Nassau County Historical Society Journal: Foxhall P. Keene and His “Life of Pure Delight”
Richard A. Winsche has written a profile of Foxhall P. Keene in the Volume 68, 2013 issue of The Nassau County Historical Society Journal. Keene, a resident of Old Westbury, was the hometown favorite in the 1905 and 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Races.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Likely, this photo was taken In Newport, Rhode Island in 1901 or 1902.
Comments
The year of the race must have been 1901, when Keene started on Mors with no. 36 in the Newport races of August 30. He participated in the the first heat for cars developing more than 12hp, which he won, but in the final heat he was beaten by William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. who drove an identical Mors. There were several Mors racers in the country by then, probably all identical to the Paris-Berlin winning car. Fournier, the winner of that race, also participated in several races in the US at that time (like those at Narragansett Park and Coney Island), probably as demonstrator and also instructor of the famous Mors racer.
An interesting news article of Willie K. and a drowning Foxhall Keene! From The New York Times of Sept, 14, 1901.
Two more anecdotes pertaining to Foxhall Keene and a stretch of bad luck. From Automobile Magazine, Dec., 1902.
Not knowing the meaning of the expression “Jonah” used in both articles, I found this:
“A long-established expression among sailors uses the term, “a Jonah”, to mean a sailor or a passenger whose presence on board brings bad luck and endangers the ship. Later, this meaning was extended to mean, “a person who carries a jinx, one who will bring bad luck to any enterprise.”
And please excuse the last sentence in the second article, a reflection of the times I suppose.
The name Jonah brought me back to our religion classes : )
Art, Given the relationship between Willie K. and Foxhall Keane… Keene never bought any stock or bonds of the Long Island Motor Parkway,.... unsuccessful to discover why not.