A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans: Pirates, Skinflints, Patriots, and Other Colorful Characters Stuck in the Footnotes of History

by Michael Farquhar

A lively, compulsively browsable collection of neglected notables-from the bestselling author of A Treasury of Royal Scandals

"History," wrote Thomas Carlyle, "is the essence of innumerable biographies." Yet countless fascinating characters are relegated to a historical limbo. In A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans , Michael Farquhar has scoured the annals and rescued thirty of the most intriguing, unusual, and yes, memorable Americans from obscurity. From the mother of Mother's Day to Paul Revere's rival rider, the Mayflower murderer to "America's Sherlock Holmes," these figures are more than historical runners-up-they're the spies, explorers, patriots, and martyrs without whom history as we know it would be very different indeed.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, American History, Historical, Audiobook, Pirates

257 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Michael Farquhar, a former writer and editor at The Washington Post, is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the critically acclaimed Behind the Palace Doors and Secret Lives of the Tsars, as well as the popular Penguin "Treasury" series: A Treasury of Royal Scandals, A Treasury of Great American Scandals, A Treasury of Deception, and A Treasury of Foolishly Forgotten Americans. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the cover blurb reminds us, countless fascinating characters are relegated to the footnotes of history, a situation that Michael Farquhar tries to remedy in this entertaining book. Farquhar shines a light on thirty characters who would otherwise remain shrouded in the mists of obscurity, with mixed results.

One obvious problem is that some people deserve to languish in obscurity. Despite Farquhar's enthusiasm, not everyone profiled in this book lived an interesting, let alone a fascinating, life. A useful test question would have been "Is this someone I would enjoy sitting next to on a plane?" Had the author applied it, several characters would not have made the cut, and this would have been an infinitely better book. Farquhar, or his editors, should have realized that:

* The sadly pedestrian criminal behavior of John Billington does not become interesting just because he was a passenger on the Mayflower.
* It's a shame that Mary Dyer was hanged for her Quaker beliefs, but a mildly remarkable death doesn't mean her life was interesting.
* That evangelist Zilpha Elaw was a black woman might be unusual, but doesn't make reading about her call to Jesus, and subsequent proselytizing, any less tedious.
(You wouldn't invite Mary or Zilpha into your home for a riveting discussion of their religious enthusiasms; reading about them is no less unappealing.)
* The lives of Richard Johnson and Clement Vallandigham do nothing to dispel the conclusion that most unsuccessful politicians earn their obscurity.
* A single accomplishment (e.g. inventing Mother's Day, or the Fosbury flop) may deserve nothing more than a footnote in history.

Excluding the duds would have allowed a more expanded account of the genuinely interesting lives. I for one, would have liked to learn more about these fascinating characters:

Anne Bonney, pirate of the Caribbean
Louise Boyd, socialite and Arctic explorer
Mary Jemison, "white woman of the Genesee"
Sarah Winnemucca, "Paiute princess"
William J. Burns, "America's Sherlock Holmes"
Gaston B. Means, "American scoundrel"
Beulah Louise Henry, "the female Edison"
Elizabeth Bentley, "Red Spy Queen"
James Callender, muckraker for the First Amendment
Isaac Parker, "The Hanging Judge"
Edwin Forrest, "First American Idol"
Guy Gabaldon, "Pied Piper of Saipan"

Each of these chapters left me wanting more. In particular, devoting fewer than three pages to Beulah Louise Henry seemed almost criminal. Vignettes of more even length, dedicated to the 20 most interesting characters, would have made for a much better book.

But let's not quibble. 20 out of 30 is a pretty decent batting average. Farquhar writes reasonably well, with an enthusiasm that is engaging. The format of the book makes it ideal for occasional sampling. Although your choice and mine may differ, I'll wager that there will be at least half a dozen vignettes that will charm the pants off you. Furthermore, if the chapter on Guy Gabaldon, the 18-year-old marine who singlehandedly took hundreds of Japanese prisoners at the end of World War II, isn't in that top half dozen, I'll eat my hat.*

*: or any other similarly-sized garment, of your choosing.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

For what this purports to be, a quick sketch of foolishly forgotten Americans, it is perfect. Farquhar has found quite a few & did a very credible job of giving a thumbnail view of their lives, the times, & their impact on history. He tells the good & the bad, the facts & the perceptions of the times. Perhaps that last is the most instructive.

Perhaps the best example that I caught was Sarah Winnemucca [Hopkins] (AKA “The Piaute Princess” or Thocmetony). Another quick sketch of her life is included in "How Lincoln Learned to Read" which I reviewed here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In that thumbnail, she shines even though she had a tough life. Farquhar shows that, but also how her personal life impacted her public life. For example, she was attracted to bad boys & wound up using money she raised for her school to pay her husband's debts. He gives a much better idea of the real person, I think.

Anyway, it's a great book that covers a lot of time & an eclectic cast of characters, each got a chapter:
John Billington: Mayflower Murderer
Mary Dyer: Quaker Martyr
Anne Bonny: Pirate of the Caribbean
Tom Quick: “The Indian Slayer”
Mary Jemison: “The White Woman of the Genesee”
William Dawes: The Other Midnight Rider
James T. Callender: Muckraker for the First Amendment
John Ledyard: The Explorer Who Dreamed of Walking the World
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: Royal American
Stephen Pleasonton: The Clerk Who Saved the Constitution (and the Declaration of Independence, Too)
Richard Mentor Johnson: The Veep Who Killed Tecumseh
Zilpha Elaw: An Unlikely Evangelist
Edwin Forrest: American Idol
Rose O’Neale Greenhow: A Spy of Grande Dame Proportion Rose O'Neal Greenhow
Clement Vallandigham: Copperhead
Mary Surratt: The Mother of Conspirators?
Tunis Campbell: Pillar of Reconstruction
Sarah Winnemucca: “Piaute Princess”
Alexander “Boss” Shepherd: The Man Who Made Washington “Worthy of the Nation” Alexander Robey Shepherd
Isaac C. Parker: “The Hanging Judge”
Hetty Green: “The Witch of Wall Street”
Oliver Curtis Perry: Outlaw of the East
Anna Jarvis: The Mother of Mother’s Day
William J. Burns: “America’s Sherlock Holmes”
Gaston B. Means: American Scoundrel Gaston Means
Louise Arner Boyd: The Socialite Who Conquered the Arctic Wilderness
Beulah Louise Henry: “Lady Edison”
Guy Gabaldon: “The Pied Piper of Saipan”
Elizabeth Bentley: “Red Spy Queen”
Dick Fosbury: Father of the Flop

Very well narrated. Highly recommended!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read! There are 30 stories about 30 people who have been forgotten by history. I knew about 13 of them, people such as Mary Surratt. She was hanged for her part in the conspiracy to kill Lincoln and many historians maintain that she was innocent. There was an excellent movie ( I thought) about her, "The Conspirator," so she isn't such a forgotten figure as far as I'm concerned. I also knew about Anne Bonny, the female pirate of the Caribbean, and John Ledyard, the man who tried to walk around the world. I even knew about William Dawes, the other midnight rider, who was forgotten by history as Paul Revere got all the attention!
I did not know anything about the "Paiute Princess" Sarah Winnemucca, a most remarkable female leader of her people. And I thought I knew a lot about Native Americans and the history of the West! For all that I've read about World War II, somehow I missed the story of Guy Gabaldon. He was the Marine who single-handedly captured 800 Japanese on the island of Saipan. I've even visited Saipan and I had never heard his incredible story! I also didn't know about the "Lady Edison"--Beulah Louise Henry-- or the great con man Gaston B. Means.
Do you know who was the Mother of Mother's Day? I didn't. ( Anna Jarvis).
I'm sure another book could be written about many more foolishly forgotten Americans...

[jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of bios on Americans who did amazing, terrible or revolutionary things, yet have sunk into obscurity.
Being a fan of pirate history, I knew a lot about Anne Bonny, who really isn't obscure in those books, and I'd read of the famous miser Hetty Green and the Quaker preacher Mary Dyer, but most of these people were new to me. And it's probably no surprise that many are women, like Sarah Winnemucca, who confronted President Hayes about the treatment of her Paiute tribe or Louise Boyd, who financed her own explorations in the Arctic and whose knowledge and mapping of Greenland was put to use by the U.S. during WWII.
Others are William Dawes, the other Midnight Rider with Paul Revere, and Stephen Pleasonton, a clerk who used his own initiative to save the Constitution from destruction when the British burned the original White House.
Good research and good choices of Americans we really should be familiar with.

[Cynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just enough information here to get readers to become aware of/remember people sometimes mentioned with a secondary work or discussed a bit in footnotes and endnotes. And sometimes books get written in more or less equal amounts about the people, their times, and their situations. Such books can be found in the back of the text in the Selected Bibliograghy. These are people who have effected some influence or significant amounts of influence, just not a lot of obvious influence. Perhaps Farquhar inte ded to entertain and inform both. After some thought, Farquhar has done a good job of entertaining and imforming. Everytime I think he should have included this or that as well, I figured out how much thought the writer had put into this work. A good book for relaxation time.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Michael Farquhar does not disappoint.

[Court · Rating 5 out of 5]

"History is the essence of innumerable biographies." ~ Thomas Carlyle.
Innumerable biographies is what Michael Farquhar has created in this, his fifth book. Consisting of 30 chapters that briefly, and I mean briefly, highlight the lives of 30 Americans, Farquhar brings to witty life forgotten, but important Americans. This book is not for those who love a 'meaty' non-fiction book, whose facts are being bandied about with new interpretations by authors trying to win a Pulitzer. This is a book that is a quick, light, humorous, and engaging read, full of characters that have been 'around' for centuries. From Anne Bonny, the original pirate queen, to Anna Jarvis, the loony mother of Mother's Day. Each character has been given back a piece of history that should have been theirs. Rather than letting this cast of characters remain in their dusty and misplaced tomes, Michael Farquhar uses humor and a witty writing to bring these memorable Americans back to life. After all, whether we remember them by name or not, they have had an influence on our modern world. From nearly every decade, and certainly every century, there are Americans worth remembering, not only for their exploits, but also for their origins. Michael Farquhar brings these and many more historical figures who should be more well known to the fore-front of our minds.

[Gil Burket · Rating 4 out of 5]

History - Light.

An entertaining book that lives up to its title. Good light reading for someone interested in history. While some of these are truly unknown, many can be found mentioned in main stream texts.

A good introduction for someone who decries history as BORING! Reading this might change their mind.

[Logan]

I’ve been “currently reading” this for over two years now. I think it’s time I accept that I’m just not going to finish it. It’s not a bad book or anything; I just don’t have the motivation to finish it.

DNF 24 Mar 2020

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a really interesting read, but somehow, it just didn't happen.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

While wandering through the library looking for a worthwhile audiobook, I thought that this book might be sufficiently quirky to be a good listen. I am glad that I listened to it, because it proved to be not only about seven hours worth of entertaining listening while I drove to and fro in the greater Portland area, but because it had more to say and deeper things to say than I first thought. I would have been content with a few breezy and short biographical sketches that showed delightfully odd people, and this book certainly met that limited standard, but the book prompted at least a few other reflections as well. For example, these people are largely forgotten because few people care about sports like the high jump or read biographies [1]. Related to this thought was the fact that this book made it easy to understand that the famous people of today will mostly be forgotten. Celebrity is not an enduring currency at all, nor is political or cultural power, as the people in this book were ones who would be famous had they been doing what they were doing today. There would be magazine articles about them, television specials, and then, all too quickly, they would be forgotten long before they were even dead.

What makes a life worth remembering? That is the unspoken question that follows many of these people, who were forgotten for deeply obscure reasons. One fellow, Dawes, was a midnight rider like Paul Revere, but did not have the same gift of self-promotion, the same credibility within Patriot circles, and the same poetic name, and so he is largely forgotten. Richard Johnson was once Vice President of the United States, but for the forgotten Martin Van Buren, and became famous in a forgotten war as the supposed killer of the brave Shawnee chief Tecumseh, who is remembered largely because a famous Civil War general I deeply admire was named after him [2]. And on and on it goes. There seemed to be no way for these people to ensure that they could stay in public attention, as most of the people involved had a brief moment of celebrity for one reason or another, whether exploration or acting or sports or politics, but died young or had only a short period in the spotlight and did not do deeds that endured, or had people who were able to make their deeds sing. It is the fate of all too many people to serve for the benefit of humanity for a lifetime and then to be entirely forgotten, as even martyrdom cannot ensure that one's deeds will be remembered.

The book itself takes a chronological approach to the people it discusses, starting in the colonial period and ending with the living pioneer of the high jump technique that is most commonly used today. Aside from providing a few hours of delightful enjoyment, this book will likely serve one other useful and meritorious purpose, and that is encouraging those readers who enjoy reading about the delightfully odd lives discussed in the book to go seek out the larger and fuller accounts from biographers. After all, to the extent that we celebrate the efforts of responsible biography, we help ensure the memory of many people, and perhaps even ourselves, if we may be repaid for helping others to be remembered by being remembered ourselves, and thus being rescued from oblivion and becoming a part of the past that is worth remembering. None of us can demand this of the world, but hopefully we live lives that are worth remembering for good reasons, and that endure after we depart this mortal coil and sleep peacefully in the grave. A good many of the people in this particular book were worth remembering, and it is a good thing that such a worthwhile book was written about them, to encourage some part of their lives to stick in the minds of others and so to be preserved from oblivion and nothingness.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

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[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great idea for a book and a reminder of how many truly colorful characters have made this country what it is. I had heard of a few of these people, but I was truly amazed by some that I hadn't. The real stand-out for me was Richard Mentor Johnson, the war hero who killed Tecumsah, became a Senator and Van Buren's Vice President. He had real presidential ambitions, but one big "problem". He considered lived with a slave woman as his wife and had three children by her. The "problem" was he considered them to be equals and expected Washington society to treat them accordingly. Basically, the VP had a Black wife. People told him they couldn't support him for President for that reason alone. That's just one of many amazing tales of U.S. history in this fun quickie read.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining collection of biographical sketches of varying depth on a handful of interesting and lesser-known (or generally forgotten) individuals who had an impact on American history (or a level of notoriety). Some I knew of, a couple I had never heard about, and it is always good to hear a new story or to have old ones refreshed and possibly even enhanced. The one I liked best was about a Mexican-American, who had been partially raised in a Japanese-American household, who managed during the battle for Saipan to coax hundreds of Japanese soldiers away from futile certain death to give up to the Americans, whom they feared (as they had been indoctrinated to believe) were vicious brutes.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Farquhar has scooped an almost random assortment of characters from American history, arranged them in chronological order, scraped miniature biographies out of various sources (which he kindly lists in a bibliography)and calls it a book. Reading this "treasury" is like opening a bag of chips, it is hard to stop with just one. They are short, there are some that have flown below the radar, but many are minor characters that play their parts in the shadows of the big events of American history. The cover and the title promise more than is delivered. Not a bad read, but also not a great one.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Buddy read with Erica!

This book was pretty hit-or-miss for me. Some of the subjects chosen were good picks (such as the guy who saved the Declaration of Independence or the Midnight Rider who WASN'T Paul Revere) but others were frankly uninteresting and perhaps should have stayed in obscurity.

Somehow, the people I found boring had the longest chapters, while the ones I wanted to know more about ended after just a few pages. This book had a hard time holding my attention the longer I read it, and I started to just skim towards the end.

I enjoyed the other book I read by this author, but this one was just ultimately too dull too often for me.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up because it was recommended in the bibliography of another book I read. Being the history buff that I am I wasn't sure that I would learn much of anything from this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. Though some of the people featured are fairly well-known, the majority of them are people you won't read about in any history books. The book is irreverent and funny, but unlike the Royal Scandals book by the author, everything was true as far as I can tell. The book was also organized chronologically which made for easier reading. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the not-so-famous figures of American history.

[Sid Kramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. Just as the title suggests, snippets of Forgotten Americans, or some never covered in school. Purchased in JFK Int'l Airport for a return flight to Phoenix in 2008, it was the perfect book for the flight. But I only read 18 of the 30 short stories in the book. Doomed as a airline book in sat on a shelf waiting for the next flight... I saw it this year, 6 years later and I completed the reading. One notable and totally unknown to me was, Louise Arner Boyed: The Socialite Who Conquered the Artic Wilderness. She spurred my imagination to read more about her!

[Starbubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. Some stories I clearly understood why the people were foolishly forgotten, whereas others I could argue are wisely forgotten. I did read what seemed like most mostly, others were skimmed and others outright skipped. It's a collection of tiny little blurbs about various people of influence and field of interest, arranged in chronological order. I did enjoy reading about the Fosbury Flop, and Arctic Socialite. I could have skipped the actor one, just about all of the Civil War spy & sympathizers, and serial killers. I think it might be a fun one for a kid to read.

[Magen · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF on audio at about 50%

Yes, I'm still giving this three stars because I'm sure there's an audience for this and because I want to promote history literacy, but...

If you are a regular consumer of peer reviewed historical journals and books, or especially if you write any of those things, this is not a book for you. If you read pop history nonfiction more regularly than other genres, this is not for you. If you like historic fiction or rarely read at all, you might like this, but only "maybe." My mom would probably like this. She doesn't read but she claims to enjoy history most when she does read, while I am actually a historian and she teases me for being "too serious" about history.

This is a collection of informational essays about historic figures. They are not as direct, perhaps, as a Wikipedia entry. I'll give that Farquhar's journalistic flourish makes the book better than a Wikipedia article, but only just. There really is no depth beyond the brief biographical summaries offered. There is very little contextualization for the sake of analysis, and Farquhar offers no real perspective. Without having a copy with a bibliography to reference, I would guess Farquhar's research draws from only a few sources.

Really, this is a book you find at the gift shop at a historic site. While there are better books by real historians on the shelf next to it, you buy this one because you want something to read on the plane and you find the title whimsical and charming. The historians you rebuffed go without a royalty check that month. They continue to substitute teach while applying for summer residency programs at that historic site you visited, researching and writing for a small historic journal, hosting a history podcast that gets ten listeners a month, and caring for their ailing mother and her cats. Meanwhile, you read a few chapters of this, get bored, give up, and donate it to Goodwill a few months later.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

So history is way more interesting than school led me to believe. Not that it keeps my interest any better. But I feel like I've learned a little bit more about some historical people. Like the founder of mother's day, and other random people lost to history.

Also the narrator wasn't bad, He had a nice voice with good pacing and cadence.
Overall I feel this is a good book to while away the time with.

Recommended? Sure
Buy/Borrow? Borrow it.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little vignettes of American history, chronologically arranged. I found myself often telling people the fun facts contained there in like "Did you know Hetty Green tried to get free health care for her son's leg and it had to be amputated?" and "Did you know an American married Napoleon's little brother and he cut him off until the brother would abandon his wife?" Short enough to read a couple before going to bed or in a waiting room.

[Claudia Scarbrough · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trying to research my ancestor, John Billington,who came over on the Mayflower, I got this book from the library to add to my knowledge. No such. A rehash of William Bradford's very negative view of John and Bradford's defense of himself for hanging him.

I should have realized with a title as such it was not research. Duh!

Returned immediately.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun history lesson about some people throughout American history that are entertaining but may have slipped through the cracks of history taught in schools. Some of them I recognized, some others the details were vague and this helped bridge that gap. No story about each one is too long, so you could take your time and read a little about each one.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the other collections by Mr. Farquhar, this book alternates between amusing tales of eccentric characters to hideous depictions of our cruelity to one another. I always learn things I did not know before, and am always entertained throughout.

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was able to spot a few errors such as attributing Greenland to the Netherlands rather than Denmark and spelling Roy Cohn's surname with an "e", which made made me wonder what others there were, but the stories, apart from a couple of seriously tragic ones in the middle are amusing and diverting.

[Cindy Wyatt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not nearly as charming as its subtitle.

[Keri Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting...I knew some but most were new to me. I appreciated the quotations from original sources.

[Call Me Cordelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love his books! They're delightful, believable, and prompt me to do my own research. Highly recommend to anyone who's even remotely interested in American History.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is fun to read about the people who took part in history but for some reason, other than in a book like this, we don’t know about them. It’s a good read for that reason.

[Jaymin Ewens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I knew the stories of a couple of these individuals, but most of their stories were completely new to me. American history is so strange at times.