WEBVTT - Was a Whaling Captain Once Buried in Rum?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey Brainstuff

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here this whale of a tale from the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteenth century is actually true. At the close of the

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<v Speaker 1>Civil War, a whaling ship captain died at sea, thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of miles from his home in Lebanon, Connecticut. To preserve

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<v Speaker 1>his body, they sealed his corpse in a barrel of rum,

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<v Speaker 1>where it remained for more than a year until it

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<v Speaker 1>was finally interred barrel and all in a Connecticut cemetery.

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<v Speaker 1>Captain Slumin Gray was fifty one years old when he,

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<v Speaker 1>his wife Sarah, and three of their eight children set

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<v Speaker 1>sail on the James Morey from New Bedford, Connecticut, in

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<v Speaker 1>June of eighteen sixty four. Whaling voyages could take years,

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<v Speaker 1>and Gray, known as a demanding and borderline cruel captain,

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<v Speaker 1>was a softie for his family, who he liked to

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<v Speaker 1>take along for his far flong expeditions. After nine months

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<v Speaker 1>at sea, Captain Gray took ill with what was recorded

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<v Speaker 1>as an inflammation of the bowels in the South Pacific

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<v Speaker 1>near Guam. Two days later, he was dead. It was

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah who decided to preserve his body in a barrel

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<v Speaker 1>of rum rather than giving him a burial at sea.

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<v Speaker 1>The ship's log for March fourth of eighteen sixty four

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<v Speaker 1>read simply, light winds from the eastward and pleasant weather.

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<v Speaker 1>Made a cask and put the captain in with spirits

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<v Speaker 1>if the body in a barrel story wasn't strange enough.

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<v Speaker 1>The James Morey was then captured by a Confederate warship

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<v Speaker 1>tasked with disrupting Yankee shipping and whaling roots. This was

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<v Speaker 1>June of eighteen sixty five, two months after Robert E.

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<v Speaker 1>Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. But Lieutenant Commander

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<v Speaker 1>James Waddell of the c SS Shenandoah either didn't get

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<v Speaker 1>the news about the war being over or didn't care.

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<v Speaker 1>He captured and burned twenty four whaling vessels in June

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen sixty five alone. He and his crew would

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<v Speaker 1>fire the final shots of the Civil War in August

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen sixty five, and then escaped to England to

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<v Speaker 1>avoid the Hangman's news. But in the meanwhile, Wadell spared

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<v Speaker 1>Sarah and the James Morey. He wrote, men of the

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<v Speaker 1>South did not make war on women and children. He

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<v Speaker 1>transported the ship and its pickled human cargo to Hawaii,

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<v Speaker 1>from which Captain Gray's barrel continued. It's a long journey home.

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<v Speaker 1>The story goes that Captain Gray was buried in his

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<v Speaker 1>run barrel in March of eighteen sixty six, but nothing

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<v Speaker 1>at the Liberty Hill Cemetery indicates anything unusual. New England

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<v Speaker 1>historian Alicia Wayland told the publication Damned Connecticut that there

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<v Speaker 1>are no records of Sarah buying a casket or paying

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<v Speaker 1>a carpenter to construct one, but the only way to

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<v Speaker 1>confirm the barrel story would be to dig up or

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<v Speaker 1>old pickled Captain Gray. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article The Ballad of the Pickled Whaling Captain from Connecticut

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff works dot com, written by Dave Rouse.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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