Well, to say Dave Thomas brought Chili to New Jersey may be a bit of a stretch, but there is a connection between Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, and New Jersey. He was born here, in Atlantic City, and as for the Chili, thanks to Wendy’s, my Colorado born husband can still get a good bowl of Chili. In fact, it took meeting him to get me into Wendy’s for the first time during our travels, and it’s taken some time, but I’ve developed a taste for Wendy’s delicious chili myself.
Dave Thomas was born here in NJ, and adopted, then lost his Mom at the age of 5. My hubby and I watched a great biography about Dave Thomas…some highlights…he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and later, at the age of 45 he got his GED and publicly encouraged young people not to make the same mistake has he had. He met Colonel Sanders if Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fame who was a great inspiration to him. He worked for KFC for a time, helping to re-vitalize a few of their fast food restaurants, and became a millionnaire in his mid-30′s through some brilliant financial decisions. There is much to his wonderful biography, but the part we appreciate the most are those great square Wendy’s hamburgers, the excellent Chili, and for me, it was a great day when Wendy’s started having those delicious salads…Taco being my favorite.
As we look at the Primaries and Caucuses leading up to the election of our next President, my thoughts turned towards leaders that carried out historic moments here in New Jersey. This post focuses on a government leader who had everything to live for, but his life ended in Weehawken, NJ in a famous duel. His name was Alexander Hamilton. A few of the things he is noted for follow:
He was born in the West Indies, an illegitimate child to Rachel Fawcett Lavien and James Hamilton.
He came to America around 1772 and lived in NY
His guardian hoped to enroll him in College of New Jersey, but he ended up attending what would become Columbia University in New York
He enlisted in the militia, his skills caught the eye of George Washington who commissioned him as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Continental Army
He lead a regiment in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
He was an elected member of the Continental Congress
and his accomplishments go on, including being the first Secretary of Treasury
But the part of his life that capture the imagination, as if all the above isn’t enough, is how his life ended. After leaving the government, Hamilton returned to law. He did not support the leader of the nation at that time, President John Adams, and was against his re-election in 1800. He also did not like Aaron Burr who was running for the Presidency, hoping to win over Thomas Jefferson. Now Hamilton didn’t like Jefferson or his policies, but he decided to support Jefferson over Burr because he didn’t think Burr was a man of principle.
This angered Burr, and he challenged Hamilton to a duel…I thought these were things that you just saw in movies, or Westerns, not actions that were carried out by civilized men, but I am obviously wrong, because Hamilton took Burr up on his challenge. On July 11th of 1804 the two men met in Weehawken, NJ. From accounts that I have read, Hamilton shot his gun into the air, perhaps not wanting to actually do harm, and with his military training and skills, I’m sure he could easily have hit his mark. However, Burr aimed directly at his opponent, and Hamilton died the next day of his wound. He is buried in New York City at Trinity Church Yard.
What surprised me is that the man who was the first Secretary of the Treasury for our country left his wife and his 7 children with a large number of debts that they could not pay, but those debts were paid by friends who appreciated his service our Nation.
Abbott & Costello were a comedy team that I LOVED as a child, and it was only later in life, not that long ago actually, that I found out both were born here in New Jersey. Bud was born William Alexander Abbott in 1827 in Asbury Park, NJ, where we spent days at the shore when I was a kid. Lou Costello was born Louis Francis Cristillo in 1906 in the same County that I live in now, Passaic County in Paterson NJ, about a 30+ minute drive from our rural part of the County.
It was in the mid-1930′s when they began their act on the stage, then went on to radio, and finally to Television where I remember seeing them, and the movies. Their humor was clean and funny! The “Abbott and Costello Show” began it’s TV run in 1952, a year after I was born. I would have been about 7 years old when Lou Costello passed away in 1959. There’s a lot that can be said about this great duo, including all they did to help keep morale up during WWII, and almost everyone has heard of their skit “Who’s On First”, in fact, I have it for you below, enjoy!
Well, to say Dave Thomas brought Chili to New Jersey may be a bit of a stretch, but there is a connection between Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s, and New Jersey. He was born here, in Atlantic City, and as for the Chili, thanks to Wendy’s, my Colorado born husband can still get a good bowl of Chili. In fact, it took meeting him to get me into Wendy’s for the first time during our travels, and it’s taken some time, but I’ve developed a taste for Wendy’s delicious chili myself.
