Gault & Galt: A Family Legacy

 By Tiffany Amber Stockton

Only 1 more month until the festivities surrounding the 100th annual Pony Penning Day celebrations, but I'll cover that in July. :) Actually, the famous fair is having a special allowance this year and will be open every weekend during both June and July. I recently shared some family history with my daughter, and that set me to thinking about family legacy.

If you missed last month's post about the Beebe family legacy on Chincoteague, you can view it here.

When History Gets Personal

When I was a little girl, my mom read me the beloved classic Misty of Chincoteague. I was completely captivated—wild ponies, island adventures, brave kids. But the best part? My mom didn’t stop at the story. She followed it up with tales of her own childhood and how her dad actually knew Grandpa Beebe, Paul, and Maureen. Then she pulled out a photo—a real picture—of her standing next to Misty. The Misty.

To little me, it was like finding out my mom and grandfather were local celebrities. In my eyes, they kind of were.

But let’s rewind a bit. Way back to 1919, when my grandfather—Pop-pop, as I called him—was born on Chincoteague Island. His parents, Daniel W. Gault, Sr. and Carrie Jester Gault, each brought a child from previous marriages, and together they had seven more. Pop-pop was the first of those seven. A big, bustling family.

In 1925, when Pop-pop was just six years old, the very first official Pony Penning Day took place. I love imagining him as a little boy, heart racing as he ran toward the beach, waiting for the moment when the saltwater cowboys would herd the wild ponies across the channel from Assateague to Chincoteague for the big auction. That tradition still lives on today, but for him—it was just part of growing up.

The Great Depression hit everyone hard, and my family was no exception. My mom used to tell me how Pop-pop’s father, my great-grandfather, would get creative just to keep the family going. He’d cut up old car tires to use the rubber for resoling shoes. Can you imagine? That kind of grit always stuck with me. By age 13, Pop-pop was already cutting hair in his dad’s barbershop to help make ends meet.

He graduated from high school in 1937, and not long after, the family sold the island barbershop and moved to Washington, D.C. That’s where he met my grandmother, Esther Mae Seiple. They got married after he returned from serving in the Army for five years stationed in the Panama Canal during WWII. After the war, he joined his father once again, this time at the “Father & Son Barber Shop” on Pennsylvania Avenue, just steps from Capitol Hill.

And let me tell you, their client list was impressive. Senators, congressmen, and D.C.’s elite sat in their chairs. It ran in the family, apparently. Another branch of our family, the Galts (spelled without the “u”), owned Galt & Bro., Inc. Jewelers. That shop served U.S. presidents and opened in 1802, right near the White House. The stories that came out of that business—like fixing Abraham Lincoln’s watch during the first shots at Fort Sumpter, or Edith Galt marrying President Woodrow Wilson—could fill an entire book. Maybe that can be my next project.

 

But back to Pop-pop.

Around 1952, not long after Congress opened a barbershop in the Capitol basement, my great-grandfather retired and moved back to Chincoteague. That left Pop-pop running the D.C. shop on his own. He kept it going until 1966 when Safeway bought out the block for a new loading dock. That’s when he, my grandmother, and my mom (who was born in 1950) packed up and moved to Suitland, Maryland.

He rented a chair in a barbershop in Fairfax Village, and that’s where my older brother had his very first haircut. Pop-pop stayed there, cutting hair and telling stories, until 1979 when he returned to his roots on Chincoteague Island. He took over a barbershop there and moved into a little apartment across the street.

That apartment became special to me. I can still picture myself sitting on his knee, spinning wild tales about my brother and me being in some sort of danger, and Pop-pop swooping in to save the day. What can I say? I’ve always been a storyteller...even at age four. :)

Sadly, our time together didn’t last as long as I wish it had. Pop-pop passed away from a heart attack in 1983. I was only seven. But the stories, the history, and the legacy we shared have stayed with me ever since.

And now, through this blog and the books I’m currently writing, his story lives on.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Do you have a family story that connects you to a famous place, person, or moment in history? Share how your family’s past has shaped your perspective or inspired you.

* What childhood memory or family tradition still sticks with you today, and why? Whether it’s a holiday ritual, a special person, or a place you visited, we’d love to hear about it.

* Have you ever felt a personal connection to a book or story that tied into your real life? Maybe like me with Misty of Chincoteague, a fictional tale suddenly felt real. What is it?

Leave answers to these questions or any comments on the post below.

** This note is for our email readers. Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

Come back on the 9th of each month for my next foray into historical tidbits to share.

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BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help them get rooted and live a life of purpose.

Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children, three dogs, and three cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Trials & Tribulations of the Panama Canal

Panama Canal Construction

Janet Chester Bly

The Panama Canal project figured large in the novel Stuart Brannon's Final Shot, begun by my husband Stephen Bly and completed by myself and three sons. Here's some of what we learned in our research.

The narrow land bridge between North and South America offered a unique opportunity to create a water passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. At first the French tried to build a sea-level canal but failed. But only after major excavation. This benefited the U.S. which completed the present Panama Canal in 1914.

Along the way, the nation of Panama was created through its separation from Colombia in 1903. Today, the canal continues to be not only a viable commercial venture, but also a vital link in world shipping.

Serious Problems

Construction of the canal began on January 1, 1882. 

Challenges for the building of the canal included tropical disease, such as malaria & yellow fever. It

Panama Canal Workers

was not known at the time how these diseases were contracted. Any precautions against them were doomed to failure. For example, the legs of hospital beds were placed in tins of water to keep insects from crawling up. But these pans of stagnant water made ideal breeding places for mosquitoes, the carriers of these two diseases, and so worsened the problem.

In addition, the project was plagued by a lack of engineering expertise. Financing and mortality among the workers, along with frequent floods and mudslides, brought more serious trouble. 

In 1889 the company became bankrupt, and work was finally suspended. After eight years, the work was about two-fifths completed, and some $234,795,000 had been spent. The collapse of the company was a major scandal in France.

French engineers were well paid and the prestige of the project attracted the best of France's engineering schools, but the huge death toll from disease made it difficult to retain them. They either left after short service or died. The total death toll between 1881 and 1889 was estimated at over 22,000.

One of the greatest barriers to a canal was the continental divide, which originally rose to 110 metres (360.9 ft) above sea level at its highest point. This gave rise to one of the greatest engineering feats of its time.

Controversial Move

President Teddy Roosevelt at Panama Canal

President Theodore Roosevelt believed a U.S.-controlled canal across Central America was a vital strategic interest to the U.S. This idea gained wide impetus following the destruction of the battleship USS Maine, in Cuba, on February 15, 1898. The USS Oregon, a battleship stationed in San Francisco, was dispatched to take her place, but the voyage — around Cape Horn — took 67 days. Although she arrived in time to join in the Battle of Santiago Bay, the voyage would have taken just three weeks via Panama.

Roosevelt pushed through the acquisition of the French Panama Canal effort. Panama was then part of Colombia, so Roosevelt opened negotiations with the Colombians to obtain the necessary rights. In early 1903, the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by both nations, but the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the treaty.

In a controversial move, Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels if they revolted, the U.S. Navy would assist their cause for independence. Panama proclaimed its independence on November 3, 1903. The victorious Panamanians returned the favor to Roosevelt by allowing the United States control of the Panama Canal Zone on February 23, 1904, for $10 million.

Americans inherited a workforce, but also a great jumble of buildings, infrastructure and equipment, much of which had been the victim of fifteen years of neglect in the harsh, humid jungle environment. There were no facilities for the workers and the infrastructure was crumbling. The early years of American work produced little in terms of progress but were the most crucial and difficult of the project.

Panama Canal Ships

Lock Canal or Sea-Level Canal?

Even as early as 1885, it was apparent that a sea-level canal was impractical, and that an elevated canal with locks was the best answer. Meanwhile, many in the U.S. speculated a canal through Nicaragua would render a Panama canal useless. The Nicaraguan Canal proposal was finally made redundant by the American takeover of the French Panama Canal project.

No decision had been taken regarding whether the canal should be a lock canal or a sea-level canal. Finally the Senate and House of Representatives ratified the lock-based scheme.

In November 1906, Roosevelt visited Panama to inspect the canal's progress. This was the first trip outside the United States by a sitting President.

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Janet Chester Bly

Janet Chester Bly has authored 31 nonfiction and fiction books, 19 of which she co-authored with her late husband, award-winning western author Stephen Bly. She lives in north-central Idaho on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation at 4,200 ft. elev. across from Winchester Lake and Winchester State Park. She has 3 married sons, 4 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren who all live down the mountain from her in the banana belt of Lewiston. 
Find out more here: http://www.BlyBooks.com

See this article also by Janet Chester Bly:  http://christianfictionhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-most-important-journey.html


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Stuart Brannon's Final Shot
http://www.blybooks.com/product_category/historical-western-novels/

Book Blurb:

It's 1905. Two orphans flee Tillamook Head. One of them is branded a hero. Dare they tell the truth and risk the wrath of a dangerous man?

Meanwhile, ex-lawman Stuart Brannon seeks to find a missing U.S. Marshal at the request of Teddy Roosevelt. Who can deny the President of the U.S.? And his old friend Lady Harriet Reed-Fletcher talks him into learning the game of golf to play on behalf of a celebrity charity tournament.