July 17, 2025 • 9 mins
On today's tour, two different couples do a bit of traveling, and each of them approach it in their own unique way.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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):
If you were lucky enough to spend your entire childhood
in one home, it can be hard to say goodbye
to it. You make so many memories there and spend
so many years analyzing every nook and cranny that it
almost becomes like a member of the family. But time
moves on, children grow up and move away, and parents
often need to downsize. Most of the time. Some parents
(00:56):
just can't let go, though, and they hold onto their
homes at all costs. Now, we've talked on the show
before about how the state of Michigan traded the city
of Toledo in order to gain its Upper Peninsula in
eighteen thirty six. This concluded the so called Toledo War,
and it proved to be an even trade. As the
mineral wealth of the Upper Peninsula seemed to be virtually endless.
(01:18):
No one took better advantage of this than a man
named John M. Longear. John was an incredibly hard worker,
and he spent his youth surveying the peninsula for signs
of minerals. In the eighteen seventies, he surveyed multiple mountain
ranges on behalf of various mining companies, producing some of
the first maps of the region and helping to open
several mines. In the eighteen eighties, he went into business
(01:41):
for himself, opening even more mines and shipping millions of
tons of ore. With generational wealth now secured, John built
his family a large mansion on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior.
And I mean it was massive, with sixty five rooms
that took up an entire city block. There were whole
rooms dedicated to different activities, whether it was bowling, billiards, piano,
(02:03):
you name it. And of course there was a giant
lake at the foot of the cliff if anyone ever
wanted to go swimming or boating. It was a magical
place for John's children to grow up in. They lived
there in luxury for most of their childhoods, but then
in nineteen hundred, at the turn of the century, everything changed.
Tragedy struck that year when John's nineteen year old son, Howard,
(02:25):
drowned in Lake Superior. There are always dangers on the
Great Lakes, even for someone who grew up on them.
Strong winds and current can end the life of any swimmer.
John and his wife were understandably devastated. Their serene existence
had been completely destroyed by the worst thing that can
befall apparent. John's wife thought to ease the pain by
(02:46):
reaching out to the city of Marquette, hoping that she
could build a park on the shore of the lake
and dedicate it to her son. But the city had
other plans. A new railroad was being built through town,
and it was going to pass right beneath the long
Year home where they wanted to build the memorial to
their son. So not only would they not get their memorial,
(03:06):
but their tranquil, scenic view would now be marred by
a noisy train. There was a good argument to be
had on both sides. The city would benefit from the train,
and it was probably not reasonable for the long Years
to expect the whole town to bend to their whims.
But their mansion was the jewel of the city. Even
if it wasn't being respected, and so after mulling it
(03:26):
over and discussing with his family, John decided that it
was time for them to move on from the peninsula
where he had made his fortune. The only problem was
he couldn't sell the house. Few could afford it, and
with the train going in, fewer still would be willing
to buy it from him, And so John embarked on
an incredible endeavor. Working with an architect, he had his
home disassembled brick by brick, with each piece carefully wrapped
(03:50):
in cloth and straw and loaded onto a train. One
hundred and ninety cars of that train were filled with
pieces of the Long Year mansion and transported many miles
to Brookline, Massachusetts. The more populous area would be a
good place for the long Years to start over. They'd
have each other and their home to remember Howard by,
but no longer have to face the lake that took
(04:11):
his life. In truth, the new home ended up being
much larger than the first. By the time he was finished,
John had doubled the mansion size. Not that they needed
the extra space, mind you, but the family was able
to spread out more on the new land and add
some incredible landscaping that remains to this day. Now only
the mansion has been expanded into condominiums so that more
(04:32):
than one family can make use of the space. Looking back,
I think it's clear that the reconstruction of the Long
Year Mansion might have been Michigan's loss, but it was
certainly Massachusetts gain. The summer of eighteen eighty six was
(04:58):
a pivotal time for Canada. The country was still relatively young,
having been founded in eighteen sixty seven, and it was
still undergoing several growing pains. One of those was the
exhaustive construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first track
that would connect one end of Canada to the other.
Prime Minister Sir John A. McDonald had long wanted to
travel across the country by rail, and for the first
(05:21):
time such a thing was possible. The plan was for
the Prime Minister, his wife, and several dignitaries to take
a train all the way from Ottawa to Granville, going west.
It was functionally a pr tour. The Prime Minister would
stop along the route and take credit for the new
marvel of the railway. So what could possibly go wrong? Well,
(05:41):
Lady Agnes MacDonald, the Prime Minister's wife, soon found out
what the problem would be as they left Ottawa. Staring
out at the scenery from the comfort of a luxurious
box car would get very dull, very fast. Prairies all
looked the same from there, and her husband seemed perfectly
content to read the entire time. This would not do
for Lady Agnes. She left their car and started to
(06:04):
wander the length of the train, eventually finding herself at
the locomotive engine with the engineer and the fireman. The
two were bemused to see her there, but when asked
to explain how they kept the engine running, they complied,
showing Lady Agnes the ins and outs of running a
steam engine. She asked them if she could blow the
whistle at the next crossing, and they gave her permission,
(06:26):
and she eagerly did so several times, annoying her husband
all the way back in the coach. He knew that
she was getting restless, but would much preferred if she
would just content herself to enjoy the view quietly as
they went. She conceded to coming back to their coach,
watching the Rockies roll by in perfect comfort, but soon
after she had a better idea. When the train stopped
(06:47):
at Lake Louise. Lady Agnes got out and took a
look at the front of the locomotive itself. She eyed
the large pointed structure at the front of the train,
known as the cow catcher, and asked the superintendent if
she could ride up there instead of back in the
stuffy old coach. Her husband was not keen on the idea,
but he could not dissuade her. The Superintendent, perhaps to
(07:09):
assuage the Prime Minister's fears, decided that he would ride
beside her. The two of them fixed seats to the
cow catcher, and the train set off again, and Lady
Agnes was delighted by her new vantage points riding through
the gorgeous Canadian wilderness with the wind in her hair.
It was so much more involving than staring through it
all through a pane of glass. At one of the
(07:29):
subsequent stops, her husband walked up there to check on her,
and she dared him to ride alongside him. To the
shock of everyone around, he said he would. He rode
up front with her until the next stop, at which
points he retired to their private car once again. Lady Agnes, however,
was not done. She rode the rest of the trip
on the front of the train all the way from
(07:50):
Calgary to Granville. By the end of the trip, everyone
would be in awe of her, and they took a
photograph of the front of the train with Lady Agnes
still sat upon the cowketcher and her chair. She would
later reflect on her own fearlessness in her diary, writing
and I quote, I did not think of the danger.
My mind was not on the precarious post I had
(08:11):
because I could gaze at the glaciers, the shadows playing
on the distant peaks, the hundreds of rainbows made by
the foaming, dashing river. I laughed out loud on that cowcatcher.
It was so delightful. Most people love to travel, although
to be fair, riding on the cowcatcher at the front
of a train might not be most people's first choice,
(08:31):
but Lady Agnes viewed things differently. It seems that some
people will do anything for a front row seat. I
hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
(08:53):
was created by me Aaron Mankey 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 Theworldoflore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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):
If you were lucky enough to spend your entire childhood
in one home, it can be hard to say goodbye
to it. You make so many memories there and spend
so many years analyzing every nook and cranny that it
almost becomes like a member of the family. But time
moves on, children grow up and move away, and parents
often need to downsize. Most of the time. Some parents
(00:56):
just can't let go, though, and they hold onto their
homes at all costs. Now, we've talked on the show
before about how the state of Michigan traded the city
of Toledo in order to gain its Upper Peninsula in
eighteen thirty six. This concluded the so called Toledo War,
and it proved to be an even trade. As the
mineral wealth of the Upper Peninsula seemed to be virtually endless.
(01:18):
No one took better advantage of this than a man
named John M. Longear. John was an incredibly hard worker,
and he spent his youth surveying the peninsula for signs
of minerals. In the eighteen seventies, he surveyed multiple mountain
ranges on behalf of various mining companies, producing some of
the first maps of the region and helping to open
several mines. In the eighteen eighties, he went into business
(01:41):
for himself, opening even more mines and shipping millions of
tons of ore. With generational wealth now secured, John built
his family a large mansion on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior.
And I mean it was massive, with sixty five rooms
that took up an entire city block. There were whole
rooms dedicated to different activities, whether it was bowling, billiards, piano,
(02:03):
you name it. And of course there was a giant
lake at the foot of the cliff if anyone ever
wanted to go swimming or boating. It was a magical
place for John's children to grow up in. They lived
there in luxury for most of their childhoods, but then
in nineteen hundred, at the turn of the century, everything changed.
Tragedy struck that year when John's nineteen year old son, Howard,
(02:25):
drowned in Lake Superior. There are always dangers on the
Great Lakes, even for someone who grew up on them.
Strong winds and current can end the life of any swimmer.
John and his wife were understandably devastated. Their serene existence
had been completely destroyed by the worst thing that can
befall apparent. John's wife thought to ease the pain by
(02:46):
reaching out to the city of Marquette, hoping that she
could build a park on the shore of the lake
and dedicate it to her son. But the city had
other plans. A new railroad was being built through town,
and it was going to pass right beneath the long
Year home where they wanted to build the memorial to
their son. So not only would they not get their memorial,
(03:06):
but their tranquil, scenic view would now be marred by
a noisy train. There was a good argument to be
had on both sides. The city would benefit from the train,
and it was probably not reasonable for the long Years
to expect the whole town to bend to their whims.
But their mansion was the jewel of the city. Even
if it wasn't being respected, and so after mulling it
(03:26):
over and discussing with his family, John decided that it
was time for them to move on from the peninsula
where he had made his fortune. The only problem was
he couldn't sell the house. Few could afford it, and
with the train going in, fewer still would be willing
to buy it from him, And so John embarked on
an incredible endeavor. Working with an architect, he had his
home disassembled brick by brick, with each piece carefully wrapped
(03:50):
in cloth and straw and loaded onto a train. One
hundred and ninety cars of that train were filled with
pieces of the Long Year mansion and transported many miles
to Brookline, Massachusetts. The more populous area would be a
good place for the long Years to start over. They'd
have each other and their home to remember Howard by,
but no longer have to face the lake that took
(04:11):
his life. In truth, the new home ended up being
much larger than the first. By the time he was finished,
John had doubled the mansion size. Not that they needed
the extra space, mind you, but the family was able
to spread out more on the new land and add
some incredible landscaping that remains to this day. Now only
the mansion has been expanded into condominiums so that more
(04:32):
than one family can make use of the space. Looking back,
I think it's clear that the reconstruction of the Long
Year Mansion might have been Michigan's loss, but it was
certainly Massachusetts gain. The summer of eighteen eighty six was
(04:58):
a pivotal time for Canada. The country was still relatively young,
having been founded in eighteen sixty seven, and it was
still undergoing several growing pains. One of those was the
exhaustive construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the first track
that would connect one end of Canada to the other.
Prime Minister Sir John A. McDonald had long wanted to
travel across the country by rail, and for the first
(05:21):
time such a thing was possible. The plan was for
the Prime Minister, his wife, and several dignitaries to take
a train all the way from Ottawa to Granville, going west.
It was functionally a pr tour. The Prime Minister would
stop along the route and take credit for the new
marvel of the railway. So what could possibly go wrong? Well,
(05:41):
Lady Agnes MacDonald, the Prime Minister's wife, soon found out
what the problem would be as they left Ottawa. Staring
out at the scenery from the comfort of a luxurious
box car would get very dull, very fast. Prairies all
looked the same from there, and her husband seemed perfectly
content to read the entire time. This would not do
for Lady Agnes. She left their car and started to
(06:04):
wander the length of the train, eventually finding herself at
the locomotive engine with the engineer and the fireman. The
two were bemused to see her there, but when asked
to explain how they kept the engine running, they complied,
showing Lady Agnes the ins and outs of running a
steam engine. She asked them if she could blow the
whistle at the next crossing, and they gave her permission,
(06:26):
and she eagerly did so several times, annoying her husband
all the way back in the coach. He knew that
she was getting restless, but would much preferred if she
would just content herself to enjoy the view quietly as
they went. She conceded to coming back to their coach,
watching the Rockies roll by in perfect comfort, but soon
after she had a better idea. When the train stopped
(06:47):
at Lake Louise. Lady Agnes got out and took a
look at the front of the locomotive itself. She eyed
the large pointed structure at the front of the train,
known as the cow catcher, and asked the superintendent if
she could ride up there instead of back in the
stuffy old coach. Her husband was not keen on the idea,
but he could not dissuade her. The Superintendent, perhaps to
(07:09):
assuage the Prime Minister's fears, decided that he would ride
beside her. The two of them fixed seats to the
cow catcher, and the train set off again, and Lady
Agnes was delighted by her new vantage points riding through
the gorgeous Canadian wilderness with the wind in her hair.
It was so much more involving than staring through it
all through a pane of glass. At one of the
(07:29):
subsequent stops, her husband walked up there to check on her,
and she dared him to ride alongside him. To the
shock of everyone around, he said he would. He rode
up front with her until the next stop, at which
points he retired to their private car once again. Lady Agnes, however,
was not done. She rode the rest of the trip
on the front of the train all the way from
(07:50):
Calgary to Granville. By the end of the trip, everyone
would be in awe of her, and they took a
photograph of the front of the train with Lady Agnes
still sat upon the cowketcher and her chair. She would
later reflect on her own fearlessness in her diary, writing
and I quote, I did not think of the danger.
My mind was not on the precarious post I had
(08:11):
because I could gaze at the glaciers, the shadows playing
on the distant peaks, the hundreds of rainbows made by
the foaming, dashing river. I laughed out loud on that cowcatcher.
It was so delightful. Most people love to travel, although
to be fair, riding on the cowcatcher at the front
of a train might not be most people's first choice,
(08:31):
but Lady Agnes viewed things differently. It seems that some
people will do anything for a front row seat. I
hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
(08:53):
was created by me Aaron Mankey 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 Theworldoflore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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