1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey Brainstuff 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here this whale of a tale from the 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,160 Speaker 1: nineteenth century is actually true. At the close of the 4 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: Civil War, a whaling ship captain died at sea, thousands 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: of miles from his home in Lebanon, Connecticut. To preserve 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: his body, they sealed his corpse in a barrel of rum, 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: where it remained for more than a year until it 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,920 Speaker 1: was finally interred barrel and all in a Connecticut cemetery. 9 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: Captain Slumin Gray was fifty one years old when he, 10 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: his wife Sarah, and three of their eight children set 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: sail on the James Morey from New Bedford, Connecticut, in 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: June of eighteen sixty four. Whaling voyages could take years, 13 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,919 Speaker 1: and Gray, known as a demanding and borderline cruel captain, 14 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: was a softie for his family, who he liked to 15 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: take along for his far flong expeditions. After nine months 16 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: at sea, Captain Gray took ill with what was recorded 17 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: as an inflammation of the bowels in the South Pacific 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: near Guam. Two days later, he was dead. It was 19 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: Sarah who decided to preserve his body in a barrel 20 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: of rum rather than giving him a burial at sea. 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: The ship's log for March fourth of eighteen sixty four 22 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: read simply, light winds from the eastward and pleasant weather. 23 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: Made a cask and put the captain in with spirits 24 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: if the body in a barrel story wasn't strange enough. 25 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: The James Morey was then captured by a Confederate warship 26 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: tasked with disrupting Yankee shipping and whaling roots. This was 27 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: June of eighteen sixty five, two months after Robert E. 28 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. But Lieutenant Commander 29 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: James Waddell of the c SS Shenandoah either didn't get 30 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: the news about the war being over or didn't care. 31 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: He captured and burned twenty four whaling vessels in June 32 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty five alone. He and his crew would 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: fire the final shots of the Civil War in August 34 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: of eighteen sixty five, and then escaped to England to 35 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: avoid the Hangman's news. But in the meanwhile, Wadell spared 36 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: Sarah and the James Morey. He wrote, men of the 37 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: South did not make war on women and children. He 38 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: transported the ship and its pickled human cargo to Hawaii, 39 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: from which Captain Gray's barrel continued. It's a long journey home. 40 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: The story goes that Captain Gray was buried in his 41 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: run barrel in March of eighteen sixty six, but nothing 42 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: at the Liberty Hill Cemetery indicates anything unusual. New England 43 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: historian Alicia Wayland told the publication Damned Connecticut that there 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: are no records of Sarah buying a casket or paying 45 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: a carpenter to construct one, but the only way to 46 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: confirm the barrel story would be to dig up or 47 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: old pickled Captain Gray. Today's episode is based on the 48 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: article The Ballad of the Pickled Whaling Captain from Connecticut 49 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: on how stuff works dot com, written by Dave Rouse. 50 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership 51 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: with how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by 52 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 53 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 54 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.