Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menk's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of
Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: It's rare that we have a boss who stands behind
Speaker 1: us and defends us from unfair criticism. When an angry
Speaker 1: customer or a demanding executive tries to corner us into
Speaker 1: caving into every one of their demands. It's nice to
Speaker 1: know that there's a manager in our corner who will
Speaker 1: keep the unreasonable at Bay. Mini Cox probably felt the
Speaker 1: same way too. She was born many Gettings in Mississippi
Speaker 1: back in eighteen sixty nine and grew up in Lexington.
Speaker 1: Her upbringing wasn't common for other black children and families
Speaker 1: at the time, though for one her family owned their
Speaker 1: own restaurant in town. She also went on to earn
Speaker 1: a degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Fisk was
Speaker 1: a historically black university, and Minnie was one of one
Speaker 1: hundred other students who graduated with a teaching degree in
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty eight. Minnie got married the following year to
Speaker 1: a man named Wellington Cox, also a teacher, who had
Speaker 1: left his career for a job with United Railway postal Service.
Speaker 1: This upward move allowed him to buy one hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty acres of land and move within local political circles.
Speaker 1: It also helped Many find a career of her own.
Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety one, President Benjamin Harrison, in need of
Speaker 1: a postmaster for Indianola, Mississippi, appointed Mini Cox to the position.
Speaker 1: She held on to a role until eighteen ninety two,
Speaker 1: when Democratic President Grover Cleveland was elected, but she returned
Speaker 1: five years later under Republican William McKinley and subsequently under
Speaker 1: President the Or Roosevelt as well. Many was good at
Speaker 1: her job, but some people didn't think so. Several white
Speaker 1: citizens of Indianola circulated a petition in an effort to
Speaker 1: force Many to resign and leave her eleven hundred dollars
Speaker 1: a year job, serving roughly three thousand patrons in the area.
Speaker 1: But Many hadn't done anything to deserve their ire. She
Speaker 1: was a dedicated employee. She worked far longer than she
Speaker 1: was paid to each day, and she even covered late
Speaker 1: rents for post office boxes out of her own pockets.
Speaker 1: Many also made sure that her customers had as many
Speaker 1: conveniences as they could, such as a direct telephone line
Speaker 1: to the post office. She paid for it herself so
Speaker 1: that her patrons could call ahead to see if any
Speaker 1: new mail had arrived. Many cared about her position and
Speaker 1: her community. She wasn't being forced to resign because she
Speaker 1: was bad at her job. She was being forced to
Speaker 1: resign because she was black. Much of Indianola's white population
Speaker 1: wanted all people of color removed from government leadership positions,
Speaker 1: and that included many Cucks. Pretty Soon, a white supremacist
Speaker 1: named James K. Vardaman began speaking out against missus Cox
Speaker 1: as well. He didn't just want her out, he wanted
Speaker 1: her job and salary for himself. Eventually, the anger and
Speaker 1: prejudice within the town got to be too much. White
Speaker 1: mobs began attacking black owned businesses and fearing for her safety,
Speaker 1: Minnie soon tendered her resignation. It hit President Roosevelt's desk
Speaker 1: on December fifth of nineteen o two, But it turns
Speaker 1: out Teddy wasn't too pleased with what had gone down
Speaker 1: in Indianola, and he refused to accept Minnie's resignation. Instead,
Speaker 1: he gave Attorney General Philander Chase Knox the order to
Speaker 1: prosecute any individual who had threatened her life. Oh and
Speaker 1: he shut down the post office until she was allowed
Speaker 1: to return to her position safely. All Indianola mail was
Speaker 1: rerouted thirty miles away, and Roosevelt continued to pay her
Speaker 1: salary while the office was closed. Sadly, Minnie and her
Speaker 1: family left town for some time. She had been threatened
Speaker 1: with a broken neck if she ever stepped foot there again,
Speaker 1: but they did eventually return to the town they loved
Speaker 1: and opened the Delta Penny Savings Bank. It was one
Speaker 1: of the first African American owned banks to open in
Speaker 1: all of Mississippi. As for the post office, it reopened
Speaker 1: one year after Many moved away, this time under a
Speaker 1: white postmaster. But in two thousand and eight Many got
Speaker 1: the recognition she so rightly deserved when the Indianola Post
Speaker 1: Office was renamed to the Mini Cox Post Office Building.
Speaker 1: And as for the bully that forced her to leave,
Speaker 1: James Vardeman, Well, there was a building at the University
Speaker 1: of Mississippi that once bore his name, but it also
Speaker 1: underwent a change. In twenty seventeen, the university stripped Vardeman's
Speaker 1: name off the facility, calling the white supremacist distinctly unworthy
Speaker 1: of honor. And all I have to say for that
Speaker 1: is good riddance. Everyone has a different idea of how
Speaker 1: they want to be dealt with after they die. Many
Speaker 1: by plots in a cemetery so they can be buried
Speaker 1: alongside lost loved ones. Others may opt to be cremated
Speaker 1: and have their ashes spread over somewhere that was meaningful
Speaker 1: to them while they were still alive. Joseph Margonatt, though,
Speaker 1: went another route entirely. Born in Missouri in eighteen sixty,
Speaker 1: Joseph lived in Corondelet, a neighborhood in southeastern Saint Louis.
Speaker 1: His parents were landowners and eventually sold some of their
Speaker 1: property to the city, which then became part of Carondelette Park.
Speaker 1: Joseph was a devout Catholic, though not so much in practice. Sure,
Speaker 1: he attended Mass at the local church, but according to
Speaker 1: his descendants, he wasn't the nicest guy in town. When
Speaker 1: kids would accidentally hit their baseballs into his yard, for example,
Speaker 1: he would take them inside his home leaving the children
Speaker 1: scrambling for a new ball to play with and hopefully
Speaker 1: sending them with a warning to not play near his
Speaker 1: house again. But Joseph was a complex man. He was religious,
Speaker 1: he just didn't care much for the children who lived
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, and he was fascinated by Egyptian archaeology.
Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty two, egyptologist Howard Carter led a team
Speaker 1: of explorers into the Valley of the Kings. This was
Speaker 1: an area that was surrounded by sedimentary rock and had
Speaker 1: been carved out thousands of years ago as a burial
Speaker 1: site for the pharaohs. Then one of those pharaohs happened
Speaker 1: to be Tutan common also known as King Tut, who
Speaker 1: died around three thousand, three hundred years ago. Joseph Margonott
Speaker 1: had cut out and kept several newspaper clippings about the
Speaker 1: discovery of King Tut's tomb, and he must have studied
Speaker 1: the articles extensively. Perhaps he even did some research on
Speaker 1: his own on how the pharaoh had been preserved. Because
Speaker 1: his surviving family members were given explicit instructions on how
Speaker 1: to handle his body after his death. Joseph passed away
Speaker 1: from cancer in nineteen twenty four, and his will was
Speaker 1: quite clear. According to the December thirtieth issue of the
Speaker 1: Saint Louis Post dispatched that year. The will, it said,
Speaker 1: after directing that the internal organs be removed from the
Speaker 1: body to facilitate the mummifying process, ordered that the body
Speaker 1: be placed in a vault in Mount Olive Cemetery, there
Speaker 1: to be on view indefinitely through glass of the hermetically
Speaker 1: sealed casket. Joseph had thought of everything. He didn't just
Speaker 1: want to be mummified like too it's uncommon. He wanted
Speaker 1: everyone to see the fruits of his labor and the
Speaker 1: evidence of his obsession. Once his organs had been removed,
Speaker 1: Joseph's body was then injected daily with a preservative liquid,
Speaker 1: while his skin was specially treated to prevent it from
Speaker 1: drying out. His mummified corpse was then toured around Corondelets
Speaker 1: in the weeks following his death. His body was exhibited
Speaker 1: at the funeral home for three days before it was
Speaker 1: transported to his own house for additional services. Joseph was
Speaker 1: then carted off to Mass at his regular church, followed
Speaker 1: by a trip to his final resting place, the mausoleum
Speaker 1: at Mount Olive Cemetery. Now, the mausoleum is small. According
Speaker 1: to an article in the Telegraph, it's no bigger than
Speaker 1: a standard backyard shed. As you step inside, you'll notice
Speaker 1: two large shapes, one on each side. To the right
Speaker 1: is a sarcophagus, which holds the remains of Joseph's mother
Speaker 1: and father, and to the left is a brown coffin,
Speaker 1: elevated on some kind of platform and coated in dust.
Speaker 1: Once the latches on the outside of that coffin are
Speaker 1: popped and the lid is lifted, you're able to see
Speaker 1: what Joseph Marginatt had planned all along. His body shows
Speaker 1: somewhere in tear, but beneath the long pane of glass
Speaker 1: that's on top, he's still there, mostly intact. In one
Speaker 1: hand is a rosary. He looks as though he fell
Speaker 1: asleep mid prayer. Despite being dead for the last one
Speaker 1: hundred years, Joseph looks quite good for his age. There
Speaker 1: were also other stipulations in his will, such as to
Speaker 1: have his clothes swapped out every once in a while,
Speaker 1: and with his bank accounts still active today, his wishes
Speaker 1: should remain honored for some time to come. Joseph wasn't
Speaker 1: too well liked by his community. He was a recluse
Speaker 1: and a tad eccentric. I mean, just look at him now.
Speaker 1: But one thing nobody realized about him. He was also
Speaker 1: something of a hoarder. His home was searched following his death,
Speaker 1: and all those baseballs that he'd stolen from neighborhood kids,
Speaker 1: they were all still there in one big collection. And
Speaker 1: I'd call that curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Speaker 1: Aaron Mank in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Loore dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.