Elizabeth Custer

[Mike Serpa]

@Mike Serpa I just wanna say what an enjoyable thread this has been. I knew nothing about Mrs. Custer before this thread. Read all the posts in this thread and it prompted me to do a little more looking. Well done sir.

Thank you, but I just posted a photo and a link. I've learned more the others!

 

[bdtex]

Thank you, but I just posted a photo and a link. I've learned more the others!

You got 'er started. That counts big to me.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

You got 'er started. That counts big to me.

Yes, don't let Mike off the hook! He can't dodge taking credit around here so easily- it's a great conversation about the Custers and sure would not be here if he had not thrown the conversational ball in the air.

 

[James N.]

I have another question, was Libby aware of Monahseetah, Custer's alleged Cheyenne mistress/wife, I read also that he was supposed to have fathered a son with Monahseetah...

I think it's far more likely the culprit was brother Tom, a notable bachelor seemingly always on the prowl...

 

[Waterloo50]

Wow. She was 68 when that picture was taken and quite beautiful if I may say so.

Well Custer certainly thought so, beautiful enough to abandon his command and risk all sorts of trouble for his passion.

 

[Waterloo50]

I think it's far more likely the culprit was brother Tom, a notable bachelor seemingly always on the prowl...

Apparently one of Custer's relatives wrote about the very same thing, all fingers are pointing at Tom as the father.

 

[Waterloo50]

I like the title of this book, anyone want a PHD in Custerology?

Custerology
The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer
Michael A. Elliott

 

[Waterloo50]

A great little site entitled Army Officers wives on the Great Plains, 1865-1900, Our libby gets a nice little write up along with another fine woman, Frances Courtney Grummond Carrington.

Here is the link.. http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/army_officers_wives/biographies

 

[James N.]

Apparently one of Custer's relatives wrote about the very same thing, all fingers are pointing at Tom as the father.

Unlike the reported condition of George's body when discovered on the battlefield - he had been stripped but other than his two wounds, either of which might've been mortal, he supposedly wasn't mutilated - Tom was recognizable only by the initials tattooed on his forearm TWC. His head had been smashed in and his chest ripped open, supposedly by Rain-in-the-Face in order to eat his heart! He was also lying face down which distorted his features making him unrecognizable. Rain was known to have a grudge against Tom dating to an incident in which he had been arrested.

 

[Waterloo50]

Unlike the reported condition of George's body when discovered on the battlefield - he had been stripped but other than his two wounds, either of which might've been mortal, he supposedly wasn't mutilated - Tom was recognizable only by the initials tattooed on his forearm TWC. His head had been smashed in and his chest ripped open, supposedly by Rain-in-the-Face in order to eat his heart! He was also lying face down which distorted his features making him unrecognizable. Rain was known to have a grudge against Tom dating to an incident in which he had been arrested.

That's why I kind of went with the story that Custer was the father, the explanation being that he was the husband of one of the women and a father of one of their own. I thought maybe that is why his body was left in one piece. It also makes sense that the family would accuse Tom, it would save Custer's great name and I'm sure nobody from the Custer family would want to undermine Libby's hard work in promoting her husbands name in a good light.

 

[mkyzzzrdet]

My apologies if this has been posted before, but I could not find it if it had. It's a VIDEO of Elizabeth Custer

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

No way! I've never seen it before. Goodness. thanks very much for posting it. Libby or any wife had their work cut out for them, and have all my respect. Fame is a dreadful fate you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. You see people trying to achieve it and think " You poor thing. Maybe go home and think this through. " Rather eat a live chicken.

' Custerology ', missed that when it was posted, too funny! Here's Custerology trivia which means nothing but made us smile- the teeny, tiny town a grgrgrandfather was from, in Ohio, later 126th OVI had someone at dwelling number 16, in 1850.

Over at dwelling 59, also farming, MP Jolley. Quakers, so unlikely they ran into each other much. And yes, fought in the war despite being a Quaker.

 

[FarawayFriend]

I have another question, was Libby aware of Monahseetah, Custer's alleged Cheyenne mistress/wife, I read also that he was supposed to have fathered a son with Monahseetah.

I think it's far more likely the culprit was brother Tom, a notable bachelor seemingly always on the prowl...

I also think the boy was not George Armstrong Custer's son, because Custer had been treated for syphilis while in West Point (I would be interested if Libby had known that) and most probably could not father any children. That is why the Custers did not have any, although Libby would have liked to be a mother.

 

[James N.]

I also think the boy was not George Armstrong Custer's son, because Custer had been treated for syphilis while in West Point (I would be interested if Libby had known that) and most probably could not father any children. That is why the Custers did not have any, although Libby would have liked to be a mother.

In one of the more atrocious representations of Custer's life and career, the 1960's Cinerama movie Custer of the West (filmed entirely in Spain and starring the late English actor Robert Shaw of Jaws fame as Custer and his off-screen wife Mary Ure as Libby) depicts a conversation between the two that gives the impression that George preferred his career so refrained from having "relations" with her - highly unlikely! - because he didn't want to "clutter up" their lives with bothersome children.

 

[James N.]

My apologies if this has been posted before, but I could not find it if it had. It's a VIDEO of Elizabeth Custer

No way! I've never seen it before. Goodness. thanks very much for posting it...

So what's the backstory on THIS? I've never seen it before, either.

 

[Mike Serpa]

In one of the more atrocious representations of Custer's life and career, the 1960's Cinerama movie Custer of the West (filmed entirely in Spain and starring the late English actor Robert Shaw of Jaws fame as Custer and his off-screen wife Mary Ure as Libby) depicts a conversation between the two that gives the impression that George preferred his career so refrained from having "relations" with her - highly unlikely! - because he didn't want to "clutter up" their lives with bothersome children.

I admit I have that movie sitting on a shelf. Only watched it once years ago. Maybe it's time to dust it off and have another gander.

 

[Mike Serpa]

So what's the backstory on THIS? I've never seen it before, either.

"Her wealth allowed her to be an enthusiastic backer of art institutions like New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Greenwich House of Pottery. In 1925, those two organizations banded together to produce a film on pottery making. The director was Maude Adams, formerly one of America's top Broadway actresses. Victor Raffo handled the title role; he was considered one of the best potters in the world. The film was shot at the Greenwich institution.

A documentary showing how to throw a pot isn't usually an audience grabber. So the producers created a flimsy plot: an old lady and her young granddaughter visit a pottery shop. While the proprietor is in the back, the little girl destroys the piece on the wheel the potter was working on. Naturally, the guy is ticked off (Raffo's facial expressions are priceless). He starts over—and for the next several minutes, he shows his visitors how to make a pot.

"Granny" in the billing is 83-year-old Libbie, looking serene and dignified with snow-white hair, an old-fashioned hat and a black dress (she wore nothing but black after George's death). The girl is Raffo's daughter Ruth (who is still alive in upstate New York)."
http://www.truewestmagazine.com/mrs-custer-at-the-movies/

 

[James N.]

I admit I have that movie sitting on a shelf. Only watched it once years ago. Maybe it's time to dust it off and have another gander.

It's possibly the very least authentic Custer movie - at least he wasn't pictured as a madman like in Little Big Man or a racial bigot like in Walt Disney's Tonka. (Nor a Hero like in They Died With their Boots On.)

 

[Waterloo50]

The most authentic Custer, Custer in his own words. Best in big screen.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OUSSgHi8-M

 

[Mike Serpa]

It's possibly the very least authentic Custer movie - at least he wasn't pictured as a madman like in Little Big Man or a racial bigot like in Walt Disney's Tonka. (Nor a Hero like in They Died With their Boots On.)

Yeah. I only bought it because it was one of MGMs Western legends DVD releases.

It's possibly the very least authentic Custer movie - at least he wasn't pictured as a madman like in Little Big Man or a racial bigot like in Walt Disney's Tonka. (Nor a Hero like in They Died With their Boots On.)

Alright, I'm watching it now with a grain of salt. I bought it because it was one of MGMs Western Legends DVD releases. A fairly long at 2hours, 21 minutes. Don't tell me the sequence with the men running around the parade grounds isn't true!