NEWSMAKERS
hPowder horn believed to belong to Founding Father up for auction
TRENTON, N.J.
A New Jersey dentist believes an engraved piece of cow horn that goes up for auction next month symbolizes the American dream for a man who was key to the founding of the United States and is now the focus of a blockbuster hip-hop Broadway musical.
A descendant, an arms appraiser and a forensic documents expert said they believe Alexander Hamilton used the horn to carry gunpowder.
The powder horn is inscribed with his name and 1773, the year in which Hamilton, born out of wedlock in the Caribbean island of Nevis and later orphaned, entered what today is Columbia University. Hamilton would have used it leading troops during the Revolutionary War and as an aide to Gen. George Washington.
It could have been by his side above the banks of the Hudson River in Weehawken, N.J., when the man who was the nation’s first treasury secretary was mortally wounded in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804 and died at age 49.
“It’s a symbol of hopes and aspirations, and it’s such a positive symbol of his future,” said Dr. Warren Richman.
Richman acquired it from a patient in 1990 and spent years trying to document its authenticity and studying its etchings, which include a unicorn.
He hopes someone will purchase the powder horn and perhaps donate it to a museum. It goes up for auction in person, online and by telephone on what would have been Hamilton’s birthday, Jan. 11, at Sterling Associates in Closter, N.J. The opening bid is expected to be $10,000.
Hamilton has lately become the unlikely subject of a smash hip-hop musical on Broadway that’s the hottest ticket in town. Written and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, the show tells the true story of how an orphan immigrant from the Caribbean rose to the highest ranks of American society, as told by a young African-American and Latino cast.
Janet Jackson postpones tour
LOS ANGELES
Janet Jackson says she is postponing her “Unbreakable” tour to have an unspecified surgical procedure.
The 49-year-old singer posted a message on her website and social media sites announcing that all future tour dates had been postponed until the spring. No new dates were announced.
The singer’s statement asked for prayers of support and said no further details on her medical condition would be disclosed.
Jackson had been next scheduled to perform Jan. 9 in Denver.
‘Judge Judy’ star selling her beachfront condo
NAPLES, Fla.
The star of the television series “Judge Judy” is trading her beachfront penthouse condo in Florida for a lakefront mansion nearby.
Judge Judy Sheindlin and her husband bought the condo at the Windsor at Bay Colony in Naples for $6.9 million in 2005.
The 8,550-square-foot condo now is listed for $11 million. The 16th-floor penthouse includes four bedrooms, six bathrooms, two private elevators, wraparound windows and a sauna.
According to Collier County property records, the couple bought a 10,000-square-foot mansion about a mile away in November for $8.9 million. The new home has six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, and it overlooks a man-made lake.
Judge Sheindlin has settled small-claim disputes on her TV show for almost 20 years.
Associated Press