The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 22, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Page: 4 of 46
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A-4 ♦ Jun* 1, 2011
Perspectives
The Clifton Record • cliftonrecord.com
This Week In
Texas History
By Bartee Haile
dennis9cllftonrecord.com
Adah Menken, the orig-
inal self-made celebrity,
stepped onto the stage
for the last time in Paris,
France on May 30, 1868.
While most historians
and researchers concur
“The Naked Lady” came
into this world in 1835,
they cannot agree on
where she was bom, to
whom, or even her real
name.
The “Handbook of
Texas,” the authority on
all things Texan, believes
she was christened Ada C.
McCord by ordinary par-
ents in Memphis, Tenn.
But the most popular
opinion, at least for the
present, is that she was
bom Adah Bertha Theo-
dore to a Creole mother
and a free black father in
New Orleans.
Wherever Adah came
from, we know for a fact
that in October 1855 she
was in the southeast Texas
town of Liberty entertain-
ing the inhabitants with
readings from Shake-
speare. It is also true she
published a few poems
Then Again,
I Could Be Wrong
By Dennis Phillips
dennis@cliftonrecord.com
1 have pondered this
week’s’ column for some
time. It is a tough subject,
and even tougher when
you are as close to the is-
sue as I have become. Te-
resa, my wife, was recent-
ly diagnosed with ovarian
cancer. Now, before 1 get
too far: she is fine. Dur-
ing another procedure - a
hysterectomy - the ovary
was removed along with
all the other parts associ-
ated with a hysterectomy.
The cancer itself was very
tiny, and according to the
doctors, we are blessed to
have found and remove
this cancer as quickly as
we did. While that news
was a relief, the news of
upcoming chemotherapy
treatments has not been.
We have known now
Rustle Rambllngs
By Dr. Genie Ellis
The Clifton Record
Since my return to Texas,
I’ve tried to expand my ho-
rizons. I’ve learned more
than 1 ever thought I’d know
about tractors, cattle, barbed
wire, honeybees, pickling,
canning, weather, critters,
Peterson pipes, vegetable
gardening, Case knives,
a variety of guns, Guil-
lain-Barre, and many other
subjects. I had a computer
and cell phone when I ar-
rived, but new generations
of subsequent models have
improved in the years I’ve
lived here. I’ve discovered
eBay and Facebook among
other things, and learned
Civil War sex symbol got her start in Texas
and essays in area publi-
cations before marrying
Alexander Isaac Menken,
a musician from Cincin-
nati, in an April 1856 cer-
emony at Livingston.
The following year, the
newlywed made her theat-
rical debut in Shreveport
in a play called The Lady
of Lyon. Sometime later,
while visiting her in-laws,
she converted to their reli-
gion and remained a prac-
ticing Jew for the rest of
her life.
By 1859 Adah was in
New York, where she ap-
peared in her first Broad-
way production. Critics
were less than kind. The
“New York Times” re-
viewer branded her “the
worst actress on Broad-
way” and another colum-
nist wrote, “She is de-
lightfully unhampered by
the shackles of talent.”
Back in Cincinnati, the
Menkens hit the ceiling
over their daughter-in-
law’s career choice. After
all, no decent woman in
the Victorian Age made
a spectacle of hefself, and
that was what actresses
did for a living. They pres-
sured their son into ending
the marriage, which he
was more than ready to do
since his wife had taken
to smoking cigarettes and
wearing pants in public.
Adah kept her ex-hus-
band’s name and stayed
in Manhattan to chase her
acting dream. She met
and soon married the Irish
prize fighter Johnnie “The
Benicia Boy” Heenan.
While Adah may have
loved husband number
two, she loved even more
the limelight the popular
bare-knuckle champion
brought with him.
In early 1860, Heenan
left Adah with child and
no money' when he went
off to London to fight the
English champion. While
he was away, the story
broke in the New York
papers that the actress was
not the boxer's lawfully
wedded wife.
Former spouse Men-
ken declared Adah never
bothered to divorce him,
an' oversight that made
her a bigamist. Heenan
came home to a scandal-
ous storm that threatened
to tarnish his wholesome
image. In a heartless act
of self-preservation, the
pugilist lied through his
remaining teeth insisting,
“The woman calling her-
self my wife is an impos-
tor.”
Blacklisted on Broad-
way, Adah nearly starved
to death. To make her
misery complete, her
baby boy died shortly af-
ter birth.
It was at this low point
in Adah’s life that manag-
er Jimmie Murdock land-
ed her the leading role in
Mazeppa, a play based on
the Lord Byron poem due
to open in Albany in June
1861. Not only would his
client be the first woman
to play the part, Murdock
had an ingenious plan to
capitalize on the scandal
she could not live down.
In the dramatic climax
of Mazeppa, the hero is
stripped, lashed to a wild
horse and gallops bare-
back across the stage.
In previous versions a
dummy stood in for the
live actor, but not this
time. Adah would take the
thrilling ride in flesh-col-
ored tights.
Overnight Adah was
“The Naked Lady,” the
sex symbol of the Civil
War. She fielded drool-
ing reporters’ questions
in Mae West-fashion,
while lounging on a tiger
skin and sipping cham-
pagne. And she always
Never surrender
for several weeks, and the
impending treatments are
looming on the horizon.
There will be four of them
- dhe every three weeks, at
which time she will lose
her hair. But hair is the
least of my worries. Hair
loss is a simple side effect
of the treatment. Chemo
attacks fast growing cells
in the body and kills them.
Like hair, cancer cells rap-
idly reproduce and that is
where the problem lies.
Once cancer gets a foot-
hold, it is hard, very hard,
to get rid of completely.
We have been given a
plan.
My personal struggles
with this has not been the
simple fact of hair loss.
According to the doc-
tors there is an 80 percent
chance, she is good to go,
as is. With the treatment,
there is a 95 percent chance
of the cancer never com-
ing back. Chemotherapy
is very hard on the body,
it is poison that is injected
through IV into a person.
As soon as the body re-
covers from the treatment,
bamm, you do it again.
I believe that the deci-
sion for or against treat-
ment ultimately lies with
the person who is facing
the cancer. While I have
my input, I’m not the one
who has to live through the
poison. Our kids have an
opinion; in-laws, brothers,
and just about anyone you
talk to about this has an
opinion, but the decision
is all hers. It has not been
easy for her, medically
throughout her life. With-
out going through a lot of
detail on the subject, it has
been a rough ride with pro-
cedures. Facing an 80 per-
cent chance on non-recur-
ring cancer is pretty dam
good, 95 percent is better.
My struggles were an-
swered by my wife when
she decided to go ahead
with the treatment. While
I’m sure it was a selfish
thought, I prayed for her
to make the decision to go
ahead. If she had refused,
I would face living life
wondering when or if that
remaining 20 percent was
coming to claim my wife.
Now, 1 can honestly say
with relief, we are going to
give it our all at the cancer
treatment center. I have
never been one to back
away from a fight, and I’m
not about to now. I’m just
grateful that my wife has
decided to fight. I know
that increasing her odds to
95 percent will mean liv-
ing a better life overall. For
twelve weeks of miserable
treatments and a little hair
loss is a small price for the
lifetime we still have to-
gether.
Once again, just when
1 think I know everything
there is to know about my
wife, she takes my breath
away and leaves me star-
ing in awe.
On keeping eyes and minds open
to take advantage of online
shopping. It may not be
Broadway shows and live
concerts, but Dish Network
and Netflix have provided
us a wide variety of enter-
tainment options. This is
particularly handy living far
from vibrant cities and with
gas prices as high as they
are now.
If the monthly fee was
more easily affordable,
I’d educate myself about
smart phones. The ability
to Google anything at any
time is incredibly seduc-
tive. Think of it. Anything
one didn’t know might be
looked up in an instant, and
at least a cursory learning
experience could be had. It’s
like magic or alchemy! I’ve
even expanded my horizons
further regarding various
technical things, discov-
ered digital cameras, GPS
Systems, E-readers, online
Banking and Bill Pay, even
learned to use a debit card.
(Faster and easier than writ-
ing checks, and we save a
bundle on stamps).
It’s amazing to me how
many things have changed
so drastically in only one
decade. I’m hoping to ex-
plore new areas in my old
field of art, have gone so
far as to buy a special clay.
The plan is to eventually
create something spectacu-
larly magnificent to be cast
in bronze. But that hasn’t
exactly happened yet. Still
haven’t gotten that book
published either. Life keeps
getting in the way. (Prob-
ably a good thing. What
my father always said about
growing older probably ap-
plies here too;) “It’s better
than the alternative”.
I’ve had to reacquaint
myself with Texas plants
and wildlife, birds and but-
terflies. Seems now I’ve
worked my way to cocoons/
chrysalises. We discov-
ered a Monarch butterfly
cocoon a week or so ago
that looks for all the world
like a perfect little, apple
green charm trimmed in
14K gold. I’ve never seen
anything in nature that so
resembled fine jewelry.
And there it was one day,
just hanging around like a
wonderful gift— a lovely
see ELLIS, page A-5
gave them a provocative
pearl of wisdom such as,
“Good women are rarely
clever and clever women
are rarely good.”
After milking Mazeppa
for all it was worth on
the East Coast and in San
Francisco, Adah took her
tour to London and Paris.
The reception was every
bit as enthusiastic and fi-
nancially rewarding, and
she glided effortlessly
through aristocratic and
literary circles collecting
admirers and casual lov-
ers like postage stamps.
Upon her triumphant re-
turn to New York in April
1866, Adah commanded
the highest salary ever
paid to a performer of ei-
ther sex. The actress that
had been banned from
Broadway never saw an
empty seat at her sold-out
shows despite a cholera
epidemic.
But Adah had burned
the candle at both ends for
far too long. She had run
through a fortune and two
more husbands and, worst
of all, wrecked her health.
Catching a boat back to
Europe in August 1866,
Adah had to be carried to
her stateroom. But faint
hopes of a rejuvenating
comeback quickly faded
for yesterday’s star.
Adah Menken was 33
years old the day she died
in a cheap hotel in Paris.
With eternity knocking
at the door, she wrote, “I
am lost to art and life. Yet
have I not at my age tast-
ed more of life than most
women who lived to one
hundred? It is fair then
that I go where old people
go.”
I .otters
A young man from Bel-
ton recently adopted a
dog from the Bosque Ani-
mal Rescue Kennels and
thought enough, to not
only hold a fund-raiser for
the Kennels, but to also
write a “thank you” letter
to the BARK volunteers.
The following is the letter
BARK received and want-
ed to share with everyone.
Enclosed with the letter
was a photo of Skylee, a
check for $82.23, and a
menu from the fundraiser
(including “BARK-berry
cupcakes and Dogs in a
Blanket.)
Dear BARK Volunteers;
Me and my friend Alli-
son Peterke started a stand
call A.K.A. Cupcake Co.
All the neighbors came
and bought a lot. They
also donated a lot. Our to-
tal was $82.23! We hope
it will help ya'II take care
of the dogs.
Speaking of dogs, Sky-
lee is a healthy, happy
dog. She is full of energy.
She has a lot of friends
in the neighborhood. We
finished putting grass and
lots of new stuff in her pen
so my Dad agreed that we
could maybe get another
dog. So we will schedule
to come up there one day
to pick one out.
I hope you enjoy the
picture 1 sent of Skylee.
1 had’a treat in my hand
- that’s why she is so
focused. So far, I have
taught her to sit, shake,
kisses, stay, down, roll
over, and catch. I am
working on bang. Skylee
is such a good dog. She
is perfect in every way! I
have no clue why no one
wanted her. She is also
turning into a pool dog.
I am still working on my
drawings.
1 was hoping that I
could volunteer for a few
days this summer? Let
me know soon. I was told
you are moving some
dogs to Canada Kennels?
I would like to know
when, so I could pick out
the dog (maybe) before
they are moved. Also,
what is this place? Please
let me know. Thanks you
all for being kind-hearted
for animals.
Sincerely with love and
hope,
Kale Kincannon and
Skylee Kincannon
P.S. How is Jill? They
told me she had heart
worms.
session
Local Meetings
COMMISSIONERS' COURT
• Bosque County Commissioners' Court
Monday, June 13, 9 a.m.
Bosque County Courthouse
Meridian
CLIFTON CITY COUNCIL
• Clifton City Council
Tuesday, June 14, 6 p.m.
Council Chambers
Clifton Civic Center
CLIFTON ISD BOARD
• Clifton Independent School District Board of Trustees
Special date change for June
Wednesday, June 15, 5:30 p.m.
CISD Board Room
Administration Building
Clifton Middle School
PLANNING AND ZONING
• Clifton Planning and Zoning Commission
Tuesday, May 17, 6 p.m.
Council Chambers
Clifton Civic Center
COMMISSIONERS' COURT
• Bosque County Commissioners' Court
Monday, June 27,9 a.m.
Bosque County Courthouse
Meridian
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• City of Clifton Economic Development Corporation
No meeting this month
Council Chambers
Clifton Civic Center
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Phillips, Dennis. The Clifton Record (Clifton, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 22, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 1, 2011, newspaper, June 1, 2011; Clifton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth814298/m1/4/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nellie Pederson Civic Library.