May

12

Posted by Karin

Recent foot surgery has kept me immobilized, so I’ve spent this rainy Mother’s Day lounging on the couch reading Robert M. Utley’s Cavalier in Buckskin. This interesting read has led me to ask a couple of questions. (I’ll leave the military strategy debates to others, I like to know personal details). Anyone know the answers?

1) While George was fond of the ladies and they of him, Utley states there was another Monroe girlfriend before Libbie - Fanny Fiefield. Any armchair historians or scholars know any details about Fanny? Did she stay in Monroe? Get married? Start a prosperous business?

2) Several books state Custer gave up drinking after making a public spectacle of himself in front of Libbie’s home. I was told Custer was drinking in a local tavern where McGeady’s Town Pub now occupies. Does anyone know the name of the original tavern? And what exactly did Custer do that humiliated him so?

3) Eliza Brown Denison, the Custer’s runaway slave/companion/cook. Does anyone know anything about her?

4) In the book When Custer Walked The Streets of Old Monroe, author Steve Alexander mentions George Custer purchased Meloche Liniment specifically from Pauline Meloche, one of the Meloche Drugstore owners. While Custer was friends with her brother Frank Meloche, Pauline “didn’t appreciate Custer killing Indians!” according to her great nephew Frenchie Beneteau. Beneteau states his great aunt “never married, but took care of a lot of homeless people including the local Indians whom she fed and cared for.”

Imagine the conversations that must have transpired between Pauline Meloche and George Custer. Does anyone have any information on this fascinating lady?


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3 Comments so far

  1. Sandy Alexander on May 12, 2008 11:04 am

    Karin, hope you are improving rapidly but I must confess your studies are bringing some very interesting points to light. Chris Kull has been organizing an updated file on Eliza Brown-Dennison. If anyone wishes to learn more about her, Chris would be an excellent source.

    For that matter, our Monroe County Historical Musem Archives is a wealth of knowledge about George Custer, his life, times, family and friends.

  2. Ronda on May 15, 2008 10:30 pm

    Karin~

    I want to quickly fill you in on what I know about your second question. The story I always heard when I was a youngster has the General being dumped dead drunk on his sister’s porch by his drinking buddies. When his sister found him and nursed him back to sobriety, she made him promise to never get drunk again. He promised and it’s said that he kept that promise until his death.

    Steve Alexander has mentioned this incident before, and I’d bet he knows more details than I’ve been able to provide here.

  3. Ronda on May 17, 2008 9:17 pm

    By the way, it was the drunk story that first endeared General Custer to me as a teenager. It showed that he was human and made mistakes, but that he kept his promises.

    Here’s a question I’d like the answer to: what did the General drink?

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