1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Hey y'all, we're rerunning two episodes today. Enjoy the show. Hi, 2 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: I'm Eves, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: every day. The day was March six, nineteen o five. 5 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:29,040 Speaker 1: It was day one of the trial of Cassie Chadwick, 6 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: a career con artists whose most lucrative act was posing 7 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: as an heiress to swindle banks out of millions of dollars. 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: Cassie had been pretending to be the illegitimate daughter of 9 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish American steel tycoon and philanthropists. Cassie 10 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: forged notes with Carnegie's name, and from there she was 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: able to obtain documents validating claims that she was entitled 12 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: to millions of dollars. Because she had this proof she 13 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: was worth millions, she was able to get huge loans 14 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:06,319 Speaker 1: from banks. She used the money she amassed from this 15 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: scheme to fund a lavish lifestyle. But after years of 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: defrauding people, Cassie was caught when a Massachusetts banker discovered 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: her debt and sued her. As convoluted and unbelievable as 18 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: all of this sounds, the full story of Cassie Chadwick's 19 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: fraudulent life is even more incredible. Cassie was born Elizabeth 20 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: Bigley in Ontario, Canada, but Cassie had to have many 21 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: names over the course of her life to keep up 22 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: her cons. She was also known as Madame Lydia, the Bear, 23 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: Lydia Springsteen, and Madame Marie LaRose at times. So I'll 24 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: keep it simple and call her Cassie Chadwick from here 25 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: on out. Cassie was already sharpening her con artist knife 26 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: by the time she was a teenager. When she was 27 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: fourteen years old, Cassie opened a bay account under the 28 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: guys that she was getting money from an uncle in England, 29 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:09,279 Speaker 1: and she started writing bad checks. At that tender age, 30 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: Cassie was arrested for forgery, though she was soon released, 31 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: and when she was twenty two, Cassie again pretended to 32 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: be an heiress, this time rounding out her story with 33 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: fake calling cards and fancy letter head. Apparently not at 34 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: all scared by her arrest, she took her con a 35 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 1: step further by writing fraudulent checks for more than the 36 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: purchase amounts of things she was buying and getting cash 37 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: back from the shopkeepers Cassie moved on to a scheme 38 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: of a more ambitious sort when she took on the 39 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: role of a psychic and started up a fortune telling business. 40 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: By this time, Cassie was married to a man named Dr. 41 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: Wallace Springsteen and living in Ohio. But not long after 42 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: the couple married in eighty two, Cassie was exposed as 43 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: a scammer and they split. The story continued pretty much 44 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: in this fashion. Cassie continued to pose as a psychic, 45 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: got married again, got divorced again, forged in cash more 46 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,399 Speaker 1: promissory notes, got locked up for fraud, and opened a brothel, 47 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: and along the way she had a child named a Meal. 48 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: But the chapter of cassie scam ridden life that brings 49 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: us to her final trial is the one that starts. 50 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: In the spring of nineteen o two. Cassie was married 51 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: to Leroy Chadwick, a wealthy man with important connections. Leroy 52 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: and Cassie were on a trip to New York when 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: Cassie managed to convince a lawyer and friend named James 54 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: Dillon to escort her to her father's house. Well, her 55 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: father's house turned out to be that of Andrew Carnegie. 56 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: Cassie went into the mansion, spoke with the housekeeper for 57 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: a little less than thirty minutes, and came back out 58 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: to Dylan with the two million dollar promissory note signed 59 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: by Carnegie. She told Dylan that she was Carnegie's illegitimate 60 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: child and that Carnegie had been giving her money for 61 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: a while. She was even set to inherit millions when 62 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: Carnegie died, she told Dylan, and she urged him not 63 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: to tell anyone, knowing that he would lending credibility to 64 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: her made up tail. From this lie, batan was built. 65 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: Cassie started using forged documents supposedly signed by Carnegie to 66 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: get banks to let her borrow millions of dollars but 67 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: the card pyramid bill. When a suspicious banker named Herbert 68 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: Newton revealed her scam and incited an investigation, Cassie was 69 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: arrested yet again, this time in New York City, wearing 70 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: a money built filled with a hundred thousand dollars. News 71 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: of Cassie's case blew up in Ohio. Her cons had 72 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: even caused the Citizens National Bank of Oberlin, Ohio, to 73 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: declare bankruptcy after they had loaned her eight hundred thousand 74 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: dollars along with Cassie. Bank president Charles Beckwith and cashier A. B. Spear, 75 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: who worked at the Oberland Bank, were also accused of conspiracy. 76 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: Charles Beckwith died before he could go to trial, and 77 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: Spear was sentenced to seven years in prison, but Cassie's 78 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: trial was the talk of the town. Andrew Carnegie attended 79 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: the trial, which started on March six, nine five. At 80 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: the end of her trial, Cassie pleaded not guilty and 81 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: said she had never pretended that Carnegie was her father. 82 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: But she was found guilty of conspiracy to bankrupt the 83 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: Citizens National Bank and conspiracy against the government find seventy 84 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: thousand dollars and sentenced to fourteen years in prison. Cassie 85 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: died in prison in Columbus, Ohio, in nineteen o seven, 86 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: but over the course of her life, Cassie had managed 87 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: to use her charm and cleverness to deceive countless people. 88 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little 89 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd 90 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: like to learn more about Cassie Chadwick, listen to the 91 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: episode of Stuff You missed in History class called The 92 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:30,640 Speaker 1: Daring Impostor Cassie Chadwick. If you haven't gotten your fill 93 00:06:30,680 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: of history after listening to today's episode, you can follow 94 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t d i 95 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:43,359 Speaker 1: h C Podcast. Thanks for joining me on this trip 96 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: through history. See you here same place tomorrow. Hey y'all, 97 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and you're listening to This Day in History Class, 98 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: a podcast for people interested in the big and small 99 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: moments in history. The day was March six, eighteen sixty nine. 100 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev presented the first periodic table. The 101 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: periodic table is an arrangement of the chemical elements, ordered 102 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: based on their properties. People have known about the elements 103 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: such as copper, silver, and mercury since ancient times, but 104 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: modern discoveries of elements began to ramp up in the 105 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: eighteenth century. Scientists began identifying elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, 106 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: and titanium, but communication and labeling regarding these elements was 107 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: not uniform. That said, scientists were beginning to recognize relationships 108 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: between the elements by the early nineteenth century. In eighteen seventeen, 109 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: German chemists Johann duber Einer noticed that the atomic weight 110 00:07:55,560 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: of strontium fell midway between the weights of calcium and barium. 111 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: Atomic weight is the mass of one atom of an element. 112 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: Just over a decade later, he realized that other triads existed, 113 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: such as the halogen triad of chlorine, bromine, and iodine. 114 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 1: Other scientists later added to this existing knowledge, showing more 115 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: relationships among elements. In eighteen sixty two, French geologist A. E. B. 116 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: Deschaincretois proposed a classification of the elements. He put a 117 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: list of the elements on a cylinder ordered by atomic weight. 118 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: The resulting curve allowed closely related elements to line up vertically. 119 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: Desncretois suggested that quote, the properties of the elements are 120 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: the properties of numbers, but his chart also contained ions 121 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: and compounds. English chemist John Newlands also classified the elements 122 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: in a table based on their physical properties. Around this time, 123 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: Dmitri Mendeleev was a chemistry professor at the University of St. Petersburg. 124 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: He also wrote chemistry textbooks. As he was writing the 125 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,479 Speaker 1: textbook The Principles of Chemistry, he began comparing the properties 126 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: of groups of elements. The patterns that he noticed led 127 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: him to use the order of atomic weights to arrange 128 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: the elements in groups. Mendeleev proposed the periodic law, by 129 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: which quote the elements arranged according to the magnitude of 130 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: atomic weights show a periodic change of properties. On March six, 131 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty nine, Mendeleev's periodic table was presented to the 132 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: Russian Chemical Society. Elements in the table were arranged in 133 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: periods or rows, as well as groups or columns. He 134 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: described elements according to both atomic weight also known as 135 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: a relative atomic mass, and valence, or the ability of 136 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: an atom to combine or interact with another atom. Mendeleev 137 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: even left space for elements that had not been discovered yet, 138 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: saying that there were missing elements with atomic weights between 139 00:09:56,200 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: sixty five and seventy. Just months after to Love's periodic 140 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: table was published, German chemists Lotar Mayer published a similar table, 141 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: though mendel Love receives much of the credit for his creation. 142 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: In the eighteen seventies and eighteen eighties, elements that Mendelev 143 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: had predicted were discovered, namely gallium, scandium, and germanium, that 144 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: gave more credence to his periodic table. Altogether, he predicted 145 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: ten elements, eight of which turned out to exist. Mendel 146 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: Love was recognized for his work before he died in 147 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: nineteen o seven. Today there are one hundred and eighteen 148 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: elements on the periodic table. I'm eve Chef Code and 149 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 150 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to follow us on 151 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: social media, you can do so at t d i 152 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: h C Podcast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Our email 153 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: address is this day at I heart media dot com. 154 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you again tomorrow. Oh. 155 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 156 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 157 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 1: favorite shows.