Another bubble bursts!

I am probably a bit old to be just finding this out, but after thinking about a scenario involving the Bon Homme Richard, I looked up John Paul Jones on Wiki. This is part of what is there:- :shock:

After having killed one of his crew members with a sword, he fled to the Colony of Virginia and around 1775 joined the newly founded Continental Navy

In April 1789 Jones was arrested and accused of raping a 12-year-old girl named Katerina Goltzwart.

Jones, however, admitted to prosecutors that he had "often frolicked" with the girl "for a small cash payment", only denying that he had deprived her of her virginity.

And this guy is heralded as being one of the fathers of the US Navy??? A murderer and a child molester?

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Originally Posted by Baxter

I am probably a bit old to be just finding this out, but after thinking about a scenario involving the Bon Homme Richard, I looked up John Paul Jones on Wiki. This is part of what is there:- :shock:

After having killed one of his crew members with a sword, he fled to the Colony of Virginia and around 1775 joined the newly founded Continental Navy

In April 1789 Jones was arrested and accused of raping a 12-year-old girl named Katerina Goltzwart.

Jones, however, admitted to prosecutors that he had "often frolicked" with the girl "for a small cash payment", only denying that he had deprived her of her virginity.

And this guy is heralded as being one of the fathers of the US Navy??? A murderer and a child molester?

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Haha! The owner of our main parts supplier is a direct descendant and always said his famous ancestor was a ne'er-do-well. And now we know the rest of the story!

I am sure there are a lot of stones in history which are better not turned over.
Must say I never cared too much for the chap after he sank me in 77.
Bligh.

Many famous historical figures have a 'skeleton in the closet' from sometime in their lives.

Quite agree Dave. if wr look too closely we would not have many statues left!

Rob.

Arthur Phillip, celebrated as the first Governor of South Wales, kidnapped an Aboriginal from Australia. A kidnapper! Celebrated!

Like was said before, you can dig throughout someone's history and find bad things. Jone's accusations are especially disturbing, but two things can be true: he was a monster but also a naval genius. There's no excusing what he did. What are we to do? Erase history and his accomplishments?

This is all I'm going to say on this topic because the current trend of revisionist history irks me.

Thanks Brian. We don't want to stray into the domain of clockwork Parrots.

Rob.

Sadly, there's a lot of darkness in the world, but at least we can find some good in a friendly game.

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Originally Posted by jasonb

Sadly, there's a lot of darkness in the world, but at least we can find some good in a friendly game.

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You are absolutely right there. I love my weekly games with my buddies. :beer: