Janet and Tony:
    Stephen is trying to find an old Cuban exile friend. Any help will be appreciated.
                                                          best,
                                                          Roberto
Stephen:
    I sent this to two very important people. When Janet Ray Weisinger was six years old and living in Ozark when her Daddy, Pete Ray, was recruited by the CIA. Later he was murdered by Fidelistas at Bay of Pigs. Castro froze his body, displayed it and Janet worked for years to get her Daddy's remains back to Tarrant near B'ham and have him buried.She is considered a V.I.P. among the exile community in Miami and elsewhere. Her website is http://wingsofvalor.org
    Tony was born in Cuba and is a professor at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is one great guy and I know he will help you all he can.
                                                                                 Saludos,
                                                                                  Roberto
Check out our progress at
CUBA,ALABAMA

Hi Robert,
You seem to be familiar with Cuba. Have you ever heard of the
Lastras? Anselmo Lastra had a large plantation on the Cuban shores
and was in the cabinet of several regimes before Castro took over; an
engineer, he designed and built the concrete roads in Cuba. A
non-political, he was Minister of Roads under Batista. The family
fled from Cuba to Miami upon the revolution with only their clothes
and Senora Lastra's jewelry. They ended up in Atlanta in the late 60s
and early 70s, Senor Lastra having taken a job as a civil engineer.
His son, Rafael, was a dear friend of mine. We traded guitars for
several years. He took my ES335 to learn to play electric, and I took
his Martin 12-string. We traded back several years later. I lived
with the Lastras for 5-6 months in Atlanta in 1970.
Ralph later played in bands around Atlanta, and I visited him in the
mid-70s, but have not heard from him in almost 30 years. I have tried
unsuccessfully to find him several times. If you have any info on him
I would really appreciate it. His brother is Anselmo Lastra.
sf
http://wingsofvalor.org

Jim wrote:
Dear Sir,
I am the great great grandson Of James Innerarity and I have a photo of him if you would like a copy of it?
Regards,
James A Innerarity

Mr. Innerarity:
   I would certainly appreciate the photo. I am leaving Tuscaloosa tomorrow for Dothan and on Sunday morning I plan to drive to Dauphin Island. Maybe I can convince my hardheaded wife to visit John's grave in Pensacola. I'm thinking that James is buried in Mobile.
     I really admire James a lot. I have done extensive archaeological research at Chiskatalofa where the present-day states of Alabama, Georgia and Florida intersect. This is where James negotiated the Forbes Purchase on May 27, 1804 (one year to the day after the capture of Bowles at Hickory Ground). It is also the location of Ellicott's Astronomical Observatory from August of 1799 and Ellicott Mound # 381 which was the last mile marker built east of the Mississippi on the first U.S. Southern Boundary   commissioned by President George Washington in 1796 and  considered by many to be the greatest accomplishment of his presidency.
   The property is owned by Ansley Whatley, owner of Ansley's Building Supply in Dothan. I have permission to visit the site and I would be able to go there on Saturday. It would be a privilege to visit this historic ground with you.
   I have done extensive research on the Forbes and Innerarity plantations in Matanzas Province, Cuba and I would be glad to share this information with you.
                                                                         Best wishes,
                                                                         Robert Register

 

LOCATION OF THE FORBES PURCHASE WITHIN CURRENT COUNTIES

THE STONES IN STATESBORO: 1965


      http://thinhippo.com/stones/index.html

FIFTH CIRCUIT: SOMATIC-HEDONIC TRANCE
Disconnected from the previous goals and survival concerns of Circuits 1-4, this center is the opening of the five senses as the chief source of all life and relevant information. Being Here Now. The natural sensory rhythms and impulses of the body uncensored by mental, emotional or moral intervention. The hedonic needs for rapture, bliss and ecstatic experience. The post-survival quest for nirvana. When frustrated, the despair and spiritual discontent of "entrapment in the corporeal world of survival issues." When over-emphasized, excessive hedonism becomes debauch, dispersion and disintegration of personal integrity and concentration, ie., "spaced out bliss ninnies." Ecstacy Junkies. When hedonic needs are met, a state of charismatic magnetism infuse the personality, as seen with some rock stars, film celebrities and performing artists. HEDONIC CATALYSTS: Empathogens (MDMA, etc.). cannabis, opium, hashish, lower doses of psilocybin, Tantric and Hatha yoga, listening to music (subjective assessment), sex magick, performing live dance and live theatre, Sufi whirling dervishes, ecstatic pagan rituals, falling in love, endorphin rushes from "second wind" states (long distance running and working out), verbal fasting (mandatory silence), zen meditation. OVERDOSE SYMPTOMS: "Spaciness." Loss of meaningful connection with "consensus reality" sometimes showing poor time management and an oblivion to the emotions, thoughts and ethics of others. Time/spatial disorientation and distortions. Difficulty articulating, ie., "Like, wow, man..."

http://labridge.com/PTR/media/images/zintoxication.jpg

There's nothing wrong with Judge Roy Moore that reincarnation won't cure.
                                                                                   - Robert Register, paraphrasing Jack E. Leonard
Check out our progress at
Cuba, Alabama

http://robertoreg.blogspot.com

 
THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU THAT REINCARNATION WON'T CURE
- JACK E. LEONARD

http://www.library.miami.edu/archives/jg/intro.html


Rules #28: "Who is The I That is Me?" - Evidence of Past Life Reversion
"Remember When You Died..."
Reincarnation demands of us all that one time we have been all things: famous and insignificant, rich and poor, victim and perpetrator, man and woman, all races, religions, and creeds.This teaches us respect and reverence for all ways of life… and yet, as we evolve as Soul, we still retain our own preferences for certain ways of being.



http://www.healpastlives.com/future/rule/rurevert.htm

http://al1call.com

Greg:
Maybe this could be the beginning of the end of the arbitrary mishmash which has been passed off for the past thirty years as "prehistoric and historic preservation" in our state. This could evolve into the Alabama One Call which provides a central notification service to prevent damage to underground utilities in Alabama so people can comply with the law established by Alabama Act 94-487.

Maybe we could have an
                     ALABAMA BURIAL GROUND HOTLINE 
                                                            DIG RESPONSIBLY!!!!

LET'S HOLD ON TO OUR HERITAGE -
NOT CRUSH IT INTO OBLIVION!

I tuned up your big letter to D.C. and put it on the Web. If you want me to take it down I will but I liked what it said about the status of our current nonsense and I wanted to jam IT into the world of the search engines.
Best,
ryr

http://www.mobileyachtclub.com

It was the site of one of the clubs. . .
Hope everything is going well------

Gesq

robert register wrote:


Note: forwarded message attached. 

Subject: RE: Fwd: [Fwd: Rolston Hotel- Coden, AL]
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2004 01:28:50 +0000
From: "robert register"
To: robertoreg2003@yahoo.com

Somewhere I've got a great article about the antebellum yacht races which occurred on Lake Ponchartrain, at Pass Christian and other places on the Mississippi Sound and Mobile Bay.
Your hotel may very well be the site of some important races. This form of entertainment was conceivably the most important social event of the antebellum world. They never recovered after the Civil War but the yacht clubs still exist.

Great work!

best,

rr

From: Gregory C. Spies
To: robert register
Subject: [Fwd: Rolston Hotel- Coden, AL]
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 10:26 PM
fyi


From: Gregory C. Spies
To: Don Klima
Cc: Coll'ette King , Barbara Reid
Subject: Rolston Hotel- Coden, AL
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2004 6:53 PM
Don Klima
Director
Office of Federal Agency Programs
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Old Post Office Building
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 809
Washington, D.C. 20004
RE: Rolston Park, Coden, AL

Dear Dr. Klima:

Recent construction activities have adversely impacted a historic property that is potentially eligible to be listed on the NRHP. This project is funded by a $450,000 HUD grant (HUD Identification No. B-02-UC-002.) The HUD grant was awarded to the Mobile County Commission who evidently turned the money over to the City of Bayou la Batre, AL to "improve" Rolston Park ( a public park).

No cultural resource assessment or archaeological investigation was performed prior to the undertaking. The University of South Alabama (USA) Archaeologists cleared the site without any investigation (as is required by the applicable Federal & State laws, regulations, policy & guidelines.) The USA archaeologists evidently determined that "nothing of significance" existed at the site based purely on their "expertise".

For some equally unexplained reason the ALSHPO (Alabama Historical Commission File # 04-0547) concurred with the USA archaeologists' "finding of no significant impact." However, the ALSHPO did stipulate that "should artifacts or archaeological features be encountered during the project activities, work shall cease and our office shall be consulted immediately. . ." It appears that the methodology (or lack of) employed by the USA archaeologists in this instance did not comply with the AHC's own policies & guidelines governing archaeological investigation.

During the construction of the park improvements considerable subsurface disturbance occurred (e.g., the clearing & grubbing, stripping & stockpiling of on site topsoil, excavation of trenches for electrical conduit, water lines & concrete foundations, grading to design elevations, excavation of storm water facilities, etc.) The project engineer ( Alan Craig Bryant, City of Bayou la Batre Engineer and, also, Executive Vice President of Polysurveying, Inc., the engineering consultant who designed the project) allegedly maintained that the project would not cause any subsurface disturbance.

It is my understanding that brick foundations (most probably from the Rolston Hotel c. 1850-1927) were unearthed during the project. George Shorter (USA archaeologist) was called in by Mr. Bryant. Mr. Shorter's opinion was that the foundations were not significant and instructed Mr. Bryant to continue construction activities. Also, the artesian wells that serviced the hotel with running water and were the only visible historic feature remaining from the hotel were bulldozed with the "permission" of Mr. Shorter. This was done, evidently, with no archaeological investigation whatsoever.

The AHC was not notified of the discovery of the above mentioned archaeological features encountered during the construction activities as they had requested in their letter of concurrance. Therefore, on July 22, the AHC issued a cease & desist order on the Mobile County Commission (the recipient of the HUD grant). Note: We have requested project documentation from the Mobile County Commission and, to date, have not received the requested documentation from them. They said they didn't have to comply with Federal law.

I visited the site on Friday, July 23rd & today July 24th. I observed on both occasions approximately 20 workers involved in various construction activities (e.g., construction on pavilions, trenching for utility lines, grading of new roadway, trackhoe excavation & landscaping, etc). I took photographs of these activities. Even a blind hog could determine that, whoever is in charge of this project is flagrantly ignoring the AHC cease & desist order.

We respectfully request that your office take the proper action to inquirie as to why Section 106 have apparently been ignored concerning this federally funded project. We also request that the ACHP formally investigate the apparent violations of Section 106 in this case & assist the AHC to enforce the cease & desist order before any further destruction of potentially significant features occurs.

The Rolston Hotel site is indeed historically significant and, in my opinion, eligible to be listed on the NRHP. The hotel, one of a kind, served the whole Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida and north to the Great Lakes Senators, Congressmen & wealthy landowners would mingle with average citizens and common folk as they all frequented the hotel staying for weeks at a time to enjoy the resort environs. The facility served as a landmark in this regard. The Mobile- New Orleans Steamship Line and the Bay Shore Branch of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad as well as the Portersville, Mobile and Montgomery Stage Line terminated in near vicinity bringing hotel guests from as far away as New England and the Great Lakes. Each room in the hotel had running water and gas lights powered by an on-site acetylene (carbide) plant. There was also a dance pavilion located adjacent to the hotel. Nearby turtle "kraals" would keep live sea turtles alive in the salt marshes that fringe Portersville Bay untill they were served as soup for hotel guests. Nestled amongst the seafood community of Portersville (now Coden) the Rolston Hotel had readily available resources (e.g., crab, shrimp & many varies of fish) to create exquisite seafood dishes that the became the signature of the hotel. This was truly one of the great resort hotels of the 19th century.

Historic artifacts that recently have been collected from the surface of the disturbed soils of the construction site include porcelain, semi-porcelain, whiteware, creamware, cut glass, brick fragments, etc. Additionally, several sherds of aboriginal pottery have been recovered near the shoreline of Portersville Bay. It is obvious that this site still possesses the potential to provide significant archaeological data which ultimately could significantly increase the knowledge and understanding of our early historic and prehistoric heritage.

NGCARC, Inc. and the Portersville Revival Group, Inc., both non-profit entities, herein request, as interested parties to this Federal undertaking , that both organizations be fully informed of the Section 106 consultation process as it is applicable to this HUD project, and that we be included in the ongoing investigation and be provided with all documents, correspondence and other information, in whatever form it be maintained, relevant or related to said investigation, and further that we be included in all on site inspections, investigations and/or tests. We also request the right to inspect said historic property subject to the HUD undertaking and inspect any and all artifacts, construction material or other tangible items on site/or removed from site to prevent spoilation. We further request that any further archaeological testing, investigations or evaluations required be performed by a qualified individual or entity without any affiliations with any parties in the original permitting process. We also request the right to participate in the selection process of such individual or entity. These actions & requests are made for ostensible purposes to protect the remaining historic property from further impacts resulting from the expenditure of HUD grant money, in this instance, as well as to protect our rights as interested parties, both as a group and as individuals, to seek further remedy if the administrative procedures dictated by Section 106 fail to adequately protect the remaining cultural resources in evidence that are threatened by this federal action.

Respectfully yours,



Gregory C. Spies, PLS
Cadastral Archaeologist
Co-Director- Northern Gulf Coast Archaeological Research Consortium, Inc.
Group Historic Preservation Officer- Portersville Revival Group, Inc.

P.O. Box 696
Coden, AL 36523

251-824-3911
251-455-7908 cell

cc: Coll'ette King, President- Portersville Revival Group
Barbara Holley Reid, Esq., Vice President- Portersville Revival Group