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Shots Fired · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
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  Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
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  Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. As the conflict between
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  Speaker 1: the North and the South boiled during the mid nineteenth century,
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  Speaker 1: Southern slaves did all they could to flee their captors
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  Speaker 1: and rebuild their lives up north. Many ended up in Canada,
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  Speaker 1: while others settled in states like New York, Connecticut, and
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey. It was in New Jersey, in the town
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  Speaker 1: of Quentin, to be exact, where John Barry lived. John
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  Speaker 1: was a bit of a loner, living by himself in
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  Speaker 1: the Quentin Woods, away from the rest of the community,
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  Speaker 1: which had scattered itself into clusters of homes all over
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  Speaker 1: the area, tiny individual neighborhoods that mostly kept to themselves.
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  Speaker 1: He was a spiritual man too, a Methodist, and he
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  Speaker 1: had a divine revelation to bring everyone closer. They had
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  Speaker 1: come so far and risk so much, and John Barry
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  Speaker 1: believed that the only way they would survive the war
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  Speaker 1: raging in the South was together. They needed a meeting place,
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  Speaker 1: a symbol of unity, faith, and strength. In short, they
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  Speaker 1: needed a church. John erected a log cabin in the
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  Speaker 1: Quentin Woods, as well as a small cemetery next door.
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  Speaker 1: He called his new house of worship Barry's Chapel, and
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  Speaker 1: it seemed that his hard work didn't go unnoticed. Barry's
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  Speaker 1: Chapel became such a hit with the community that African
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  Speaker 1: American Methodists flocked from all over to hear John lead
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  Speaker 1: them in prayer and song. As the war progressed, Barry's
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  Speaker 1: Chapel became a popular stop on the underground railroad. The
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  Speaker 1: Quentin Woods provided substantial cover as former slaves made their
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  Speaker 1: way north to other territories. But there were some other
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  Speaker 1: individuals who weren't thrilled about Barry's Chapel nor the services
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  Speaker 1: it provided to the community. White men, members of what
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  Speaker 1: would eventually become the Ku Klux Klan began harassing the
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  Speaker 1: members of Berry's Chapel on a regular basis. You might
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  Speaker 1: not know this today, but long after the Civil War ended,
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey became home to a very active branch of
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  Speaker 1: the k k k. In fact, a meeting held in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three once garnered a crowd of twelve thousand
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  Speaker 1: members who surrounded another church in order to tell the
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  Speaker 1: congregation that they weren't welcome there. Town historians still regard
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  Speaker 1: the clan as the chief harassers of Barry's Chapel during
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  Speaker 1: the nineteen twenties. They broke up meetings and harassed members
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  Speaker 1: until another church opened up not too far away. Berry's
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  Speaker 1: congregation moved en massed to the other church almost immediately,
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  Speaker 1: and the original chapel fell into disrepair, eventually burning down.
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  Speaker 1: That's not how the locals with though. Ask them and
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  Speaker 1: they'll tell you what really happened to Barry's Chapel. According
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  Speaker 1: to people who lived in Quentin their entire lives, the
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  Speaker 1: church never made it to the twentieth century. It didn't
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  Speaker 1: even make it to the eighteen seventies. Someone had wanted
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  Speaker 1: to send a message and they burned the church to
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  Speaker 1: ash one night. No one had been inside at the time,
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  Speaker 1: and the members got to work building a new chapel.
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  Speaker 1: It was bigger, better, and able to fit more worshipers inside.
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  Speaker 1: But grudges die hard, and so it is bigotry, and
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  Speaker 1: not long after its completion, another fire was started. It's
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  Speaker 1: not known whether the second fire was set by the
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  Speaker 1: same person who had burned down the first What we
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  Speaker 1: do know is that the church was full that night
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  Speaker 1: as they worshiped in their pews, John reading from his
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  Speaker 1: Bible at the altar. Every single member of the buried
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  Speaker 1: chapel congregation perished. The church went up in flames, and
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  Speaker 1: John Barry was taken along with it. He was buried
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  Speaker 1: deep in the woods, and a rave no one can
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  Speaker 1: find today. The stone marking his final resting place has
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  Speaker 1: long disappeared. What hasn't disappeared, though, is Barry or his church.
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  Speaker 1: If you venture out into Quentin Woods on most nights,
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  Speaker 1: you might see it ablaze in the dark as the
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  Speaker 1: fire consumes its wooden frame and surrounding the smoldering chapel. Well.
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  Speaker 1: The people who live in Quentin today swear they've witnessed
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  Speaker 1: John Barry and his congregation singing and dancing around the
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  Speaker 1: burning church. Wait long enough, and you might also hear
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  Speaker 1: the sound of scraping metal and people screaming. John Barry
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  Speaker 1: built his church hoping it would bring people together, and
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  Speaker 1: it did. The work he did to unite his community
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  Speaker 1: was nothing short of a miracle. His congregation knew the
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  Speaker 1: value of what he'd done, and they stood by him
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  Speaker 1: through the worst event even according to the story in death,
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  Speaker 1: Theodore Roosevelt is remembered today as an icon of strength,
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  Speaker 1: and for good reason. He was a cowboy, a hunter,
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  Speaker 1: and a soldier before he ever stepped foot in the
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  Speaker 1: White House. But not everyone knows the truth behind the
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  Speaker 1: bull moose is tough demeanor. Growing up, Teddy was sick
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  Speaker 1: a lot. He battled asthma for most of his childhood
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  Speaker 1: and woke up many nights suffering from severe breathing problems,
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  Speaker 1: a feeling he compared to being smothered to death. As
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  Speaker 1: he got older, joining his father on hikes and camping trips,
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  Speaker 1: the attacks lessened. Teddy realized the secret to beating his
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  Speaker 1: asthma was in physically strengthening his body. He took up
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  Speaker 1: boxing and studied biology. Hunting became a beloved pastime, especially
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  Speaker 1: on his ranches in North Dakota. His resilient carried him
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  Speaker 1: through college, where he studied naval history and strategy. Even
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  Speaker 1: as he worked his way up through the New York
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  Speaker 1: State Assembly, governor's office, vice presidency, and then finally the
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  Speaker 1: White House. Teddy had grand plans for his presidency, and
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  Speaker 1: one of those plans included an unprecedented third term in office.
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  Speaker 1: It was the fall of nineteen twelve in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
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  Speaker 1: when he left his hotel to deliver one of the
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  Speaker 1: last speeches of his grueling campaign. He'd been on the
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  Speaker 1: road for weeks, shaking hands and talking before crowds of hundreds,
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  Speaker 1: even thousands of voters at a time, his voice had
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  Speaker 1: all but disappeared, but Teddy pressed on. There were bigger
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  Speaker 1: issues at stake, and by this time Teddy was known
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  Speaker 1: for speaking softly. Clad in his thick army overcoat, he
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  Speaker 1: stepped into a waiting car ready to whisk him off
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  Speaker 1: to the auditorium. Inside his breast pocket, Teddy had placed
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  Speaker 1: his folded up speech, about fifty pages in total, and
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  Speaker 1: his metal eyeglasses case. The crowd cheered when they saw him,
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  Speaker 1: and Theodore Roosevelt, not one to disappoint his adoring constituents,
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  Speaker 1: stood to wave back at them. He never saw John Shrink.
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  Speaker 1: The out of work bar keep raised the Colt forty
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  Speaker 1: five to his chest. The shot rang out, and Shrank
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  Speaker 1: was quickly tackled and arrested by Roosevelt's bodyguards. There would
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  Speaker 1: be assassin claimed that the ghost of William McKinley had
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  Speaker 1: visited him in a dream one night and told him
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  Speaker 1: to avenge McKinley's assassination by killing President Roosevelt. Teddy pale
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  Speaker 1: but calm, touched his fingers to his lips. If the
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  Speaker 1: bullet had pierced his lung, he would have blood coming
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  Speaker 1: out of his mouth. When his fingers came back clean,
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  Speaker 1: he instructed the driver to get him to the auditorium
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  Speaker 1: right away. Once they're three doctors examined the severity of
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  Speaker 1: the President's wounds. The bullet had, in fact pierced his
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  Speaker 1: skin and lodged itself in the right side of his chest.
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  Speaker 1: It had been slowed, though, by the thick wad of
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  Speaker 1: pay for and the metal case in his pocket, so
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  Speaker 1: much so that the damage was only superficial. Teddy pressed on,
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  Speaker 1: determined to deliver this important speech. He sent one of
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  Speaker 1: his bodyguards out on stage to explain to the audience
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  Speaker 1: what had happened. Some of them, though, didn't buy it.
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  Speaker 1: One man shouted in all too familiar refrain. Fake Teddy
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  Speaker 1: took to the stage, the blood stained shirt on display
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  Speaker 1: for all to see. He held up the speech with
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  Speaker 1: the whole going straight through, all fifty pages, and just
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  Speaker 1: like that, the crowd fell silent. He spoke for an
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  Speaker 1: hour and a half before finally heading to the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Doctors were unable to remove the bullet, but Teddy lived
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  Speaker 1: on with it inside his chest for the rest of
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  Speaker 1: his life. His valiant efforts didn't win him any points
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  Speaker 1: with the voters, though. One month later, Woodrow Wilson won
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  Speaker 1: the election and became the President of the United States.
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  Speaker 1: But Teddy wasn't phazed by the attempt on his life.
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  Speaker 1: He'd been expecting something like that to happen for a while.
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  Speaker 1: When asked how he was able to remain so calm
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  Speaker 1: and deliver his entire speech even after being shot in
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  Speaker 1: the chest, this was his reply, in the very unlikely
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  Speaker 1: event of the wound being mortal, I wish to die
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  Speaker 1: with my boots on. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
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  Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
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  Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
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  Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
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  Speaker 1: Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make
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  Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
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  Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
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  Speaker 1: about it over at the World of lore dot com,
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  Speaker 1: and until next time, stay curious.