Historic MacBeth - King of Alba

I've never read Shakespeare's MacBeth, though I don't know if that was an advantage or a disadvantage while reading "King Thereafter," by Dorothy Dunnett.

In Mrs. Dunnett's well-researched historical novel, she theorized that MacBeth and Thorfinn were not two separate people, but were the same historical figure. Here is a time line of that era featuring other historical figures in "King Thereafter," such as King Canute and King Malcolm.

The first character introduced in the novel was Thorkel Amundason, Thorfinn's foster father and a presence in Thorfinn's adult life as well. An excerpt from "King Thereafter" featuring Thorkel (beginning with the first line in Chapter One) can be found here.

A bit of the tale about the power struggle between the Earls of Orkney when Thorfinn started to consolidate his power base can be found here.

The prevalent characteristic about Thorfinn (MacBeth) was his approach to life and his style as king -- it was a chess match where he was several moves ahead of his opponents. This tendency was revealed early; "Here was a youth, it seemed to indicate, ready to fall in with the wishes of others. Sulien could not tell why, therefore, he became seized with the certainty that this proposal of Alfgar's (Note: Lady Godiva's son) was what Thorfinn had intended to do all along." (Page 30) If events did not turn out as anticipated, MacBeth's mind was agile enough to adjust to circumstances, even in the end.

MacBeth is no longer just a character in a Shakespeare play to me after reading "King Thereafter."

Sophie (Lyons) Choice - Or Born Into A Life Of Crime

The notorious Sophie Lyons Burke, retired criminal turned philanthropist, was once considered an "Edison or Morgan or Rockefeller of her field." Sophie came to my attention while doing research on Judge Ira Jayne in the Edith Mae Cummings case because Sophie Lyons Burke's probate case was named in conjunction with Judge Jayne.

A book written by Mrs. Lyons Burke, entitled Why Crime Does Not Pay is online.

I had done most of my research when I found a November 2009 article about Sophie here, "From Rogue to Reformer." This article, in addition to being an entertaining account of Sophie's life, provided additional details about her family. Sophie's granddaughter, Esther Bower, was named, as was Esther's mother, Florence (see here in 1903 and here in 1917 for Florence's two marriages to Joseph Bauer/Bower). The article also mentioned that Sophie and her favorite child, Carleton*, were cremated and buried in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit. [Note: Woodmere Cemetery was in the precinct where Jim worked most of his 25 years as a Detroit cop.]

*Carlton Mason [This one?]
Death date: 05 Mar 1922
Death place: Spokane, Spokane, Washington [not Seattle?]
Age at death: 44 years 11 months 1 day
Estimated birth year: 1878
Father's name: Edward Mason
Mother's name: Sophia Van Elken [Sophie's maiden name]
Collection: Washington Death Certificates, 1907-1960

This newspaper article (in the Prescott Evening Courier, dated 24 January 1929), regarding Sophie Lyons Burke's estate, mentioned Sophie's daughter, Madeline Brady (who was incompetent) and in the care of a guardian in an English hospital.

A brief bio and drawing of Sophie's husband, Ned Lyons, a renown criminal in his own right, can be found here. (There's also a drawing of their cohort, George Mason; was he the father of Sophie's son, Carlton Mason? Pure speculation on my part).

This article, "Queen of Crooks, mentions Sophie's "Paris" years where she was acquainted with Victor Hugo, George Sand and Guy de Maupassant. One of Sophie's daughters was an opera singer in Paris (Lottie?). Contemporary accounts (May 1889) of Sophie as Madame de Varney can be found here and here.

This paragraph from "The jewelers' circular" (26 July 1899) mentioned that William Burke, alias "Billy The Kid," was arrested in the company on the notorious Sophie Lyons, and that he had previously been arrested in Detroit on suspicion of pulling a "sneak job" at Wright Kay jewelers. Billy was turned over to the Pittsburgh police after his Detroit arrest where he got 2 1/2 years for robbery.

Sophie Lyons Burke was in court in Washtenaw County, Michigan; the court expenses (Oct. 1884) for J. W. Babbitt, Asst. Prosecuting Attorney and D. C. Griffin, justice, were listed here. This bio of Sophie (p. 206) stated that she was engaged in blackmail until 6 Feb 1883 when she was convicted at "Ann Harbor [sic]" (Ann Arbor, Washtenaw Co., Michigan) where she was convicted for larceny and sentenced to 3 years at the Detroit House of Corrections.

The "retired" Sophie was robbed in Detroit in 1922, according to this New York Times article printed 6 July 1922. Stolen items included diamonds given to Sophie by her son who had recently died in Seattle, according to the article [Carleton?].

A Rogue's Gallery can be found here, including a picture Sophie Lyons Burke and others mentioned in her book.

The Life & Death Of Edith Mae Cummings

Millionaire, author and murder victim all describe Edith Mae Cummings.

Edith Mae (Cunliffe) Cummings' book, Pots, pans and millions, a study of woman's right to be in business; her proclivities and capacity for success, published in 1929, can be read online here.
A few quotes from her book can be found below:

"My childhood, like that of most children born in the shadow of want, was severe but never tragic. My mother* was left alone with a brood of small children, and because she was unable to earn enough money to keep up the payments on our home the mortgage was foreclosed and she lost it. With six children clinging to her skirts and no special equipment except a kind heart and a ready sympathy for others in distress, she was obliged to shift for herself...".

*Eliza (Gore) Cunliffe

"I was born and raised in a neighborhood** where time and eternity were recorded by the toots of the factory whistle. ...As a girl, kitchen drudgery was very distasteful to me, and when I could, I avoided it. Pots, pans and cooking were always my aversion."

**Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan

"High School work was brought to a close because of the death of my sister, and it was necessary for me then to give up school work altogether...".

"...I secured a position in a downtown hotel, where I later met the young man of my dreams. Then came orange blossoms white satin and a wedding*** reception, and days of glorious sunsets and long nights of silver moon and our work together in the theater. He had a beautiful tenor voice, and the first few years of our married life were spent together in vaudeville and musical recitals... . ...It seemed that nothing could happen that would eclipse this picture of love and work. However, clouds began to gather, and while on the road his health broke down and we were forced to return to Detroit, where, after two years of illness, he died****."

***Groom's name: Thomas G. Cumming
Bride's name: Edith Cunliffe
Bride's age in years: 19
Bride's birth date: 1888
Marriage date: 23 Nov 1907

Marriage place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois

Collection: Illinois, Cook County Marriages 1871-1920

****Thomas Cummings' death record stated that he died of "General Paralysis of Insane" and died at Eloise Hospital on 9 March 1920 and that he was the son of John & Sarah (McGill) Cummings, born 13 Nov 1882 in Michigan.

"With my mother helpless and with two babies***** to support I was confronted with a problem that was not easy to solve."
*****Thomas Cummings, b. ca 1909 & Robert, b. ca 1915

"Of course it was prophesied that a woman couldn't make a "go" of real estate on a big scale, but you must remember that I had already made many contacts in the business world. The first month I did business of around $52,000. ...the first year in business I earned over $100,000 — or as much as the president of the United States."

Mrs. Cummings writes of her philosophy about a woman's place in the world, starting with Adam & Eve and progresses from there throughout history. She stated:

"So when you are confronted with a problem that calls for a sacrifice ...remember the persecutions, sacrifices and the despair of the women of the past. Although obscure because of the lack of records, their lives give the only light to that part of history which they live in."

Mrs. Cummings' view on crime, less than 10 years before she, herself, was murdered, is illustrated here:

"Are we to believe that this is just a final flicker of barbarism, and that our civilization is becoming so well established that crimes...that the instinct to kill, rob and plunder finds its expression now alone in the uncultured and uneducated mind?"

Uncultured and uneducated mind? She was embroiled in fraudulent land schemes that ultimately led to her death.

"It is not law but character that makes us have regard for our neighbor's property."

Good instincts -- what went wrong? It was fraudulent property deals that led to her ultimate downfall.

"The danger of sentiment in business is that we might blind our judgment, and in our effort to help someone we might deal unfairly with the other fellow. We find many people who try to get something for nothing. They are not interested in fair dealing."

What blinded her judgment???

"A broken spirit loses hope and courage, and causes failure, insanity and suicide. ...they go about as do the insane in the beautiful grounds allotted to them."

Expressing thoughts about her late husband? Or a premonition of her own future? Julia M. Barker, Edith's occasional business partner who shot and killed her, stated that Edith's death was a murder/suicide thwarted by Julia as she and Edith struggled over the gun. Julia was convicted of manslaughter, not murder. Did the jury believe that Julia was the intended victim?

"Life in many ways is like a voyage; when we are born we start on our journey, like a battleship going to war under sealed orders. When the captain leaves his port he knows not what providence has in store, and so it is with life. We start out upon the sea of life, and we know not what our port will be. We do not know the dangers of the voyage, the sunken reefs, the icebergs nor the stormy capes upon which our life may be ruined. They are all unknown to us. Through perils and treacherous storms and through the calm, we must steer our ship into this unknown course. Fate is the maker of our chart: no two persons ever sail over exactly the same route."

How fortunate for Edith that she did not know in 1929, when she wrote the book quoted above, what fate had in store for her on the banks of the Huron River, near Belleville, Michigan, on January 15, 1938. A newspaper account of Edith Cummings' murder can be found here. Mrs. Barker said it was in self-defense and that Mrs. Cummings threatened to kill her and commit suicide because "we're in so deep in these land deals that we will never get out."

Note: Mrs. Cummings' home in Dearborn, Michigan, can be found here in her book. A picture of the interior of her home can be seen here. A photograph of Edith Mae (Cunliffe) Cummings' home that was her birthplace can be found in her book here.