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Post by Diane Merkel on Aug 10, 2006 11:46:16 GMT -6
A nice though unusual way to remember Keogh: Race going strong 29 years running, boating, bikingThe Great Race's official name is worthy of a competition with a 29-year pedigree and multiple trials on land and water.
The Captain Myles Keogh Paddle, Wheel and Run has its historical mascot in an Irish mercenary who died with Lt. Col. George A. Custer's 7th Cavalry in the battle with American Indian tribes close to the Little Bighorn River in Montana.
Keogh's horse Comanche was the only survivor of the battle. A daughter of New York governor Enos Throop was infatuated with Keogh and she had his body exhumed and reburied in Fort Hill Cemetery.
That kind of devotion for Keogh is also reflected in the community's deep affection for a race that is both a summer social highlight and an outpouring of volunteer effort. The article: www.auburnpub.com/articles/2006/08/10/news/go/go01.txt |
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Post by elisabeth on Aug 10, 2006 13:05:08 GMT -6
It's delightful, isn't it! I'm sure he'd love it. And take part, if they'd only add an equestrian event for ghosts.
Terrific that he's remembered by something that people enjoy.
The article has a quote from a Marty Keough -- who I believe I've read is related in some way? I saw another piece on this, maybe from last year, which featured his photo, and the resemblance was almost spookily striking.
(Fact, to be boring: the lady in question was a daughter of Enos Throop Martin. And "infatuated": well, yes, that can readily be inferred, and I wouldn't quarrel with it -- I completely believe it too -- but in fairness to poor Nelly, the family claimed the two were engaged. That is very much unproven. However, she was a formidable lady, and no kind of bunny-boiling loony as the article slightly suggests!)
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Post by Melani on Aug 12, 2006 14:56:37 GMT -6
Ooo, I want a tee shirt!  To be even more factual (but I hope not boring), Keogh requested to be buried in the Martin family plot in his last letter to Nelly before leaving on the expedition. I guess we'll never really know if they were engaged or not; I sometimes think perhaps Nelly fostered that impression after the fact, but he certainly was very fond of her. Elisabeth, that article you sent me about her keeping his dress uniform on a stand in the hallway, where it frightened a delivery boy, seems a little over the top, even for Victorians. An equestrian event for ghosts would be great. Imagine the competition! |
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Post by elisabeth on Aug 13, 2006 3:36:33 GMT -6
I think you're probably right that the "engagement" was a later invention -- as Keogh's decision to be buried in Auburn seems to have been a last-minute one. It was certainly news to Nowlan, who was convinced he'd be buried in Louisville. If there'd been anything resembling a formal engagement, it's hard to believe that even someone as secretive as Keogh wouldn't have told his closest friend in the regiment about it. Some sort of "understanding", perhaps; but I tend to doubt even that. Unless arrived at by letter, it would have to date back to his last Auburn visit, which seems likely (but isn't proven) to have been October 1874. A very long time to keep something like that quiet ... I was wrong about Marty Keough: despite the resemblance, it seems he's not related. Here's the website for the whole jolly event, complete with its history (but with no mention of tee shirts, alas!): www.great-race.com/ |
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To be even more factual (but I hope not boring), Keogh requested to be buried in the Martin family plot in his last letter to Nelly before leaving on the expedition. I guess we'll never really know if they were engaged or not; I sometimes think perhaps Nelly fostered that impression after the fact, but he certainly was very fond of her. Elisabeth, that article you sent me about her keeping his dress uniform on a stand in the hallway, where it frightened a delivery boy, seems a little over the top, even for Victorians.