Newsmakers with the Pennington Surname
Over the past few years, a few Pennington researchers have contributed
information, articles and website links to several famous, and not so famous,
people with the Pennington surname. In addition, the famous Internet Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, has been updated with more information on "Pennington".
I thought visitors would enjoy reading some of the stories that helped to
make these people with the Pennington surname newsworthy.
If you have a information, a story or a website link for a "candidate" to be
posted here, please send it to Gene Pennington, Research Director.
Newsmakers List
The following people can be found on Wikipedia.
There are several others on Wikipedia as well as places, things and other categories. Click here to view the Pennington page on Wikipedia.
The following people are not listed on Wikipedia. Scroll down to learn more.
- James
Jackson Pennington (1819-1884) - One of three Tennesseans to conduct
experiments with various instruments for aerial flight twenty-five years
before Count Von Zeppelin and the Writher brothers' first flight.
- Major
General James C. Pennington - A decorated WW II and Korean War Veteran,
served as the Adjutant General of the United States Army.
- 'Peek-a-Boo' Pennington - His true
name was William V. Pennington, a San Francisco private investigator who
worked in the 1940s.
Read these two (2) articles and decide for yourself as to whether or not
Edward J. Pennington, who lived in Indiana and other locations, in the mid
1800s, was indeed a "scoundrel".
AREA'S OWN AIR
SHIP PROVED TO BE A WONDROUS HOAX: ONLY THE MODEL FLEW
From The Valley Advance, Vincennes, Ind., April 8, 1980 and the
Vincennes University website.
THE MAN BEHIND
THE HOAX: PENNINGTON SPENT LIFE GOING THROUGH FORTUNES
From The Valley Advance, Vincennes, Ind., April 15, 1980 and the
Vincennes University website.
The Pennington Flying
Machine, 1877 by Cleo G. Hogan, 1978 *
This is a article from the Pennington Pedigrees, Vol. 11, No. 1, pages 63 &
64 that describes one James Jackson Pennington 1819-1884, of Henryville,
Lawrence Co., TN and his invention of an "Aerial Ship" that he filed a patent
application for on 20 July 1881.
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Click here to read
a tribute written to Major General James C. Pennington by James F. Gunn, CORMV Chairman (Coalition of Retired Military Veterans).
Click here to read Congressional Tribute to Major General James C. Pennington by
Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, of California introduced into the
Congressional Record on June 10, 1998.
Below is Major General James C. Pennington's obituary from the
Washington Post,
June 6, 1998, page B7.
|
James
Pennington Dies; Army General, Lobbyist |
OBITUARIES
By J.Y. SMITH -
Washington
Post Staff Writer
James C. Pennington, 72, a retired major general, decorated combat veteran
and adjutant general of the Army who later became president of the National
Association for Uniformed Services, died of a heart attack June 5 at Barksdale
Air Force Base, La.
Gen. Pennington. a resident of Springfield, had gone to Barksdale to give a
speech on health care for military personnel and their families. That and
similar issues are the principal concerns of the National Association for
Uniformed Services, a lobbying organization that has its headquarters in
Springfield.
Gen. Pennington had headed NAUS since retiring from the Army in 1985.
Gen. Pennington, a native of Rocky Ford, Ga., began his military career as
a private in the infantry in World War IL He served in the Battle of the Bulge
in 1944 and was wounded in action during the fighting on the River Elbe in
1945. He took part in the occupation of Germany when the war was over.
In 1947, the future general left active duty and attended Georgia Southern
College, where he graduated. In 1950, he was recalled to active duty from the
reserves after the outbreak of the Korean War.
Among his early assignments was the Adjutant General School at Fort
Benjamin Harrison, Ind. The adjutant general is the Army’s chief personnel
officer, and personnel work accounted for much of Gen. Pennington’s career.
He was assigned to Washington for a total of 17 years. But he also was
trained as an armored officer and he had numerous tours of duty with combat
units. In addition, he found time to obtain a master’s degree in education at
Indiana University and to do further graduate work at the University of
Maryland and the Harvard Business School.
During the war in Southeast Asia, he had two tours of duty in Vietnam. He
was adjutant general of the Army in the mid-1970s and commanding general of
the Army Physical Disability Agency when he retired from the service in 1985.
Gen. Pennington’s military decorations included the Distinguished Service
Medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, six
awards of the Bronze Star with combat “v” de- vice, the Purple Heart, the Air
Medal, six awards of the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantryman’s
Badge.
As president of NAUS, Gen. Pennington was a well-known figure on Capitol
Hill. Among his recent projects was a military employees health benefits
program, which is now being considered by Congress.
Survivors include his wife, Harriet Donaldson Pennington of Springfield;
two children, Jay Pennington of Lafayette, Colo., and Kim Sylvester of
Raleigh, N.C.; and three granddaughters.
His true name was William V. Pennington, a San Francisco private investigator
who worked in the 1940s.
An article published in an Antioch, California (San Francisco Bay Area)
newspaper on May 22, 1946 reads "Peek-a-Boo Pennington Awaits Sentence".
It says, "William V. "Peek-a-Boo" Pennington, San Francisco private investigator
famed for his photograph studies of extra-marital capers, today awaited
sentencing on charges of disturbing the peace and forcible entry".
It goes on to say that the charges resulted from a complaint by E. J. Silvey
who accused "Peek-a-Boo Pennington" of breaking a door to a cabin on April 15
while he was seeking evidence against a woman's husband, cowboy singer Ray Wade
who was reportedly "sharing" the cabin with a 23 year-old San Pablo blonde.
Thanks to Verne Deubler,
California Genealogical Society for the copy of the newspaper article.
