Birth Locations – Page 127 – The Exasperated Historian

163) Ray Chavez

163) Ray Chavez

He was The Oldest Still-Living Pearl Harbor Veteran at the Time of his Death

Born: 1912, San Bernadino, California, United States of America

Died: 21 November 2018, Poway, California, United States of America

Ray said he joined the Navy at the urging of his wife, and while she wanted him to stay in after the war, he didn’t re-enlist once his contract ended. He had seen enough war.

After the day that will forever live in Infamy, Ray worked on a transport ship for the remainder of the war.

In July of 2019 news broke that California Lawmakers are pushing to have a post office in Poway named after him. In that same article, it was reported that only ten Pearl Harbor veterans are still alive as of 2019.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/22/us/oldest-pearl-harbor-survivor-ray-chavez-dead/index.html

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Poway-Post-Office-to-Honor-Ray-Chavez-106-Year-Old-Pearl-Harbor-Vet-513450041.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194890039/raymond-barron-chavez

162) Jan Zwartendijk

162) Jan Zwartendijk

Worked with Chiune Sugihara to ensure 6,000 Jewish Refugees could escape the Shoah

Born: 29 July 1896, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Died: 1976, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

He was originally in Lithuania working with a light bulb company before he started working for the Dutch Consulate.

He Issued Permits that allowed Jewish Refugees to escape to Dutch colonies in the West Indies, the first step in a long process I wrote about in Sugihara’s entry, but here it is again in case you haven’t read his yet:

Unfortunately moving Jews out of Lithuania wasn’t easy. They could be moved to two islands in the Caribbean willing to accept refugees that had a Dutch Transport Visa but before they could get to those islands they had to move through more of Soviet occupied territory, and in order to move through the Soviet Union, they needed to have a visa marked from Japan because they would also have to travel through Japan to get to the islands.

When the Soviets closed the consulates, Jan returned to Nazi-occupied Netherlands with his family while Sugihara continued to work. There is a possibility that Jan worked for the British as a contact with the Dutch underground, but that has not been confirmed.

In 1997, Jan was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem.

Sources:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jan-zwartendijk

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/jan-zwartendijk

161) Chiune Sugihara

He and Wife Yukiko are Credited with Saving the Lives of 6,000 Jews During the Shoah

Born: 1 January 1900, Mino, Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Died: 31 July 1986, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Chiune headed the Japanese Consulate in Lithuania during the war.

The Japanese government refused to dispense visas that would help save countless Jewish lives. So, Chiune and Yukiko took it upon themselves to do something anyway.

In July of 1940, the Soviet Union, who was occupying Lithuania at the time, ordered all foreign consuls to leave the country. Chiune bargained for an extension, to be able to stay twenty days longer.

Things got a bit tricky from there. Unfortunately moving Jews out of Lithuania wasn’t easy. They could be moved to two islands in the Caribbean willing to accept refugees that had a Dutch Transport Visa (See Jan Zwartendijk’s entry, he and Chiune worked on all of this together), but before they could get to those islands they had to move through more of Soviet occupied territory, and in order to move through the Soviet Union, they needed to have a visa marked from Japan because they would also have to travel through Japan to get to the islands.

For twenty-nine Straight Days they Wrote and Signed visas, giving them out to as many Jews as they could.

When Chiune had to leave the city, he Gave his Consulate Stamp to a Jewish Man. That man used the stamp to save others.

Chiune’s government fired him at the end of the War, and he spent the last 20 Years of his life in Poverty.

Today over 40,000 people owe their lives to the Sugiharas. Chiune and Yukiko were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

A 2015 film telling their story was released, titled Persona Non Grata. I have included the trailer in this article.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Secret Heroes of World War II by Eric Chalene

Sources:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/chiune-sugihara

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7526783/chiune-sugihara

160) Mary Anne Talbot

Soldier who Fought in the French Revolution Dressed as a Man Named John Taylor

Born: 2 February 1778, London, United Kingdom

Died: 4 February 1808, Shropshire, United Kingdom

She served in the English navy and army.

Mary was later known as the British Amazon.

Her mother died at birth and she grew up believing herself to be the illegitimate daughter of William Ist Earl Talbot.

She spent some time in the United States too before being discovered as a woman in London in 1796.

In 1809 a publisher put out her story and she’s been a piece of history ever since.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Anne-Talbot

159) Wang Cong’er

Courtesy of Wang Cong'er, WordPress Website

159) Wang Cong’er

Warrior and leader of the White Lotus Society

Born: c1777, China
Died: 1798, China

Considered a rebel outside the law in her own time, today Wang Cong’er is idolized as a heroine. Some even compare her to Hua Mulan—but others say she wasn’t that good.

Before becoming a leader in the rebellion, she was a traveling entertainer—which is where she probably learned martial arts and acrobatics.

Wang Cong’er was married to Qi Lin—the chief runner of the local yamen (meaning administrative office of a local bureaucrat) but he later became a leader of one of the three branches of the White Lotus Society.

In 1795 the White Lotus prepared to launch their first major attack against the government but were caught and Qi Lin was one of around a hundred people to be executed.

After her husband died, Wang Cong’er took over Qi Lin’s leadership. She started winning battles and taking over cities by using offensive guerrilla strategy.

Pretty soon her troops were backed into a corner and Wang Cong’er committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

The White Lotus Society was a centuries old movement that became a rebellion launched against the Qing Dynasty in 1796 (Sadly it has nothing to do with a certain Uncle Iroh and his obsession with Tea, although the that White Lotus held practically the same beliefs).

Sources:

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/wang-conger-famous-female-warrior-and-leader-white-lotus-society-005925

https://wangconger.wordpress.com/biography/

158) Ching Shih

158) Ching Shih

Rose From Prostitute to One of the Most Formidable Pirate Leaders of All Time

Born: c.1775, Canton, China (Present Day Guangdong Province, China)

Died: 1844, Macau, China (Present Day Macao Autonomous Region, China)

Alternate Name: Zheng Shi

Ching Shih came to control the infamous Red Flag Fleet of China.

Accounts differ on how she ended up with her husband but however it happened she left prostitution behind and married him, taking partial control of the Red Flag Fleet that he controlled.

Their fleet grew from around 200 to over 600 and then upwards of 1800 ships.

Eventually they formed the Cantonese Pirate Coalition with another pirate.

Her husband died six years after their wedding; with her stepson’s support she took complete charge of the fleet.

Ching Shih would place a system of taxes and inventory over her ships in which each ship kept 20% of what it plundered and the other 80% went to the communal funds of the entire fleet.

She also put forward rules for captured women (ugly girls were set free and if a pirate wanted to marry one of the girls, he could but he had to swear to be faithful and good to her--being unfaithful and raping someone were grounds for execution).

Ching Shih punished her pirates in a multitude of ways if they broke her code.

She would eventually seek amnesty from the Chinese government but not before negotiating to keep the loot she’d taken over the years.

Ching Shih then married her stepson and had a child with him.

After her second husband died, she moved to Canton and opened a gambling house which she ran until she died.

Ching Shih is portrayed in Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End as one of the Pirate Lords.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located in my Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Sources:
https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/ching-shih-prostitute-pirate-lord-002582

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/ching-shih

157) Anne Bonny

Keira Knightley Who?

Born: c.1697, Cork, Ireland (Present-day Republic of Ireland)

Died: 1782, Charles Town, The Colony of South Carolina (Present-Day Charleston, South Caroline, United States of America)

(Or c.1721 in Port Royal, Jamaica, no one knows for certain)

Pirate who was the illegitimate daughter of a lawyer and his servant woman.

After her father’s wife made his adultery public her dad packed up little Anne and the servant woman who was his new wife and took them to start over in the New World.

Her father bought a plantation in South Carolina and restarted his law practice.

Her mother died when she was a teen and Anne grew a rebellious streak marrying a local pirate when she was sixteen (she loved him, and he wanted her dad’s lands so ya know).

Anne’s dad put her out of the house after he realized he couldn’t make her a respectful woman anymore.

The new couple took off and soon enough her husband realized he couldn’t support her and became a pirate informer instead.

Anne then ran off with Calico Jack—another pirate who romantically offered to buy her off her husband (that was sarcasm, by the way, but she probably found it flattering).

Once she found out she was pregnant Calico left her in Cuba to have the baby and that baby disappears from history.

By the time Anne made it back to Calico’s ship Mary Read was now on board and the two women became fast friends.

Soon enough their entire crew was overtaken and shipped to Port Royal where everyone was found guilty and sentenced to hang.

Anne and Mary were spared because they both claimed to be pregnant. Mary died in prison, but Anne’s end is less clear.

One source says Anne’s father paid her ransom and brought her home, she had Calico’s second child and then married another man—having eight more children with him. Other stories say she died in prison.

The real end to Anne’s story may never be known.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

National Geographic History Magazine Article "Pirate Queens" (March/April 2016 Edition)

Sources:

http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/anne-bonny/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Bonny

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22488988/anne-bonny

156) Mary Read

Not Every Female Pirate Gets an Orlando Bloom in the End

Born: 1685, England (Present-day United Kingdom)

Died: 28 April 1721, Port Royal, Jamaica

Pirate who had an unfortunate childhood—her father and brother died around the time of her birth and in order to get her paternal grandmother’s support in raising her, Mary’s mother disguised Mary as her older brother and raised her as though she was him.

Mary had a series of odd jobs including a stint in the army (still dressed as a boy) before she got married, and then her husband promptly died.

She rejoined the army and sailed for the Caribbean where her ship was attacked and raided by Calico Jack’s crew.

Mary was forced into joining his crew but soon decided she liked it enough to stay. She became friends with Anne Bonny—the only other woman on the ship, and the two have been linked ever since.

In 1720 her pirate career ended when her entire crew was taken captive and sentenced to hang.

Mary managed to stay her execution because she was expecting a baby, but she died in prison of a fever while still pregnant, the baby dying with her.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

National Geographic History Magazine Article "Pirate Queens" (March/April 2016 Edition)

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Read

http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/famous-pirates/mary-read/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4219/mary-read

155) Grace O’Malley

155) Grace O’Malley

Ireland's Pirate Queen

Born: c.1530, Ireland (Present-day County Mayo, Republic of Ireland)

Died: 1603, Rockfleet Castle, Ireland (Present-day County Mayo, Republic of Ireland)

Original Gaelic Name: Grainne Ni Maille

Irish Chieftain and Pirate.

She was born into the Gaelic Aristocracy and was the only child of a local leader (the way Ireland in the 16th Century operated is really confusing so just go with that for now).

Her clan was fiercely independent and made their money in both legal ways (like trading and taxing ships passing through their waters) and less legal ways (like piracy and stealing cattle).

In 1546 she was married off to the heir of another local leader/tribe.

They would have three children and she would have brought a substantial dowry to her marriage (Quick Note: Under Gaelic law the husband took control of the dowry but if the marriage were ever dissolved the wife would get it back in full and women retained control of any property they brought to the marriage and could obtain property independent of their husbands. Go Ancient Gaelic Law!).

Her hot-headed husband was killed in a territorial dispute and since Gaelic law also said she had no right to her husband’s land she went home to her father’s.

The pirate queen name was born out of her return home and the need to provide for her family and people.

Her fleet was anywhere between five and twenty vessels at any given time.

In 1567 she remarried but continued her piracy stuff. Their marriage history is a little murky but what is known is that after her husband’s knighthood she became known as Lady Bourke. They would have one son together. That husband died in 1583 and she found herself a wealthy independent woman.

Then a kind of civil war between the Irish and the Englishmen charged with overseeing Ireland erupted and one of her sons was killed and another sided with the English (she was not happy about that).

Grace lost everything in this fight and made a plea directly to Queen Elizabeth for help. She actually sailed for London on two separate occasions and met with Elizabeth in person.

Elizabeth allowed her to continue her piracy and thoroughly pissed off her ministers in the process.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Rejected Princess

Located in my Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe

Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Sources:

https://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/grainne-mhaol-pirate-queen-of-connacht-behind-the-legend/

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/grace-omalley

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201690783/grace-o'malley

154) Mary Anne Arnold

Sailor and Cross Dresser who was Implored to Start Wearing Dresses Again Once the Captain Learned her True Gender

Born: c1825

Death Date Unknown

Her places of birth and death are also unknown

Mary’s mother died when she was ten leaving her in charge of her eighteen-month-old sister (she had two older brothers who apparently didn’t think to pitch in and help!).

Mary’s father had been a lieutenant in the Royal Navy but was kicked out and died in a hospital when she was a child.

She decided to go to sea after figuring out the boys her age who went were paid much better than what she was earning.

Mary made it onto several different ships over several years before getting caught.

Once her captain found out she was a girl he put her into female clothes and had her grow her hair out. The other women on the ship gave her lots of presents and taught her how to be a lady (she was around 15 by that time).

The only real source for the story comes from an officer aboard a ship called the Robert Small who wrote a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1839.

After the news article was published Mary vanishes from the pages of history.

Badges Earned:

Located In My Personal Library:

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly

Sources:

http://www.heart-of-oak.com/news/mary-anne-arnold-female-sailor-1840/