1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. William Porter was a man 5 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 1: of many skills. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in eighteen 6 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: sixty two, he spent much of his younger years under 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,199 Speaker 1: his aunt's tutelage. It was his family who helped him 8 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: develop his love of reading and learning. As he got older, 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: William's aptitude extended to painting, playing the guitar, writing, and singing, 10 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: skills that would come in handy when times got tough. 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: After he graduated high school, William put his education to 12 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: great use at his uncle's drug store, where he became 13 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: a licensed pharmacist. In his spare time, he explored other 14 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: creative endeavors, such as drawing and writing. But Greensboro had 15 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: gotten a bit small for William, and the climate was 16 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: even affecting his health. Over the years, he developed a 17 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: bad cough that refused to heal. A family friend, doctor 18 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: James Hall, had an idea to help him get better. Together, 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: they traveled down to Austin, Texas, where William took a 20 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: job working as a ranch hand for doctor Hall's son. 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: Being outdoors and exercising daily improved his health, but he 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,039 Speaker 1: quickly realized that ranch hands barely made enough money to survive. 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: He went back to his old ways, gaining a job 24 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: as a pharmacist and writing short stories in his spare time. 25 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: His stories became the talk of the town, and William 26 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: found himself invited to gatherings all over Austin, and it 27 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: was at one gathering in eighteen eighty five where he 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: met Athel Estes, the woman he would eventually marry. Four 29 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: years later, Athel gave birth to a daughter, Margaret. Being 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: a new parent, though, came with new responsibilities, and those 31 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: responsibilities cost money. Luckily, William's relationship with his former employer, 32 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: Richard Hall, had survived over the years. When Richard became 33 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: Texas Land Commissioner, he gave his old buddy William a 34 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,079 Speaker 1: cushy gig at the Texas General Land Office, drafting maps. 35 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: The starting salary was one hundred dollars a month that's 36 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: about today or thirty thous dollars a year. Nothing extravagance, 37 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: but enough to live on and support a family. In turn, 38 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: of the Century Austin through it. Although William never gave 39 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: up on his writing. He contributed stories to newspapers and 40 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: magazines whenever he could, and when he wasn't drawing maps, 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: he was working on novels with characters based on the 42 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: people he worked with. Unfortunately, his position within the General 43 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: Land Office had been a political appointment, and once his 44 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: friend Richard Hall was voted out in William had to resign. 45 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: He's started working as a teller at the First National 46 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: Bank of Austin, where he focused more on his writing 47 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: than the money he was handling each day. William was 48 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: a creative soul after all, and staring at numbers all 49 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: day was so much less interesting than concocting new plots 50 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: for his short stories. He didn't pay close attention to 51 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: the records he kept, and when the bank found out, 52 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: they fired him. Out of steady employment, William depended on 53 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: his writing full time to make ends meet. He wrote 54 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,519 Speaker 1: for a weekly publication called The Rolling Stone. Then when 55 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: that fizzled out, he moved his family to Houston, where 56 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: he became a journalist for the Houston Post newspaper. Things 57 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: started looking up for William, who had gone through several 58 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: jobs in only a few years. His work at the 59 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: Houston Post was even getting his name out there, as 60 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: were his published fiction stories. However, unbeknownst to William, his 61 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: name was also on the lips of investigators. Back in Austin. 62 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: Federal auditors had discovered the lost uns that had gotten 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: him fired. It didn't take long for them to officially 64 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: charge him with embezzlement. William tried to run, but his 65 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: wife's health had taken a sharp turn, and with her 66 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: death looming, he decided to turn himself in. He was 67 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,559 Speaker 1: sentenced to five years at the Ohio State Penitentiary, where 68 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: his background as a pharmacist came in handy. He got 69 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: a job within the prison as the night druggist while 70 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: he continued to publish his writing from his jail cell. Now, 71 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: no prison was going to allow one of their inmates 72 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: to have short fiction published while that inmate was serving 73 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: out a sentence for embezzlement. But where there was a will, 74 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: there was a way. Pun intended, of course, he sent 75 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: his stories to a friend in New Orleans, who would 76 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: then forward them onto publishers to hide the author's current situation. 77 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: If the warden had ever found out about William's use 78 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: of prison resources to further his writing career, he would 79 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: have been in a lot of trouble, and the privileges 80 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: he'd earned thus far would have been revoked as a 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: fool proof way to distance himself from his work. William 82 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: always authored his stories under one of many pseudonyms, but 83 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: there was one that really took off during his stay 84 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: at Ohio State. According to an interview he gave to 85 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: The New York Times later in his life, he found 86 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,599 Speaker 1: the name while reading a story in the newspaper about 87 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: a notable guest at a fancy ball, but that anecdote 88 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: lacks the pizzazz we've come to expect from great historical figures. 89 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: In a book about William Porter from nineteen seventy three, 90 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: the author claimed William's pen name was born the same 91 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: way all of his characters were, by using the people 92 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: around him to influence his work. This time it was 93 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: a prison guard by the name of Oran. Oran Henry. 94 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: William Porter chopped off most of his name except for 95 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: the initial letter, giving him a name we still remember today. 96 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: There's even a short story award named in his honor, 97 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: Oh Henry. When I look back on my middle and 98 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: high school English classes. Certain authors come to mind immediately, Hemingway, 99 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: of course, but also Jack London, J. D. Salinger, and 100 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 1: one other writer in particular. His tale of Pirates, buried 101 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: treasure and Tropical Islands is taught in schools all over 102 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: the world and has been translated into countless languages. But 103 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: it's his other story, the Gothic tale about dual personalities, 104 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: that's really stuck with me over the years, and it's 105 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: stuck with its author, Robert Louis Stevenson as well. The 106 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was first 107 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: published in eight six, but parts of it were published 108 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: in plays and short stories before then. Stevenson had searched 109 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: for years for a way to tell the perfect good 110 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,000 Speaker 1: versus evil story, until the idea came to him in 111 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: a dream. Suddenly inspired one night, he toiled for days, 112 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: maybe even weeks, on the novella, oftentimes coming downstairs from 113 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: his bedroom to read portions aloud to his wife and stepson. 114 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,840 Speaker 1: Stevenson called it his greatest work yet, and while the 115 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: main story may have begun in a dream, he'd almost 116 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: certainly pulled details from his real life. Some of those 117 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: details were in the news wealthy cabinet maker Deacon William 118 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: Brody had been caught and convicted from multiple charges of theft. 119 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: He had led a secret double life involving hidden rooms 120 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: and a costume for his nocturnal crime spree, and it 121 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: was certainly an inspiring tale. But other details came to 122 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: Stevenson from people he was close to. One of his friends, 123 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: a French teacher named Eugene Chantrelle, had been accused of 124 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: poisoning his wife. Stevenson sat in the gallery during the trial. 125 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: He recalled the looks of horror and disgust on his 126 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: friend's face as the prosecution and went through the details 127 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: of the murder as though it had been committed by 128 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: someone else entirely. The jury, though i didn't agree and 129 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: Eugene was executed a short while later. Stevenson used this 130 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: courtroom experience as inspiration for the story, and after the 131 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: novella's completion, he did what he always did with his 132 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: first draft. He gave it to his wife, Fanny. In fact, 133 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: we wouldn't have Robert Louis Stevenson at all if it 134 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: wasn't for her. Bannie's opinion was of the utmost importance 135 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: to him. She knew what made for a good story, 136 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: and often wrote her comments in the margins of the 137 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: pages for her husband's benefit. You might call her his 138 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: number one editor. You might also call her his greatest critic. 139 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: On this occasion, Bannie's criticisms were not exactly constructive. She 140 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: referred to her husband's seminal work, a story that has 141 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: been adapted for the stage and screen over one times 142 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: since its publication, as acquire full of utter nonsense. She 143 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: knew it could be better, but her husband needed a 144 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 1: bit of motivation. In a letter she wrote to a 145 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: friend shortly after she'd read the draft, Banny said she'd 146 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: planned on burning it before it ever reached reader's hands, 147 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: but she never got the chance. Robert read through his 148 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: wife's marginal notes, and, in a fit of rage over 149 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: his wasted time and effort, tossed the pile of pages 150 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: into the fireplace himself, watching the flames reduce it all 151 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: to ashes. Upon realizing what he'd done, he spent the 152 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: next three days feverishly rewriting the draft while sitting up 153 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: in bed. According to some biographers, Robert had been sick 154 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: for weeks and was hopped up on cocaine. The entire 155 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: time he wrote it, adding a bit of real life 156 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: inspiration to Dr Jekyl's ingestion of a serum to become 157 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: a completely different person. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyl 158 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: and Mr Hyde became a great success almost immediately. It 159 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: made Robert Louis Stevenson a household name. But we might 160 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: not be teaching it in classrooms today if it wasn't 161 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: for his wife, who saw its potential even at its worst. 162 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 1: She said as much in that letter written to a Mr. 163 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: William Henley. Henley was a poet and editor in his 164 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: own right, but also a longtime friend to both Fannie 165 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: and Robert, and for good reason. Robert saw something in him, 166 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: a cleverness and a joy that warmed everyone around him. 167 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: But he also saw something else, well, not exactly according 168 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: to him, there was something about William Henley that wasn't visible, 169 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: that was inspiring. Years before he had completed that rewrite 170 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: of Dr Jekyl's Tale of Transformation, Robert Louis Stevenson had 171 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: worked on another story. It was a novel that needed 172 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: an antagonist. Now. Henley wasn't a mean guy. Everyone who 173 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: knew him thought only the best of him, and his 174 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 1: jovial nature, but Henley had suffered from tuberculosis at the 175 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 1: age of twelve. The complications from the disease had cost 176 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: him dearly, and doctors had amputated his left leg below 177 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: the knee. And that was the key detail. Robert borrowed, 178 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: just as he had done so many times before, for 179 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: one of the most famous villains in all of English literature, 180 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: the legendary pirate himself long John Silver. I hope you've 181 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 182 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 183 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,960 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 184 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 185 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 186 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 187 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 188 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.