading rumors thru anonymous letters, leaking false information to the press, calling for IRS audits, saying the person had communist ties and the like. You get the picture, it was a false information, lie thru your teeth program.


How do I know this because I was 3 (got that three) years old and I, my father and my half sister were accused of being communists. This is the story:

My sister was an entertainer, she lived and worked in Florida. What's by Florida? Cuba. My sister had a lot of friends, she knew a lot of people. The FBI used the dirty tricks program using my sister.

So, one day my father took me to the library/study in our house. As we walked to the room he told me that a man would be asking questions and I was to answer him with all honesty, I also was going to be left alone with this man and I did not need to be afraid. We walked in, the man looked like Walter Cronkite (but a lot of people did in that day). My father left and the man smiled. A movie camera was set up and I asked about it. He explained that he was filming our conversation. He asked me a lot of questions about my family, I told him about the grandfather who was a captain on a ship and came to America.

He asked me if I had been on a ship, no, I replied, ships have accidents like the one my Uncle Francis had been on (the Titianc). I don't know how long I was there but I liked the guy. He was a nice person.

Then the door opened and my sister came in with my dad. My face lit up like a Christmas tree, I loved my sister. She went to the man and shook his hand as my dad came to me. "Don't say a word to her," he told me sternly. He took me by the hand and led me out of the room. We sat by the closed door and waited for my sister. I asked my dad what this was all about. He said that our loyalty to America was being questioned and that they think we were communists. (of course he had to explain this to me).

My reply, "we will just have to show them that we are the best loyal americans."
"that's my girl," my father said. Then he hugged me.

My sister came out, she asked my father the same thing, he answered her the same. She was astounded that they thought that. My father whispered something to her. "NO," she shouted, "I never did." My father said he believed her and told her someone was out to get us, she was to be very careful. Also, me and him would not be able to see her for awhile. This one really hurt me because I was going to go live with my sister and now that would not happen.

They used the dirty tricks program on my father, after my father's murder I would visit Dick Cheney's house in Wyoming where Dick would say, "they are going to find out that it is not good to be loyal to the Penrose's."

My father, sister and I were and are loyal americans. There was not one shred of evidence against us. The FBI still has the film of us answering questions. My father was worth 9 billion dollars when he died. That money was split up between the CIA, FBI, the Tutt family, military and the mob. My sisters and I never got a penny.

So, when I see someone being accused of being unamerican or a terrorist, I have my doubts. Maybe, they haven't retired the dirty tricks program after all.

Oh, a note of interest: One of my dad's best friends was Charlie Chaplin, remember what they did to him.

His Last Wish

When I worked at my dad's hotel, my boss came to me. She asked if I would have lunch with a young man who had cancer, the doctors had given him 2 months to live. The chemo had not helped him and hospice was the next step. I told her yes.



I walked into the hotel's cafeteria with my boss, she went to the table where a man sat. He could've been my age or older or younger, it was hard to tell. The chemo had taken his hair, I told him he looked like a young Yul Brunner, he laughed and the ice was broken.



As my boss left us alone, he thanked me for coming. My pleasure, I replied. He had a story to tell me, he talked as I ate.



His parents, now deceased, had worked at the Penrose's Turkey Creek Ranch when he was a little boy. One day, he was playing in the sand outside the big house. The Penrose's daughter was playing in the sand also, not far from him. Her mother came out, you could tell she was not in a good mood. He had been instructed by his parents to stay away from Mrs. Penrose.

As he rose to go towards his own home, she grabbed him and started choking him, talking nonsense. He was close to blacking out when the daughter came up to her mother. She knocked her mother off balance where she let go of him and fell hitting her head.

Because of the servants screaming, his parents had been running up to rescue him. They had seen the whole thing. They took him home, the doctor was called to see Mrs. Penrose.

Mr. Penrose arrived later on that night, his wife lied to him and he marched up to his daughter's room. Her screams as she was being punished went on for hours. The little boy felt bad for her because she hadn't done anything wrong, in fact she had saved his life. The next day his parents told Mr. Penrose the truth about the incident.

It was the last time he saw the little girl, when Mr. Penrose died, he and his parents tried to see his little girl. The Tutts told them she had died.

So, now here he was and his last wish was being granted. He wanted to thank D'iana for saving his life. He said, "Thank you for saving me, I have had a good life." and got up and left.

I sat at that little table for a long time.

Pikes Peak Library Pictures cont.

2.

ok, a little history here.

My parents had a # of 1.

houses. Picture #1 is the inside

of one of these houses. Now, the

library is saying that Picture #2

is the outside of picture #1.

Wrong, picture #2 belongs to

either the Tutt's or C.L. Tutt's

secretary, Merton W. Bogart

(I'll be doing more on good ole

Merton, he was Tutt's secretary

not my dad's and I have hard copy proof of this)

So, back to the houses. Julie wanted to live at the Broadmoor Hotel, she had friends that lived there. I heard this argument every single day. Her and my dad would argue about it, my dad would tell her "I am not living where I work." She would not let it go, she was like a pit bull. After my dad's death, she had a part of the hotel redone for her apartment. This is what she had wanted for a long time but it wasn't what she thought it would be.

She lived in fear the whole time she was there. Her phone calls were monitered and she only got a very few. This was by order of the Tutts (remember this was the time of calls going thru the hotel switchboard). She would not eat any of the food prepared for her from the hotel kitchen. When it was delivered to her apartment rooms, she would have the waiter eat the food in front of her. She was deathly afraid she would be poisoned.

So much for wanting to live at the hotel.

Pikes Peak Public Library Pictures

Every few months I go to the Pikes

Peak Public Library photos because
they have tons of pictures with wrong dates and names

Now they say they just put down what is written on the photo. So, I guess I can take a photo of my husband and myself, put on the back

Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle with the

date 1776 and thats what they will

print. Do you see where I'm going with this? So, I am going to be printing quite a few pictures and telling the truth about them because the idiots at the library can't.

I've chosen these two as the start. The first picture is: Standing in the car is Jack Dempsey's LITTLE BROTHER, beside him is his little girl. He is shaking hands with C.L. Tutt and the other man next to him on the ground is my dad. The library lists this as Jack Dempsey, C.L. Tutt is listed as unknown but they got my dad right.

The second picture is:left to right, unknown, my Uncle Francis, Jack Dempsey, Mary Marvin (my uncles nurse) and unknown. The library lists this as unknown, my dad, Jack Dempsey, unknown, unknown.

Jack Dempsey was a friend of my father's, in fact my dad tried to start a hotel in Mexico which Jack was going to run. The Mexician government ran Jack and my dad out of the country. I don't know if the hotel is still standing today but it would've been a good one. Jack's little brother was a fighter also. He moved to L.A. when the mob was in contol of it and got hooked on drugs, he died from an overdose. Jack took it very hard.

So, this is the first of many pictures :)

Happy Father's Day, Daddy

When all the veils are lifted
And all the tales have been told
There's a gift at the end of the rainbow
More precious than a pot of gold

Happy Father's Day, daddy

The Francis Boies Penrose Story

I would like to introduce you to my Uncle Francis, he was born in Philadelphia, PA in the year 1867 the 5th son of my grandparents. My Uncle had a beautiful talent, he loved to draw. When my grandparents would go on trips without the kids, their nanny would have them write letters to my grandparents. Francis' letter and envelope would have drawings on them. His nickname was Friday.

My Uncle attended Harvard, two things happened to him there. The first was a fellow student with the nickname "piggy" fell in love with him and constantly sent him letters. My grandfather's advice was to burn every letter and discourage "piggy". My grandfather had plans for his brother Boies to become President of the United States and a scandal like this could hurt him. Uncle Francis did as his father said.

The second thing that happened was Francis became very sick, they called it a brain fever(this is what we call meningitis today and a blow to the head can also cause brain fever). He had to leave Harvard in his second year and went back home to Philly, he was eighteen. My grandfather, who was a doctor, had a cure for everything. A change in climate and hard work were his remedies, so when my Uncle Francis was strong enough he was sent to England. My grandmother, who had died in 1881, had family there.

By 1912 my Uncle was 45 years old. He had married and had children, the last one was a newborn. My Uncle got a job on a ship, its name was "Titanic". There were many people on this ship who knew my family well. The only person who did not take this trip was Rockefeller, he was booked to take it but didn't. The richest men in America had a meeting on the fateful night of the Titanic, even the head of the U.S. Treasury was there. They were going to take their money out of America because the government was going to start taxing individuals. A bomb went off in that room killing every person there.

My Uncle knew of the meeting and went to check on everyone. He saw water and dead bodies.

Everyone knows the rest of what happened except what Washington was doing. The bomb was to go off at a certain time, the President had arranged a meeting with my Uncle Boies (who was head of Naval Affairs) during this time. Uncle Boies gets the message the Titanic is in trouble and the President is not going to do anything. Uncle Boies leaves Washington (the President is pissed) and gets his yacht the "Betty". He is able to save my Uncle Francis and a few others.

Fast forward to Washington, my Uncle Francis and the other surviving employees are taken away where they are questioned. My Uncle is tortured, he keeps telling them what he knows and he keeps saying all he wants to do, is go home to his family. I do not know how long they kept him, he had to sign a paper to never talk about what he knew. At one time they were going to blame my Uncle for planting the bomb then they changed their minds. Note: a messenger was sent to Mrs. Astor to make sure that she never mention the meeting.

They released my Uncle Francis, who was tired, in shock and was mentally plus physically drained. He went home to England, when he arrived he discovered his whole family had been murdered even the baby. My Uncle had a complete nervous breakdown.

My family brought him home to Philly where they put him in a mental hospital. There were parts of the Penrose family that would tell people my Uncle was adopted and he was born in New Mexico, that is not true. They did this because people thought it was bad when a member of a family had to be in a mental hospital.

My father brought my Uncle to Colorado Springs in the late 1930's, my uncle's nurse (who had been on the Titanic and rescued also) took care of him till he died in 1947. Mary Marvin stayed on with my family and my mother appointed her to help Fairbanks and Berkey with the book about my Uncle Richard. This book never mentions the Titanic or the letters my Uncle Richard wrote concerning this incident. My dad had wanted them in the book, my mother did not.

My father made my Uncle Francis' life as pleasant as he could and if you look at the picture of him you can see a gentleness about him. So, that's the story about my Uncle from my father and what happened on the Titanic.

Uncle Boies

My Uncle was the most famous of all the Penrose's. He was a senator, all he really wanted to be was a mayor of his beloved Philadelphia but that was not to be.

In the 1930's a book was written about him, it was a favorite in women's
book clubs because it gave an inside look on Washington. I liked the book, in fact I have a copy of it. Another man wanted to do a book about my Uncle in the 1950's, he was a broadway producer, writer, pretty famous for the time. He came and talked to my father who was excited about the book. But, something happened and the book was never done, in fact I tried to find the guy. The last thing I found was around the late 1950's, someone tried to kill him. I think they succeeded because thats all I could discover. So much for the book.

So, I thought I would share about my Uncle, this is what he did the last year of his life in the senate. That year was 1921:
April - He wanted equality for blacks. he said that they should be equal to whites in hotels, cafes, restaurants, educational institutions and amusements. They fought him hard on this one.

June - He had gotten Mr Mellon in as head of Treasury and he was doing a bang up job, nineteen countries owed us money and Mr. Mellon had worked out a plan for them to pay it back.

My Uncle left Washington to go back to Philly, President Hoover had left my Uncle with no offices in Washington (I find this very odd because Hoover was a geologist like my Uncle Richard and a friend of my Uncle Richard's).

My Uncle helped with the election of the next Governor of Penn. (I think this was the reason he left Washington)

July - He called for disarmament of the U.S. (World War One had ended). My Uncle didn't believe in war. They fought him hard on this one too.

Sept - He installs a movie theatre in his Washington apartments

Oct - He is trying to get tax bills passed, the Soldiers Bonus bill thru and a corporation tax thru.

On Dec. 30, 1921 Uncle Richard stops by to see my Uncle in Washington. My Uncle is in perfect health, great mood and nothing is wrong. At one minute before midnite on Dec. 31st, 1921 my Uncle is dead.

The papers are full that he was sick, poor health blah, blah, blah. Lies, lies, lies. My Uncles Richard and Charles along with my father get together, they hire people to find out who killed my Uncle and who put the contract out on him.

My Uncle had many enemies, there was a senator who was going to be brought up on treason charges, my Uncle stood up for him and with him (he became his friend after that) but that is the way the Penrose's are, even if our enemies are falsely accused we will stand up and state the truth. But, there were two enemies my Uncle had, they were the Vare brothers (one of them was a senator). The Vare brothers were heavily connected with the mafia, Lucky Luciano was a close friend, the Vare boys owned one of the Philly newspapers and they were involved in what was called "the bloody fifth ward". You didn't have to go far to find out that they were the ones that put out the contract.

Why, my family didn't go to the government I'll never know. Maybe it's because of what they did to my Uncle Francis or maybe they felt there was someone higher up involved because the newspapers weren't printing the truth. No matter, they put out a contract on the hired gun and the man that hired him. For them justice was done.

My Uncle was a loving caring person, he had a great sense of humor. In his younger years he wrote plays and poetry, he even wrote a pamphlet for Barnum on elephants (Barnum passed out this pamphlet at his circus). He never married but he had a lot of mistresses. He loved America and he really loved the city of his birth, Philly. He was never involved with the mafia and he never took a bribe. He had a photogenic mind, he would read something and it stayed there, word for word. All the Penroses had this except me, I remember conversations word for word, I guess the gene said "lets skip the reading material and go for conversations instead" :)

So, there you have it my Uncle and the last year of his life. He was a very good man.

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.

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.