Phoebe Ann Moses – Darke County, Ohio

02 Sunday Feb 2020

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American History, Annie Oakley, Artemis, first woman, History, Ohio, Ohio History, Ohio Womens History, Women, Women's History, Young Women

I have put off writing about Annie Oakley (born August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926 Leo/Artemis) for some time now because I wanted to feature other Ohio Women in History that most people did not know about. Annie was one of the first superstars or famous actresses of her time. I read about her in a short biography by Chuck Wills for DK Biographies, so that it is more of a children’s reader. I’d love to find something more about her life but it appears that this was not her priority until after retirement and writing just wasn’t in her. She was only able to pen a few pages. Also, being a celebrity, more fiction was written about her than non-fiction.

In fact, I grew up watching a couple of movies about her life but now I have learned they were so far from the truth. The movies are simply movies with her name added to it. In reality, Annie was a down to earth rural Ohio woman. She was an elegant woman with good homespun values. She was a Quaker and they did not believe in killing but understood that people out on a farm had to do such things to survive.

Her father died when she was five and a half years old and by this time had only taught her trapping of small animals. When she was about 7 or 8, she took his gun down from the fireplace and it would seem she began to teach herself with a .40 or .50 caliber rifle. She was never higher than 5′ tall and weighed 110 lbs. as an adult. These guns were much bigger than she was and yet she learned to maneuver them. Her mother did not enjoy the fact that her young daughter was out in a man’s world but soon began to realize the necessity of this. After all, Susan Moses, her mother, was left with seven mouths to feed. The following advice is what she would later tell her students.

You must have your mind, your nerve, and everything in harmony. Don’t look at your gun, simply follow [the target] with the end of it, as if the tip of the barrel was the point of your finger.

Unfortunately, Annie faced a second early tragedy as her mother would have to send her and a brother to an orphanage (a poor house from that time). She would immediately be shipped off to a home known as “The Wolves,” which was not the families name but what she called them. They treated her like a slave and beat her and even tossed her out in the snow one evening for punishment. She escaped this plight one day by the kindness of a stranger who paid her train fare. Annie would have to return to the orphanage where the family who ran it, took her in. There she learned embroidery and this would serve her well with her costumes. Her second talent to shooting was that of the needle.

Annie continued to hunt and shoot and was able to earn her keep by bringing in game for a general store – who also supplied her with the gun and ammunition. She shot in competitions as well. She met her husband in one of these competitions and his name was Frank Butler who had come to her home town now called Greenville. Frank and Annie fell in love and were married and began to tour together. They were a vaudeville act. Both had deep respect and appreciation for the other. Frank soon began to willingly take a back stage to his wife; knowing she was the better shooter. They would go on to join the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show (which took on several names over the years) and traveled around the world for several decades.

No matter where Annie went, she delighted the audiences of all ages and classes. She would go on to meet many members of royal families from various countries. She was a very good friend, in the US, to Chief Sitting Bull. Annie had such depth to her personality and it was her ability to assert herself and set boundaries with people that endeared her to them. Rather than wearing revealing costumes; she made her own signature line. She did not wear make-up. Annie was not a “modern woman” per se, and yet she was not living the typical woman’s lifestyle of that era. Oddly, she did not believe in women’s rights to vote, which was occurring during her lifetime. I think I can understand this though as this was a new way of thinking for women at that time. The average woman was not as carefree and independent thinking as she was. She felt that only “good” women should vote. I would assume this to mean intelligent women who knew what they were doing. Another risky choice that Annie made was to not shake Prince Edwards hand, first, when she met him. She shook the hand of his wife, Princess Alexandria instead. The reason for this is that the Prince was known for his philandering which Annie did not believe in. She felt more respect for the Princess. The way Annie handled this was by explaining that in America, ladies come first.

Interestingly, Annie would die of Anemia in 1926, in her 60’s. Frank died 18 days later and it was said that he stopped eating (but he was also very sickly then as well). I say interestingly because I hadn’t know people could die of Anemia. However, it is reported that her death may have been more related to lead poisoning from all the buckshot and bullets she handled over the years shooting. She could also be remembered as a philanthropist throughout her life. She gave her money to women and children; who were as destitute as she once was.

Needless to say, I have been moved by her story and I began to feel a different level of respect by learning about her. Prior to writing about her, I have personally always been a pacifist and an anti-gun person. Not against the 2nd Amendment, but against my own personal handling of these weapons or using them. A friend of mine turned me onto these and I was fascinated with how quickly I became attached to using them on a range. Just yesterday, I went to a gun show here in Columbus for the first time in my life. I found myself amassed by gun enthusiasts and small time gun sellers. There were even some historical pieces that were on display and for sale, filled with the energy of times past. One particular rifle I saw was 200 years old and came complete with the initials and art work of the owners who once carried it. Like with Annie, I was moved to see this part of American life that for years I had assumed was something completely different (thanks to the negative stereotypes in documentaries). I think that it has been this new awakening that helped me to become more enthusiastic about reading her story. When I began to understand the woman behind the gun, I saw how she was able to keep her femininity and good ethics in tact.

The world of guns and gun ownership has been seriously injured by our society and horrible people (i.e., domestic and international terrorists) who have caused the country to be in an uproar. However, as I talk to responsible gun owners I learn more and more about their good values and the ethics necessary to have a concealed carry permit. It is interesting how serious these gun owners are to safety and responsibility.

Most people fear the level of power that comes with owning a gun. I think it is important to have this level of fear but to have knowledge and education to understand. As with all things, if you don’t have some humility toward a position of power, than you are lost as a person. We can’t depend on someone in power or with this power to have a level of humility. Therefore, we cannot control it either. I have always felt there are some guns that probably should not be considered legal though, I know that anything that is illegal can be purchased for a price nonetheless. As our society has become dangerously divided, similar to that of the Civil War and our nation is plagued with more and more domestic terrorists, the idea of being taught how to responsibly carry and use a gun makes a lot more sense.

Annie did not use her gun for harm but for sport and for the dining room table. She was once offered a position in the military, while travelling in Europe but declined the offer. Whatever the choice for using a gun, as long as it is with good and legitimate intentions and not intended to harm others (except in battle or for self-defense), we need to re-think the fear that we have about gun ownership and respect those who are a part of this lifestyle. This is a part of our country’s history and our culture.

Jerrie Mock – Newark, Ohio

13 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by Jeannine Vegh in Ohio Women

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Air Force, Artemis, Aviation, first woman, History, Jerrie Mock, Newark, Ohio, Ohio History, Ohio Women, Ohio Womens History, Women

(November 22, 1925 – September 30, 2014: Sagittarius/Artemis)

Forget Amelia Earhart, who was the first woman to fly solo across the ocean, Jerrie Mock was the first woman to fly solo AROUND THE WORLD! Yet no one really knows about her, save for flying enthusiasts. In fact, I wonder if we would even know about Amelia, had she not died in mysterious circumstances and become a legend. And as the author Nancy Roe Pimm points out, in the book “The Jerrie Mock Story,” when Jerrie made this harrowing journey, fraught with many obstacles along the way, too many other important events overshadowed a first for women. Would this have happened in today’s society? Probably not. Women who were the first to do things in the past, were heroines but it was not quite as fascinating then as it is now. Books were rarely written about them and when they were, they faded into the back of the shelf, until now, when so many women are trying to dust off their jackets or create them from scratch.

Nancy’s book did justice to Jerrie’s flight because she really makes it exciting for a person to read and feel that they are a part of the journey. While it is a biography for young readers, I didn’t get the sense that it was for a kid. I mean I didn’t feel like one reading it. It actually reminds me a little bit of a Nancy Drew story, except the heroine isn’t fictional and there is no mystery, just a lot of complications which create suspense. The latter is what captivated me about Jerrie’s story. I had to keep telling myself “She makes it, don’t worry.” I was able to read the story in one day which is the nice thing about a 113 page book for young readers. It reads like a short story. Nancy also puts little snippets of information in the book, right when Jerrie is in that part of the world, so you can learn additional information. I had no idea that there were once seven wonders of the “Ancient World.” Only one is still in existence. I knew there was “seven wonders of the world,” but not an ancient world. She also provides a timeline at the end of the book, which is helpful for someone wanting to write a blog article and not wanting to search through the book all over again for dates.

It is also interesting because Nancy wasn’t shy about telling us about the disgruntled relationship between Jerrie and her husband Russ. You can imagine that whenever a woman is in the limelight, it is going to frustrate their partnership on some level, especially in 1964. I wondered where this was going and the author was careful with this by noting that while Jerrie was upset, she pointed out that she also missed her husband. I can empathize with the situation. If it weren’t for Russ pushing Jerrie and remaining focused on her journey, she might not have been the first woman to fly solo around the world. Many times when people are on a long trek to become a first at something, they often have coaches to keep them on track. This generally causes a lot of friction. While I have never been a pilot, I have ridden up to sixty miles on a bike and with a lot of people. I know how you can get upset with your coach when you are tired, cranky, hungry, physically exhausted; naturally you want to slap them sometimes. It can be a testimony of a really good relationship when it can withstand such pressures as she went through like this with her husband. When I looked at the timeline in the back of the book however, Jerrie and Russ would end up divorcing fifteen years later. Since her daughter would have been around 18 years old at that time, she obviously waited until all her children were adults, which was the “right” thing to do at that time.

Her husband Russ was apparently more competitive about this journey than Jerrie. As you read the story, you find that Jerrie would have liked to have spent a lot more time in some of the places where she landed. It was her first time to be around the world (which also makes this solo flight all the more spectacular in that she didn’t practice) and she really wanted to take in a lot more scenery than she was able to. Had Russ not pushed her, she may not have won the race. I have not mentioned before but at the same time she was in the air, a woman from California was also doing the same thing. She was Joan Merriam Smith who was 27 years old to Jerrie’s 39. Joan was taking the exact same flight that Amelia Earhart took and she did succeed but only returned to California a few days after Jerrie. Unfortunately, Joan died in an airplane crash one year later.

So what kind of obstacles did our heroine endure? At the onset of her flight, just as she went into the air from Port Columbus, she hears the traffic controller state that this will be the last we ever hear of her. What a terrible thing for him to say but thank goodness, she had a strong constitution and didn’t let this sway her. If that weren’t bad enough, every leg of the journey, some idiot journalist was asking her stupid questions about Amelia Earhart – even wondering if she were afraid she would die too. Just like today, the poor woman had to suffer the endless throngs of insensitive reporters who have never learned tact and decency among celebrities. In Cairo, she was stalled by a ticket agent who didn’t believe she had her own plane and wouldn’t let her through. Naturally, this would be straightened out after a couple of phone calls.

The technical issues began immediately. First there was a radio transmission failure as well as brakes that didn’t work. Unfortunately, it sounds as if the latter were probably sabotaged. I thought it was quite funny to realize that the radio transmission for long distance was a cable of 100’ which Jerrie had to drop from the plane, allowing it to hang, in order for it to work. Another obstacle was assuming she was landing in Cairo, and as her wheels touched the ground she was greeted by the military who weren’t too excited to see her. This was because she flew into a secret Air Force base accidentally. Mid-way over the South China Sea; there was the smell of gas. This required switching gas lines and it sounded like turning the engine off for a bit, which was a very risky undertaking. I kept wondering why things kept going wrong, though I also realized this was 1964 and planes were different than.

The nice thing about every stop along her journey was how wonderfully she was treated in each of the countries she would land in. I was the most surprised about this as I couldn’t imagine this going so well in today’s difficult world. Of course, each stop included ambassadors, statesmen, people who had been alerted long before she left home and who had already approved her stop over. Her journey was charted out by a retired military general and between him and the other people, including her husband, who were anxious to have a successful voyage; the trip seemed as if it was meant to be.

The funny thing about choosing to write about Jerrie for this blog is that I am afraid of flying. It is no accident that I purchased this book, well over a year ago, while meeting the author at Ohioana book festival. I had put off reading it because I was afraid I would be sick as I usually am when I am anywhere near an airport. I haven’t even flown since 9/11, which I never make a secret about, though I began getting sick on flights way before that. Fortunately, as I read this book, I felt very calmed by her spirit, which I felt was captured in this book. It reminds me of a couple of flights I have been on in the past, where the pilot was very re-assuring and as a result made the journey very enjoyable. I know if I had been in Jerrie’s shoes, hearing all that stuff about Amelia Earhart would have grounded me for sure. I would have panicked and seen it as an omen – that the topic kept being brought up. That kind of negative talk can cause many people to self-sabotage but Jerrie Mock was undeterred because she was that kind of woman. She was strong, brave, and yet modest and confident. Unlike Amelia, she didn’t have that egotistical side to her nature. While she relished the limelight, she wasn’t caught up in it. I don’t see this as a coincidence. Jerrie was very careful along this journey and did not take any risks with weather. She trusted her instincts, which is pointed out a couple of times in the book. On one such occasion, pre-solo flight, the trip she turned down with other pilots ended in a disaster.

What I see that appears to compare quite frequently with the Ohio women that I write about, is the spiritual side of their natures. When I think of all the women I have read about, from around the world, until I took on the task of writing about the Ohio Women’s History, I didn’t even think about the spiritual component as I read their stories. Yet, time and time again, I continue to read and to have the sense that the Gods were working in sync with them. Perhaps it is our culture, here in Ohio, or the authors of the books or a little of both. Grandma Gatewood, Jerrie Mock, Sarah Worthington, and others, I feel as if their journey was guided by a higher power. Was it them or were they chosen to do what they did?

Post-script: There are plenty of YouTube videos about Jerrie Mock and even another book that I learned about while watching a video. “Three-Eight Charlie,” was written by Jerrie Mock and more recently was enhanced as a special 50^th anniversary commemorative edition. The newer version is thanks to graphic designer Wendy Hollinger and artist Dale Radcliff who along with publishers Phoenix Graphix included maps, weather charts and additional photos.

I am including this video below which is an interview with Jerrie Mock by Carol Ann Garratt for Women of Aviation Week 2014. Jerrie died later that year on September 30^th in her home in Florida; at the age of 89. She was survived only by her daughter Valerie, the last of her three children (I assume there were grandchildren as well but I am thinking of those who were alive when she took this voyage).

Which Goddess Archetype Are You?

17 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by Jeannine Vegh in Miss Elaine E. Usz

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Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Goddess, Hecate, Hera, Hestia, Mythology, Persephone, Women

This article was copied from my business website for Transformative Psychotherapy, LLC, on which I write blog posts dedicated to psychology and topics that I think might be of interest to my clients. Here on Ohio Women’s History, I am adding which archetype might belong to the women I am writing about and which astrological sign they are because I think both are of interest to many women.

This past weekend (originally written May 7, 2016), I attended a workshop in Dayton, Ohio given by Kathy Cleveland Bull, entitled “Seasons of a Woman’s Life: Feminine Archetypes to Guide the Journey.” I am including some of the things I learned in the workshop below. Mainly, what each Goddess Archetype stands for and who might be some modern or known versions of these women? Which one do you feel most represents you?

Artemis – Goddess of the Hunt. This is the first one I will start with as this is the one which I feel best represents who I am now. She is an independent woman who stands on her own. She needs no man (hence the title of my new book “You Don’t Need a Prince to Lead a Charming Life.”) While a few of these women have been married, they made a name for themselves on their own without them. Eleanor came into herself as an Artemis type heroine.

Other Artemis women might be: Catherine the Great, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michelle Bachelet, Emma Watson, Charlize Theron, Jodie Foster.

Athena – She is the Goddess of War. This person is found in politics and the military of course.

Modern day Athenas: Margaret Thatcher, Condolezza Rice, Hilary Clinton, Madeline Albright. All women in the military.

Aphrodite – Goddess of Love and Romance. This is who you might turn to when you are looking for love in all the wrong places and need some help. Or looking for love in general.

Modern Day Aphrodites might be: A Yenta (in the Jewish culture), Matchmaking services, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edna St. Vincent Milay.

Demeter Demeter – The Mother Goddess. The good mothers that you can think of, including women who were a mother to you, who were concerned about your upbringing. This is a mother who takes her job seriously and treasures being a mother. A woman who guides her children with love and values.

Modern day Demeters: Sister Teresa, Princess Diana, Mata Amritanandamayi (aka Amma), Jacqueline Kennedy.

Persephone – Young Goddess or the Daughter of Demeter. This is the young woman who is perpetually a girl, a victim, struggling to understand life and figure out the world at large. Persephone eventually survives her ordeal and grows up to become a queen.

Modern Day Princesses: Malia and Sasha Obama, Lea Michelle, Taylor Swift, but also survivors of abuse, all young women in general who will grow up to become these other Goddesses or will stay Persephone (i.e., Anna Nicole Smith).

Hecate – Goddess of the Crone. The wise woman, sage, the one who helps us in transformation.

Modern Day sages: High Priestesses, Shirley MacClaine, Lynne V. Andrews, Female Shamans, the female elders of churches, temples, etc…

Hera – Goddess Wife. She is the Good Wife. The one who enjoys being married. The one who yearns to be married.

Modern day Heras – Michelle Obama, Nancy Reagan, the Duchess of Cambridge, Melinda Gates.

Hestia – Goddess of the Hearth and Home. She is also the Virgin Goddess. Hestia would be more apt to be the cook or the housekeeper, such as Mrs. Pattmore on Downton Abbey (I don’t believe the character was ever married though, perhaps because she was old she had Mrs. as a title). Also, Hestia was never worshipped publicly, which makes me think of someone who is the person way behind the big person.

Modern Day Hestias – personal assistants, cooks, housecleaners, for example.

Which one do you identify with? Who can you think of to add to the list of these different examples? What about the women you grew up with. Which Goddess Archetype do they fit with? It is interesting to focus on who you are as a woman and who you would like to be as a woman. As I began to listen to the descriptions of these archetypes, I realized that I had been Persephone my whole life, even though I identified with Artemis. However, Artemis was the Goddess that I looked up to and tried to understand but kept holding myself back from bringing into being. Then one day, during menopause, writing this book I mentioned above I transcended into the Artemis archetype as I finally began to understand and allow myself to become the Queen. I joked with the speaker, Kathy Cleveland Bull that this book was my thesis which transformed me into Artemis which I had been all my life but due to society and life circumstance and my own stubbornness, kept at bay.

It is important to identify with your own Goddess Archetype as we look at ourselves in this modern day world. Whichever Goddess you feel most comfortable with, learn more about her. Buy a painting or statue, or make one of your own and create an altar for her in your house, on your computer, on your wall and focus your intentions on this image which is a metaphorical likeness of you. It will help to strengthen you as a person.