Harry Reid, Descendent From Horse Thief?
By Mike Thompson
BeatReid.com
Friday, July 31, 2009
No. Actually he’s not. Neither are the numerous other politicians that have been the butt of a recently retreaded run of phony emails currently circulating the internet. You may have gotten one of them yourself. The email will name an obscure ancestor of a well-known public figure and proceed to regale the reader with an account of their life and crimes, concluding with the villain being publicly hanged by the neck until dead.
Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum
We’ve received a lot of these emails here at Beat Reid. At first, we were quite surprised to find out that Harry Reid’s great, great uncle, Remus Reid was a horse thief and a train robber. We were astonished to see an old, weathered photograph with poor Remus standing atop the gallows, thirteen coils of hard rope ready to claim Remus’ mortal coil. But when we heard that Hillary Rodham Clinton’s relative, Remus Rodham was also an outlaw we got suspicious. They couldn’t even think of different names for the two scoundrels!
Anytime you receive an email that seems too ridiculous to be true, the first thing you should do is paste a phrase which seems unique to this email from your potential “spam” or “misinformation” email into Google and run a search or visit one of the many urban myth sites on the web. We started with a Google search of: “Remus Reid” (as you can see, we used quotes to tell Google that we wanted to search for that EXACT phrase of Remus Reid), from there, we already found many results. We followed up with a visit to the Urban Myth busting sites: Snopes, Fact Check, Truth Or Fiction and About.com: Urban Legends. We found that this same exact story has been used before with just a few names changed. There are indeed a handful of these farcical email messages traveling rampantly around the internet and via email.
We are going to share the entire story with you. We are doing this for two reasons. One, it is, admittedly, somewhat entertaining, and allows us to write about something a little less serious than usual. But, more importantly, we are reiterating the fact that at Beat Reid, our goal is to spread factual information and maintain complete journalistic integrity. We tell our authors that they are not to emotionalize unfounded rumors in order to further any cause. We do not condone the practice of making up stories in order to defame the character of anyone, no matter the political or personal beliefs our authors, supporters or principals may have. It adds unnecessary congestion in our email inboxes, it puts us through emotional drama that we do not need and it harms the subjects of the emails themselves.
We want to go on the record saying that even though we are committed to the cause of defeating Harry Reid, we are opposed to maligning a person’s ancestors and disseminating misinformation about anyone. This is especially true in the political arena, where candidates live from day to day under a microscope. As some Beat Reid authors have expressed in the past, the events surrounding Brian Krolicki (”Brian Krolicki Requests Attorney General Disqualified”) and John Ensign (”Ensign Demoted After Announcing Affair”) not only attempt to destroy the personal and business lives of the 2 of them, but border on malfeasance. This type of behavior is not the type that we promote here.
That said, here is the story of the notorious great-great uncle of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:
Uncle Remus, Reid That Is
Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher here in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Harry Reid’s great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.
On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: ‘Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.’
So Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle.
Believe it or not, Harry Reid’s staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:
“Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”
The Other Uncle Remus, Rodham
Hillary, an amateur genealogical researcher, discovered that her great-great uncle, Remus Rodham, a fellow lacking in character, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows.
On the back of the picture is this inscription:
“Remus Rodham; horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.”
In Hillary’s Family History, her staff of professional image consultants cropped Remus’s picture, scanned it, enlarged the image, and edited it with image processing software so that all that’s seen is a head shot.
The accompanying biographical sketch is as follows:
“Remus Rodham was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to service at a government facility, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”
There’s More, Including Gore
OK, so there’s no reason to repeat the story again and again. The general pattern remains the same, but the pertinent individual data, like the name and location of the events, are changed to match the targeted public figure.
Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum
The list of historical bad guys include many more Remus’ (or is it Remii in plural?) and relatives of other names, including a fellow by the name of Gunther Gore (ancestor of Tipper Gore), Remus Stevens (great-great uncle of Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens), Robert Biden (relative of Vice President Joe Biden), and Robert Dion (an ancestor of Canada’s Liberal Party Leader Stephane Dion).
The REAL Man Atop the Gallows
The photograph used to add a note of “credibility” is of an outlaw by the name of Tom Ketchum (pictured to the right a bit less candidly than the photo at the gallows), a train robber/gang member who was the unfortunate victim of a grisly, botched hanging on April 26th, 1901. He is often referred to as “Black Jack,” but apparently that nickname was incorrectly assumed upon him after his passing.
Ketchum had the dubious honor of being the first condemned man to be executed for an attempted train robbery! One could say that he “lost his head” over an attempt to grab a few sacks of dough. The detailed history behind Ketchum and his gang makes for quite a fascinating read. You will not find anything about his kids, grandkids, nephews, great cousins twice removed, nor will you read much about politicians, except a Sheriff, of course.
But, alas, we are more concerned with the history being made today. We will be right here doing our part to bring you information about the political scene in Nevada, and forwarding the cause of defeating Harry Reid in 2010.
Resources:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/horsethief.asp
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/r/remus-reid.htm
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_remus_reid.htm
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_harry_reids_ancestor_a_horse_thief.html
In this case I must defend Harry Reid. Attempts to denigrate a person based on their ancestors I believe is behavior all Americans should avoid. I also believe that attacks on a candidates family are unacceptable. It is the candidate we should evaluate, not their family since they have no ability to select their family. I do believe that we should consider who they chose to associate with and what they personally do, after all that is under the control of the candidate. Which drives me to a question I believe is pertinent and under Harry Reid’s control:
Who Is Harry Reid Representing?
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has completed posting the 2nd quarter filings for House and Senate candidate’s Authorized Campaign Committees. Harry Reid’s 2nd quarter campaign contributions and expenditures are posted under his authorized campaign committee, Friends for Harry Reid. The link to the Reid Campaign filings with the FEC is: http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/imaging_info.shtml.
An analysis of the July 2009 Reid Campaign filing results in an important question for Nevada’s voters, Who is Harry Reid representing? A meager 14 % of Reid’s donations originated from residents of Nevada. This would have been significantly lower in the 2nd quarter had it not been for Reid riding the coattails of President Obama in a joint Las Vegas fund-raising extravaganza held in late May of 2009 . Yes, the same President Obama who single-handedly crippled the Nevada Tourism economy by telling the country not to go to Las Vegas. By the way, did anyone hear Harry Reid challenge the President on that issue?
The following provides key 2nd quarter contribution data for Harry Reid’s campaign.
Expenditures by Harry Reid’s Campaign: 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2009
Total Expenditures: $975,833.00
Expenditures outside of Nevada: ~ $865,416.00
Expenditures inside of Nevada: ~ $110,417.00
% of Expenditures made from inside Nevada: ~ 11%
The average Nevadan, and I would further argue even the average American, would legitimately expect to see most of the contributions received by a sitting Senator such as Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader no less, originate from within their home State. This is not the case with Harry Reid. An amazing 86% of his donations during the period of 1 April through 30 June 2009 originated from outside of Nevada. Campaign contributions from eleven States comprised the bulk of those funds received during the 2nd quarter: California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and New York. A significant number of donations also originated from the 68.3 square miles of Washington D.C. An analysis of these donations indicates that donors predominantly reported their occupations as Lawyers, Doctors, Medical Service providers, Bankers/Investors, Consultants (lobbyists), and Real Estate professionals. At the bottom of the list were persons from the Gaming Community. There was also a significant number who reported themselves as “Home Makers”, while donating the maximum of $2,400.00. Since most of these professionals were from out of State, just what are they expecting to see in return for their financial support of Harry Reid? Harry Reid is not their Senator, .. .or IS he? Nevada voters are entitled to an answer to that question.
One way to evaluate our elected representatives is to analyze how they spend money. Hold on a minute! Let’s not run down the wrong path just yet. I am not talking about the $11.5 trillion national debt, nor the $1.84 trillion deficit spending Harry Reid has been instrumental in creating this year as reported by the New York Times on 11 MAY 2009. No, I am talking about where his campaign chose to spend their Campaign funds in the 2nd quarter of 2009. Yes, those same campaign funds that were raised in an attempt to get him reelected in 2010. I did a quick review of his almost $1 million campaign expenditures in the 2nd quarter and was amazed to see that almost 90% of it was spent outside of Nevada.
Expenditures by Harry Reid’s Campaign: 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2009
Total Expenditures: $ 975,833.00
Expenditures outside of Nevada: ~ $ 865,416.00
Expenditures inside of Nevada: ~ $ 110,417.00
% of Expenditures made from inside Nevada: ~ 11%
I’m confused. I thought he was running for a Senate seat in 2010 as Nevada’s Senator. The expenditures for his campaign would seem to indicate he must actually be running for some unknown seat-at-large, representing Washington D.C., California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. Those are the locations where almost 89% of his campaigns 2nd quarter expenditures were made. And for what? Nevada’s voters will be sending a message to Harry Reid on November 3, 2010 that should clarify the issue for him.
Bill Parson
http://www.parsonforsenate2010.com/
I completely agree with Mr. Parson that nobody should be judged upon the actions of another, relative or not. However, I’d like to point out that the purpose of this rumor doesn’t appear to be guilt by association. The aim here seems to be focused on the “spin” the Senator’s office allegedly puts on the family history.
Many of our politicians are guilty of displaying a flagrant integrity. It’s not uncommon for politicians on every level to provide verbose narratives straining the boundaries of truth to excuse inexcusable actions or to put a shine on a dark period. Some are quite obviously outright liars. The current Congress is chock full of unapologetic folks utterly lacking integrity, with little (if any) respect for the constituents. For example, I can’t count the number of times in recent weeks I’ve read/heard a federal representative insist that if the voters ‘only understood’ their stand, we’d be behind them completely. They act as though we’re simpletons who would otherwise be celebrating instead of criticizing, if only our ignorant minds could truly comprehend. Some of the most high-profile politicians in our nation seem to feel that they’ve been elected not to represent our wishes but to instead tell us that they know better.
So while this particular hoax is both believable & amusing, I contend that we needn’t resort to such lengths to reveal our elected officials for what they really are, as plenty of factual evidence exists to serve that purpose. And as a lifelong Pennsylvanian, I know a thing or two about dirty self-serving politicians. Good luck in November, Nevada! You will defeat Reid with one of the many better choices poised to oppose him. I just with PA voters would overcome their apathy & have some passion for our future.