Saturday, November 23, 2013

Guess Who?

What very powerful man, third largest property owner in New York City, being imprisoned, escaped and worked as a common seaman on a Spanish ship?

William M. "Boss" Tweed.

Tweed was arrested in Spain and returned to New York on November 23, 1876.  He died in Ludlow prison April 12, 1878 at the age of 55.

8 comments:

Secondary Roads said...

A color character was Tweed.

vanilla said...

Chuck, that he was. Yet I cannot get my mind around the notion that one person can control so much, even to the draining of the public coffers to his own greed. Amazing.

kc bob said...

Looks like Chuck got it. My guess was one of the Rockefellers.

Where abouts in South Texas do you reside? Wife and I are thinking about wintering someplace warmer.

vanilla said...

KC Bob, we have a small motor home, so we are not anchored to one spot. We have been wintering in Texas for the past eight years. We find that starting in the Valley (we stay in Edinburg, or Port Isabel) and spending a couple of months there, then moving north to the Rockport-Port Aransas area for another six weeks or so works best. It is warmer in the Valley. This past year, though, we stayed in Rockport-Port A the entire winter. It was excellent. If you plan to rent accomodations, we would recommend Rockport. If you fish, Rockport or Port A would be great choices.

kc bob said...

My wife is in a wheelchair and we like to stay at places close to downtown areas so we do not have to do a lot of driving around. Any suggestions?

vanilla said...

KC Bob, you threw me a question which gives me a whole new way of looking at things. You might go on Google Earth and explore Rockport a bit. There are some decent rentals along the bay on Water Street, some half-dozen blocks from the old town where one finds eating establishments and limited shopping. Still a mile or so more to supermarkets and major drug stores.

I don't care for big cities, but if that is your thing, you might check San Antonio. I've been there but once and can't really help you, but I'm sure there are ways to find what you need to know.

If you are going to Texas anyway, I would recommend South Texas. Anything north of New Braunfels and one runs the risk of wintry weather at least part of the time.

Happy hunting! Blessings, and perhaps we'll meet in Texas?

Shelly said...

And what a character that Tweed was. Didn't realize how relatively young he was...

vanilla said...

Shelly, I was a bit surprised to learn the man's age at death, too. He was something.