1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Okay, so 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: heads up. This is a two part episode that involves 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: not only murder, but also discussion of suicide and a 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: lot of talk of mental instability. That's not especially heavy 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: in this first part, but it does come up, and 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: we're starting with it right out of the gate, So 9 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: jump away if if none of that is what you 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: want to listen to. On September sixteenth, eighteen, Charles Chapin 11 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: wrote the following upsetting note to his friend and business 12 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: associate Carlos Sites quote. I know how wrong it is, 13 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: but I cannot go on suffering as I have for months. 14 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: I have tried to think out what is best to 15 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: do and cannot bear the thought of leaving my wife 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: to face the world alone. So I have resolved to 17 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: take her with me. I've been living with my wife 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: for thirty nine years and have been happy during that time. 19 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: I am conscious of being on the verge of a 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: nervous breakdown, and it is apparent that the time is 21 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: close by when I will completely collapse. When you get 22 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,119 Speaker 1: this paper, I will be dead. My wife has been 23 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: such a good pal I cannot leave her alone in 24 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: the world. So the man who wrote that note was 25 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: incredibly successful. He had a life that a lot of 26 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: people envied. He had a great deal of power. His 27 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: entire biography, which we will talk about, is full of 28 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: noteworthy achievements, and he's like at the apex of like 29 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,480 Speaker 1: a lot of historical moments that he was responsible for 30 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: reporting to the world. Yeah, this is like a tour 31 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: of previous episodes of the podcast through his reporting. Yes, 32 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: So how did someone who had really the command of 33 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: pretty much anything one could want end up at a 34 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: point where he wrote this note and what happened to 35 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: him after this? It is quite a story. So today 36 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: we are talking talking about Charles Chapin, and heads up, 37 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: this is not Charles V. Chapin, who was a doctor 38 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: who advocated for public health measures to decrease the spread 39 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: of germs and disease. That is exactly how I did 40 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: started reading about Charles Chapin that we're talking about today. 41 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: Those two men were contemporaries. I had been searching for 42 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: info in the doctor after we did our episode on 43 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: Imogene W Reckton's No Kissing Crusade and Doctor Chapin will 44 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: probably be a future episode at some point. But I 45 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: had stumbled across a newspaper account that featured that note 46 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: that I just read, and then I couldn't stop thinking 47 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: about it. So today we are talking about the award 48 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: winning newspaperman, Charles E. Chapin and the way that his 49 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: seemingly perfect life fell apart. So Charles E. Chapin was 50 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: born in Oneida, New York, on October fifty eight. His 51 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: parents were Cecilia and Yale and Earl Chapin. Earl worked 52 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: in the family business, which was a store that sold jewelry, watches, clocks, 53 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: musical instruments, and similar items. Charles, who went by Charlie 54 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: in his youth, was named after an uncle who had 55 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: died as a baby. After the US Civil War, in 56 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: which Earl served but never saw combat, the family moved 57 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: to Junction City, Kansas. That was a town that was 58 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: rapidly growing in the wake of the conflict, but they 59 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: didn't stay very long. Earl was kind of disappointed in 60 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: the business opportunities there and moved on to Atchison, Kansas. Charlie, 61 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: who was the oldest son of the family, had been 62 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: the only one of his siblings to attend any school, 63 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: and that was in a one room schoolhouse in Junction City. 64 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: But by the time they moved to Atchison, fourteen year 65 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: old Charlie felt like it was time to strike out 66 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: on his own. He later wrote of this quote, I 67 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: reasoned out of my small boy brain that if I 68 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: ever was to amount to anything, I must work out 69 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: my salvation in my own way, without help or hindrance. 70 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: He got his first job at the paper known as 71 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: The Daily Champion as a delivery boy for a salary 72 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: of four dollars a week. Chapin had to be at 73 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: the press room at three thirty in the morning for 74 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: every day except Monday. He would pick up and fold 75 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: the papers and then start on a five mile route 76 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: on foot. To add to his earnings, he also started 77 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 1: running telegram deliveries after his paper route was completed. His 78 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: total income from these two jobs was thirty dollars a month, 79 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: and that was enough that when Earl decided to move 80 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: the family again, Charles didn't go with them. He was 81 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: ready to fend for himself. He negotiated a sleeping space 82 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: in the press room. He had an arrangement with a 83 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: local restaurant to run the cash register when it was 84 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: busy in exchange for meals. His first telegram delivery job 85 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: had been to Senator John James Ingles, who had taken 86 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: a liking to Charlie and allowed him to borrow books 87 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: from his library whenever he wanted. So for fourteen year 88 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: old Charlie, he felt like he had enough to make 89 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: fends meet. Yep, uh, yeah. He was a very very 90 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: voracious reader throughout his life. Even though he didn't go 91 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: to a lot of formal school, he was very smart 92 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: and he absorbed a lot of what he read. He 93 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: later lost access though, to Senator Ingalls library when the 94 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: politician went to Washington, but at that point he supplemented 95 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: his reading with a similar kindness from the newspapers editor. 96 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: Charlie loved to read so much that the editor finally 97 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: just gave him a key to his bookcase. And in 98 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: addition to reading, Chapin expanded his self driven study by 99 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: sending away for a course to learn shorthand, which he 100 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: then used to take notes at public lectures that he attended. 101 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: Again with that same goal of kind of expanding his 102 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: education on his own, he taught himself Morse code and 103 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: said that he subbed in for the town's regular telegraph 104 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: operator when he was too intoxicated to do his job. 105 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,359 Speaker 1: Chapin's first published writing happened accidentally. He had written a 106 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: short piece titled an Autobiography of a Hotel office Chair, 107 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: and he left that in the telegraph office for the 108 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: regular operator to read as an amusement. He didn't see 109 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 1: it when he came back to the office after a 110 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: dinner break and presumed it had just been thrown away. 111 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: Put it appeared in the next morning's paper on the 112 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: editorial page. He was sent a note from the papers 113 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,119 Speaker 1: editor thanking him for this well written sketch. He also 114 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: got paid two dollars for it, and then it got 115 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: picked up by other papers and republished. Charles Chapin was 116 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: over the moon about this and met with the Daily 117 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,799 Speaker 1: Champions editor about becoming a reporter, a job the editor 118 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: told him he would have within a year. Japan worked 119 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: really hard to practice writing and prepare, but really overworked 120 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: himself and became quite ill. He went to his parents, 121 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: who were living in Freeport, Illinois, to nurse him through 122 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: the sickness, and after he got better, he didn't go 123 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 1: back to Kansas to see about that promised job at 124 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: the Daily Champion. Instead, he went to Chicago. Yeah, that 125 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: pattern of overwork and then kind of a collapse is 126 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: something that plays out in his life over and over, 127 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: as you will see. When he got to Chicago, Charlie 128 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: met with editors. He pointed out his syndicated piece that 129 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: he had written, uh, and some of those editors were encouraging. 130 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: But based on that one accidentally published piece of writing 131 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: and the fact that he was only sixteen, no one 132 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: was ready to offer him a reporter job. So he 133 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: went back to his family's home in Illinois to regroup. 134 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: The only job he was offered with the papers there 135 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: was an apprentice job, but he knew that wasn't going 136 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: to be any kind of opportunity to write. Apprentices at 137 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: the papers had to do a lot of menial jobs 138 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: like sweeping and tending the office fireplaces, and he was 139 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: not interested in that. Instead, he took an unusual path 140 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: to getting his work published. He bought his own printing press. 141 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: Mus had been auctioned off among the assets of a 142 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: failed insurance company, and Shapin got it for what he 143 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: said was a low bid. He didn't disclose the amount 144 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: of that bid, though he did say that it was 145 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: most of his existing savings. And then he set up 146 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: the press at his parents house. Was given two rooms 147 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: there to set up a print shop. The first things 148 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: he printed were business cards and flyers so he could 149 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: let people know that Charlie Chapin Book and job Printer 150 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: was open for business. And he also started a magazine 151 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: for kids which he wrote. It was called Our Compliments. 152 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: He wrote under various aliases like Edwin S. Stone and 153 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: Telegraph to make it seem like there were other staff involved, 154 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,720 Speaker 1: but it was just him writing and type setting and 155 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: running the press. Yeah. This was a time when personal 156 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: presses that were kind of like minis were very popular 157 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: and a lot of boys were encouraged to like play 158 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: with them, kind of the way we would do a 159 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 1: science kit today. Um, he bought a real printing press, 160 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: so it's not like a hobby press. Was an actual functional, 161 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: professional press, which I find very funny. Uh. When he 162 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: was seventeen, Charlie did expand the paper staff by joining 163 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: up with a partner that was another young man named 164 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: Stanton S. Mills, and Mills had actually worked in printing 165 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: for several years, so he started managing the actual printing 166 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: of the paper, and Chapin wrote an edited Charlie also 167 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: started a trade group, the Western Association of Amateur Editors, 168 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: and he set up a date for a meeting of 169 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: that group in Dubuque, Iowa. He advertised the event in 170 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: his paper Are Compliments, and the group had only one meeting, though, 171 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: and soon Charlie sold his press and he moved with 172 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: his family to Elgin, Illinois. Once again, the family was 173 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: moving in pursuit of work for his father. At this 174 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,959 Speaker 1: point his life took a turn to a somewhat surprising profession, 175 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that after we pause for a 176 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: quick word from our sponsors. Charlie Chapin briefly became kind 177 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: of a late blooming theater kid after getting to Elgin, 178 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: and even toured with a theater company. Although he was, 179 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: based on account, a pretty good actor, this was not 180 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: his life's calling by any means. At one point, Chapin 181 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: actually tried to shoot an actor named Eddie Foy during 182 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: this period in his life. This was over a young 183 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: woman that they were both interested in, but Chapin was, 184 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: according to Foy quote no hiccock in marksmanship. He was 185 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: such a bad shot that no charges were ever filed. 186 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: He also got married in eighteen seventy nine to a 187 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: young woman named Nellie Beebe that was a different woman 188 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: than the one that had inspired his shooting. Nellie had 189 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: been a teacher and then decided to switch careers and 190 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: try acting. In the meantime, Charlie's father had abandoned the family. 191 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: He had moved to Springfield, Illinois to try to find work, 192 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,319 Speaker 1: but then he never communicated with his wife, Cecelia Anne, 193 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: or with anyone else in the family again. It turned 194 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: out that he had found not only a job, but 195 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: a whole other life. Earl, at that time forty eight, 196 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: fell in love with an eighteen year old named Mary 197 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: McCoy and started a different family with her. Charlie's sister Fanny, 198 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: made inquiries and learned that Earle was still alive and well, 199 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: but she never told their mother about this. Charlie and 200 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 1: Nellie stayed with Cecilia for a while to comfort her 201 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: about all this before going back on tour again. While 202 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: performing in Deadwood, North Dakota, they performed to an audience 203 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: that included Seth Bullock and Calamity Jane Jane is said 204 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,680 Speaker 1: to have spent tobacco juice on the gown of the 205 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: leading lady when she didn't like the character's behavior. She 206 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: was very much in line with everything we've ever heard 207 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: about Collarity. It's just fascinating that Chapin was there. Um 208 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: Chapin's acting career ended pretty abruptly when his theatrical manager 209 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: died in an accident while traveling during the winter, and 210 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: at that time, Charlie was still in Deadwood and he 211 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: didn't have any money to pay for himself and Nellie 212 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: to get back to Chicago, So he got a type 213 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: setting job and then he took over for the papers 214 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: editor when he was called away. He's dayed in that 215 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,439 Speaker 1: job for six months, while also occasionally taking some more 216 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: acting roles, but he and Nelly did eventually land back 217 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: in Chicago. Chapin would later call this foray into an 218 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: acting career a quote false step in his life. Chapin 219 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: quickly got a job at the Chicago Tribune, having returned 220 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: at a time when most of the city's papers were 221 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: staffing up. They were trying to meet the demands of 222 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: a rapidly expanding city. He was working as a reporter 223 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: the most junior reporter on staff, and that meant he 224 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,440 Speaker 1: got the least important assignments, although he wrote later quote 225 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: they were always important to me. He also noted that 226 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 1: he fell in love with the job and the thrill 227 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: of covering unfolding news, and how it made him feel 228 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,679 Speaker 1: as if he had wasted a lot of time with 229 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: his brief acting career. He got his first front page 230 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 1: placement in February of eighty four while covering a gruesome 231 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 1: murder of a wealthy couple north of the city. The 232 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: headline and subheaders read when atkas horror the regularly brutal 233 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:04,719 Speaker 1: murder of Mr and Mrs James L. Wilson Tuesday Night, 234 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,600 Speaker 1: they warmed a viper in the person of a visitor 235 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: who first robbed and then killed them. At a time 236 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: when the idea of detective journalism was just taking hold, Chapin, 237 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: a newcomer to the job, out did his peers with 238 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: a write up that was incredibly detailed, in thorough, very 239 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: graphic in its description of the bodies, and included a 240 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: pretty thorough biography of the victims, James L. Wilson and 241 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: Clarissa Wilson. This article was laid out very much like 242 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,319 Speaker 1: a case file, and it even included layout drawings of 243 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: the Wilson's home so that readers could understand the information 244 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,160 Speaker 1: that we're given more fully kind of follow along with 245 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: the story. It also had far more information about the 246 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: incident than any of the other Chicago papers had. He 247 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: continued to cover this double murder, which was believed to 248 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: have been committed by someone the Wilson's had invited into 249 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,360 Speaker 1: their home for dinner, but finding out who that visitor 250 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: was actually proved pretty challenging for investigators. When the local butcher, 251 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: Neil mckeg was arrested and put on trial for the crime, 252 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: Chapin secured one of the accused only interviews. They covered 253 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,200 Speaker 1: every day of the trial with the same detail that 254 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: he had the murder scene, including the large group of 255 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: women admirers who came to the courtroom every day to 256 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: support mckeg. Shapen pretty obviously thought mckeege was guilty, but 257 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: the butcher was acquitted. Regardless of the trial's outcome, Charles 258 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: Chapin had gone from cub reporter to one of the 259 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: Tribune's star reporters, and he got much more important assignments 260 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: throughout his time as a reporter for the Tribune, Chapin 261 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: became known for his determined pursuit of every story from 262 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: the moment he started covering it to whichever point it 263 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: reached its conclusion. For example, when the Haymarket incident happened 264 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: in eight six, when a bomb was thrown at a 265 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: labor demonstration, leading to police firing at the assembled demonstrators, 266 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: Chapin covered that story. He wrote it with a very 267 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: anti labor rights slant at the urging of the papers 268 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: managing editor and co owner Joseph Medill. Madill could be 269 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: an episode in his own right, but the short version 270 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: is not a good guy. As that story unfolded over 271 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: a period of time in which Chapin was also chasing 272 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: other big news as well. Chapin wrote about every single development. 273 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: Because the labor organizers at the Haymarket incident had been 274 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: tied to socialist and anarchist activities led by German born 275 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: August Spies. Once they were in custody, xenophobia drove the 276 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: paper's coverage as the Tribune advocated for the death penalty 277 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: when one of the sentenced men, Louis Ling, died by 278 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: suicide the night before he was to be hanged, Chapin 279 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: wrote up every minute detail, sparing his readers absolutely nothing 280 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: in the description of Ling's body after he had detonated 281 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: a small explosive cap in his mouth. Ling had not 282 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: died immediately, and Chapin summed up the hours following the 283 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: small blast by writing quote, Ling died hard. When four 284 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,800 Speaker 1: of the other organizers were executed at the gallows the 285 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: following morning, Chapin witnessed it and reported it, including minute 286 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: by minute accounts of each hangedman's pulse as stated by 287 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: attending doctors. I was curious when you sent me this 288 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: about whether I had read any of his reporting when 289 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: researching our episode on the Haymarket riot. Very likely, I 290 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: don't remember. I did not get to go check before 291 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: we came into the studio. Japan's writing, as we've said, 292 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: really did not spare his readers, but he was not 293 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: hardened to the events that he wrote about. He described 294 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: the scene of the Wilson murders as something that haunted 295 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: him for the rest of his life. Similarly, after watching 296 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: the execution of the labor organizers, he was so rattled 297 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: by the experience that he immediately went to a saloon 298 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: and got what he thought was blackout drunk, though he 299 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: later recounted that he didn't remember anything of that night. 300 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: He was surprised to find that he had written and 301 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: filed his story. The colleagues he had started drinking with 302 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,919 Speaker 1: told him that he only had one brandy and then left, 303 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: So it seems like he entered kind of a fugue state. 304 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: Worked on this article for eight hours straight, filed his story, 305 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: and then went to sleep. Yeah, he wrote about in 306 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: his autobiography, like waking up thinking he had dropped the 307 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 1: ball and hadn't done his work, and really panicking. And 308 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: then on his way to the office he bought a 309 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: paper on the street and his article was in it, 310 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: and he was very confused for a while while he 311 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: tried to piece this whole thing together. When Chapin was 312 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: covering a story about a possible instance of infidelity involving 313 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: a man named William A. McCauley who was per the 314 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: tip Chapin had received having an affair with his sister 315 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: in law who had gone missing, Charlie accidentally found himself 316 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: very deeply involved in the story as he had been 317 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: interviewing William Ida McCauley, who was William's wife shot McCauley 318 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: in the head. He fell into Chapin's arms. William died 319 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: several hours later, and while this may seem like a 320 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: situation where a reporter would step away from writing the story, 321 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 1: Chapin did not. He was with the family as the 322 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:21,000 Speaker 1: police arrived and arrested Ida. He looked through their personal 323 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: photographs to pull things for a story. He located the 324 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: missing Molly Macklin, and he interviewed her. He interviewed Molly's husband, 325 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: Harry Macklin, who was Ida McAuley's brother, and he went 326 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: to the police station after Ida had been booked, and 327 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: then interviewed her. He got all the details and was 328 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 1: not very delicate about reaching out to anybody involved. The 329 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,919 Speaker 1: story ran on the front page Christmas Morning under the 330 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: headline Mrs McAuley's crime. Because of that high profile story, 331 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,919 Speaker 1: on top of the other pieces he had become known for, 332 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: Chapin was asked by the competing paper, the Chicago Times, 333 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: to be at city editor. He took this job on 334 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: the condition that he'd be given absolute authority over the 335 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: news room. His bosses at the Chicago Tribune took his 336 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: exit very hard, although he was also told that if 337 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,119 Speaker 1: the editor job didn't work out, he could come back. 338 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 1: All of this transition happened in the course of a 339 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: single day. Charles Chapin was working the newsroom at the Times. 340 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: The night he took the job. He was preparing the 341 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 1: next morning's paper. He also fired a reporter that very 342 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: night after he heard him trash talking. Chapin when he 343 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: thought he was out of earshot, and then he told 344 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: the rest of the newsroom that if anybody held the 345 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 1: same opinion, they should share an elevator with the reporter 346 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: he had just fired. There was a turnover. Some of 347 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,639 Speaker 1: the long time staff decided to leave, and Shapin quickly 348 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: filled their positions with other people. We're going to talk 349 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: about more of Chapin's turbulent news career after we take 350 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:55,959 Speaker 1: a quick break to hear from the sponsors to keep 351 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:07,919 Speaker 1: stuff he missed in history class going. When he started 352 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: working at the Chicago Times, Chapin was tasked with bringing 353 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,199 Speaker 1: the lagging paper back to life, and he had a 354 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: very strong ideas for how to do that. He hired 355 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,400 Speaker 1: a woman reporter named Nell Cusack to respond to help 356 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: wanted ads for sweatshops around the city so that she 357 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: could write about conditions as an insider, and she started 358 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: the series City Slave Girls as a result, which included 359 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,160 Speaker 1: the striking passage quote, I did not realize the ignominious 360 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: position of respectable poverty un till I reached a cloak 361 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: factory on Madison Street, where labor is bondage, the laborer 362 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: a slave, and flesh and blood cheaper than needles and thread. 363 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:48,800 Speaker 1: The expose that Cusack wrote under the pen name Nel 364 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,959 Speaker 1: Nelson sold out paper so that the presses actually had 365 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: to run additional copies. Chapin's changes to the paper were 366 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: clearly working, and Cusack would eventually parlay that column into 367 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: two books. When the papor's owner, James J. West, wanted 368 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: Shapen to do the same kind of undercover story to 369 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: find out which doctors in Chicago were willing to perform 370 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:15,199 Speaker 1: illegal abortions, Chapin refused. You threatened to quit rather than 371 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,879 Speaker 1: work on a story with quote such indecency, and he 372 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: thought West had been abandoned the idea, But instead West 373 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: really assigned the story to two young reporters himself. They 374 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 1: were a man and a woman. They pretended to be 375 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: sweethearts who were dealing with an accidental pregnancy and they 376 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: went to respected doctors in the city to see who 377 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: would help them with the illegal procedure. When Charles Chapin 378 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: discovered that West had sent the story to print, he quit. Yeah, 379 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 1: he walked out on the spot. He went back to 380 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: the Chicago Tribune, and he also took some of the 381 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: staff with him. He was back in a reporter role 382 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: at his old paper, putting out paper selling front page 383 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: articles immediately after his return. But then he was lured 384 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,440 Speaker 1: back to the time Himes as the Washington d c. Correspondent. 385 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 1: He still had a lot of ill will toward West, 386 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: but he really wanted the job, so, as he said, quote, 387 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: I smothered my feelings and accepted. Chapin and Nelly rented 388 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: an apartment five blocks away from the White House, and 389 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 1: his life as a political reporter began. He held that 390 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: job for six years. He made friends with politicians from 391 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: Illinois who would feed him information that would sell papers 392 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: back in Chicago, and Chapin continued to inject his own 393 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: opinions into stories, influencing public opinion about political appointments, and 394 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: even using his network of contacts to give information to 395 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: politicians about how the public might perceive various decisions before 396 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: they were made or announced. But all the while, James J. West, 397 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,920 Speaker 1: who was still Chapin's boss, had been mismanaging The Chicago 398 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: Times and committing financial fraud to try to stay out 399 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: of debt. West had tried to get Charlie to run 400 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: away to Europe with him with a suitcase full of money, 401 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,640 Speaker 1: although that seemed to be more of a desperation request 402 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: than any kind of a real plan. As the paper 403 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: crumbled and a warrant was issued for West's arrest, Chapin 404 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: resigned after working briefly as a campaign manager for a 405 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: Salt Lake City politician who did not get elected. Uh 406 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: that was a job Chapin took because he needed money. 407 00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 1: He was then offered a job at the Chicago Herald. 408 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: He worked there first as a theater and music critic, 409 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: something he was apparently bad at because he didn't know 410 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: anything about music, and then he moved into the city 411 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: editor position. One of the topics that he assigned on 412 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: an ongoing basis was the wide disparity between the city's 413 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: poorest and richest residents. His reporters filed story after story 414 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: of people dying while charity organizations that were ostensibly raising 415 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: money to aid the poor, seemed to focus more on 416 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: their gala events than actually administering that aid. This led 417 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,400 Speaker 1: to the paper itself launching a relief effort and using 418 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: an empty building near the offices as a base of 419 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: operations to collect donations and assemble relief packages, including basics 420 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:11,920 Speaker 1: like coal and bedclothes. This then became its own goodwill 421 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: story for the paper and drove up readership and continued 422 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: on through the winter until the early spring of But 423 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: then a few months later, Chapin abruptly left his job 424 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: at The Herald due to ill health. To recover from 425 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: his illness, Chapin traveled to the Atlantic coast and then 426 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: visited New York, where he visited Park Row, on the 427 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: street in Manhattan's financial district that had become the epicenter 428 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: of journalism in the late nineteenth century was known colloquially 429 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: as Newspaper Row. There, Joseph Pulitzer had recently completed the 430 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 1: New York World Building, and the Renaissance Revival style structure 431 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 1: was to Chapin like a beacon. This first visit to 432 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 1: the offices of the World was unplanned. Chapin had seen 433 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:00,640 Speaker 1: it and had spontaneously decided to go inside. He did 434 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: not stop at the information desk or talk to any receptionists. 435 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 1: He just walked straight to the elevators, got on, and 436 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: headed to the floor where the editorial desk for The 437 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,679 Speaker 1: New York World was. No one stopped him as he 438 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: strolled off the elevator and went right to the editor. 439 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,880 Speaker 1: Chapin introduced himself and started to explain to editor Ballard 440 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: Smith who he was, but Smith stopped him and already 441 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: knew who he was, and offered him a job on 442 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 1: the spot. He was working at the World as a 443 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: reporter the next day. Chapin wanted, of course, the same 444 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: front page placements of his stories that he'd had in Chicago. 445 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: Even when he was given smaller stories, he looked for 446 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: an angle on how to expand them into something unique 447 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 1: that readers would want to discuss with their friends and families. 448 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: He was assigned to cover a train wreck that had 449 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: happened several stops north of Grand Central. There had been 450 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,479 Speaker 1: no fatalities, so it wasn't considered big news, but Chapin 451 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: took this almost as a personal challenge. He wrote about 452 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: what had happened, one engineer, seeming to have ignored a 453 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: clear signal to stop, and the tension of the crowd 454 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: that sawt of crash play out. He did this in 455 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: a way that any thriller novelist would have been proud of. 456 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: At the center of Chapin's write up was engineer John Cummings, 457 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 1: who seemed to have had some sort of mental break 458 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: even before the crash. He had stayed in his engineer 459 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: seat perfectly still, not speaking or looking at anyone, even 460 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: as the engine was falling apart around him. This is 461 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: on the front page the next day, and Pulitzer telegramed 462 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 1: the city editor that Chapin was to get a bonus 463 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: for the story and to be given more high profile 464 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: assignments going forward. Chapin was not only focused on news 465 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,160 Speaker 1: in New York. He also knew that his great uncle 466 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: Russell Sage was there, and Russell Sage was rich. He 467 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: had built his empire over the course of the nineteenth century, 468 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,959 Speaker 1: rising from a clerk position in a grocery store as 469 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: a youth to become a railroad executive and a financier. 470 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: He was one of the richest men in New York 471 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,639 Speaker 1: and the world at that point, and Chapin thought that 472 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: if he could cultivate a relationship with Sage that could 473 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 1: eventually lead to an inheritance, because even though Chapin had 474 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: been one of, if not the highest paid reporter in 475 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 1: Chicago for years, he always seemed short on money. He 476 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: wrote that he had gotten a taste of a millionaire's 477 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: life while spending time with wealthy contacts and friends over 478 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: the years, and it was clearly something he wanted for himself. 479 00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: His opportunity to meet Sage came when the business mogul's 480 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: office made news in early December a man who was 481 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: trying to extort Sage exploded a bomb in sages office. 482 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,680 Speaker 1: Chapin was the first reporter to get an interview with Sage. 483 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 1: Russell Sage recounted how a man who claimed to have 484 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: been sent by John d. Rockefeller entered his office, demanded 485 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 1: one point to million dollars and told Sage that his 486 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,800 Speaker 1: bag contained ten pounds of dinah might and that he 487 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: would kill everyone in the building if his demands weren't met. 488 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,959 Speaker 1: Once again, Chapin's right up outpaced other reporters with greater 489 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,160 Speaker 1: detail and the interview from stage. But then Chapin had 490 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: another bout of ill health, which he described as tobercular throat, 491 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: and he left what seemed to have been his dream job. 492 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: He and Nelly went to Colorado so Charlie could rest, 493 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: and then he started working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. 494 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: That is a job that was probably arranged by Sage. 495 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 1: He sat on the board of directors for the railroad 496 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 1: the Chapin State in Colorado for a year. But Charles 497 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,000 Speaker 1: was soon on the trail of news again when Jacob 498 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: Seckler Coxey started his quote petition in boots. That was 499 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: the March to Washington to protest unemployment, which we have 500 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 1: covered on the show before. Charles Chapin covered that march. 501 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: One of the groups that was planning on meeting with 502 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: Coxey and Washington came to be known as Kelly's Navy, 503 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: named because it was made up of a bunch of 504 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: men traveling on the St. Louis River by raft and boat. 505 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: Chapin had taken a job with the St. Louis Dispatch 506 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: as a reporter, and it was like the New York 507 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: World owned by Joseph Pulitzer, which helped him get his 508 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,479 Speaker 1: job there. But it was a much less intense market 509 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: in St. Louis than it had been in New York 510 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: or Chicago, so Chapin kind of thought this would offer 511 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: him a good on ramp back into reporting. As he 512 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: continued to recover Chapin embedded with Kelly's Navy. We mentioned 513 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: in our episode on Coxy's Army that the protesters had 514 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: been really angry at the press because the coverage of 515 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: their efforts tended to make them look like they were 516 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 1: just a disgruntled group of malcontents looking to cause trouble. 517 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: So for Chapin to be trusted enough to enter their 518 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,440 Speaker 1: circle was a big deal. Chapin wrote about the high 519 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: degree of organization in the camps as they traveled, about 520 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: hygiene requirements for participants, about how much all of them 521 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: read the news of the day to stay informed. He was, 522 00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: he wrote, pretty impressed, and his work on the right 523 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: up may him as central to the staff at his St. 524 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: Louis paper as he had been in Chicago and New York. 525 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: By the end of the year, he was assistant city editor, 526 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 1: and by spring he was city editor after a significant 527 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: shake up at the paper. This was a job that 528 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: came with benefits and dangers. When an article that went 529 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: after the school board president Frederick Brockman was published at 530 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: the command of Chapin's boss, who was Colonel Charles H. Jones. 531 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: Brockman sued the paper, and it was Chapin that face 532 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: trial as city editor, even though he had not written 533 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: or assigned that piece. The judge in the case was 534 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: biased against the paper because of an article that had 535 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,680 Speaker 1: been published several weeks earlier questioning the judge's military record. 536 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: He tried repeatedly to bait Chapin into arguing with him 537 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: in court, and then he refused himself of the trial 538 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: and attempted to fist fight with Chapin again. Chapin refused, 539 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: although the chief of police had been concerned enough about 540 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: the judge's temper that he actually gave Chapin a pistol 541 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: to defend himself if need be. Nothing ever happened, although 542 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: there were a couple of tense moments where the men 543 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: passed each other in the street and kind of eyed 544 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,760 Speaker 1: one another. Uh. And the Brockman case was dismissed by 545 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: the new judge that came in in March of Polits. 546 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: Their telegraph Chapin that he had to come to New 547 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: York at once, and that was the end of Charles 548 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: Chapin's life in St. Louis, and that's where we're going 549 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: to end it for today. Next time we will get 550 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: into Chapin's time back in New York and the events 551 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:32,120 Speaker 1: that changed his life and his reputation forever. But that 552 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,960 Speaker 1: is where we're at. UM. I have a journalism related 553 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: listener mail from our listener Sarah, who writes hy Allie 554 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:43,960 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I hate being that person, but I would 555 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: like to point out Nellie Bligh's real name was Elizabeth Cochrane, 556 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,160 Speaker 1: not the other way around, is Holly stated in your 557 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: latest Behind the Scenes. I studied Bligh in high school 558 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,960 Speaker 1: and pursued a journalism degree because of what she was 559 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,680 Speaker 1: able to accomplish. I recently left the field and now 560 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: work for a symphony. That's a cool career trajectory. UM. Apologies, 561 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: I didn't think about it. I will say I have 562 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: read about Nelly Blie, but didn't retain everything. I feel 563 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: like she sometimes used Elizabeth Cochrane after her Nellie blind 564 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: name became known kind of as an alias, which is 565 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: where I got confused. That's what's up. Thank you for 566 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: the correction, Sarah. UM. I also have a fun another 567 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: I swear I won't talk about butterflies every time. But 568 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: our list Karen also wrote UM. She was catching up 569 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: on things and she mentioned that I can tell you 570 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,440 Speaker 1: that it is very easy to order painted lady caterpillars 571 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,480 Speaker 1: and to grow and release them at your home. It 572 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: was brought to our attention during pandemic and it is 573 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: now our kiddo's favorite late spring activity. So uh, that 574 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: is a good thing to look up if you are 575 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: interested in in doing some butterfly time at home, which 576 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,640 Speaker 1: sounds great to me and it's something I kind of 577 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: want to do. Um, thank you so much for writing us, 578 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: both of you. If you would like to write to us, 579 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at i heeart 580 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: radio dot com. You can also find us on social 581 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: media as Missed in History, and you can subscribe on 582 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio, Apple anywhere you listen to your 583 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:14,920 Speaker 1: favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 584 00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I 585 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 586 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.