Upper Management

Small town drama can sometimes lead to curious tales.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menk's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of
the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

(00:36):
It's rare that we have a boss who stands behind
us and defends us from unfair criticism. When an angry
customer or a demanding executive tries to corner us into
caving into every one of their demands. It's nice to
know that there's a manager in our corner who will
keep the unreasonable at Bay. Mini Cox probably felt the
same way too. She was born many Gettings in Mississippi

(00:58):
back in eighteen sixty nine and grew up in Lexington.
Her upbringing wasn't common for other black children and families
at the time, though for one her family owned their
own restaurant in town. She also went on to earn
a degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. Fisk was
a historically black university, and Minnie was one of one
hundred other students who graduated with a teaching degree in

(01:21):
eighteen eighty eight. Minnie got married the following year to
a man named Wellington Cox, also a teacher, who had
left his career for a job with United Railway postal Service.
This upward move allowed him to buy one hundred and
sixty acres of land and move within local political circles.
It also helped Many find a career of her own.
In eighteen ninety one, President Benjamin Harrison, in need of

(01:44):
a postmaster for Indianola, Mississippi, appointed Mini Cox to the position.
She held on to a role until eighteen ninety two,
when Democratic President Grover Cleveland was elected, but she returned
five years later under Republican William McKinley and subsequently under
President the Or Roosevelt as well. Many was good at
her job, but some people didn't think so. Several white

(02:05):
citizens of Indianola circulated a petition in an effort to
force Many to resign and leave her eleven hundred dollars
a year job, serving roughly three thousand patrons in the area.
But Many hadn't done anything to deserve their ire. She
was a dedicated employee. She worked far longer than she
was paid to each day, and she even covered late
rents for post office boxes out of her own pockets.

(02:27):
Many also made sure that her customers had as many
conveniences as they could, such as a direct telephone line
to the post office. She paid for it herself so
that her patrons could call ahead to see if any
new mail had arrived. Many cared about her position and
her community. She wasn't being forced to resign because she
was bad at her job. She was being forced to
resign because she was black. Much of Indianola's white population

(02:51):
wanted all people of color removed from government leadership positions,
and that included many Cucks. Pretty Soon, a white supremacist
named James K. Vardaman began speaking out against missus Cox
as well. He didn't just want her out, he wanted
her job and salary for himself. Eventually, the anger and
prejudice within the town got to be too much. White

(03:12):
mobs began attacking black owned businesses and fearing for her safety,
Minnie soon tendered her resignation. It hit President Roosevelt's desk
on December fifth of nineteen o two, But it turns
out Teddy wasn't too pleased with what had gone down
in Indianola, and he refused to accept Minnie's resignation. Instead,
he gave Attorney General Philander Chase Knox the order to

(03:33):
prosecute any individual who had threatened her life. Oh and
he shut down the post office until she was allowed
to return to her position safely. All Indianola mail was
rerouted thirty miles away, and Roosevelt continued to pay her
salary while the office was closed. Sadly, Minnie and her
family left town for some time. She had been threatened

(03:54):
with a broken neck if she ever stepped foot there again,
but they did eventually return to the town they loved
and opened the Delta Penny Savings Bank. It was one
of the first African American owned banks to open in
all of Mississippi. As for the post office, it reopened
one year after Many moved away, this time under a
white postmaster. But in two thousand and eight Many got

(04:14):
the recognition she so rightly deserved when the Indianola Post
Office was renamed to the Mini Cox Post Office Building.
And as for the bully that forced her to leave,
James Vardeman, Well, there was a building at the University
of Mississippi that once bore his name, but it also
underwent a change. In twenty seventeen, the university stripped Vardeman's
name off the facility, calling the white supremacist distinctly unworthy

(04:38):
of honor. And all I have to say for that
is good riddance. Everyone has a different idea of how

(04:58):
they want to be dealt with after they die. Many
by plots in a cemetery so they can be buried
alongside lost loved ones. Others may opt to be cremated
and have their ashes spread over somewhere that was meaningful
to them while they were still alive. Joseph Margonatt, though,
went another route entirely. Born in Missouri in eighteen sixty,
Joseph lived in Corondelet, a neighborhood in southeastern Saint Louis.

(05:22):
His parents were landowners and eventually sold some of their
property to the city, which then became part of Carondelette Park.
Joseph was a devout Catholic, though not so much in practice. Sure,
he attended Mass at the local church, but according to
his descendants, he wasn't the nicest guy in town. When
kids would accidentally hit their baseballs into his yard, for example,

(05:42):
he would take them inside his home leaving the children
scrambling for a new ball to play with and hopefully
sending them with a warning to not play near his
house again. But Joseph was a complex man. He was religious,
he just didn't care much for the children who lived
in the neighborhood, and he was fascinated by Egyptian archaeology.
In nineteen twenty two, egyptologist Howard Carter led a team

(06:05):
of explorers into the Valley of the Kings. This was
an area that was surrounded by sedimentary rock and had
been carved out thousands of years ago as a burial
site for the pharaohs. Then one of those pharaohs happened
to be Tutan common also known as King Tut, who
died around three thousand, three hundred years ago. Joseph Margonott
had cut out and kept several newspaper clippings about the

(06:26):
discovery of King Tut's tomb, and he must have studied
the articles extensively. Perhaps he even did some research on
his own on how the pharaoh had been preserved. Because
his surviving family members were given explicit instructions on how
to handle his body after his death. Joseph passed away
from cancer in nineteen twenty four, and his will was
quite clear. According to the December thirtieth issue of the

(06:49):
Saint Louis Post dispatched that year. The will, it said,
after directing that the internal organs be removed from the
body to facilitate the mummifying process, ordered that the body
be placed in a vault in Mount Olive Cemetery, there
to be on view indefinitely through glass of the hermetically
sealed casket. Joseph had thought of everything. He didn't just

(07:10):
want to be mummified like too it's uncommon. He wanted
everyone to see the fruits of his labor and the
evidence of his obsession. Once his organs had been removed,
Joseph's body was then injected daily with a preservative liquid,
while his skin was specially treated to prevent it from
drying out. His mummified corpse was then toured around Corondelets
in the weeks following his death. His body was exhibited

(07:33):
at the funeral home for three days before it was
transported to his own house for additional services. Joseph was
then carted off to Mass at his regular church, followed
by a trip to his final resting place, the mausoleum
at Mount Olive Cemetery. Now, the mausoleum is small. According
to an article in the Telegraph, it's no bigger than

(07:53):
a standard backyard shed. As you step inside, you'll notice
two large shapes, one on each side. To the right
is a sarcophagus, which holds the remains of Joseph's mother
and father, and to the left is a brown coffin,
elevated on some kind of platform and coated in dust.
Once the latches on the outside of that coffin are
popped and the lid is lifted, you're able to see

(08:15):
what Joseph Marginatt had planned all along. His body shows
somewhere in tear, but beneath the long pane of glass
that's on top, he's still there, mostly intact. In one
hand is a rosary. He looks as though he fell
asleep mid prayer. Despite being dead for the last one
hundred years, Joseph looks quite good for his age. There

(08:36):
were also other stipulations in his will, such as to
have his clothes swapped out every once in a while,
and with his bank accounts still active today, his wishes
should remain honored for some time to come. Joseph wasn't
too well liked by his community. He was a recluse
and a tad eccentric. I mean, just look at him now.
But one thing nobody realized about him. He was also

(08:57):
something of a hoarder. His home was searched following his death,
and all those baseballs that he'd stolen from neighborhood kids,
they were all still there in one big collection. And
I'd call that curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on

(09:20):
Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Aaron Mank in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show, and you can learn all
about it over at the World of Loore dot com.

(09:41):
And until next time, stay curious.