Traveling Down Memory Lane

The beginning of the most important portion of my life did not start until late spring or early summer in 1932, until I arrived at Ms. Margaret Altis’ home near Cabool, Missouri. Two women took me into her home and left me with her. She was a midwife who worked with Dr. Edens the local MD. At the time, she was living alone in a two-room house. She had a barn with a few cows and a chicken house with chickens.

Presto! I became a member of a new family. I had a new father, mother, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I did know Ms. Altis was going to rename me. My new name became Benny Nathan Altis. Benny was after her favorite son in law Bennie Street and Nathan after her brother.

There was no way under the sun I was going to spell my name ending in “i.e.” because that is a girls name and I am boy. I made certain my name Benny ended with a “y”. The family addressed me as Little Benny and Bennie Street as Big Bennie. It was not long before everyone in this small Hamlet located in the Ozark Mountains knew me as Little Benny.

I really enjoyed my new home and family. I had a hard time remembering my new father’s name, which was Israel. I was always calling him Whitely, the name of the butler from my prior life. Should you ever get an opportunity see the movie “Chances Are” it will help you understand about prior lives. Many different people told me Israel was a lady’s man. I made a mental note to have him teach me all the tricks of the trade when I grew up,

Bennie and his wife Lydia May Street was our closest neighbor. They bought a small farm joining his mother in law, Ms. Altis, with his share of the ransom money. Bennie Street traveled from Clovis, New Mexico to New Jersey to take part in the kidnapping.

There was over 16 by counting the wives involved in the kidnapping and taking me to Missouri. Most of them wasted their share by buying new cars, expensive clothes, and having a good time as long as the money lasted.

I spent a lot of time at the Street’s Home because they had a radio and record player. I love music beyond words. So they taught me how to play the records. Lydia demanded that I always address her and her husband as Aunt Lydia and Uncle Bennie. She taught me how to dry dishes and use proper grammar without using certain words.

June 1933 my new mother was going to send me back to my former home. She took me to Edward Miner’s office and home, who was a justice of the peace and filled out the papers. I was extremely happy and sad when I found out my biological parents did not want me. I decided to get even with them by being a very good person. This way they would regret not wanting me. Today, when I think of the promise I made to myself I was being rather naïve and stupid.

Ms. Altis became my grandmother and guardian angel. She taught me about God, slavery, and how men abused one another. It really upset me when she told me about how the young slave girls were forced to stand nude in front of lecherous old men when they were being auctioned off.

My first friend was Johnny Stewart. He was one of our closest neighbors; He was a little older than me. I will never forget how intelligent Johnny was and how fast he could run. He was going to be an aircraft pilot when he grew up. He read books to me about flying. His father had a model T ford that he taught us how and why the engine would run. If you were going to be an aircraft pilot in the 1930s you had better know how to fix them.

June 23, 1933, my new mother gave birth to baby boy. Man, was I lucky I had a new playmate. They named him Bill. I forgot to tell you I had a sister who was a lot older than me. Girls like to play with dolls and play house. That’s not for me I like cars, airplanes, and bicycles. I was just too young to fully appreciate the young ladies.

September 1935 I was going to start to school. I would be in the first grade. I was really proud of myself because I was growing up. I knew my ABCs, count to one hundred, and write my name. Mom didn’t have to take me to school. I would go with my sister Aileen. I forgot to tell you for some unknown reason my new mother did not like for me to call her mother. After several days of debate we both agreed I would address her as mom.

I must tell you about my Uncle Fred. He was five foot two inches tall and weighed one hundred pounds. His dream was to be a jockey. Ben Jones and Calumet Farms offered him a job as a jockey but on the condition that he would go to school and learn to speak English properly. Fred let his ego take over and he turned them down. He regretted it the rest of his life. Fred was always good to me. He bought me my first tricycle and a model of the China Clipper, an airplane that PAN American World Airways flew.

When I started in the first grade, Fred bought me a pair of lace boots, brown leather jacket and a cap with goggles like the aircraft’s pilots wore. I was so proud of my new outer garments; I wore them every day to school when I was in the first and second grade.

My original experience in the first grade was beyond my expectations. I was very popular and I went home with one who lived in town for lunch and several times I would go home with my friends and stay overnight. Mrs. Hubbard was my first grade teacher and Ms. Croft was the principal.

It was January 1936 when the FBI came and fingerprinted me and my classmates. When they got to me and asked where I was born, I answered ”New York City, New York.” Mrs. Hubbard and Mrs. Croft told the FBI that I was born in Cabool, Mo. I assured them that I had never lived in Cabool, Missouri before 1932. The effects of this argument were beyond my imagination.

From that day forward, my classmates would not speak to me and it made me feel like I was invisible. This continued on in the second grade. January 1937, I couldn’t take this any longer so I went to bed and stayed there for over a month. After considerable time thinking, I decided I would not let them get the best of me anymore. The rest of the time I went to Cabool Elementary Grade School, my only classmate that would talk with me was an orphan boy named Herbert Bailey. Herbert who lived with his grandmother; he was very intelligent and had a beautiful handwriting.

After the finger printing Cabool had many Federal Agents checking on many of its citizens. One of my classmates and several of Cabool’s finest citizens were sent to prison. I expected one or more of my new family would go to prison.

One of our neighbors from Chicago who had planted several acres of poppies: Israel was very friendly with. One day he took me with him to visit them. They had a boy about my age and we decided to play hide and seek. It was my turn to hide. I ran into the barn and there was a late model car in the barn. I opened one of the rear doors to climb in and to my surprise there was two Thompson Machine Guns laying on the back seat. I closed the door and ran out of the barn because I knew what they were for. I never went back to that place. I get goose bumps whenever I think of those guns.

During the 1920s and 1930s Cabool, Missouri was infested with the Mafia from Chicago and Kansas City. Wherever the mob moves in, they control the political arena.

Hello, this is he original Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. I am a WW-2 and Korean War Vet. I had Top Secret Clearance and the Sergeant in Charge of personnel let me read my clearance records. I was shocked when I read about me being kidnapped and they did nothing about it except put me on VIP Status. J. Edgar Hoover and the Bureau always helped me and were very kind to me. There is a lot more to the story. Good Night