By Admin1 (admin) on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 1:10 am: Edit Post |
Sherlock's French Files by Richard T. Gannon, Afghanistan RPCV
Sherlock's French Files by Richard T. Gannon, Afghanistan RPCV
Sherlock's French Files Email List: Sherlock's French Files Email List
In "The Greek Interpreter", Dr. Watson said Sherlock Holmes' grandmother was the sister of the French painter Horace Vernet (1789-1863). The Vernets were probably related to Dr. Verner, the physician that bought Dr. Watson's practice in "The Norwood Builder". Verner may be an English form of Vernet.
Sherlock left steamer trunks full of files with one of his Verner cousins in France, my ancestor. Sherlock's estate in London didn't know about these files, because he had to keep them secret, for reasons of security, confidentiality, etc. Above all, he didn't want to jeopardize his heirs on the British side of the family.
In these steamer trucks are many adventures mentioned by Dr. Watson in the Canon. There are scores more not mentioned for important reasons.
These adventures were not to be published until at least 100 years later, and only then by a direct descendent, with similar God-given grace and talents.
It is now 100 years later. And I am that descendent.
I am Dick Gannon, founder of The Universe Think Tank Group — TUTT Group, a worldwide business group that saw tremendous growth the past three years, due largely to email and the Internet. The family in France and the U.S. chose me for obvious reasons.
Sherlock's cousin in France can't be identified yet, but he was one of my ancestors. Sherlock Holmes was my great-great uncle, on my mother’s side. Sherlock's grandmother and my great-great-great-grandmother are one and the same.
Sherlock's estate in London has granted permission that this monumental news can be announced and that some of these adventures can be divulged, up to the point of publication, then they will enter the picture and make their decision on a case by case basis.
The steamer trunks recently came into my possession, after being shipped from the family in the south of France, from the countryside around Montpelier. There is a very long letter of instructions written by Sherlock, in his own "precise hand".
There are adventures written by both Sherlock and Dr. Watson. No one is going to believe what I found, and rightfully so; I can't believe it myself, I have just begun!
Sherlock wrote a large amount of the material in the steamer trunks. But, a substantial amount is written by both men in a "hurried hand" that I can't read, it needs to be deciphered by someone other than me. I can't make heads or tails of it.
Here is Sherlock's "good old index" Volume V: "the record of old cases, mixed with the accumulated information of a lifetime". His biographical index is here. Many of Watson's notebooks are here.
Dr. Watson mentions five cases that Sherlock handled for the Papacy. Watson published one, "The Six Napoleons". The other four are are here. Pope Leo XIII and the great Saint Pope Pius X hired Sherlock. These four were bundled together in the trucks:
1. "The Bishopgate Jewel Case" from "The Sign of Four" 2. "The Affair of the Vatican Cameos" from "The Hound of the Baskervilles" 3. "The Sudden Death of Cardinal Tosca" from "Black Peter" 4. "The Case of the Two Coptic Patriarchs" from "The Retired Colourman"
"Bishopgate of Great Price" appears to match "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in length. It matches it in suspense, of what I can make out so far. Watson outdid himself again, it is prophetic with its use of "gate". It is the adventure of the Bishopgate jewel case from "The Sign of Four". It's the most consuming I've read to date, I started an outline of it, you can see by clicking here:
Sherlock's Bishopgate of Great Price
In one of the Papal adventures, Sherlock was forced to identify, interview and involve a branch of the British Royal Family that was secretly Roman Catholic. If repercussions exist today for that family, I will not let this case see the light of day. In fact, I may destroy it, there are "cases enough". Above all, Sherlock gave that authority in the extensive cover letter of instructions for these files, and he was very clear and strict about it. The head of that British family will be contacted; it will be his or her decision.
"The Giant Rat of Sumatra" is the case most lamented by many for its absence from the Canon. It's a pity that I haven't found it yet. Sherlock said in "The Sussex Vampire" that it was, "...a story for which the world is not yet prepared". Sherlock said it then, let him say again, it's why he had to hide these files for 100 years.
The "large tin box" from the second paragraph of "The Musgrave Ritual" is here. In this tin box alone, there are "cases enough". Only faith could make one believe "Vamberry, the Wine Merchant" actually happened.
From "A Scandal in Bohemia", Dr. Watson said Sherlock was summons to Odessa in 1888 for "The Case of the Trepoff Murder". The summons letter is here, but I haven't found the case yet. Guess who summons him? Tzar Nicolas II. The name "Trepoff" is not in the letter. Maybe Dr. Watson misspelled Trepoff, maybe it should be Treptoff. The German general Treptoff battled Napoleon at Waterloo and there is Treptoff Square in Berlin, with the tomb of the Unknown Soviet Soldier of WW II.
Of the five cases cited in the second paragraph of "The Five Oranges Pips", I found these three so far:
1. "The Adventure of the Paradol Chamber" 2. "The Loss of the Sophy Anderson" 3. "The Camberwell Poisoning Case"
In the first paragraph of "The Solitary Cyclist", Dr. Watson said he had complete notes on hundreds of cases that Sherlock worked on from 1894 to 1901. Folders that I have glanced at come from this period.
The "three massive manuscript volumes" containing cases of 1894, mentioned in the first paragraph of "The Golden Pince-Nez", were tied together by string. The first case I just had to gleam through was "Huret, the Boulevard Assassin", for which Sherlock was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour from France. "The Ancient British Barrow", is too slow reading; until I or someone else can define some of the objects, and make out some of the poor handwriting, it's impossible for me to see and envision intuitively in the mind's eye what "singular contents" Dr. Watson is talking about.
"The Conk-Singelton Forgery Papers" from the last paragraph of "The Six Napoleons" is here. If "Wilson, the Notorious Canary Trainer", from "Black Peter" wasn't so tragic, it would be funny. Others from the Canon that I have found so far include "The Politician", "The Lighthouse" and "The Trained Cormorant".
Listen to this: Some letters are here from Marconi in Italy! Can you believe it? It was before Marconi invented the wireless in 1896. Marconi was asking Sherlock questions on wireless theory. It's obvious why Sherlock's letters to him are not here, Sherlock sent them to him!
Concerning TUTT Cartel, it is a "cartel" of manufacturers, suppliers, buyers and manufacturers representatives on email in over 50 countries. TUTT Cartel represents industrial factories, consumer product manufacturers, food processors and ag traders.
Perhaps there are more TUTT Agents on email in more countries than any similar Cartel. We are confident there are more TUTT Agents on email in more African countries than any Cartel.
Like Dr. Watson, I, too, served in Afghanistan, but not in the military corps, rather, in the American Peace Corps, prior to their terrible war with the Russian imbeciles and prior to serving in the Peace Corps in Mali, French West Africa.
Having worked in Afghanistan and the former French Sudan in French West Africa, I speak Pushtu, French and Bambara, in addition to English.
In Afghanistan, Pushtu is a beautiful language of the nomads that I learned. Like Pushtu, Peuhl of Africa is also a nomadic language, the most beautiful language on Earth. It is spoken by nomads in Mali and across the African Sudan.
Peuhl females of all ages chant their language in their sing-song tongue like song birds, cooing, singing and warbling to please each other.
With the success of TUTT Cartel, I can devote time to organize and manage this discovery. Concerning the notes, I'm not qualified to edit them, but I'm certainly qualified to guarantee these adventures are edited in the true spirit of Sherlock, since I am the most like him of any of his descendants. The problem remains as to who can read their hurried handwriting. There are pages and pages that look like a series of straight lines with bumps here and there. Who can read that?
The only people who may be more like Sherlock than me are my descendants, if I raise them properly. And of that, you can be assured, even if I have to keep them with their mother's family in Africa so I can throttle and beat them anytime they need it. To the state who tells me I can't beat my kids, I say, "Don't Tread On Me". God chastises and corrects those He loves.
My French side of the family from the countryside around Montpelier are simple country folk like my American-Irish side here in the Iowa farmland. You can try to find my Vernets in France, you will have your hands full. Vernet is a very common name in France. Ha! So there! For Montpellier, there are more than 20 Vernets in the town itself, not counting the unlisted ones. Look for yourself, click here to go to France Telecom, a French phone book online.
Me, I would rather be farming, raising kids, pigs and milking cows; I grew up with cows, I like cows better than people, American people, that is. Always have, always will. My Heaven is to be in the African bush of Mali, with cows, and yelling at my kids. I was born with the gift of not liking American people too much! But by the grace of God, I have always had a kind heart for foreign peoples; I've been all over creation and was always surprised to find such nice people in every country I went, except America. Few did I meet of the snobs in England, rudes in France, and crudes in Russia. If you are looking for slobs and those kinds of people, come to America. You will have your fill real quick.
When a child, the Vietnam War planted the seeds of my contempt of American society. May God blow-up the depths of the abyss into which evil, lying cowards pulled our beautiful Lady America into the swamps of Indochine. And may I be pulled up by the dry roots and cast into the fire if I ever forget Vietnam and what America was like then. Especially middle-age American bigots, rednecks and the status quo. Oh, oh, oh, there are people that you know and like now, but if you knew them then, and what they were like, you wouldn't give them the time of day, today.
I had three brothers serve in heavy combat duty in Vietnam, I was too young. But I had to do something, so I join the Peace Corps and went to Afghanistan and Mali. Vietnam changed me forever. To heal my soul, I am blessed to know and spend time on weekends with over fifteen sons and daughters of U.S. soldiers and Vietnamese ladies that live here in Des Moines. They are in their late twenties now, have children of their own, but terribly poor jobs. They are fun to be with, "Miss Saigon" was about them.
It's a pity Americanship is wasted on Americans, foreigners do so much more with it. Age has tempered my general contempt and has focused it on some particular Americans of no reflection, whose media-based conscience is built on what they read in the newspaper and see on TV. When they go to meet their Maker, they will take a number and be in a long line. If they want Him to answer their prayers today, they better do something to make themselves stand out. A conscience like the masses won't do it. They can start by descending from their divine throne and take on the form of human nature. Be humble; strong as steel, gentle as a lamb; then you are given more of what you want.
My disdain grows as American society grows more pagan. This media-made pagan society, with its cloned conscience, will not keep me from reaching my potential of being a true American; of high virtue, purity, grace, fortitude and sacrifice, resulting in heroism, whoever big or small.
Being Roman Catholic sustains me. If I wasn't Catholic, I couldn't be a Christian, because I couldn't water down Jesus, He has done too much for me. If I wasn't Catholic, I would be a Moslem. Or a follower of Buddha, Confucius, India religions, etc. Those who don't know the power of the Rosary or Moslem Prayer Beads are really missing out. The people closest to God that I've ever met are the gentle Moslems in Mali, especially les paysans en brousse where I worked two years. The name of God is said in praise in the little country of Mali more often than in the big country of America on any given day.
I am the seventh child of fourteen children, seven girls and seven boys. Same mother, same father. Dad says they changed Popes on him three times, but never changed the rules. I am of the sixth generation on the same Iowa farm that my great-great-great grandpappy John Gannon settled, during the American Civil War. He came from SE Ireland, the same Gannons are still on that Irish farm today.
I'm organizing the adventures and notes, making photocopies, and loaning copies to experienced Sherlockian writers, who can then edit and write them properly. Please email if you are interested in discussing this.
Never will I be qualified to edit what Sherlock and Dr. Watson wrote. Even if TUTT Cartel goes public and I have time to study. There are too many facts and places involved, too much to know, in order to edit properly. It will always be beyond my poor tongue and mind's "attic". Besides, that which is written by both in a "hurried hand" needs to be deciphered, probably by experts.
However, I have a gift to write about something else — theology. It's more than a gift, it's a "conduit". Nobody can write like me because "words are given to me", that's the best way to describe this grace. I like to think Spirits come to me and say this words to me interiorly. I like to ask the Spirit it's name, they haven't said yet, but in my fantasy, it is an angel scribe working for St. Paul, St. Augustine, etc. Here is an example, a hymn, my masterpiece:
Precious Price Of My Redemption
This hymn of mine will always be considered The Masterpiece, even if the Estate in London approves the publication of Sherlocks' French files.
As time from TUTT Cartel permits, I will place online some outlines and notes on the adventures. But nothing more serious than that can be done until expert Sherlockians come stampeding to my rescue.
If Sherlock had turned his God-given talents towards international business, his corporation would be alive today. Perhaps he has. He retired to bees, TUTT has one of the world's only honey email lists and web pages devoted to honey, beeswax and related products. Taste with your eyes flowers from around the world by clicking here: TUTT Honey
Now that permission has been granted by Sherlock's Estate in London, it can now be published what, until now, was best forgotten or could only have been whispered in rumors.
Back home to Sherlock's French Files
Richard T. Gannon 3710 E. Ovid Ave. Des Moines, Iowa 50317 U.S.A. Tel: 515-265-9500 Fax: 515-265-9502 Email: sales@tuttgroup.com Http://www.tuttgroup.com
By Bobbie Ingersoll on Saturday, January 25, 2003 - 7:39 pm: Edit Post |
Richard,
Do you know if your Gannons were any relation to my Gannons who immigrated from Ireland in the mid-1800's and settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania? My great-grandfather's name was Farrell Gannon.
Bobbie Ingersoll
By Peter Valiente (ip68-227-146-41.no.no.cox.net - 68.227.146.41) on Saturday, December 23, 2006 - 4:59 pm: Edit Post |
Richard,
I am looking for information on a John and Catherine Gannon both from Ireland. They had a daughter Mary A. Gannon, who I believe was born in Wisconsin, and married Patrick Caufield of New York. Patrick had several children born in Clare, Webster Co, Iowa and his wife died either in child birth or shortly after the birth of daughter Loretta. Please let me know if there is a connection.