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 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Very few good decisions 5 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,519 Speaker 1: are made when people are drunk, whether they're calling up 6 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: an old friend out of the blue or picking a 7 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: fight with someone who is much bigger, It's safe to 8 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: say that most actions performed under the influence of alcohol 9 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: are often followed by regret, unless you're Russell Arundel. Arundel 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: and his buddies had been drinking rum when they came 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: up with a brilliant idea, one that would put them 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: on the map literally. Aaron Dell was an American businessman 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: who also worked as a lobbyist for pet Sicola. He 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: had been traveling in Canada with some friends when he 15 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: came across a tiny island about three acres inside off 16 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 1: the coast of Nova Scotia. It was called Outer Bald 17 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: Tusket Island, and up until that point it had been 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: nothing more than a fishing camp. The nearby community of 19 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: Wedgeport on the mainland had become a popular spot for 20 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: tuna fishing thanks to an international tournament that had begun 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: back in the nineteen thirties. Businessmen and celebrities from all 22 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: over North America went there to participate, including Franklin Roosevelt 23 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: and Amelia Earhart. Aarondel had come to partake in a 24 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: few days of tuna fishing, and he did what many 25 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: wealthy capitalists do when they see something they want. He 26 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: offered to buy the place. The island's owners sold it 27 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: to him for the low low price of just seven 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty dollars. All of a sudden, Arundel had 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: his very own patch of solid ground where he could 30 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: wait out his seasickness or grab a bite to eat 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 1: without having to row all the way back to the mainland. 32 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: He returned one year later with plans to build a 33 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: small house on the island, and he hired several locals 34 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,960 Speaker 1: to do the work while he and some friends went 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: off fishing. One night, while waiting for the house to 36 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: be completed, he and his buddies went for drinks at 37 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: a fishing lodge in Wedgeports. They downed glass after glass 38 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: of rum, and as their inhibitions waned, their ambitions grew. 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: That's when Aaron Dell came up with what he believed 40 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: to be a great idea. He was now the king 41 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: of a new nation, one that would be separate from 42 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: its Canadian neighbor. He and his friends drafted a declaration 43 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: of independence, renaming the island Outer Baldonia. According to them, 44 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: it would only be populated by fishermen, who would have 45 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: the right to lie and be believed. Women were banned, 46 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: and in another predictably sexist move, they also made questioning, nagging, shaving, 47 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: and interruption illegal acts. The currency of this new land 48 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: was called the tunar, and all citizens who caught blue 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: fin tuna would be declared princes. In fact, Aarondell would 50 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: go on to mail over twenty letters to people that 51 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: he called acquaintances of caliber, naming them as princes. The 52 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: island's primary exports would only be empty beer and rum bottles. 53 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: Passports were issued, and at one time it boasted a 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: navy of seventy admirals commanding all manner of vessels, mostly 55 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: of the fishing variety. By all appearances, Outer Baldonia was 56 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: as Valida nation as any other, and it had all 57 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: been started over drinks at a bar. One year later, 58 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty, the principality of Outer Baldonia was listed 59 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: in the Washington, Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Directory, using Aaron 60 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: Dell's office phone number at the US Capitol as its 61 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: point of contact. Matt Making company Rand McNally even included 62 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: it on a map. For a time. Aaron Dell even 63 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: tried to have Outer Baldonia stamps issued, but couldn't get 64 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: the project off the ground. As the years went on, 65 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: Aaron dal stopped visiting his micro nation as frequently, and 66 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: it eventually faded into obscurity. In nineteen sixty seven, reporter 67 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: Nancy co interview him for a story about Outer Baldonia 68 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: that she was writing for Sports Illustrated. He told her 69 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: how President Truman's former vice president had asked to be 70 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: the Secretary of Treasury for his country, a nation without 71 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: money or assets. By the early seventeen hundreds, Arundel had 72 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: stopped visiting the island entirely, so he transferred ownership to 73 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: the Nova Scotia Bird Society. Today, the islands still exists, 74 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: but it's been converted into a bird sanctuary. Visitors are 75 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: welcome to stop by and even hunt during the right season. 76 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: Oh and the tuna fishing tournament has also returned after 77 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: a forty year hiatus. Participants who catch something aren't named 78 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: princes anymore, but they'll at least be able to grab 79 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: a drink with friends if they want to, just as 80 00:04:45,240 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: long as no one gets any wild ideas. Maria Martin 81 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: was born in Polstead, Suffolk, in the early eighteen hundreds. 82 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 1: She lived with her stepmother and her father, who worked 83 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: as a mole catcher. By the time she was twenty four, 84 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 1: she'd already had two children out of wedlock, something that 85 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: was pretty scandalous in her day. William, quarters older brother, 86 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: was one of the children's father's but William was the 87 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: one who fancied Maria. His reputation as a con man 88 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: and a womanizer preceded him wherever he went. Though He 89 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: once sold the pigs on his father's farm without telling 90 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: him and then pocketed all the money. His father settled 91 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: the dispute without need for police or courts, letting William 92 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: off the hook and teaching him absolutely nothing in the process. 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: Later on, the young William graduated from petty theft to fraud. 94 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: Upon being found out, he was exiled to London until 95 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: his family started to dwindle. His older brother Thomas died 96 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: after falling through some thin ice while trying to cross 97 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: a frozen pond. His father and his remaining brothers didn't 98 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: survive the next two years, leaving William and his mother 99 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: to run the family farm together, and all the while, 100 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: he and Maria Martin carried on a secret love affair. 101 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty seven, she gave birth to her third child, 102 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: this time by William. The arrival of the baby changed 103 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: something in quarter, though, and he insisted that he and 104 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: Maria get married. Even after the child died a short 105 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: while later, he still wanted her to be his wife 106 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: now because of her previous children, the church would never 107 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: allow them to get married in a typical ceremony. Instead, 108 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: William suggested Maria meet him at a local site known 109 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: as the Red Barn, a house with a red clay 110 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: tiled roof that had become sort of a landmark. From 111 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: there they would travel to Ipswich and Elope. A few 112 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: days before they were set to leave, William came to 113 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: Maria's home and warned her that the local constable was 114 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: on his way to arrest her. He urged her to 115 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: sneak off to the Red barn as soon as possible. 116 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: William would take her belongings ahead first, while she disguised 117 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: herself in men's clothing and snuck out before the authorities arrived. 118 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: She'd meet him in the barn and the two of 119 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: them would leave for Ipswich. The barn was close by 120 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: Maria's home. The journey wouldn't take long on foot, and 121 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: once she and William were married, her legal problems would 122 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: finally be behind her. She left right behind him and 123 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: the two began their future together. William returned to town 124 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: sometime after the wedding, except Maria wasn't with him. He 125 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: said he couldn't risk to bring her along without angering 126 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,239 Speaker 1: her family, but they said they didn't care. They wanted 127 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: to see her. Unable to fend off her loved ones 128 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: any longer, William returned to his wife, but they never 129 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: came back from there. He wrote letters to her family 130 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: about what they were up to and that they had 131 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: moved from Ipswich to the Isle of Wight, but he 132 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: wrote the letters, not Maria. Her family kept repeatedly asking 133 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: to see her to get some kind of update directly 134 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: from her, but William kept telling them that his wife 135 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: was sick. Or that her letters must have been lost 136 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: in the mail. Meanwhile, Maria's stepmother was having dreams, vi 137 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: bid dreams about her stepdaughter and her whereabouts. She dreamt 138 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: that the young woman had been murdered and left to 139 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: rot in the Red Barn, and after several nights of 140 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: having the same dream over and over again, her husband, 141 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: Maria's father, walked over to the Red Barn to put 142 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: her fears to rest. Once there, he started digging where 143 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: his wife told him the right hand bay of the 144 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: far side of the barn. She'd seen it in her 145 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: dream so clearly, and as he dug, his fingertips brushed 146 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: against something. It was cloth, a cloth sack to be precise, 147 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: and after pulling it out and looking inside, he recognized 148 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: its contents immediately. It was his daughter Maria. The only 149 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: suspect who came to mind was William Corter, the last 150 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,440 Speaker 1: person to have seen her alive. They finally tracked him 151 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: down to a lady's boarding house in West London, a 152 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: business he ran with his new wife Mary. The police 153 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: arrested him and brought him back to Polstead for a trial. 154 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: At first, he denied having killed her, but all the evidence, 155 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: such as witness testimony and a green handkerchief of his 156 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: that had been tied around her neck were enough to 157 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: convict him. He spoke with a priest and decided that 158 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: if he was going to hang for his crimes, he 159 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: might as well do it with a clear conscience. So 160 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: he finally made a formal confession. Yes, he had killed Maria, 161 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: but it had been an accident, he claimed. After his execution, 162 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: the crowd bought pieces of the rope he was hanged 163 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: with for one guinea per inch. But the dream that 164 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:35,599 Speaker 1: led to his capture, that, my friends, it was priceless. 165 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 166 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 167 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 168 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 169 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 170 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, end television 171 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at 172 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: the World of Lore dot com. And until next time, 173 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: stay curious. Yeah h