Am I crazy to think John Hinckley Jr. descended from a doctor of insanity?

It's been thirty years since John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan.  There have been numerous articles written about the case, about the legislation created from it and about the conspiracy theories surrounding it.  I'm not interested in commenting any further about that stuff.  I'm interested in his family tree. (See my recent obsession with genealogy.)

I came across this photo of the Hinckley family of New York and wondered if John Hinckley Jr. of Texas could be of any relation to them.  If so, it would seem that Hinckley's verdict of not-guilty by reason of insanity would be completely ironic given the history of the Hinckley males in this photo.

Hinckley family, of Albany, New York, full-length group portrait, including Dr. John Warren Hinckley, his wife, a son, and daughter Isabella 1853(?)

John Warren Hinckley, the older man in the picture, was a doctor, who's father was also a doctor.  The younger male in the photo, Livingston Hinckley, grew up to be a doctor as well.  His son, Livingston Hinckley Jr., was a doctor too.  I'm going to take a guess here and say that they were probably a very healthy, if not wealthy, family.

As history would have it, Dr. Livingston Hinkley (pictured as a boy in the photo), graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1878 and went on to become assistant physician and acting superintendent of Blackwell's Island Asylum for the Insane.  He was a well-known psychologist who established a private practice sanatorium and acted as an expert in criminal cases involving the question of sanity.

I find it so ironic and downright amazingly interesting that a man who attempted to kill a President may have come from a family of doctors, of which one was a leader in the field of psychological disorders who was an expert for the State in determining whether or not someone was sane or insane.  Imagine the outcome of the trial if the good doctor could have been around to help his own great-great grandson.

Regrettably, imagining is what I'll have to rest with.  I still don't know if John Hinckley Jr. is actually related to anyone in the archival image because I can't find his family tree on the internet.  But even if Hinckley Jr. isn't related to Hinkley the psychologist, I still had fun thinking about the possible connection.

One night in military lodging without A/C counts as an entire space-a trip.

I mentioned I just got back from Arkansas to visit my husband while he was at 1stSGT's school.  Normally I wouldn't say the trip was a space-a trip in the classic sense as neither one of us flew on a military plane.  However we did stay in two different military lodges.  So, I'm going to say that this trip counts as a space-a trip - especially since in one of the lodges we didn't have any air conditioning and it was 80 degrees that day.  Part of a space-a trip is being willing and able to rough-it a little and I definitely consider no a/c, in that kind of weather, roughing it.

Here are some great pictures from our time in Little Rock, AR and Memphis, TN.

This is the high school made famous by the "Little Rock Nine."

We even got to meet Minniejean Tricky, on of the "Nine."  She's not in this picture though; but she does have a commemorative bench nearby.

The best Memphis BBQ in the city - Jim Neely's (as in Cooking with the Neely's on FoodTV) Interstate Bar-B-Q.

Brian had the chicken and pork ribs platter.  I had the smoked turkey dinner.

On the world-famous Beale Street in Memphis, TN.

If Beale Street could talk.

Having drinks at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN.

cool dogs at The Peabody Hotel

The Lorraine Motel - site of Martin Luther King Jr. assassination.

It all happened where the wreath hangs.  The motel has been converted into the National Civil Rights Museum, except for rooms 306, 307 and 308 which have been kept as they were since the day of the assassination.

The other "king's" home:  Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion

Elvis' parents bedroom.  I actually really liked this room.  Everything was so plush and so clean.

The kitchen - complete with wall-to-wall carpeting and yellow appliances.

The stairway down to the basement was fully covered in mirrors.

Elvis' yellow and blue room where the latest in technology could be found (three tv's, an 8-track and reel-to-reel equipment.)

The billiard room even had textiles on the ceiling.

The Jungle Room - gross.  It just felt sweaty in there.

One of his Grammys.

Continuing through one (there are two) of the trophy rooms.

What a dreamy and ethereal portrait.

Priscilla's wedding dress.  I love that it had sleeves.

A plaque with the names of the charitable organizations that Elvis supported.

The sunken lounge right outside of the racquetball court.

The racquetball room converted into a another trophy room.

Elvis' horses.  They look pretty good for their age. ;)

Am I in Rio?

The fountain with the Presley family tombs surrounding it.

This is nice but nothing compares to flying space-a.

This is Elvis' personal, leather-bound copy of the script from that cool tv-special that airs sometimes on PBS.

This reminded me of the stalls (rooms? i don't know what they call those things) that silhouette dancers dance in.

Larger than life-size mural from the side of the building.

Fort Campbell, KY is where we stayed for our one night in military lodging.  This picture really brings the trip full circle.  The troops that were called in to assist the Little Rock Nine with integrating Central High School were actually from the 101st Airborn Division.

Testimony Live is live.

So I started yet another blog today that may just replace my postings on faith here.  Well, that's easy to say given that I actually haven't posted here in a while.  I just got back from Arkansas from visiting my husband so give me a break will ya?

We travel quite often so sometimes I might miss a few days of blogging.  Which is why I needed something that could work while I am away that doesn't involve me pre-scheduling blog posts a month ahead of time.

Real-time content is my new best friend.  Check out all the up-to-date information regarding Christian faith and testimonies on my new blog site:  Testimony Live where you can find evidence of God working in our lives in real-time.  Please visit it and let me know what you think!

We all majored in household arts.

My husband's on a temporary duty assignment at a military training facility in Arkansas which means I'm on a temporary duty assignment too.  My mission:  super-cleaning-binge.  While he's out of the house I can take advantage of the fact that I'll be able to clean without having to re-clean the area that he just left.  C'mon, you know what I'm talking about...you vacuum, you leave the room, his dirty boots are in front of the couch.  You clean the bathroom, you go downstairs to grab the new air freshener , you come back and there's a tissue in the trashcan.

The work of a housewife is never done!  So here's a peek into a time when housewifery was considered a real skill and being a housewife was an actual occupation.

Occupations related to household arts 1938

Housewife shops for household goods, comparing prices and quality in various stores 1942

Housewife sending her son off to school 1942

Housewife works in her vegetable garden. She lives in small town where there is ample space for gardens; says she would move to country if she couldn't have a garden in town 1942

housewife who is president of local PTA deposits PTA money in bank 1942

Housewife in front room of her home 1942