1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:25,119 Speaker 1: Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. Marie and 3 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,639 Speaker 1: Charles welcomed their son Aunton Joseph in eighteen fourteen, but 4 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: they called him Adolph. Marie cared for the home and 5 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: the children, while Charles worked as a carpenter. His gift 6 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: for woodworking made him highly sought after among wealthy Belgian clients. 7 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: Oh William the First, the reigning monarch of the Netherlands, 8 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: commissioned to Charles to make musical instruments for the military. 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: His father's work that Adolph spent plenty of time around music. 10 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: He watched his father carefully shaped the wood into fine instruments. 11 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: Adolph's love of this art and craft led him to 12 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: learn to play the clarinet and the flute. As a teen, 13 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: Adolph helped his father make improvements to wind instruments. When 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't studying music or watching his father, Adolf spent 15 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: his youth doing one more thing, keeping himself alive. The 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: only thing that overshadowed young Adolph's musical talent was his 17 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: ability to skirt death. In his mother's words, her son 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: was condemned to misfortune. When Adolf was just three, he 19 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: tumbled down three flights of stairs before his head smartly 20 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: met the stone floor. Reports of his recovery vary from 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: a week's bed rest to a temporary coma. As many 22 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: a parent might commisserate. Toddlers and young children sometimes eat 23 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: things that they shouldn't, and Adolf was no exception, and 24 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: not long after his fall, he swallowed a large needle. 25 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: Fortunately it passed without incident. Miraculously, he also survived after 26 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: drinking a combination of arsenic white, lead, and copper oxide. 27 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: All of this would be enough to age any parent, 28 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: but Adolph was just getting started. He suffered from severe 29 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: burns after falling onto a hot stove. Although the incident 30 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: left him with scars on his side, he avoided infection. 31 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: At ten, he fell into a nearby river. A stranger 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: passing the mill saw him floating face down and rescued him. 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: On another occasion, he was enjoying a walk down the 34 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: street when a chunk of slate broke loose from a 35 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: rooftop and struck him in the head. He made a 36 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: full recovery. Adolf had one more brush with debt. He 37 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: happened to be in his father's workshop when a container 38 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: of gunpowder ignited from a nearby flame. Though the blast 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 1: threw him across the workshop, Adolf survived. The fact that 40 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: he lived to see adulthood surprised everyone. He followed in 41 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: his father's footsteps in making musical instruments, and Adolf presented 42 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: nine musical inventions for the eighteen forty Belgian Exhibition. Due 43 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: to his age, the judges snubbed his submissions. He moved 44 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: to Paris and entered another competition. He might have won, 45 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: but someone destroyed his new invention, the saxophone. Undaunted, he 46 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: made another. In fact, he made six other variations by 47 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: eighteen forty six, including the sex Traumba and in eighteen 48 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 1: forty nine the sax tuba. If you've never heard of them, 49 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: it's because only the saxophone ever made him any money. 50 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: People either liked the saxophone or hated it, and mostly 51 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: the saxophone found a following with the military, but it 52 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: wouldn't be until World War One, when U S soldiers 53 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: and the era of jazz and blues made the saxophone famous. Sadly, 54 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: Adolph Sax's luck ran out. He died in eighteen seventy 55 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: decades before his invention became popular. If history has taught 56 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: us anything about luck, it would be that sometimes it's 57 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: fickle other times, though it has a strange sense of humor. 58 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, Welcome to American Shadows. Nothing sums up 59 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: Timothy Dexter's life more than the phrase it's smarter to 60 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: be lucky than it's lucky to be smart, a light 61 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: many others living in Ireland during the seventeen hundreds. His 62 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: parents immigrated to the Americas in the hopes of escaping 63 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: British tyranny. England had stripped them of their land, religion, 64 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: and culture, among other atrocities. The Dexters settled in Malden, Massachusetts, 65 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: where Timothy was born in seventeen forty seven. While the 66 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: Irish were still not wholly welcome in the colonies. The 67 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: family squeezed out of life as farmers, and they considered 68 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: themselves lucky. Other Irish immigrants were forced into indentured servitude 69 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: with little hope of escaping, a system that kept them subservient, 70 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: and Dexter and his siblings attended school and helped around 71 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: the farm with the daily chores in the house, field 72 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: and barn. During certain growing seasons, crops became more important 73 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: than schooling. The family was poor, and to help keep 74 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: them fed and clothed, Dexter left school at eight years 75 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: old to find outside employment. He worked as a laborer 76 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:59,359 Speaker 1: for larger, more profitable farms before eventually finding an apprenticeship. Essentially, 77 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:01,880 Speaker 1: family would send their sons to live with a tradesmen 78 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,600 Speaker 1: who agreed to house, feed, and teach his young apprentice 79 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,800 Speaker 1: say valuable trade in exchange for free labor. Other times 80 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: the parents paid a small fee. Poor farming children didn't 81 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: have much schooling. They were offered only the most basic 82 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: education in reading, writing, and some math. By age nine, 83 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: their schooling was considered complete. College for boys like Dexter 84 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: was mostly limited to Latin colleges, requiring them to train 85 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: as ministers of the Christian faith. Alternatively, parents could opt 86 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: to keep their sons at home to learn their father's 87 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: trade or find them an apprenticeship. The colonies were new 88 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: and tradesmen and workers were in short supply. A Dexter 89 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: began his apprenticeship at a tannery to learn how to 90 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: make leather goods when he turned sixteen. The job was 91 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: far from glamorous. The due to the smell of the 92 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: animal hides. Tanneries usually existed on the outskirts of towns. 93 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: The tanners used every type of animal skin, from wild 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: to domestic. The colonies needed every amount norble leather product, 95 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: including shoes, boots, and hats, as well as carriage tops, 96 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: harnesses and saddles. Dexter's apprenticeship lasted for five years. In 97 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty eight, he opened his own shop and dreamed 98 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: of becoming wealthy. But as good as his products might be, 99 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: they would never build the wealth he wanted. So he 100 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: did the next best thing. He married into money. He 101 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: met Elizabeth Frothingham, a widow ten years his senior. She 102 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: had money, a home, and four children. In seventeen sixty nine, 103 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: he married Elizabeth while continuing his business selling gloves and 104 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: moose hide trousers. As you might imagine, with his available 105 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: inventory and the British blockade of Boston Harbor, Dexter mostly 106 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: lived off his wife's fortune. At first, Dexter hoped that 107 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: his wife's social status meant he would be invited to 108 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 1: high society functions. He was not. Many looked down on him. 109 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: He came across as nothing more than a vain, poor, 110 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: uneducated man who had managed to marry his way into money. 111 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: The slights infuriated Dexter, and he set out to prove 112 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: his equality and rightful place among Boston's and Charles Town's elite. 113 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: Aside from making his own wealth, he had two other options. 114 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: He could join the army and work his way through 115 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: the ranks, or run for public office. He set his 116 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: sights on an appointment in the town of Malden, and 117 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: if at first he didn't succeed, Dexter tried again and again. 118 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: He applied and harassed council members so much that at 119 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: long last they relented. They created a position just for 120 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: him informer of deer and the appointment required him to 121 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: track the deer population in Malden, even though no one 122 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: had seen a deer in the town limits for nearly 123 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: twenty years. Some townsfolk thought the position was ridiculous, but 124 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: Dexter was content he had achieved his goal of having 125 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: an official public office appointment. Now all he needed to 126 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: gain social status was to make a lot of money 127 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: in the most unusual way possible. During the Revolutionary War, 128 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: the British pound had value, while the Continental dollar was 129 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: practically worthless. Congress printed approximately two hundred and fifty million 130 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: in Continental dollars, but merchants were reluctant to accept it 131 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: with good reason. They were worth pennies compared to the 132 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: British pound. Congress printed more bills, causing the dollar to 133 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: depreciate even more. The value dropped so drastically the colonists 134 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: took to saying that items of low value weren't worth 135 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,800 Speaker 1: a continental. Congress paid the military with Continental dollars, leaving 136 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: most soldiers destitute after the war, and John Hancock purchased 137 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: some of the bills from soldiers at full value to 138 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: help drive up the Continental's were the good deed raised 139 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,839 Speaker 1: Hancock's popularity inspired Dexter believed that if he purchased more 140 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: dollars than Hancock, kid finally be accepted among societies elite. 141 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: Dexter went about it a little differently than Hancock. He 142 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: used his wife's money to buy the bills for pennies 143 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: on the dollar instead of full value. A Dexter purchased 144 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,239 Speaker 1: so many bills that he and his wife went bankrupt, 145 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: and townsfolks shook their heads and whispered among themselves. The 146 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: Dexter was an idiot and had dragged his respectable wife 147 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: down with him. When the Colonies won the war, a 148 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: few things happened. They signed the Constitution and throughout the 149 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: British tax and monetary systems, the founding Fathers added a 150 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: provision promising to trade treasury bonds for continental dollars. Suddenly 151 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: Dexter was exceptionally wealthy. Neighbors scratched their heads. No one 152 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,319 Speaker 1: could argue that Dexter was undoubtedly lucky, and while none 153 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: would ever call him intelligent, some thought he might be shrewd, 154 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: and Dexter was delighted. Finally his wealk would grant him 155 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: a place among the powerful and elite. It did not. 156 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: He continued with his rude interruptions and vulgar comments. Coupled 157 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: with his crude behavior, he remained an outcast, feeling they 158 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: just needed to warm up to him a bit. Dexter 159 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: continued being Dexter. All he had to do, in his mind, 160 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: was hold on to the money and not go bankrupt again. 161 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: When things didn't improve to his liking, he moved his 162 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: family to Newburyport. The problem wasn't him, he insisted, The 163 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: people in Boston were just uptight and stuffy, Newburyport, on 164 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,599 Speaker 1: the other hand, was nearly perfect, a rich and poor intermingled. 165 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: The town was smaller than Boston, and Dexter felt confident 166 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,079 Speaker 1: he would stand out. Immediately after arriving, he bought ships 167 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: for his next venture, exporting food. The residents in Newburyport 168 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,360 Speaker 1: found Dexter as uncouth as those in Boston had. The 169 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: wealthy wondered how someone is crude and illiterate. As Dexter 170 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: had become a millionaire, his personality and business decisions made 171 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: them speculate about his mental stability. Dexter claimed that the 172 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: other wealthy merchants disliked him because he was a rival. Still, 173 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: he wanted to become part of Newburyport's upper society, so 174 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: he took their business advice to heart. He didn't realize 175 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: that they wanted to destroy his fortune so that he 176 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: would move out of Newburyport. One businessman advised Dexter to 177 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: get into the bed warmer trade. Though the device was 178 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: popular in cold New England winters, the businessman suggested Dexter 179 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,079 Speaker 1: sell it in a new market the Caribbean. Convinced he 180 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 1: would make a tidy profit, Dexter sent forty two bed 181 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: warmers to the Caribbean. Unsurprisingly, the bedwarmers didn't sell oh well, 182 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: not as their intended use anyway. The sugarcane industry was 183 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 1: huge in the Caribbean. The serrupy sugarcane byproduct molasses, was 184 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: also wildly popular. Plantation owners found the long handled bedwarmers 185 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:45,839 Speaker 1: made perfect molasses ladles. Soon plantation owners scrambled to buy 186 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: more bedwarmers. Dexter raised the price by nearly eight percent 187 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: and made his second fortune. The joke the Newburyport businessmen 188 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: played had backfired, but that didn't mean they were about 189 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: to give up. They urged him to expand into the 190 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: coal business, though much needed. New England already had plenty 191 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: of coal, especially in the England mining town of Newcastle, 192 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 1: and still Dexter shipped coal to the town as suggested. 193 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: When his ships arrived laden with coal, the miners were 194 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: on stripe. Residents bought the coal for a markup, making 195 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: Dexter even wealthier. The merchants put their heads together to 196 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: come up with something even more outlandish. They had to 197 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: do something to run him out of town, and certainly 198 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: Dexter's luck couldn't hold forever. While various advisers handed Dexter 199 00:12:38,559 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: some pretty outrageous business ideas. A Dexter himself came up 200 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: with a few so outlandish that the townspeople were sure 201 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: they would bankrupt him. All they had to do was 202 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: sit back and watch. Dexter decided to send gloves to 203 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: Polynesia Again. His idea worked. Portuguese traders arrived and bought 204 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: the gloves to sell in China. For his next endeavor, 205 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: Dexter traveled back to Austin, where he purchased an enormous 206 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: quantity of whalebone. This material isn't actually bone, but rather 207 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: the strong, flexible filtering teeth of bailen whales. A whalebone 208 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: was used in corsets, toys, and caller stays. He had 209 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: purchased enough that he controlled the market and set his 210 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:22,600 Speaker 1: own price. Dexter raked in more money, thinking wealth alone 211 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: would win over his wealthy neighbors, and he bragged about 212 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: buying bibles at wholesale for less than half price. Then 213 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: sent the bibles to port cities. His captains carried a 214 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: poorly written note from Dexter, complete with frequent misspellings. The 215 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: note stated that anyone who didn't have at least one 216 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: Bible in the house would go to hell. Of course, 217 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: he had plenty of bibles for sale to help save 218 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: their souls. Dexter made another handsome profit, much to the 219 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: town's dismay, and yet they swore his next scheme would 220 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: surely be his last. You see, Dexter took it upon 221 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: himself to reduce the town's overpopulation of stray cat He 222 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: offered to buy the cats, and of course people brought 223 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: him plenty of strays. Unsure what he planned to do 224 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: with them, Dexter sent them to the plantation owners in 225 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: the Caribbean. As it turned out, their warehouses had a 226 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: rodent problem, and they were willing to pay a tidy 227 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: sum for the cats. With all his wealth, Dexter purchased 228 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: a mansion alongside some of the town's most prominent families. 229 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: While everyone avoided him, they enjoyed the company of his wife. 230 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: This angered Dexter. He became so jealous of Elizabeth that 231 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: he treated her poorly. He had always been a heavy drinker, 232 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: which was bad enough, and now he started to ignore her, 233 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: calling her a ghost and pretending as though she weren't 234 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: a living, breathing human being. He cheated on her more 235 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: than once. It's not clear if he had affairs with 236 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: married women are not but at some point someone gave 237 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: Dexter a serious beating. He promptly sold the mansion and 238 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: bought a new home in a different part of town. 239 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 1: He didn't treat his children much better than his wife. 240 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: In turn, his and Samuel became an alcoholic as well. 241 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: His daughter Nancy made poor choices in men. She married 242 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: one who took to beating her, and she returned home 243 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: and she also began drinking heavily. Still trying to impress 244 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: the town, Dexter furnished his home with the largest and 245 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: gaudiest objects. He called his new home the Princely Chateau. 246 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: Forty statues, each costing two thousand dollars, sat in the 247 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: front yard. Alongside statues of people like Washington and Jefferson. 248 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: Stood Dexter's own statue at the base. The inscription bragg 249 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: that he was the greatest philosopher in the Western world. 250 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: Dexter furnished his home with an impressive library, though he 251 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: never read a single book. He collected a gallery of 252 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: paintings to adorn the walls. With the house and gardens complete, 253 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: Dexter awaited his wealthy neighbor's lavish praise and attention. None 254 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,680 Speaker 1: of that happened. Still rude and obnoxious and unable to 255 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,400 Speaker 1: see the real problem, he had alienated everyone, including his 256 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: wife and shul Drin. Determined that his greatness would not 257 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: be denied, Dexter decided he'd find new friends, one's equally 258 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: as strange an outcast as himself. One such friend, a 259 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: former teacher named John, had come from a respectable family. 260 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: John's undoing had been to open his own school to 261 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: teach students on subjects in which he had no formal training. 262 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: His teachings were so bizarre that John's family disowned him. 263 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: A Dexter found another friend and Madam Hooper, a wealthy 264 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: widow turned fortune teller. Hooper offered dexter astrology advice and 265 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: took her payment in tea. But even his new friends 266 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: couldn't fill Dexter's desire to be loved and admired. If 267 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: no one else would give him compliments, he'd pay them. 268 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: Dexter hired a twenty year old selling halibut from a 269 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: wheelbarrow to be his poet laureate. In Dexter wrote and 270 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: published A Pickle for the Knowing Ones, a nonsensical book 271 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,480 Speaker 1: in which he ranted about his wife, religion, and politics. 272 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: A Dexter could barely read much less right. Complaints about 273 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: his spelling and grammar rolled in. To solve the issue, 274 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 1: Dexter printed an extra page of commas in his next edition, 275 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,719 Speaker 1: with a note telling the reader to put commas wherever 276 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: they liked. The book got plenty of attention, though maybe 277 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: not the way he intended, since he had to give 278 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,880 Speaker 1: away the copies. Still, Timothy Dexter considered the book a success. 279 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: He managed to give away enough copies for eight printings. 280 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: Newberry Port took solace the Dexter couldn't do anything more 281 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:41,360 Speaker 1: ridiculous or absurd, and they'd be wrong about that. Aside 282 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: from his bizarre behavior and business dealings, Dexter had started 283 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: to demand Newburyport residents address him as the Earl of Chester. 284 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: When the demands failed to produce results, Dexter took to 285 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: paying them in a pickle For the knowing ones, Dexter 286 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: wrote that he was the first Lord of the United States, 287 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: a titled bestowed upon him by the Blick. He claimed 288 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: the people of America had spoken and he was helpless 289 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: to do anything other than allow them to grant him 290 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: the title. He paid children who called him Lord Dexter 291 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: a quarter. Adults were paid with dinner and drinks. His 292 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,440 Speaker 1: gaudy statues brought spectators to look at his house. While 293 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,640 Speaker 1: Dexter might have thought they appreciated his fine art, they 294 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: were more likely curious about the tawdry outdoor museum in 295 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: such a fancy neighborhood, and Dexter continued to chase after 296 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: younger women. Drinking remained a favorite pastime, and he often 297 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: took two walks while drunk, his little dog walking beside him. 298 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: And No one lives forever, and Dexter began planning for 299 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: his eventual death. For years, he worked at building a 300 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: magnificent tomb. Peep even arranged to the funeral. Dexter wrote 301 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: a will making ample provisions for his family and friends, 302 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: though after years of neglect and abuse, it took bribery 303 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 1: to convince his wife and children to promise that they 304 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 1: would show up at the funeral. Dexter was fifty nine 305 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: when the day he had planned for finally came. Nearly 306 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: three thousand people turned up. Guests greeted his widow and 307 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: paid their respects. Elizabeth accepted their well wishes politely enough 308 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 1: and occasionally laughed with a few of the guests. Given 309 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: Dexter's treatment of her, none were surprised that she never 310 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: shed a tear. Well, everyone except Dexter, who had planned 311 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,120 Speaker 1: and faked the funeral. He had wanted to see how 312 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:28,439 Speaker 1: everyone would react to his death, especially friends who he 313 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: worried had remained at his company for the money. Dexter 314 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: got up from where he had been pretending to lie 315 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 1: in state. Furious, he began to be rate and beat 316 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 1: his wife in front of the spectators for not properly 317 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: mourning him. His actual death occurred shortly after the faith one. 318 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: He passed on October six of eighteen o six. This 319 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: time he made provisions to leave his fortune to the poor, 320 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 1: in addition to the wife and children he had treated 321 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: so poorly. There is no record of whether anyone attended 322 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: the second funeral. The mass of tomb he had created 323 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: was declared a hazard, and his family laid him in 324 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: a standard coffin and had him buried in a small 325 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: hillside cemetery. No one visited, and no one maintained the site. 326 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,920 Speaker 1: Grass eventually overtook his grave. Dexter may have been exceptionally 327 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 1: lucky in business, but was unsuccessful in the areas he 328 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,760 Speaker 1: wanted the most love and respect. There's more to this story. 329 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: Stick around after this brief sponsored break to hear all 330 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: about it. Everyone agreed that little Violet Jessip was lucky. 331 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: During the eighteen hundreds, a diagnosis of tuberculosis generally meant 332 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: to death sentence. She was just a child when the 333 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: doctors delivered the news to her parents a Violet would 334 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: probably die within a couple of months. She surprised them though, 335 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,959 Speaker 1: beating the odds and sir driving this highly contagious and 336 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: often fatal disease. However, Violet's luck did not transfer to 337 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: her father. He did die, leaving his wife and six 338 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:15,040 Speaker 1: remaining children in a dire financial situation. The family had 339 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: immigrated from Ireland to Argentina, where Joseph Jessup had worked 340 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: as a sheep farmer. Without a way to earn a living, 341 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,680 Speaker 1: Katherine Jessop moved the family to England and found employment 342 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: aboard ships as a stewardess. The work took Catherine away 343 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: for extended periods, leaving Violet to care for her siblings. 344 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: When Katherine fell ill, Violet needed to join the workforce 345 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: to feed and care for the family. She also applied 346 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: for jobs as a ship stewardess. She was young and 347 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: strikingly beautiful, which promptly earned her rejection. After rejection, employers 348 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: shied away from hiring young girls with extraordinary looks. In 349 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: their opinion, such beauty distracted the crew and male passengers. 350 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: Jobs that paid enough for women to support a family 351 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: were rare. A viole, it had to get creative. She 352 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,719 Speaker 1: wore clothes that made her look older and reapplied, this 353 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: time without wearing makeup. Her creativity paid off. Violet found 354 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: work on the Orinoco Royal Mail steamer. In night, she 355 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: found a better job with the White Star Line, one 356 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: of the largest ship companies of the time. The ships 357 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 1: carried cargo and passengers, and Violet's job was to cater 358 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: to the wealthy passengers every need. Additionally, she cleaned cabins, 359 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: arranged flowers, and ran errands on the ship. The Violet 360 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: proved to be a reliable and hard worker and was 361 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: well liked by passengers and staff. Although the White Star 362 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:42,520 Speaker 1: Line paid slightly better, she earned every pound sterling. She 363 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 1: worked seventeen hours a day on ships that frequently traveled 364 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,880 Speaker 1: rough seas and bad weather to compete with other large 365 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: shipping companies, the White Star Line launched three luxury ships, 366 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: offering wealthy passengers and experience and service that rivaled the 367 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,360 Speaker 1: world's finest hotels and resorts. A Violet worked on all 368 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: three ships that she had worked on the first ship, 369 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: the Olympic, for a year, and everything ran smoothly until 370 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 1: September of nineteen eleven. As bad luck would have it, 371 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: the ship crossed paths with the HMS Hawk, a combat ship. Fortunately, 372 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 1: the Olympic didn't sink and no one was injured. It 373 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: limped back to port, where everyone disembarked. The company offered 374 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: her a job aboard second ship, designed to cater to 375 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 1: the world's most elite. The Violet was hesitant. A while 376 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: American passengers treated her well, rich Britons treated her poorly. 377 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: The job would be more prestigious, the company promised, and 378 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: the ship, though it had yet to sail, had captured 379 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: everyone's attention. Without better prospects, Violet accepted. She kept a 380 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: journal and made notes on the passengers. Some of the 381 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: world's most wealthy and prominent passengers had booked a trip, 382 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: and many were as pretentious and rude to the staff 383 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: as she had anticipated. Violet had just returned to her 384 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: bed when the Titanic struck the Iceberg. The captain ordered 385 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 1: all the staff on deck. She stood with the other 386 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,960 Speaker 1: stewardesses while staff loaded children and women passengers onto lifeboats. 387 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: A ship officer ordered Violet and a handful of other 388 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: stewardesses onto lifeboat number sixteen to show a few of 389 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: the remaining women that the boats were safe. The officer 390 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: called to Violet and handed her a small bundle. Here, 391 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: miss jessup, look after this baby. The lifeboats floated away 392 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: from the sinking ship. They drifted for eight hours until 393 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: the crew aboard the Carpathia rescued them. Violet still clutched 394 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,159 Speaker 1: the infant close to her on the deck when the 395 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: mother grabbed the baby and ran off without so much 396 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: as a thank you. A Violet returned to work aboard 397 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: the newly repaired Olympic until World War One broke out 398 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen fourteen, when she served as a nurse above 399 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: the White Star Lines third ship, the Britannic. The ship 400 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:52,720 Speaker 1: hit a German mine in the Aegean Sea. Violet been 401 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,640 Speaker 1: several shipmates made it to a lifeboat, only to realize 402 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: the sinking ship's propellers were as surface level and pulling 403 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: them in. They abandoned the ship and tried to swim away. 404 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: Violet's head struck the keel. Luckily, someone on another boat 405 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: pulled her to safety. Though she did return to work 406 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,679 Speaker 1: as a stewardess, Violet eventually decided to not press her 407 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 1: luck any further. She found work on land, where she 408 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:22,200 Speaker 1: remained until she died in at the age of eighty four. 409 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was 410 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,400 Speaker 1: written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced 411 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,679 Speaker 1: by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, 412 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, 413 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: visit Grim and Mild dot com. From more podcasts from 414 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 415 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.