Jefferson Randolph Smith was born in Georgia in 1860. As a child, he had just as much promise as any other child of that era, but Georgia wasn’t where he wanted to live his life. Maybe it was a little too tame, or maybe it was just too settled. Smith wanted something new and exciting, so as a young man, he went west. Upon his arrival in Texas, he found work as a cowboy. That was all good for a while, but Smith soon got tired of the hard work and low wages offered by the cowboy life. Basically, he was lazy, and he decided to find a different way to make a living…one that required a lot less physical labor. Smith soon discovered that he could make more money with less effort by convincing gullible westerners to part with their cash in clever confidence games. His days as a con artist began.
Smith liked swindling people, and one of his earliest methods was the “prehistoric man” of Creede, Colorado. Somehow, Smith obtained a 10-foot statue of a primitive looking human that he secretly buried near the town of Creede. Then a while later, he went back and uncovered the statue…with the addition of as much fanfare and publicity as he could muster. Once the trap was set, he began charging the public huge fees to see it. Of course, he knew it wasn’t going to take long for the public to catch on, so he wisely left town before the curious turned suspicious. I can’t imagine if he had stayed and got caught.
The nickname, “Soapy” actually came from one of his more conventional confidence games. Smith took to 
traveling around the Southwest, where he would briefly set up shop in the street selling bars of soap wrapped in blue tissue paper. The con came in when he promised the amazed crowds that a few lucky purchasers would find a $100 bill wrapped inside a few of the $5 bars of soap. Of course, there really were no $100 bills…at least not more than one. So, one of the first people to buy, would suddenly shout with pleasure and then would happily display a genuine $100 bill. Immediately, everyone else wanted a bar of the soap. Sales skyrocketed after that. The lucky purchaser, of course, was a plant, so Smith got his money back. Well, I’m sure he left town pretty quickly after that scam too.
When the Alaskan Gold Rush began, Smith headed north in 1897 to join in, but as with any other job, he had no intention of actually mining for gold. He eventually landed in the rough frontier town of Skagway and prepared to set up shop. Skagway was “short on law and long on gold dust,” making it a great place for Smith to perfect his con games. Before long, he became the head of an “ambitious criminal underworld” and fleeced thousands of gullible miners, along with his partners. As Smith’s reputation and his “con artist success” grew, the honest citizens of Skagway grew quite angry at being taken in. They were trying to build an upstanding community, after all. So, they formed a vigilante “Committee of 101” in an attempt to bring law and order to the town. Smith was quite emboldened by then, so he formed a gang of his own, named “Committee of 303” to oppose them the vigilantes.
On July 8, 1898, Smith tried to crash a vigilante meeting on the Skagway wharf. His intention was to use his “con-man skills” to persuade them that he posed no threat to the community. Now that would have been a 
good con…if he could have pulled it off. However, Smith had failed to realize just how angry the vigilantes were. When he tried to break through the crowd, Frank Reid, a Skagway city engineer, confronted him. First, the men quarreled, then they exchanged bullets. Reid shot “Soapy” Smith dead on the spot, but not before Smith had badly wounded him. Reid died 12 days later.
The funeral service for “Soapy” Smith was held in a Skagway church he had donated funds to help build. The minister chose as the text for his sermon a line from Proverbs 13: “The way of transgressors is hard.” I guess it went without saying that “the way of a con man can be death.”
My niece, Taylor Masterson is very close to her older sister, “Rae” Raelynn, who is incredibly proud of her little sister. Like many people these days, Taylor struggles with anxiety, but she doesn’t let that stop her from going to work, and doing what she wants to do every day. Maybe because of her own struggles, Taylor is a very kind and empathetic person. She is patient with people, and hates getting on anyone’s case, but she is especially patient with the family pets. She just doesn’t want anyone to feel bad. Taylor is the kind of person who is always making sure everyone around her is doing ok and feeling good. If anyone sounds exasperated, she is right there to see what could be wrong, even though she knows that some words are just how people react to be dramatic in their house. Rae says, “Taylor is making incredible progress and it’s weird to think she’s 17. My youngest sibling is really growing up, and I couldn’t be prouder to share that journey with her as her older sister.”
Taylor and Rae are so close, they like to spend hours curled up in Rae’s room with their cats and watch the television show, 9-1-1, which is about fire fighters and 9-1-1 operators responding to different calls and is usually based on real life calls. Taylor is so interested in the emergency field, that she is considering becoming a paramedic. Once she watched that show, she decided on that field and has not changed her mind. She has done research into what qualifications she needs for it and how to best go about getting set up for them.
Taylor is very generous, and when she gets paid, she likes to treat her siblings, Rae and their brother, Matt to things likes going to the movies. So far this year, they have gone to 2 movies with her this year, and they have more planned as they get released. Taylor’s love language is Quality Time, and Gift Giving, and it really shows. Of course, a “love language” is the way they show people they care. Taylor is working at Albertson’s as a courtesy clerk. Taylor is a character that’s for sure. She is all about her “baby” Axel, the cat and family, of which the pets are a big part. For Taylor, it’s all about family, her parents Rob and Dustie, and siblings, Rae and Matt., but also, Family history, family time, family…everything!
Normally, Taylor’s mom, Dustie Masterson, doesn’t have to work on the 4th of July, but this year due to surgery, she had to work. Everyone in the family understood, even Taylor, but for Dustie, Taylor was the child it 
was hardest to tell. Taylor didn’t get mad…just upset, she doesn’t like for the few family traditions to be messed with. I think we can all relate to that. Taylor loves family history, and Dustie can see her “slogging through her family history and finding her roots.” Dustie doesn’t have the patience for family history, but she is interested in the results. Taylor is a girl of multiple talents and interests, and it will be great to see where these take her in her life. Today is Taylor’s birthday. Happy 17th birthday Taylor!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
The Circus Maximus, which is Latin for largest circus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. It is located in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, and it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 2,037 feet in length and 387 feet in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park. In its beginning, it might have been planned for good, clean-cut entertainment, but in at least part of its history, it was used for much more sinister things. It was during the Roman Empire, when the empire decided that anyone who was not a Roman citizen was basically unimportant.
As it has been throughout history, the Roman Empire was notorious for its persecution of Christian and Jewish people. During those years, the Circus Maximus was used for the execution of Christian and Jewish prisoners, as part of the Roman Triumph, along with chariot racing, of course. As we all know, the Roman Empire worshiped a number of gods, which put them in direct conflict with the one true God, and thereby, put them at odds with the Christians and Jews. During those years, Christians were persecuted and prosecuted, throughout the Roman Empire.
Pagan practices such as making sacrifices to the deified emperors or other gods were abhorrent to Christians as their beliefs prohibited idolatry. When they would not comply with the pagan practices, they were prosecuted by the state and other members of civic society and severely punished for “treason, various rumored crimes, illegal assembly, and for introducing an alien cult that led to Roman apostasy.” The first, localized Neronian persecution occurred under Emperor Nero (BC54-BC68) in Rome. A more general persecution occurred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (BC161-BC180). After a lull, persecution resumed under Emperors Decius (BC249–BC251) and Trebonianus Gallus (BC251–BC253). The Decian persecution was particularly extensive. The persecution of Emperor Valerian (BC253–BC260) ceased with his notable capture by the Sasanian Empire’s Shapur I (BC240–BC270) at the Battle of Edessa during the Roman–Persian Wars. His successor, Gallienus 
(BC253–BC268), halted the persecutions. Most, if not all of these emperors were viciously wicked men, including Gallienus, who finally stopped this horrific practice. Nevertheless, he did stop it, so that is a good thing. There is a right and wrong way to put someone on trial, and most importantly, there should always be freedom of religion, but not all countries allow freedom of religion.
The Law of Return is an Israeli law, which was passed on July 5, 1950. I this law, Jewish people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses were granted the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Many of the Jewish people had been deported during the Nazi regime and many of these did not survive. Other Jewish people fled Nazi persecution, and now they and the survivors of the holocaust would be given the right to return.
Section 1 of the Law of Return declares “that ‘every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant].’ In the Law of Return, the State of Israel gave effect to the Zionist movement’s ‘credo’ which called for the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state. In 1970, the right of entry and settlement was extended to people with at least one Jewish grandparent and a person who is married to a Jew, whether or not they are considered Jewish under Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law.”
Each oleh (immigrant) under the Law of Return, was to be given on the day of arrival in Israel, or occasionally at a later date, a certificate confirming their oleh status. At that point, the person then has three months to decide whether they wish to become a citizen and can renounce their prior citizenship during this time. This is a decision that they must think over carefully, even before they make the decision to immigrate. They would have to quit jobs, sell homes (or at least rent them out), pull children out of school, etc. Still, the big decision must be made withing three months. Do they want to stay? If so, they must take the steps to proceed.
There have been changes to the law over the years. Since 2005, the right does not apply to residents of the West Bank or the Gaza strip due to the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law. The right to an oleh certificate may be denied if the person is engaged in anti-Jewish activity, is a hazard to the public health or security of the state, or has a criminal past that may endanger public welfare. All reasonable reasons to refuse entry. I wish the United States took some of these things seriously.
When Israel became a nation again on May 15, 1948, there was a need to “re-populate” the country with their own people. As of 2021, 3,340,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people who do not have Jewish status under Orthodox Jewish interpretations of halakha received Israeli citizenship, as the law confers citizenship to all offspring of a Jew (including grandchildren) and their spouses. Halakha is often translated as “Jewish Law,” although a more literal translation of it might be “the way to behave” or “the way of 
walking.” The Bible also makes reference to this in Isaiah 43:5-6, “Fear not, for I am with you. I will bring your descendants from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth.”
Recently, my sisters, Cheryl Masterson, Caryl Reed, Alena Stevens, Allyn Hadlock, and I started a book club. Before each meeting, we read a book, on our own time, and then come together to discuss the book we read. We chose the Presidents of the United States as our topics, and each time we progress to the next president. We began at the beginning, President George Washington. We went on to John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and next will be James Monroe. One takeaway from these books has been that while our founding fathers may have had their faults, and some more than others, each tried to do what they saw as the best thing for this nation. They also knew that more than anything, we needed freedom. We could not continue to live under British rule.
We had to be free of England, and so it was that Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, is now a federal holiday in the United States commemorating that freedom, and the Declaration of Independence, which 
was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence was largely written by Thomas Jefferson but was collectively the work of the Committee of Five, which also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. The Founding Father delegates of the Second Continental Congress declared that “the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states.” The Congress voted to approve independence by passing the Lee Resolution on July 2 and adopted the Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4. We were a free nation, but that did not mean that Great Britain would willingly accept that. In fact, Great Britain did not accept US independence until 1783…a full seven years after it was first declared.
Like many “start-up” countries, the United States met with heavy opposition the minute it tried to get going. The “Mother Country” didn’t want to let go. Great Britain called the United States the “Colonies” long after we 
were actually a free nation. Even when they knew they had lost any control over the United States, they tried to get it back, and in the absence of getting their control back, they downplayed the importance of the United States. That was probably the most ridiculous part of it, because the United States became the most powerful nation in the world. While some might disagree, and while we have had our ups and downs, this nation will always stand. Today, we celebrate the nation that we love. The United States of America…the home of the free, because of the brave. Happy Independence Day to this great nation!! Let the celebration begin!!
When I asked my niece, Cassie Franklin what was new with her son, my grandnephew, Lucas Iverson, she reminded me that this year, Lucas is 13 years old!! He is officially a teenager, and I must say that I am stunned!! That just seems impossible to me, He should be 6 or maybe 10. Ok, I know that I’m being ridiculous, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem possible that a kid could be as grown up as they are. Lucas is an amazing young man, is a number of ways. He has Down Syndrome, and that make life more work for him. To say that it is more difficult would be wrong, because Lucas just keeps plugging along, and he is a successful young man.
Lucas is very sweet, and with the help of his younger sister, Zoey, Lucas came a long way toward 
independence. Lucas has a heart of gold, and he loves his sisters. Now, he is going to be going to middle school, where he will be learning a lot more on life skills and how to function in life. These are important skills for Lucas, as they are for any child. Lucas is becoming more and more independent lately and learning how to self-entertain. These may not sound like great strides for most kids, but more Lucas these are amazing steps. He is becoming more of a little man and not a boy. That is another thing that I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around. The possibilities for Lucas are endless, just as they are for any other child, and I love seeing him spreading his wings and flying a little bit. Lucas is obsessed with stuffed animals…and his little baby sister, Alicen. He is becoming quite the babysitter and entertainer extraordinaire. His love of stuffed animals makes him a great entertainer for Alicen.
Over the years, Lucas’ health has been a struggle, but now, with changes that his mom, Cassie has 
implemented in his diet, like the removal of dairy and pork, he is feeling much better. He is off of his supplemental feeding juices and is independently drinking out of the glass. These are great strides for Lucas, and we are so proud of him. This year, they are having a coffee shop birthday party for his birthday, and they took him to the circus this last week as part of his birthday celebration. Life is a looking very sunny for Lucas and his family. Today is Lucas’ 13th birthday!! Happy 13th birthday Lucas!! Welcome to teenage!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
If you ask my sister, Allyn’s family about her daughter-in-law, Chelsea Hadlock, the overwhelming consensus will be that Chelsea is absolutely great!! In fact, I don’t think there is a single person in our whole family that would disagree either!! Chelsea a sweet and generous, kind and loving, and a beautiful person…inside and out!!
She is always willing to lend a helping hand. My niece, Kellie, Chelsea’s sister-in-law tells me, “Chelsea is the most generous! She is always willing to help me with anything that I need…anytime! She never hesitates to go out of her way and that kind kindness is hard to find! She has also grown a lot spiritually! She is always speaking the right things and applying what we are learning in church to her life and her family’s lives.”
This year, Chelsea; her husband Ryan Hadlock; son, Ethan; and daughter, Aurora have been camping as a family. They also joined the Hadlock family when they went camping at Guernsey, Wyoming to celebrate Mother’s Day. That camping trip is always nice, because the guys cook the moms a nice breakfast, while the 
moms relax. Chelsea and her family also recently went to the Big Horn Mountains for a week and just relaxed. The big event of that trip was that they got some snow while they were up there. This week they are on vacation and will be camping on the Hadlock property on Casper Mountain. They he rest of the family will be joining them for some evenings over the 4th.
Chelsea has had a long-standing hobby of crocheting, and while she had put that on the back burner for a while, she has started up again recently. When it comes to crafts or being creative in any way shape or form, Chelsea is the MVP! Almost every Sunday, Allyn and my brother-in-law have the whole family come out to their riverfront property east of Casper, for a family dinner and afternoon of catching up. Everyone enjoys that time, and Chelsea is a great part of that. She is such a sweet person to have around, and they really enjoy her company. Every Sunday that they are together is a wonderful and very relaxing time for all.
Chelsea is a really good mom and her kids show her dedication to motherhood in their behavior. Allyn thinks it “speaks volumes when others love your children and think they are sweet and polite, and enjoy having them around,” and we would all have to agree that Ethan and Aurora are very sweet, polite, and well behaved.
Chelsea is a great girl, and a great addition to our whole family. Oh and did I mention…her tuna casserole is the bomb!! That’s what I’ve been told anyway!! I’ve never had it, but they all tell me that she makes a really superb Tuna Casserole!! I love Tuna Casserole!! Maybe I’ll try it sometime!! Today is Chelsea’s birthday!! Happy birthday Chelsea!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Soldiers are trained to obey orders without thought of the moral aspects the order might have carried. Nevertheless, not every order is a good one. Still, there have been a number of times when disobeying an order was very questionable, such as the order given to General Daniel Sickles at the Battle of Gettysburg. Sickles was a Tammany Hall politician with ambitions of becoming president. Tammany Hall, which was also known as the Society of Saint Tammany, the Sons of Saint Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. In New York City and New York state politics, and it had become the main local political machine of the Democratic Party. The Tammany Hall politicians focused on bringing immigrants, most notably the Irish, into American politics from the 1850s, and into the 1960s. Tammany Hall politicians virtually controlled the Democratic nominations and political patronage in Manhattan for over 100 years following the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854. These politicians used their patronage resources to build a loyal, well-rewarded core of district and precinct leaders, and after 1850, the vast majority were Irish Catholics due to mass immigration from Ireland during and after the Irish Famine of the late 1840s.
With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Sickles raised a brigade with himself as its commander, hoping to improve his reputation, which had suffered greatly when he murdered his wife’s lover. On July 2, Sickles’s III Corps was ordered to defend a portion of Cemetery Ridge. This area included Little Round Top, and it was a central position between two other divisions. It seemed like the perfect strategy, but Sickles, feeling that the lay of the land made his position indefensible, asked Major General George S Meade for permission to advance three-quarters of a mile to the Emmitsburg Road. When Meade refused, Sickles ended up advancing, against a direct order, to the forward position anyway. That shift of position left his unit vulnerable to flanking attacks and also left Little Round Top undefended. Clearly, Sickles didn’t understand the strategies of war that were well known to Major General Meade. I guess soldiers are promoted for a reason.
Sickles was forced to retreat and lost almost 40% of his force in the Confederate attack that followed. After Sickles had abandoned his post, the task of defending Little Round Top fell to the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, V corps, and in fact made famous the 20th Maine brigade, under Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. In the end, they famously managed to repel the Confederate advance, but the victory would not have needed the heroics if Sickles had stayed at his post. Of course, typical of those who rebel and ignore the orders given, Sickles 
maintained to the end of his days that his insubordination helped the Army of the Potomac survive the day’s assaults. It was a crazy declaration, but I guess it helped him sleep at night. There are those on both sides of the coin on that one, but in the end, the disobedience cost him much more than he might have imagined, since he was never the president.
My daughter, Corrie Petersen has spent the last year working in the career she was born to be in…nursing. Since 2005, when Corrie began helping with the caregiving of her grandparents, she knew that she was destined to go to nursing school. The timing wasn’t right then, but when the time was right, she went to nursing school and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Nightingale College receiving her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Corrie waited a long time for this degree. I’m thankful that she was there for me when I needed her help to care for her grandparents. I couldn’t have done it without her and the rest of my family. All those prior obligations are done…sadly, because the grandparents are in Heaven now. Nevertheless, when they needed her, she was there as a part of the village of caregivers we needed to care for them. They and we will be forever grateful. Now, it is Corrie’s time, and she is having the time of her life working in the career she loves. There is an old quote by Mark Twain, “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” That is so true of Corrie, but don’t get the idea that you won’t be tired at the end of the shift, because in nursing…you will, but it’s a really good kind of tired. 
During Corrie’s school years and continuing into this first year as a nurse, she had a pretty busy personal life. In that time, she has gained two beautiful daughters-in-law, Karen and Athena. She has also gained five grandchildren (with one more on the way), Cambree, Caysen, Justin, Axel, and Cyler. She couldn’t be happier with her family. She and her husband, Kevin love being grandparents and in-laws, and they can wait for the new arrival. The last seven years of anticipation and pregnancies have been so special for Corrie and Kevin.
Corrie and Kevin have also been doing some renovations on their home, and while I haven’t seen it yet, because it isn’t finished, I have been seeing some of the things they have purchased for it, and I think it is going to be stunning. Everything is very cool, and their home is going to be perfect for them. Since nursing 
school is over, Corrie has been doing a lot of reading, and one of the things they purchased for the home is a bookcase to hold all the books Corrie has purchased. It’s funny…after all the reading Corrie did during nursing school, she still finds that she loves to read, although these days it more novels than medical books. I’m sure she always will love to read. Today is Corrie’s birthday. Happy birthday Corrie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My husband’s grandmother, Nettie Knox was six months older that his grandfather, Bob Knox, and she loved that fact. I never really thought of her as a “teaser” kind of a person, but when it came to picking on her husband a little bit, I find that she was pretty good at it. Every year, on her birthday, she told him that she was now older and wiser than he was. She teased him about that for six months, until his birthday, which made them the same age again. Then, she couldn’t say that she was older anymore…so it stands to reason that she wasn’t wiser either. Grandpa put up with her teasing good-naturedly, even though he probably wouldn’t have allowed that same teasing from just anyone. I suppose that’s what love does. It allows a little more from the one you love, than would be allowed for others.
There were a number of things that gave grandma that extra little bit of pleasure. One of the biggest came w
hen I gave birth to her first great grandchild, Corrie Petersen. I didn’t realize it at the time (I was not thinking about the date), but the next day, when my in-laws brought Grandma in to meet her first great grandchild. Her first words to me were, “She was born on my birthday!!” She could hardly contain her glee. That day began 15 years of sharing their special day. It was something they both loved, and not a birthday goes by that Corrie doesn’t feel just a little bit lonely, because her birthday twin isn’t there to celebrate with her. Of course, that couldn’t be, because Grandma would have been 116 years old this year. That wouldn’t have been possible, of course, but she lives on in our memories…and especially in Corrie’s heart.
I will always remember Grandma’s sweet nature. She was always kind and happy. I don’t recall a time when she wasn’t in a good mood. Oh, I’m sure there were times when she wasn’t in a good mood, but she kept that 
pretty hidden. She was a peacemaker. Even if she might have been upset about something, she wouldn’t show that to people in public. She controlled herself too much to do that. She was a woman who lived by a certain…code, if you will. There was a right way to do something, and a wrong way to do something. She did her best to do things right…to exhibit behavior in keeping with a sense of decorum. Grandma always tried to live up to a certain standard, and I think she did pretty good with that. Today is the 116th anniversary of Grandma Knox’s birth. Happy birthday in Heaven Grandma Knox. We love and miss you very much.
Check these out!
