Category: Birth Locations

461) Ann Rutledge

461: Ann Rutledge

Abraham Lincoln’s First Love (Reportedly)

Born: 7 January 1813, Henderson, Kentucky, United States of America

Died: 25 August 1835, New Salem, Illinois, United States of America

Ann's untimely death led to what some believe to be Lincoln’s famous melancholy from which he never fully recovered.

Ann was known to be very studious and loved to read. Abraham lived with her family for a time in New Salem, Illinois, long before he became President of the United States.

When Ann and Abraham met, Ann was already engaged to another man, however it is likely she did not want to marry him. The man in question had bought her family's property and allowed them to continue living there once the Rutledge's fell on hard times, but he left Illinois for a few years to attend to his ailing father. Once Ann and Abraham decided to marry, they wrote Ann's fiance, asking for him to release Ann from her vow, though he never wrote back. By the time he returned to Illinois, Ann was dead.

Ann makes an appearance in the novel Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter—as one of the victims of the vampires.

There are no known photographs or drawings of Ann in existence today (despite what Google Images would have you believe).

She has two gravesites (both marked on Find a Grave).

To this day, historians debate the depth of Ann and Abraham's relationship. Some claim the evidence is irrefutable, that Ann and Abraham were deeply in love. I am one of those believers. However, other scholars believe the relationship was not so profound, if it existed beyond friendship at all. Either way, Ann was a person. She was a sister, daughter, and friend, and she deserves to be remembered as such.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (Historical Fiction)

Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex, and Scandal (1789-1900) by Robert Watson

Sources:

http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/the-women/anne-rutledge/

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0026.104/--overwhelming-evidence-of-a-lincoln-ann-rutledge-romance?rgn=main;view=fulltext

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18472961/ann-mayes-rutledge

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3004/ann-mayes-rutledge

460) Sajida Talfah

Courtesy of All That's Interesting

460: Sajida Talfah

Saddam Hussein’s First Wife

Born: 24 June 1937, Tikrit, Iraq

Last Confirmed Sighting: 2003

Sajida disappeared at the start of the Second Gulf War, never to be seen again.

Their marriage was arranged before they were ten years old (and they were first cousins). Sajida and Saddam had five children together and it is known that before they married Sajida was a schoolteacher.

After Saddam began appearing in public with his then-mistress and later second wife, Sajida and her family became outraged and spoke out against the abuse (and her brother died in a “freak” helicopter accident that was proven to have been bombed later on).

As far as anyone knows, Sajida fled Iraq to seek refuge abroad after the fall of Baghdad and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. It was originally believed Sajida and two of her daughters wanted to flee to Great Britain, however, the British government later denied the presence of Sajida or her family members and made it clear they would not have accepted them even if Sajida had applied for asylum.

Sources:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/sajida-talfah

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/saddam-party-left-today-180319100523008.html

https://apnews.com/e4516497e7ee31c2f5e4fd5866e266bc

459) Joséphine de Beauharnais Bonaparte

Courtesy of Pinterest

459: Joséphine de Beauharnais Bonaparte

Napoleon’s First Wife; Empress of France and Queen Consort of Italy

Born: 23 June 1763, Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique

Died: 29 May 1814, Rueil-Malmaison, France

Original Name: Marie-Josèphe-Rose Tascher de La Pagerie

Joséphine’s first husband and the father of her two children was arrested and executed by guillotine during the Reign of Terror. She was arrested as well but escaped execution after Robespierre fell from power.

Joséphine was now a widow with two small children and no income. Her friend took her in and provided for her, eventually introducing her to the now up and coming general Napoleon Bonaparte. They married in a civil ceremony in 1796, despite the fact that Joséphine was six years old and not nearly as in love with Napoleon as he was with her.

Joséphine had numerous affairs between her first husband’s death and marrying Napoleon, and after they married, she had more affairs leading to the love between her and Napoleon not being the same it was before he learned of her indiscretions.

In 1809, Napoleon requested a divorce from her because she could no longer conceive a child to give him an heir. Despite the divorce, Joséphine retained her titles of empress and queen until 1814, passing away a few weeks after Napoleon announced his abdication from the throne.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Historical Heartthrobs by Kelly Murphy

Royal Love Stories by Gill Paul

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White & Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Josephine

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/great-characters/josephine-beauharnais

https://www.napoleon.org/en/young-historians/napodoc/limperatrice-josephine-1763-1814/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7038208/josephine-rose-bonaparte

458) Chyna

Courtesy of Wikipedia

458: Chyna

Professional Wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation

Born: 27 December 1969, Rochester, New York, United States of America

Died: 20 April 2016, Redondo Beach, California, United States of America

Real Name: Joan Marie Laurer

Chyna was also an actress. One of her nicknames was “The Ninth Wonder of the World”.

She is the only woman to have won the Intercontinental Championship.

In 1998, Chyna was the first woman to qualify for the King of the Ring Tournament.

In 2019, she was inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame, but controversy reigns from this because she was inducted as part of a group of wrestlers and not on her own for her own accomplishments.

She died from an accidental prescription drug overdose mixed with alcohol.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0491321/bio

https://nypost.com/2019/08/14/mom-of-wwe-legend-chyna-threatens-to-sue-autopsy-show-on-her-death/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161427834/joan-laurer

458) Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos

Courtesy of Wikipedia

457: Sister Lucia Santos

Fatima Prophecy Receiver (Alongside Her Two Cousins)

Born: 28 March 1907, Aljustrel, Portugal

Died: 13 February 2005, Coimbra, Portugal

The children claimed the Virgin Mary appeared to them on the thirteenth of each month for five months in a row in 1917.

The predictions stated there would be world wars, an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, and even a resurgence of Christianity in Russia.

Lucia went on to become a Carmelite Nun—Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart—after her two cousins who also witnessed the Virgin Mary died in 1919 and 1920 from influenza.

She died in the same convent she had lived in since 1948.

Her case was opened for possible beatification (the process to become a saint in the Catholic church) only three years after her death instead of the usual five. In 2017, the church announced another step, the diocesan process, had officially closed for Sister Lucia, bringing her one step closer to sainthood.

In April of 2020 a Hollywood film depicting Lucia's story is set to be released. The trailer for the film, entitled Fatima, is linked here in this article.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucia-dos-Santos

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/a-personal-look-at-fatimas-saintly-sister-lucia-92368

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/sister-lucia-of-fatima-takes-step-toward-beatification

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10468533/l_cia-de_jesus_rosa-dos_santos

456) Kayla Mueller

Courtesy of the Christian Broadcasting Network

"As long as I live, I will not let suffering be normal."

456: Kayla Mueller

Human Rights Activist and Christian Aid Worker

Born: 14 August 1988, Prescott, Arizona, United States of America

Died: 6 February 2015, Syria

Kayla was taken captive by the Islamic State after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria. She was held for a year and a half and subjected to torture and rape by the leader of ISIL; with him even declaring Kayla was his wife.

In February of 2015—after the Islamic State tweeted that Kayla had been killed in a bombing, President Obama announced her death—however, as of 2018, Kayla’s parents are saying the only proof they have of their daughter’s death is an email from the Islamic State claiming she was given Islamic Rites before burial in an undisclosed location—and the photos for “proof of death” were deemed scientifically inconclusive by an expert hired by her parents.

Three ISIL members have been captured who are known to have had a hand in Kayla’s torture and yet as of September 2018 none of them were charged with crimes against her in the United States or anywhere else.

In late 2019, President Trump authorized a raid that led to the eventual death of the leader of ISIL. The raid was named in honor of Kayla.

Her parents are waiting for news as to the whereabouts of Kayla’s body, and for justice to be served.

According to the book Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorism by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, Kayla's exact date of death was given by a high-ranking, female ISIL member, who was in charge of holding Kayla hostage for a time. The woman also held Yazidi women who had been kidnapped hostage as well. Thousands of Yazidi women have been taken by ISIL to use as sex-slaves.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Sources:

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/kayla-muellers-parents-speak-out-in-wake-of-trump-announcement-of-islamic-state-leaders-death

https://abcnews.go.com/US/family-slain-isis-hostage-kayla-mueller-secretly-met/story?id=66573404

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/02/10/kayla-s-family-never-nixed-rescue-plan

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142282271/kayla-jean-mueller

455) Margaret Isabella Breen McMahon

Courtesy of Find a Grave

455: Margaret McMahon

The Last Survivor of the Donner Party

Born: 1845, Keokuk, Iowa, United States of America

Died: 25 March 1935, Hollister, California, United States of America

Full Name: Margaret Isabella Breen McMahon

Margaret was one year old during that winter of 1846 and 1847.

The Donner Party was a group of eighty-nine pioneers headed west to California and what would become Oregon and Washington State. After being led astray by a faulty guide, the pioneers became trapped at what is now called Donner Lake during the winter of 1846. Supplies were already running low, and out of desperation, certain members of the party turned to cannibalism to survive, giving the party the infamous connotation that stays with it to this day. Of the original eighty-one who camped at Donner Lake, only forty-five would survive and make it to California.

Margaret was retrieved during what has been called the Second Relief, or the second time a rescue mission came in to get the pioneers out. However, Margaret and others were then abandoned at Starving Camp after a new winter storm blew in, and the rescuers weren't able to continue on with them—luckily Margaret and her family were finally rescued during the Third Relief, or third rescue attempt. The Breens and the Reeds were the only families to survive intact.

Margaret was too little to remember what happened to her family and the other pioneers that winter, but until the end of her life she continued to share the story and educate others on what had happened that winter. She would regularly sit in classrooms and contribute to discussions, making sure the world remembered the Donner Party.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

The Best Land Under Heaven by Michael Wallis

Sources:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Breen-277

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12352895/margaret-isabella-mcmahon

https://www.history.com/topics/westward-expansion/donner-party

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/06/donner-party-cannibalism-nation-west/

454) Leyla Mafi

454: Leyla Mafi

Child Prostitute Sentenced to Death and Flogged in Iran

Born: c.1991, Iran

Iran remains the last country that still allows children to be executed.When Leyla was sentenced in 2004 she was still a teenager under the age of eighteen.

Tehran reaffirmed their decision to execute her for having illegal sex—At the time Amnesty International stated she had the mental age of an eight-year-old—the same age her mother forced her to become a prostitute. Also according to Amnesty International, Leyla's parents sold her at the age of twelve to an Afghan man to be his "temporary wife". At the age of fourteen, her now mother-in-law forced her back into prostitution, and she gave birth to twins as a result. Her birth family sold her again to a fifty-five year old married man, and he turned her back into a prostitute.

Leyla reportedly gave birth to her first child when she was nine years old.

While Leyla was in prison awaiting her execution, now famous human rights activist and journalist Asieh Amini fought to hire Leyla a lawyer. Despite her being a teenager, Leyla could not sign the form that would allow Asieh to retain an attorney for her, so Asieh placed ink on Leyla’s finger and managed to get her to make a mark on the form. Despite a setback, Leyla was given an attorney soon afterward, and once Asieh wrote an article on Leyla’s plight, international attention refocused on her case.

Leyla was granted a new trial, and the judge reduced her sentence from death to ninety-nine lashes. in March of 2005. After receiving her punishment, Leyla was placed in a care home. While there, she was given an education and learned to read and write, eventually functioning on the level of a fifth grader.

Since 2005, no new news has been released into the whereabouts of Leyla. The majority of the information provided for this article was written in a piece about Asieh Amini from 2016 in The New Yorker. That article is linked below. Other information comes from Amnesty International; the article of which is also linked below.

Sources:

https://www.iranfocus.com/en/women-mainmenu-28/1064-tehran-confirms-womans-death-sentence

https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/iran-the-last-executioner-of-children/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_youngest_birth_mothers

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/war-of-words-annals-of-activism-laura-secor