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Rogers, AR Real Estate News

By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Peter Bruner was born in Clark County, Kentucky back in 1845 into slavery. At around 10 he worked as a tanner. From what I’ve read he was a rebellious child who was beaten often. In 1864, he escaped and joined the Union Army as a free man at Camp Nelson in Kentucky serving in Company C of the 12th Regiment Heavy Artillery, as part of the United States Colored Troops.The troop was led by Colonel Andrew H. Clark, when he started he had 400 men, shortly thereafter the roster had grown to 1,500.  He served in the western and central area of Kentucky performing garrison duty.He moved to Oxford, Ohio in 1866, after being discharged. He was well liked in the community appointed “Mayor for the Day” in 1938.  He moved to Miami, Florida where he worked as a custodian and messenger.What you may no...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Dorothy Lavinia was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania back in 1914. She was placed in an orphanage in Troy, New York by her mother Edna just five months after birth. She lived there until she was 12. At 15 she ran away enrolling at the Troy High School, working for Mrs. Jarrrett. After graduating from high school, she worked as a domestic helper attending Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1944, she studied medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She graduated third in her calls in 1949. She completed her residency in 1954 at the Hubbard Hospital. She died in Nashville, Tennessee in 2004, she was 90.What you may not know about Dorothy Lavinia Brown is that she was the first female surgeon of African-American ancestry from the Southeastern United States, the fir...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Henry Brown was born in Louisa County, Virginia back in circa 1815 (true date of birth is not known). At 15 he was sent to work in a tobacco factory in Richmond. Born into slavery as far as I could tell he received no formal education. Henry married another slave Nancy, but their marriage was not recognized legally.His master sold Nancy and their three children, never to be seen again. He escaped his master and became well known for speaking out against slavery. In 1850, he moved to England where he married Jane Floyd a whit Cornish tin worker’s daughter in 1855. He earned a living by making the abolitionist circuit, also performing as a magician, mesmerist and conjuror. He returned to the U.S. in 1875. He died in Toronto in 1897, around the age of 81-82.What you may not know about Henr...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
George Harold was born in North Milwaukee, Wisconsin back in 1908. He attended high school in Portage, Wisconsin. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison receiving his B.S. (1930) an M.S. (1931) and his Ph.D. in 1933. Later that year he joined RCA in Camden, New Jersey.He stayed with RCA for 39 years retiring in 1972. During his time with RCA he advanced through the ranks to be a member of the board of directors. He was a fellow of the Institute of Radio Engineers and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. He died at his home in Princeton in 1987, after a long illness he was 79.What you may not know about George Harold Brown is that he led RCA Corporation in the development of a color television, that system is still in use to this day. He and ...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Roy Frampton Brissenden was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina back in 1919 to Henry and Elsie. At 11 he began working in the family business, founded by his father. That was instrumental in grounding him in industry, craftsmanship and marketing. Graduating from the R.J. Reynolds High School in 1936.He joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 as a pilot and flight instructor. After being discharged in 1945, he conducted independent study into physics and avionics. He entered North Carolina State College earning a degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering in 1955. Later that same year he joined the staff at (NASA). What you may not know about Roy is that he alone, designed the Docking Simulator and supervised its construction. He trained all the Apollo Mission astronauts for lunar or...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Katherine Cook was born in Michigan back in 1875. Her father was on the faculty of Michigan Agricultural College. She was home taught until she reached the age of 14 when she went to college. She graduated with a degree in agriculture becoming a well-known academic during a time when it was believed that women who received that much education harmed their reproductive abilities.After graduation, she worked as a teacher, being a devoted reader and writer throughout her life. She met and married Lyman, that union resulted in their only child Isabel. She wrote essays about child-rearing and education. Her first two articles were published in the journal New Republic. She also read the work of Carl Jung, which inspired her to learn more about psychological types.That work consumed her throu...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
William Dickson was born in Plum, Pennsylvania back in 1858 to David and Margaret. Don’t know how he did it but he began teaching school at 16, then worked briefly as a coal miner. He moved to Chicago where he worked as a teacher, lumberjack, secretary and salesman. There was no moss growing under his feet as he continued to move about. In 1884, he married Mary. It was reported that Mary’s nickname was “Rattlesnake”, as she was an expert shot, rode horses cross saddle and could match many a man in a game of poker.In 1903, he purchased a four-story mansion on 38 acres in Ottawa, Illinois. He lost interest in Chicago, using the home for social activities. As I stated before he was not one to stay at one place for any extended period of time. Wherever he travelled he started a newspaper, o...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Mary Moss was born in Somercotes, Derbyshire, England back in 1791. When she was 16 she met Samuel who soon proposed to her but she refused. That didn’t stop Samuel and he pursued her until she had a change of heart and the couple married. That marriage produced two boys and three girls. When the couple married Samuel was well off financially and a gentleman. As the years when by his business turned south and they slowly became poor. That prompted Mary to get a job to help support the family. Samuel had a bad case of rheumatism and Mary nursed him until he died. With his death Mary was forced to move out of her house working to support her children they lived in a poor section of Nottingham. One of Mary’s son William became a pawnbroker’s assistant giving her as much money as he could. ...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Adrienne Bolland was born in Arcueil, France back in 1895. While I don’t have any information about her parents or early childhood from what I read she developed an independent and assertive streak in her childhood. In her family, she was known as “the little terror.” Later on, in life she described herself “No one could change my mind, I won’t give up, I won’t give in.”Apparently, she was a hard drinker and gambler. She lost all of her money at a race track and had to get a job. She worked for Caudron, France’s first airplane manufacturer. Two months after signing up she earned her pilot’s license. Her fiery kept her grounded as if anyone would disagree with her, she was known to sometimes physically attack them. It was her job to deliver and pick up planes. However, what she did in 19...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
James Blyth was born in Marykirk, Kincardineshire back in 1839 to John and Catherine. After graduating from a local parish school, he attended Montrose Academy, then to the University of Edinburgh where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1861. After graduation, he taught mathematics at Morrison’s Academy in Crieff.He completed his Master of Arts in 1871 when he married Jesse. In 1880, he was appointed Freeland Professor of Natural Philosophy at Anderson’s College in Glasgow. While there he invented something, more on that in a moment. He died from a stroke at his home in Glasgow in 1906, he was 67.What you may not know about James is that he invented the first wind turbine. His home was the first that used the electricity produced by a windmill. For his invention, he was awarded a UK p...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
John Sidney Blyth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania back in 1882 to Maurice and Georgie. The family was constantly on the move, he attended no less than four schools. That didn’t help as he was expelled in 1891 when he was sent to the Seton Hall Preparatory School in New Jersey. From what I’ve read he had a real problem with discipline. In 1895, he entered Georgetown Preparatory School but was expelled two years later. He travelled to England in 1898 where he joined King’s College School, Wimbledon. He moved back to New York in 1900, finding work as an illustrator on The New York Evening Journal for $50.00 per week.He worked on stage in minor roles before hitting it big in the movies. If you haven’t guessed who John is by now, I know you’ll know him by his stage name of John Barrym...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Jennie Louise Blanchard was born in Waterloo, New York back in 1856.  She graduated from Buffalo Central High School in 1874. She wed Robert in 1881, that union produced one son Charles in 1883.  She was the first woman to purchase a woman’s bicycle when they went on sale in Buffalo.  In 1876, she was working in the office of Richard Waite in Buffalo.  By 1881, she opened an independent office with her husband Robert.  That company is still in operation to this day.What you may not know about Louise Blanchard Bethune is that she was the first American woman known to have worked as a professional architect.  She was elected a member of the Western Association of Architects in 1885, later serving as vice president of that origination.  Her best-known design was the Hotel Lafayette, comple...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Howard Blackburn was born in Port Medway, Nova Scotia back in 1859. When he turned 18 he moved to Massachusetts where he found work as a fisherman for the Gloucester, Massachusetts fishing company. In 1883, he was on a schooner when a winter storm hit, at the time he and another fisherman were in a dory preparing the lines. He had lost his mittens; he knew his hands would freeze, so he kept them in the hooked position that would allow him to row. His crewmate gave up and laid down in the boat and died. It took Howard 5 days to reach Newfoundland where he was treated for frostbite. He lost all of his fingers except his two thumbs, they were removed to the first joint and many of his toes. He opened a saloon in Gloucester but the quest for adventure never left him. What you may not know a...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Thornton Blackburn was born in Mason County, Kentucky back in 1812, growing up in Washington, Kentucky. Because he was a black man he was sold ending up in Louisville, Kentucky. He escaped with his wife Lucy in 1831, making their way to Michigan. The two were arrest two years later however Lucy was able to exchange clothes with Mrs. George French walking out of the jail where she was smuggled across the Detroit River to Essex County, Upper Canada.Thornton’s escape was more difficult because he was heavily guarded. Detroit’s African-Americans community rose up in protest in The Blackburn Riots. About 400 showed up at the jail where they were able to free Thornton. He made it to Essex County eventually reunited with Lucy. They moved to the newly incorporated City of Toronto in 1834. He fo...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Thora Maria Fredrika Hildegard Bjorck (say that five times fast) was born in Bro, Varmland, Sweden back in 1847 to Carl and Anna. Her mother died when she was four and her father died in 1869 when she was twenty-two. She graduated from Nya Elementar-school in Stockholm in 1872, entering the Uppsala University. She graduated with a medico-philosophy degree in 1873 and a medicine degree in 1879.She was accepted at Lund University, but suffered from measles and hearing problems. She stopped her studies and never graduated. She became an informal assistant doctor in Stockholm. Later she worked as a private caregiver moving in with one of her clients until her death in 1920, she was 72.What you may not know about Thora is that she was the first Swedish woman to complete an academic degree. T...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Charles Billings was born in Weathersfield, Vermont back in 1834 to Ethan and Clarissa. He apprenticed at Robbins and Lawrence as a machinist. In 1856 when he was 21 he moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work for the Colt Armory as a die sinker and tool maker. While there he became their expert on the drop forging process.In 1862, he joined the E. Remington & Sons, helping build their forging plant, thereby increasing its efficiency many times. At the end of the American Civil War he returned to Hartford as the superintendent of the Weed Sewing Machine Company. By 1868, you could find him at the Roper Repeating Arms Company in Amherst, Massachusetts. When the company failed in 1869 he helped in founding the Billings & Spencer Company where they manufactured sewing machines, drop-forged h...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Glen William Bell Jr., was born in Lynwood, California back in 1923. After graduating from the San Bernardino High School in 1941 he joined the United States Marine Corps serving as a cook during WWII. After being discharged he opened up his first hot dog stand in San Bernardino in 1948. In 1952, he sold that hot dog stand and built a second one where he served hot dogs and hamburgers. It was after opening up his second restaurant that he started selling something else (more on that in a moment). He opened up three more restaurants in Long Beach between 1954-1955, concentrating on just one food item. He sold that business in 1955, opening up another restaurant that is still in operation to this day. in 1978, he sold the restaurant chain to PepsiCo for $125 million in stock.Now, that bus...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Mieczyslaw Gregory Bekker was born in Strzyzow, Poland back in 1905. I do not have any information as to who his parents were or his early childhood. What I can tell you is in 1929, he graduated from the Warsaw Technical University. After graduation, he worked for the Polish Ministry of Military Affairs from 1931-1939. His job was to work on systems for tracked vehicles on uneven ground. In 1939, he moved to France. The Government of Canada offered him a job so he moved again to Ottawa to work in the armored vehicle research. In 1943, he joined the Canadian Army working as a researcher reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was decommissioned in 1956 when he moved once again to the United States.He worked as an assistant professor at the University of Michigan and the Army Vehicle ...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Trevor Baylis was born in Kilburn, London, England back in 1937 to Cecil and Gladys. He attended the North Primary and Dormers Wells Secondary Modern School. After graduation, he worked for the Soil Mechanics Laboratory in Southall. He joined the Army in 1959, as a physical-training instructor with the Royal Sussex Regiment. After his service, he worked for Purley Pools for a short time where he performed as a stunt performer. His specialty was performing high-dives into a glass-sided tank. It was during this time he noticed the plight of the disabled. He invented over 200 devices to make their lives easier. He invented the one-handed bottle openers, foot-operated scissors, can openers and sketching easels to name a few. But what you may not know about Trevor is that he saw a television...
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By James Dray
(Fathom Realty)
Basil Mott was born in Leicester, England back in 1859. He attended the International School in Switzerland and at the Royal School of Mines. After graduation, he found work as a mining engineer with the Neston Colliery Co. in Cheshire. In 1886, he joined the staff at the City & South London Railway, his employment there influenced the remaining 40 years of his life.In 1902, he formed a partnership for David Hay. They worked on extending the Central London Railway, the building of escalators and the construction of two bridges. In 1922, he started on something that he is still in the history book for Great Britain. That one kept him busy for 12 years. In 1932, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is truly a rare honor for a civil engineer. Sadly, he died 6 years later.What you...
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