Episode 153 | And Dad Discovered Therapy

In another week of unexpected history, Theresa kicks things off with a story from Brazil. Meet Antonio Conselheiro, a man crushed by life who turns to following God. He wanders the back country of Brazil, preaching the Good News and fixing churches. He ends up building a community with recently freed Black people who have nowhere else to turn. 

Because no good deed goes unpunished, farmers who lost their laborers raise an army, and history does its thing. 

Angie, shocked by this tale, pivots sharply and takes us into the Gilded Age by telling us the story of Mamie Fish. This socialite surprised and delighted the upper crust with her antics. Come for her elaborate dinner parties. Stay for the monkey dressed as a prince. 

This episode pairs well with:  Seneca Village: Andrew Williams Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth 

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Hi, and thanks for tuning in to the UnhingedHistory Podcast. The podcast where two friends
are going to compulsively research historystories that we found in memes that our husbands
sent us in TikToks. And then we are going toresearch compulsively the background behind
them, tell each other the stories we've onlyrecently learned, and we record it for your

(00:32):
education. I'm host one, I'm Teresa, and that ishost two. That is, I'm Angie. And you've tuned in
today, and we're thankful that you're here. Angieand I did a thing. You might have heard a commercial
or something that we put together. We now have aPatreon. So if you are like, you know what,
commercials below, I'm over them. I startedstreaming services and pay extra to avoid all of

(00:57):
them. You can do that here too. Just a couple ofbucks helps you cut through the noise and we'll be
uploading additional content for you as wellthere occasionally. Good times. It is great
times. And then Angie told me right before we hitrecord that I go first. So I've got that going for

(01:20):
me. So good. I'm just going to tell you that when myhot pocket walks in, I will meet myself so I can eat
it. You would. Okay. So my story idea comes from...You do not want me to meet myself? No, I do. Okay.
Fine. Make it impossible to edit out. Yes, I wantyou to not eat, because when you're eating a hot

(01:41):
pocket and you're trying to, it's going to be hot.It's going to be overly hot no matter how hot it's
supposed to be. And you're going, because you willnot blow on it before you put it in your mouth. And
the mess of the... Thank you for knowing me so well.Do what I can. Anyhow, this story was recommended

(02:01):
by someone I met on TikTok. Nope. By somebody I meton LinkedIn named Maya. Maya has a Brazilian
background. And so she said that I needed to look upAntonio console... Height. I'm probably saying
of the Japanese accent, I can hear the Japaneseaccent in my brain. I'm so sorry. Did you say she was

(02:24):
Brazilian? She is Brazilian. Okay. So this storyhails from that region of the world. Yeah. So
Antonio, cancel hero. Okay. All right. Mysources, encyclopedia.com, Christian science
monitor. This feels like a brand new one for me to gothere. And the... Yeah, I can say either one of us

(02:45):
have ever used that one before. No. This feels new.The article is a poor man's advocate by Jack
Epstein. And genie.com had a very thoroughbackground as well. Another new source for me.
That's awesome. Yeah. And obviously because thiswasn't in the U.S., I couldn't go to my favorite

(03:06):
park service even though I still love parkservice. We still tried. So Antonio Vincent
Mendez Mezal was born in Santo Antonio de...There's an X in this word and a Q. She speaks

(03:30):
Japanese. And neither of those letters are inJapanese. Deep in the Sierra backlands. Now his
grandparents are vaikiros or cowboys. Andapparently his infancy is marked with a bloody
family feud with a powerful family, the arraujoscausing many deaths in both families. So this

(03:57):
sounds like an episode of Zaro. Now they kind offollow this really heartbreaking cycle of
vengeance and honor that is... It feels part andparcel to many Western European stories of
knighthood and chivalry and the whatnot. Okay.Now one record says that his mother dies in 1834 and

(04:25):
then his mother remarried... Or his fatherremarried again. I'm going to say if his mother
remarried I have additional questions. Youshould have additional questions but that is not
the case. Now when the father remarries Antonioand his two sisters suffer from daddy's
alcoholism and maltreatment by the stepmom. Nowanother version says that the first marriage of

(04:53):
his dad ended disasterously when he deserted hiswife after bludgeoning her so severely that she
nearly died. This isn't stepmom? No, no. So momeither died and the dad remarried. Oh, okay. Mom
was either bludgeoned and dad took everybody andleft. Wow. So either way this bodes well. Yeah,

(05:22):
this is great. This is great for a youth mental...Yeah. I mean just go on. Just the founding. This is
just setting up the fairy tale, right? Now dad'ssecond wife is common law. Her name is Maria Maciel
and she is the boy stepmother during the mostformative years this kid has. Now they live in a

(05:46):
village or no she is known in the village as MariaChana and she is incredibly strict. She imposes
religious discipline within her household and isquoted to saying that she needed out frequent
punishment to her children and slaves. Frequentpunishment to her children and slaves as in the

(06:08):
slaves are also their children? Negative. Ibelieve two sets of people's resided in the
household. Children and also slaves. That makessense. Now gradually Vincente or the dad's
fortune as a merchant they begin to like kind offall off. The dad grows morose and soly and he's

(06:34):
frequently inebriated. Now in a cool twist, areyou going to say something? Yeah I was just
thinking why is that always paired together?Because medicating with alcohol tends to be a
depressant, depressant makes you more morose andsoly so you keep this flywheel going. I think that

(06:55):
it is the stories we choose never result in dad grewmore morose and further sad and entered into a
world of poetry. That never happens for ourstories. And dad discovered therapy. The end.
Right? And broke the generational curses andbrought his family. That's just not what we're

(07:18):
going because it wouldn't be unhinged history. Iwas just going to say it wouldn't end up on our
broadcast as it did. No. Bless you though if itdoes. You end up on an episode of Oprah. Now facts. I
need to come up with a new thing because that is avery dated reference now. So Antonio he goes to
study with his grandfather and grandfather was ateacher. So this seems to be well now. Antonio

(07:43):
himself he's pretty studious and he studies quitea bit of things. I might get into that in a little
bit. Now for whatever reason it's noted in theliterature that he has a very tawny complexion and
apparently it's because he's got part Indianancestry. Even though his birth certificate

(08:06):
listed as dark most of his chroniclers refer to aswhite. So there's some interesting like racism
that's going to be so put a pin in that that's goingto pop up later. Okay so passing. I wouldn't say
passing. I'm just I don't I don't understand thatbut there are there are blacks later on there are

(08:32):
slaves in this period in this time period as well.So maybe it's like well you're not black. Right.
Right. Okay. Okay. I mean maybe I don't know likethere's so much about Brazilian history and
culture and politics like I don't know. There I'mhere to learn. Let's go. Now he does have some very

(08:55):
formal instruction that comes from bothgrandfather and father. Father wants to become a
priest. When he goes to be taught by hisgrandfather who is a professor he studies
arithmetic geography Portuguese French andLatin. So get it. Right. Like again. Okay. This is
the 1830s 1840s at this point. This is giving themBrazilian James McDonald. Yep. And James

(09:22):
McDonald being the first Choctaw lawyer previousepisode if you're interested. Now. Yes. I guess I
should allow with that. Oh no you're fine. You'refine. This is why we work together. Right. Now some
of his schoolmates they are doing pretty good.They proceed to move on from school and become
police chiefs, newspaper men, lawyers like theyare doing the things. Now the Mendez-Mesle clan

(09:46):
they're known in the community as being a goodfamily. They are part of the conservative class of
the time. They may not be particularly wealthy butthey have they are a good name to marry into kind of
deal. Now. Right. We're inspectable. Right. Likethey are just they may upper middle class so to

(10:06):
speak. Okay. Okay. It's 1855 when his dad dies andour man Antonio he ends up taking up the family
business and this means he's really got to workhard to get his sisters married. Oh right because
that's part of the family business. Well I mean soit's not part of the family business but it is part

(10:27):
of like this is your responsibility as thepatriarch. Yeah. And we also figure out that he
files paperwork to back some outstanding loanswith a mortgage so he has to mortgage the house to
cover the loans from his dad's improper businessdealings. I would have never thought that had been
a thing in the 1800s but I mean obviously it wasbecause you could buy a house. Like right. Anyway.

(10:50):
Yeah. I mean yeah these are these are all thethings. Now 1857 so two years later he marries a
woman named Brasolina Laurentina Delima which isa name. Now this is his 15 year old cousin. Sorry as
opposed to what. It's a name. Which is a name. Likefirst off her first name is Brasolina like the lady

(11:16):
of Brazil like. Mmm. Oh yeah. I mean like I was that Iwas just like okay now he begins working as a car or
the car salesman salesman my brain put car in frontdon't listen to me. He's also working as a teacher
and a lay counselor which kind of translates topoor man's lawyer. Okay. I would have thought it

(11:39):
would have been something like with the with thechurch like a lay priest that sort of thing. Ah
yeah. Not quite. I just learned something.Thanks. You're for my next trick. Now he at around
like 1861 he's got about two kids and his wifecheats on him. It's always the spouse. I mean

(12:04):
you're not going to keep like the neighbor is notgoing to sleep with somebody else and that's not
going to throw off your day. You know what I mean?Like of course it's it has to that's the
definition. Right. I was making the joke becauseevery time it's murder it's always the spouse. Oh
fair. But nobody murders here. That was just hisparents. He might have broken that curse. Now

(12:25):
disillusioned and depressed he kind of separatesfrom his family and he retires to a farm working as a
rural teacher and he's devoting himself more andmore to the Christian mysticism practices like
family want me to be a priest I might as well startleading that direction. Okay. So he moves again to
a place called Santa Quiteria. So sorry foranybody who has an inkling of Portuguese who knows

(12:50):
how badly I'm saying all of this. He has a thirdchild named Joaquim a pre-deo and this is he has
this with it with a local artist named JuanaImaginaria. That's a joke as opposed to I'm
joking. Brindelia or whatever I mean. Just thefact that her last name kind of sounds like

(13:17):
imagination is kind of cool to me. I was thinking ishe real when you said that? She just made up. Ed
Edwards. I think he could have done better makingup a code name there. John Johnson. Our man Antonio
he's good and restless and he starts to wanderaround the country. So from 1865 to 1869 and then he

(13:39):
has like another jaunt from 1871 and moving on. Nowhere's where the story kind of picks up now that we
kind of see the seeds building. Okay. He sells hishouse and he strikes off to wander the backlands.
Now you need to understand what he looks like. Ourdude is tall. He's thin. He's got long black hair
and a beard. He's always dressed in his rough bluetunic. He's got a straw hat. He's got leather

(14:03):
sandals. He's carrying a black necklace with awooden note. He's carrying a necklace of the
wooden cross. The color wasn't set. Andapparently his figure is impressive and reminds
people of our man Jesus. Okay. That's what I said.See, it looked like Jesus. That's okay. But I've

(14:24):
never thought of Jesus running around in a bluetunic but apparently everyone's like hey. Yeah,
okay. It's Jesus. Jesus wants to wear blue. He canwear blue. And this neck of the woods, he's this.
And he's spending tons of time in these littlebackwards towns and he's rebuilding dilapidated

(14:44):
churches. He's rebuilding cemetery walls like heis helping his community as he's going through
these different places. 1874, he starts toattract the attention of the authorities in the
Catholic church because he is preaching to theoppressed and the poor peasants and these common
folks of these small villages and farms. Likewhile he's repairing their fences and... I'm

(15:10):
assuming not simultaneously. It's not tink,tink, tink. And whoa, I say unto you, tink, tink,
tink. I think it's during lunch or maybe in theevenings. Okay. I like the idea of doing it while
working. Yeah, you know, it's like very whistlewhile you work, seven dwarf style. Yeah. 1876, he

(15:31):
gets arrested by the police and it's undersuspicion of being a wanted criminal and he ends up
being identified, sent by ship to Fortauliza andhe's severely beaten, his hair and beard get cut
and then he's sent back for trial in his hometown.The local judge kind of looks at him and realizes

(15:52):
there's no actual criminal charges against himand so he releases them. Oh, that's nice. Isn't
that beautiful? You let him get beat up but nowwe've kind of looked into it and maybe he's not in
fact the guy we thought he was. I think maybe we knewhe wasn't the man we thought he was at first but like
in for a penny in for a pound. Hmm. All right, whatare you going to do? Maybe in this case in for a penny

(16:16):
in for a penny in for a pounding. Okay. Yep. I'm gladI got the the gaffa out of you for that one. So he
returns immediately back to where he was in Bahiaand he starts his wandering and preaching all over
again. He vows to construct 21 churches and thenproceeds to do so in 12 cities in these back lands

(16:39):
and he's going through and building cemeteriesand small dams. Like he's he's really just pouring
into these impoverished communities. Good forhim. I like that. I mean, I was telling Mike the
story. I told Mike where I thought the story wasgoing and then I told Mike the recap of where the

(17:00):
story went and there was a sharp deviation. Allright then carry on. I'll shut up. 1877. There is a
series of catastrophic droughts that began in thenortheast and it would last two years. It kills
over 300,000 peasants by hunger and thirst andreally just wreaks havoc in this semi arid

(17:26):
agrarian economy. Okay. Many in villages areentirely abandoned and then there's instances of
cannibalism that break out. So we're on a theme. Ijust want you to know that you may have inspired me.
Thank you. And also really that's how I inspiredyou. You know, it's you don't get to choose how you

(17:55):
inspire people with your life. To be clear, I am nota cannibal. But anyhow, she is saying I inspired
her based on my story of Johann DeWitt who was eatenby his own constituents. Thank you. I like

(18:16):
tri-tip. Good day. Thank you for attending my TEDTalk. Okay. Either way, look. But Antonio
Canceljero, him and his followers, they're doingwhat they can and they're really trying to work out
and reduce the suffering of the poor people aroundthem. And as they do that, they start to amass more

(18:37):
followers and admirers because this guy is actinglike Christ. Like we're literally called to do. I
mean, from your lips to I won't say God's ears, butto everybody around us. Right. Got it. Now, this
kind of provides everybody with the sense that theworld is really on the brink of ending and that the

(19:01):
only salvation could come through religion.We're strong incentives and this leads to a surge
of religious fanaticism. Wait. So they feel likethe world is ending because this guy and his
followers are acting like Christ and because theyare acting like Christ and doing what Christ would
have done. Okay. Maybe that's the wrong lead in thecatastrophic droughts. People are literally

(19:27):
okay. And then you have somebody coming through tohelp and they're like, you know what? It's the end
of the world as we know it. And so they're like, Hey,I'm just going to follow you because I mean, the
crops have failed. What else have I got to do? Thatmakes sense. Sorry. I my brain went straight from
cannibalism to this man acting like Christ. Ididn't like to go through there. Nicely. I did not

(19:50):
very kindly take you through that gate. I kind ofsmashed you into the wall and hope she just passed
through. So he's with this fanaticism building,right? His followers are kind of looking to him as a
saint and a messiah. Like they're seeing some realpositive attributes in him and they have not a lot

(20:12):
of positivity in their world. Right. Okay. Thisleads to increase like his increasing criticism
of the church because he's doing all this work andhe's not seeing everybody else step up. Right. So
that's a fair statement, I think. I think, you knowwhat? Like work harder. Now, as this is happening,

(20:37):
as he's opening these small churches, theArchduke or nope, the Archbishop of Bahia in 1882
issues an order for bidding priests to allow himaccess to the flocks and characterizes him as an
apostate and a madman. I think I heard that wrong.We'll give you access to our people, but we think

(21:00):
you might be a little bit crazy. We're forbiddingyou to access our people and we think you're crazy.
Oh, I didn't hear forbid. I heard give him. Sorry.Okay. That's me. No, you're good. You're good. I
mean, I'll listen to it in the recap. Yeah. No, Iomitted that word. Now, so he's continuing to get

(21:23):
this reputation as a religious counselor orapparently in Portuguese console hydro hero.
Neither. Okay. Okay. His wanderings takenthrough the back lands of Syria, per Nam Bukal,
Cirque, and the here I'm wincing every time I sayanything. And this is just at the peak of the

(21:51):
drought region. Like, so this is the worst of theworst. He is going to the most impacted places. In
1887, he reaches the sea coast at Villa de Conde andhe then turns back to the semi air interior. So he
goes to the coast and he's like, okay, I went to thebeach. Now let's actually go back to where things
have really suck. And he's still wearing his bluetunic tied with a sash. His hat turned down for

(22:18):
taking from the sun. He's carrying a leather bag.He's got an ink pen and paper and two prayer books.
He is living a very austere lifestyle. Okay.Throughout this period of time, there's reports
of him living on alms and sleeping in the back roomsof houses or in barns, but always on the floor.

(22:40):
Okay. And every time he's talking, he's talkingabout the subjects that are really affecting
these people's lives. Taxes, debt, troublesomemarriages. He knows all these things. Right. And
this really adds to this mythos of him being thecounselor. That makes sense. So this is all

(23:06):
building. Yeah. Now, he has these nightlyorations from these makeshift podiums in the
public square. So not while he's working, but, youknow, his second shift starts and this is when he
starts to do his preaching. Right. And he isentrancing these listeners, even though he's not

(23:27):
a particularly forceful speaker. Thesophisticated, they referred to him as a buffoon
and they're laughing at this weird mixture that hehas of these dogmatic councils, these vulgarized
precepts of Christian morality, Latinatephrases and prophecies. He's just got this weird
eclectic mix and they're like, gross, weird. Butbeing like that, you know, yeah, like cringe.

(23:53):
Right. You know, cringe. Yeah. But to the poor, thehumble, he has this charismatic hold over him. And
so people are following him from place to place.Right. That makes sense. I mean, people have been
following him the whole time. Why would they stopnow? Well, and I think we're just growing the

(24:15):
numbers now. So, 1888, 1889, Brazil's goingthrough this and I have to say, I knew pretty much
nothing about Brazilian history before thisstory. And I know only a smidgen now. They go
through, Brazil as a whole goes through thisrevolutionary, far-fetching social, economic

(24:35):
and political change. And this is probably thebiggest that has happened since Europe hit them in
the 1500s. Okay. I am excited to see this. I have tosay that I actually know exactly one thing about
Brazil and that is carnival. That is literally allI knew and because of the cartoon Rio. Oh, yeah.

(24:56):
Also Rio. Yeah. Okay. Cool. So thank you forbringing my cartoon. Well, Rio the parrot. The
cartoon. Yeah. I knew that. Okay. I just want tomake sure that we're being seen after thinking.
Okay. So May 13th, 1888, slavery is abolished bythe ruling emperor Don Pedro II. Okay. It's a

(25:16):
little late, but okay. Hell yeah. Yeah. Ithappened. Now this happened when Don Pedro, or
this happened when an act was signed by hisdaughter, Princess Isabel. More than 5 million
black people are freed overnight. They abandonedthe farms and just swelled enormously the rural

(25:40):
and urban ranks of the extremely poorinhabitants. Right. Just overnight. No plans.
Abolished slavery overnight and we did not planwell. That's what I'm hearing. Exactly. Okay. So
now tens of thousands of farmers are bankrupt.Agriculture just comes to a crashing halt. Yeah.

(26:03):
That makes sense. And there's really bad resultsfor the cash crops that like take a ton of labor like
coffee, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane. These arethe mainstays of the Brazilian economy. And we've
just released the workforce. And so now no one'sgoing to get fed and the entire country is going to

(26:23):
collapse because again, we did not plan well.Yeah. We shouldn't have been relying on this work
to begin with. And now that we've become relianton, we did not plan an exit strategy. Well done,
guys. Okay. Change management is a thing. Shouldhave been around a lot longer than has been. So that
happened on May 13th, November 15th of thefollowing year. The emperor is deposed by

(26:49):
military coup and a republic is proclaimed. Thesame member that freed everyone has now been
deposed. Well, I guess that makes sense.Everybody's starving. They're starving to
death. And they blame the top. That does makesense. To be fair, he kind of did do this in a weird

(27:09):
way. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Sothis layers on the torn up country. Right. Okay. So
now the numbers on Antonio's flocks justdramatically swell. He's got more people under

(27:29):
his wings. It's estimated that 80% are formerslaves. Wow. Okay. So, I mean, this is so I, you can
see the starting to build. Yeah, yeah, yeah.You're, you're getting some popularity now. He's
also, and Tony is also considered that, or he can,Antonio considered that the monarchy was a gift

(27:54):
from God and that the republic that has theseparation of church and state is morally wrong.
And would wreck the country would wreck family.This republic itself is an anti Christ. That's our
guy saying it. Our guy Antonio, he's like he isstaunch emperor like monarch. And so he starts

(28:19):
stepping up his public criticism and he ralliessocial movement around these concepts. Like
this. I'm terrified, but I like this. Both of thesefeelings are good. I'm glad that you have enough
foreshadowing to know that there's going to bemore angst that, that builds as a result of this,

(28:40):
because this drums up fear and nervousness amongfarmers, priests and government. It's 1893 and
there is a skirmish, if you will, that occursbetween his disciples and some troops that are
sent from the coast to arrest him. This is soundingso like Christ's story. Hold that thought. Hold

(29:09):
that thought. So he sets out for a remote abandonedcattle ranch. On the banks of the Vasobarra river
in the state of the here. There is a hamlet of 500 orso much that roofed or wooden shanties are there.
And he names this place. And his followers arebasically like farmers, Indians, cowboys,

(29:35):
farmer slaves. They brought furniture or theclothes on their backs and they construct 5000 mud
stick dwellings. 5000. It goes from 500 to 5000dwellings. I heard the 500 and then I heard the 5000
and I was like, oh, an escalation. Okay. Suddenly.And so he's protected here in this ring of

(30:02):
mountains that surround this valley. And there'sfriendly landowners in the region as well and also
a couple of local priests. As many as some reportssay 25,000 pilgrims, some say 30,000 either way,
substantial amount of humans of all economic andracial groups take up residence here. And this

(30:25):
becomes the second most populous urban center by1895. Wow. Okay. So this is this is a big deal. Now he
Antonio Consojero's theological vision kind ofinverts the harsh and austere reality of the
impoverished backlands. Here the weak arestrengthened by their faith and they're supposed

(30:49):
to inherit their earth, which is the attitudesright there. Nature should be transformed that
the reins are going to come and they're going toreally bring forth the earth's bounty in this
area. And they're praying for this this area can dothose to be the new Jerusalem. Okay. Now as a

(31:12):
community leader, he retains his personalaestheticism that he's been living with this
whole time and this humility that we've come to seefrom him this whole time. He's telling others he's
dissuading them all to not call him a saint. He'snever assuming the powers of clergy like he is very
aware of who he is and he is not the very typical cultleader. Okay. Now he's also borrowing from an

(31:41):
Catholic apocalyptic apocalyptic apocalypticapocalyptic apocalyptic missile that's used
widely during this 19th century. And histeachings never strayed from the traditional
church chakran. So he is on the level. Okay. He istelling his disciples to live austerely to

(32:04):
renounce luxury and basically just hang out andawait the imminent because it's imminent coming
day of judgment. Okay. Okay. So it's going to rain.The earth is going to, the bounty is going to come
and then judgment. Yep. Okay. Now he's, he's alsogoing to be a little bit complicated here because

(32:30):
he's also a misogynist. And he, I don't have a ton ofdetail about this because Hubs asked questions
when I said what I'm about to say next. He avoidedeye contact with women. Okay. I don't know. Is it

(32:50):
because of the eyes or the key to the soul orwhatever? I don't, I don't have any additional
detail and I don't know how those two relate, butthose two statements were said back to back. Okay,
let's go. So even though that's happening,sources say that he's not a religious fanatic,

(33:12):
that he's really sticking to the common popularCatholicism, that even though it's from the
backlands where he is, it's fairly cut off fromchurch influence, but he's really always
emphasizing the presence of sin, the need for pen,or of penitence, and the role of, or the personal

(33:32):
role of saints and other intermediaries. Okay. Soeverything that I can find is like this man is
pentose down saying the right things at the righttimes. Now, politically he's opposed to the
Republic. He's all for our man, the exiled EmperorPedro. There's a bunch of things that go on that I,

(33:57):
my eyes glazed over and my notes don't make sensebecause I, the eyes glazed over. Now, I got two
enemies are accusing him of sedition andadvocating for this violent restoration of the
monarchy. And this is presumably because otherpeople are violent monarchists, but we don't
really see that from him. Okay. Now, there's alsoopposition that he has and his community that's

(34:24):
led by the local landowners that are threatened bythe loss of their traditionally docile labor
force. The slaves of Uprising, they've all movedtogether to the second largest population. And
we're a little nervous that they might join theirpitchforks and realize that we live in a nice big
house. You should be nervous. Yeah. Like, anyway,okay. I mean, I, the defense shuts up. The defense

(34:50):
should. Now, more and more people continuing tocome in and this swell of humans is causing fear and
trouble in the region because many of the newresidents, they're maybe not so peaceful. There
are reasons that always the case because thingshappen. People change like your group. Once you

(35:13):
have a small loyal following, you've got morecontrol over it as it grows. It becomes more
unwieldy. We see this happen when a video goesviral and we see things viral out of control. This
is what we see. This is what he sees as well. Yeah.Now, as this is happening, there is a word that is

(35:33):
used that I don't feel strong enough to say in aweird butcher accent, but it translates to hired
armed men who worked for the farmers. So the CIA ofthe farmers come in basically. Okay. And now
there's appeals to the government to really comein and repress and control this group because

(35:59):
they're, they're playing chicken little andthey're afraid that these unruly pores are going
to throw a revolution. Say that like it's throwinga barbecue. I mean, yeah, I mean, probably more
akin to throw, they're probably more likely tothrow a barbecue. But I mean, the wealthier are

(36:23):
upset about the pores being so numerous andnearby. Oh, it's the case. It is always the case.
And so they're fearing an invasion by who they callthe console he does and there is a dispute with the
console. He's just seemed to have had a disputewith a local lumber merchant and it's mayor. I'm

(36:44):
assuming of the area appealed hysterically to theprovincial government. Okay. So, all right, two
Capuchin friars, they come out to canudos andthey're trying to calm the population. As you do
two people versus 30,000 as you do. Apparentlythese numbers don't roll a high enough number on

(37:10):
the die to be able to affect change. Then thatcharisma was down. Yeah. And one of them seems to
have mistakenly accused Antonio console hethough of trying to raise a monarchist addition.
Apparently accusing the leader of this group ofsedition doesn't both well. Chucking didn't see

(37:36):
that coming. So this ends poorly, but things ampup. Armies are brought in. And the mud walled Troy
successfully defended itself against threemilitary assaults, including 1500 troops that
were brought in under command of Colonel AntonioMoreira Sarr Cesar. And Colonel Cesar, he is the

(38:06):
nation's most famous officer and he's a man who isso ruthless, Bro is known as the Beheader. Dang,
what you gotta do to get a nickname like that. Yeah.So the Beheader rolls in with his men. He is shot and
killed. Wow, that's not where I saw that going. Tobe fair, that took a sharp departure from where I

(38:33):
saw it going too. But his Caesar's death or Sarr'sdeath shocked the nation and President Prudente
de Moras, he ordered 8,000 soldiers equipped withcannon dynamite machine guns to go to Canoes. Wow.
Okay. So that escalated quickly. And there is aheavy military siege that followed and Antonio

(39:01):
Complicito, the man we know and love, he spends histime praying and fasting and he's troubled by his
continued trouble of death, hunger and thesuffering of his followers. I would be too. And so
he's just been nothing if not consistent as far asI'm concerned. Yeah, I would agree. Due to his

(39:23):
severe fasting, he dies September 22, 1897 at theage of 67. I really did not see that coming. His
death apparently is due probably to dysentery.Oh, he shot himself to death. The death we wish for

(39:49):
many that doesn't come came to him. But he's buriedby the pious villagers and his death is the
beginning of Canoes's defeat, which eventuallybrings about the brutal death of more than 50% of
the city's inhabitants during the militaryoperations. And there's tons of atrocities that

(40:12):
are committed by the army against thispopulation. Shocking. His body is disinterred,
his head is severed, mounts on a pike and displayedat the head of the military parades in Salvador and
other cities on the coast. So it takes a kind oftour. Oh, like Santa Ana's leg. Yeah. But not

(40:34):
nearly as fun. No. Okay. Apparently, the twostrongest peasant movements in modern Latin
American history occurred in Canudos withAntonio Contojiro and then in Mexico with
Emiliano Zapata. And this is said by Canudos'sSpanish-born priest, a man named Juan Antonio

(41:00):
Lizalde. And he goes on to say, Brazil should dowhat Mexico did for Zapata. It owes him a monument.
Yeah. Okay. I'm going to tell you, I thought forsure because you said cannibalism earlier. I

(41:21):
thought for sure they were going to be under siegeso long that because he was this religious leader
and because he was the exact opposite of the cultleader that I was thinking he was going to be, they
were all going to be off when the military walked inso that he could keep him safe. I thought we were
really going to take a very gnarly turn. I mean, theturn was gnarly but not the turn I thought we were

(41:48):
going to take. Right. And so when I told HUD thisstory, his response was, huh. I was like, yeah, it
did go a different direction. Like I read theoverview was like, oh, I see where this is. I did not
see where this is going. Yeah. Decentary, I thinkthis is the first time Decentary has been one of our
deaths. I think you're right. It happened off theOregon Trail and that threw me for a loop. Yeah.

(42:18):
Well. But that is the story of Antonio Concilado,Haithiro. I said his name different each time and I
don't think I've ever said it right. Hey, well, youknow what? I can say the river comes now. Anything
you can do, I can do kind of. It only took me 80 videosto figure it out. So here we go. Yeah. So enjoy that

(42:49):
departure. Figure out how to do your about face onthis one. Yeah. There's no, it is fully in an about
face. I put like colored pencil down. So I don't,I'm just going to go. Oh, I found a story for you that

(43:09):
all vibes and the woman in the story did everythingfor the plot. Like everything. I thought you'd, I
thought you would enjoy. I'm a palette cleansertoday. I think little did you know that you were the
palette cleanser we needed. Here I am. My sourcesare two articles from town and country, both

(43:36):
written by Jennifer, Jennifer Wright. Excuse me,released respectively July and August of 2025.
The first one is called the Gilded Age. Who was thereal Mamie Fish? And Gilded Age, the true story of
how I'm not going to read all of this to you, but thetrue story of how Mamie Fish tricked Gilded Age

(43:58):
society. There is, I've made this into a verybright color. So I can't actually read it. The
Desmond Fish Public Library has an article and theNewport, there's, there is another article from
the Newport Daily News by Caitlin Emery Avina fromAugust of 2021 called Newports Gilded Age. Mamie

(44:20):
Fish was a fixture at Newport, Rhode Island, likehigh society. And then have you ever heard the
podcast, The Gilded Gentlemen? No. I've, I've hadthe pleasure of listening to a few of their
episodes. So basically they take the Gilded Age astheir area of like their theme. So this episode

(44:42):
that I listened to, I believe it's number 72. Itfeatures a woman called Ashley Atkinson who plays
Mamie Fish on the HBO series Gilded Age and a authorand historian called Keith Italian. It was
actually really fun to listen to both of theirtakes on this one particular human because
obviously one is currently playing her right nowand the other is the, like is the expert. So hearing

(45:10):
them talk about this one character was really fun.So I was glad I found that. So allow me to tell you the
story of Mamie Fish. Mamie Fish was born MarionGraves-Anthon in Staten Island on June 8th, 1853.
So we're kind of in the same time frame. Only mypeople, there's no cannibals involved. That's a

(45:34):
few bad. I know I'm sorry. Pops was the fanfictionversion of this could have it though. Oh, yes, it
could. Definitely. Her dad was William HenryAthlon, who he happens to be a lawyer and an
assemblyman that's representing the area ofStaten Island. He also served in the Civil War. Mom

(45:54):
is called Sarah Atwood Merritt. I believe that's apronounce her last name. It's M-E-E-R-T. So
Merritt makes sense to me. She comes from aprosperous but not super socially prominent
family, whereas dad can trace his family rootslike he can go back pretty far. But all that to say,

(46:18):
she has a good childhood, a decent life. That said,she has a crap education. She herself said she
could barely read or write. Oh, so for being a younglady in a well-to-do family at that time, it seems
like they could have done a better job on, I don'tknow, getting her a tutor, but they didn't. And

(46:41):
then sadly, in 1875, dad dies and the family fallson hard times, right? Well, I've heard some
conflicting stories here, but it seems to me, Ithink both things could be true. She's married a
year later to a gentleman called Stu Vesant Fish,who was of the old money, a proud law on American

(47:06):
heritage. Stu Vesant Fish, yes. This sounds likean auto-generated name from Xbox. Yeah, nope. Oh
my God, I'm changing my gamer tag. Hope foreverybody to see that. That's awesome. Now, okay,
one can't suggest that Stu, that her and Stu'smarriage is basically it falls on her to marry well

(47:33):
to save her family from ruin, like that old story,you know, but the other camp says that, which is the
Desmond Fish Library, so I kind of have to go withthat sort of makes sense to me, says this is
basically like the marriage of high schoolsweethearts, like they've been together for a
long time. I think probably both are true, at leastto some degree. And our guy Stu, he adores her, like

(47:55):
regardless of why they marry, he is like head overheels, always has been, always will be with our
girl, Mamie. So just a little blurb on our guy, StuVesant Fish, he is born into America and like the
American Astoxie in 1851. He is the son of HamiltonFish, none of these names sound real now, so thank

(48:17):
you for that. But the Hamilton Fish kind of seemslike it could be a real thing. Because that feels
like a weird verb. Or I think, sorry. So I will tellyou why it's Stu Vesant in just a few minutes,
because I was also like, that is the weirdest nameI've never heard of in my life. Okay, so his dad,

(48:39):
Hamilton Fish, is one of the nation's mostdistinguished secretaries of state. They've got
ancestry that go all the way back to the Mayflowerand Peter Stu Vesant, the Dutch founder of New
York. And Fish basically seems destined for thislife of prominence. Now, Stu Vesant is his

(49:00):
maternal, like it's his maternal line familyname. So he gets it as his first name, so the name
continues. Okay, so like in Anderson. Right,right, right. Okay, so and when I read that, I was
like, yeah, that makes so much more sense. BecauseI'm over here going, who wakes up in the morning

(49:21):
goes Stu Vesant? I'm going to name it. Yeah, nokidding. And it now makes me wonder about
everybody I've ever heard of called Stu, what youractual name was. Because you're not going to own
up. They'll be like, just assume it's Stuart.Yeah, it's Stuart. Okay, yeah. Our guy, Stu, he's
president of the Illinois Central Railroad from1887 to 1906. He oversees its greatest expansion

(49:47):
and he becomes this titan of American industry,but it's his marriage to Mamie that like truly
cements his place in like the golden age, or excuseme, the gilded age legend. Fish tolerates high
status society with like a patient indifference,but Mamie thrives as a Newport social queen. She is
hosting extravagant parties at their colonialrevival mansion called Crossways. She's

(50:11):
traveling in circles with the like of the Astersand the Vanderbilt. So there's a little bit of
context there. These are the people that she'sbrunching with on the day to day, right? She's
rubbing elbows with old money. Yes. So she evenmakes this joke that like her and Stu are like one of
the least rich families in the area because sheknows the Asters. But it's like she says it with

(50:36):
such wit that you can't help love her because sheknows her place in society, but also like you're
not going to stop her. Here we go. So regardless,like I said of her education, which is absolute
crap, she is incredibly smart and superquick-witted. Mamie is not known for her

(50:56):
three-hour long rather boring dinner parties andkind of uptight personality that one would expect
from like Caroline Aster. No, Mamie is here forvibes and plot only and she has an accomplice. Oh,
you go on for accomplice. Henry Lear was America'smost celebrated social entertainer during the

(51:18):
Golden Age. He's dubbed America's court jesterfor his outrageous parties and his theatrical
flair. He was born in Baltimore in 1869 and he hasbasically positioned himself as the successor to
Ward McAllister who was like the gatekeeper of NewYork's elite 400. So we're like the
knickerbockers and the industrial families ofthe area like or of the era. So it's kind of his job to

(51:42):
like look after everyone, right? Lear becomesfamous for staging these elaborate spectacles
with Mamie. However, behind this likeglittering, you know, facade that he's put on in
his life, he's very, very gay. And reportedly wasinvolved with fellow Newport socialite Charles

(52:05):
Graynow. But that said, in 1901, he marries awealthy heiress called Bessie Drixel Dahlgren.
He confesses to her on their wedding night and thisis heartbreaking to me, but he confesses to her on
their wedding night that their marriage wouldremain unconsummated and loveless. He told her

(52:52):
quote, So I don't have this in my notes, but heproposes to marry her after he introduces him, her
to like all of his friends to ensure that like sheenjoys his society and that she gets the blessing
like he gets the blessing to marry her from them.Because this is 1901 in high society, you can't

(53:20):
just be out gay, right? Which is kind ofdevastating. And he couldn't really clear into a
lavender marriage beforehand because of the timeperiod. Right. For for all purposes, it seems like
they work really well together. I when I wasgetting sources on this, I discovered that she

(53:40):
actually has a book. And when I can get my hands onit, I'm going to read it. But they maintain this
this charade of their love for 28 years. Like shegains his social connections and he gains her
fortune. So like it works out pretty well for theboth of them, despite the fact that there's not a

(54:03):
whole lot of snuggling going on behind closeddoors, if you know what I mean. Okay. So obviously,
I think it's pretty clear to stew what what her man,Mr. Lear is. But her and Lear, as in maybe they get
into some antics and whether it's a dinner at herhouse, or she is hosting elsewhere, she does some

(54:28):
stuff. She like I said, she's over the stuffy threehour dinners at the Aster's. She would ensure that
dinner, all of the courses were done within anhour, often leading her guests holding on to their
plates when the staff came to take them. If youdon't know, grab their plates back, which I think
is hilarious. In lieu of three hour dinners,Jennifer Wright of Town and Country writes,

(54:53):
mainly through vaudeville evenings to open hernewly built New York home in 1900, she staged a
theatrical called Little Puddle Big Fish. Peopleentered the home to find a stage in posters
declaring vaudeville tonight, but not tomorrow.Beware of spectators and tickets purchased on the
sidewalk of no avail. The play tells the story of amale gold digger of like the Yukon variety coming

(55:16):
to New York and in doing so, it roasts every familyin attendance. And wow, loved it. Like they had so
much fun. Um, like one of Mamie's greatest giftswas absolutely burning everyone in the most
delightful way possible. Like if you want to roastit up, it was a real time she had the chance.

(55:42):
Absolute roast every time. At one point she shewelcomes people to the dinner and she's like, make
yourself at home because Lord knows that's where Iwant you. But like she invited you to dinner. She is
just here to just school everybody. If you weren'tinvited to her party, it was considered a social
slight. And if you were invited to her party, you'dbe roasted when you got there. But you loved it.

(56:09):
There is this legendary dinner that her and Learthrow called the dog dinner, where upon finding
out that women prefer dogs over men, they decide tothrow an absolutely unhinged dinner party for
Newport's most bougie pets. The dogs and theirowners show up in full glam. Mamie's own pup was

(56:32):
literally dripping in a $15,000 necklace. I didthe math and I'm not entirely sure if my my mouth was
right, but if it is, that would be $500K today onyour dog. That is so much more than just a Louis
Vuitton collar. It's a lot. The butlers at thisdinner are in full formal wear and they serve the

(56:58):
dogs a three course meal. You have stewed liver andrice, fricazi of bones and shredded dog biscuits.
Meanwhile, the humans, you know, the dogs owners,they're basically just there to keep their pets
from jumping off the chairs. Guests are obsessed.They called it the loveliest thing of the social

(57:21):
season. The newspapers, they're not soimpressed. The Austin Daily Herald basically
said, could there be any more anything moreridiculous than this dinner? But I think they're
saying that because they're in Austin and they'renot in New York invited. And they're jealous,
right? Because the way I see it from like today'sperspective, we're spending six bucks on a

(57:44):
Puppuccino and throwing birthday parties forpets and making Instagrams for cats. So like, she
that Puppuccinos aren't free. They're free whereI'm at. But apparently we can also buy them. Mamie,
I think she's just ahead of her time. Like she isjust having a good time and she sees where this is
going to go. And you're not going to stop her frombuying a $15,000 necklace for her dog if she wants

(58:07):
to. So like good luck with that, I guess. In themiddle of like a social row with one of the other
ladies, she levels up hard. Mamie has this beefwith someone called Megulette for whatever
reason. Petty, I'm sure I'm not really clear wherethe beef is. But one night, Mamie invites 200

(58:28):
people to dinner to celebrate Grand Duke of Bor-Grand Duke, Bor- of Russia. And like he's visiting
and this is so this is like a major flex, right? Sheinvites May and like her whole crew except one guy,
a guy named James D'Wolf cutting. And May reachesout and she's like, um, you forgot someone. And

(58:51):
Mamie was basically like, uh, no. And she doublesdown that specifically cutting wasn't invited.
I'm unclear why, but she is just not having him.Well, May claps back and says something to the
effect of fine. Then none of us are coming,including your guest of honor. And I'm a little
unclear of how she persuades the Grand Duke ofRussia from not attending Mamie's party. And she

(59:14):
then decides to throw her own. So same night,conflicting parties, um, which May sees as
obviously the ultimate power move, but Mamie'salready got 200 other guests showing up and no
Grand Duke. So instead of canceling, because youknow, that's what quitters do. She lets everyone

(59:40):
arrive and just sort of vibes into chaos. She'slike doing her thing. And people keep asking where
the Grand Duke is. Why hasn't he, why hasn't heentered? Who wants to come in? And Mamie finally
announces that she has someone better. She has theactual czar of Russia. The doors burst open.

(01:00:02):
Everyone bows and curtsies to this elaboratefigure in royal robes and then absolutely lose it
when they realize it's Lear and costume-frolingeveryone. It was going to be somebody like
somebody was going to be, right? This man is anabsolute icon. And the party is one of the most

(01:00:24):
talked about parties of the season. Likeeverybody had a blast. They adored the fact that
they totally fell into this ruse and were like ahook line and sinker for it, which I'm thinking
that's kind of how you win the feud. Like problemsolved, you might have had Grand Duke Boris, but we
had the czar of Russia. It's just Lear from DownStreet, but whatever. Don't let the truth

(01:00:47):
interrupt a good story. Exactly. And that'spretty much her. On another occasion, Alva
Belmont, who was formally, if I'm rememberingthis right, formally a Vanderbilt, confronts
Mamie and she's angry because she'd been hearingthat Mamie had been telling everyone that Alva
looked like a frog, to which Mamie replied, not afrog, a toad, my pet, a toad. She was like, oh my God,

(01:01:17):
Teresa, I think I found your soul sister. I mean,yeah, I do, I am viving hard with this human. So
carry on, tell me more about my gray down. Right. Asa quick aside, I mentioned this earlier, but her
man's do was so into her that once he heard hercoughing at a dinner party and he asked if he could

(01:01:39):
get her, you know, something for her throat and shequickly clapped back with, she would like that
necklace. She saw it, Tiffany's. It would be only acouple of days before she would spot it around town
with that necklace. I love that. Well done. Right.So this, believe it or not, was not what inspired me
to tell you this story. This is what inspired me totell you this story. It's 1902 and Newport Society

(01:02:04):
is absolutely losing it because a literal prince,Prince Del Drogo from Corsica is coming to town.
And this is the time when America's got like waymore money than cents. And so they're trying to
marry their daughters off to European nobility,right? So you can have the money in the title. That

(01:02:25):
was the hunt that was happening. Right. Okay. Soyou can imagine all these like Dowager moms and all
these, they're dressing their daughters to thenine, they're reminding them how to curtsy.
They're doing all the things. And they're fillingtheir bra with the sock drawer, trying to make them
bosoms look higher. Yeah. Right. They're justhoping for an invite to Mamie's dinner. And she

(01:02:47):
sends out these invitations to like the most elitedinner party ever. Okay. Henry Lear, he is hyping
everyone up. He is warning that the prince, he canbe a bit wild and he definitely, he definitely
shouldn't drink. Meanwhile, this doesn't stopanybody because they're like, I got to practice my

(01:03:08):
curtsy, right? Like I got to make sure my mascara isgood. I got to be looking fabulous for this prince
because that could be it. That could be my guy. I'mgoing to marry him. He's titled and wealthy. Here
we go. So they all get to the party. They're, youknow, printing and doing all the things. Their
feathers are out there looking fabulous. Andanother rich friend of theirs from Chicago, a man

(01:03:28):
called Joseph Wider walks in holding the prince bythe hand because Prince Del Drago is literally a
monkey named Jaco wearing a custom tuxedo. Yes.Yes. I know. They're going to be that or the prince
is going to be like five. Right. The room goessilent. And then everybody looks over at Mamie and

(01:03:55):
Lear and they are like bold over cackling, likehaving the time of their life. They basically plan
this whole thing on, like on a yacht afternoon andMamie like bullies the tailor into making a monkey
a custom suit. Like I need you to pick me this suit bynext Tuesday, that sort of thing. Like I need it

(01:04:17):
right now. And they pretty much don't tell anybodyelse what the plan is. So the best part of this is
after the initial shock, like wears off, everyoneloves it. Jaco uses utensils quote like a
gentleman of the old school. And then someoneproceeds to give him alcohol despite all the

(01:04:39):
warnings. And he proceeds to jump on the tables andswing from the chandelier and throw light bulbs at
guests. Oh, yeah. The partygoers are absolutelyobsessed. They said this was the best night ever.
Again, the newspaper is not real happy. They'reclutching their pearls hard and writing these
like super dramatic editorials about how this isso embarrassing for America, to foreigners. The

(01:05:04):
scandal because okay, the idea is right. This isthe society that represents America as a whole to
European high society. And we must look theabsolute fool, right? Now this news reaches as far
as France where a random priest also named HenryRear has to issue a statement clarifying that he

(01:05:27):
has never dined with a monkey. He's not that sort offan because they assume he's the leader that's
hosting the party, right? He's absolutely not.He's just some parish priest mind in his own
business. Now, so basic just is Mammy's likeMammy's basically like, oh, so you're all so
thirsty for titles that you'll curtsy to anythingand proves their point like an absolute troll. And

(01:05:53):
I am so here for her. This is what would happen if Iwon the lottery. I wouldn't tell anybody, but
there would be signs. Exactly. Her bestie, Rear,his wife later comments, Jaco the chimps manners
compared favorably with some princes I have met.Oh my God, I love it. Now in 1915, Edna Wolman Chase,

(01:06:20):
she's from Vogue. She has this crazy idea and it iswhat if we do a fashion show to raise money for
French war orphans like this revolutionaryconcept, right? But there is a glitch in the system
here because at this time, rich people are notabout to show up at an event where regular people
buy tickets and they are certainly not going to becaught mingling with their dressmakers. That

(01:06:46):
would be absolutely scandalous, right? Well,Edna, who's no idiot, reaches out to Mammy Fish and
who's basically like bet and she throws her fullsupport behind this. And this is what we now call
New York Fashion Week. Wow. Yeah. So the elite,they actually show up. Edna Chase later wrote that

(01:07:09):
it was quote, a small shock, pleasant, butunexpected for high society to find themselves
hanging out with their dressmakers and models.And high society, they said they felt quite daring
about it, which makes me laugh so hard. They come onand look at me sitting side by side with the help.
What a rebel. Oh, Jacob, my goodness. But you knowwhat? Like the rest of the new, like the rest of

(01:07:39):
Newport society is gatekeeping like their livesdepend on it. But Mammy, our girl, she is out here
befriending people they wouldn't even make eyecontact. One of Mammy's best friends was a
comedian, a female Canadian named Mary Dressler.Ask me how they met. Please ask me how they met. Oh,

(01:07:59):
gosh, I have no idea. So I'm going to have to just sayhow did they meet? Thank you. Mary, excuse me,
Marie literally hit Mammy over the head with a leakduring a performance. And instead of being
offended, Mammy was like, you're hilarious.We're friends now. And like, yeah, that is the kind

(01:08:20):
of move I would I would be so cool with too. Right. Soshe's out here collecting like amazing friends,
right? She actively fights for them. Edith Gould,who's formerly Edith's kingdom was married to
this millionaire called George Gould, but getscompletely frozen out of society because, oh my

(01:08:41):
God, she used to be an actress. She had a job beforemarrying and she was a very naked, marital sort of
very sort of thing. Yes. But Mammy is looking at thesituation like absolutely not. I am not going to
let an interesting woman be excluded from societybecause she actually had a job and a personality
once like, ah, no, I don't think so. So she is she'sbasically being super revolutionary for her time

(01:09:08):
and like impressed with people who have donethings with their lives and she finds them way more
fun. So she uses her social power to open doors fortalented, fascinating people, including
funding a young lady artist, a young lady'sartistic education. Like, okay, they may, Mammy
is just casually chatting with this artist thatshe has hired to paint her portrait. And the

(01:09:33):
conversation somehow turns to this talentedyoung woman who really, really wants to pursue art
school, but she can't afford it. And two dayslater, Mammy literally bursts into the painter's
classroom in the middle of a lesion, like some kindof fairy godmother with all her money just falling
out of her purse, says to the teacher, show me thestudent you're telling me about, like she demands

(01:09:57):
it. No appointment, no warning, just her walkingin. She walks right up to the poor girl who is
probably super freaked out at this point, looksher and says, I'm paying for your entire
education, but here's the deal under nocircumstances are you allowed to give up on
becoming an artist. Then she just leaves. Nothings attached, except don't you quit. Like, our

(01:10:20):
girl saw this potential and said, I'm investing init K-bye. Phenomenal to me. I'm not saying that I
should be independently wealthy like this, but Ifeel like I would be her. So feel free to put money
into the account. Like, right? I am not saying I'm amillionaire, but I was. And there would be the

(01:10:42):
sign. So she basically sees it as her duty to keepeveryone employed. It kind of reminds me of the
whole like ordained by God thing that kings have,you know, in an interview she once stated that rich
people had a duty to spend their money andentertain and keep the cooks, caterers, and
household staff employed saying, quote, it is notan is not an unemployed butler a sad site as an

(01:11:08):
unemployed agriculture labor. Like, we got tokeep everybody employed. Otherwise, it's so sad.
I must throw another party. However, I mean,there's there's pros and cons to that, I feel like I
think that that could just be an excuse to exploit.But I mean, if you're paying everybody a livable
wage, and you know, okay. Yeah. Now the downside isour girl was against women's suffrage saying,

(01:11:36):
quote, a good husband is the best right of anywoman. So there's that. Yeah, there's kind of
that. Problematic things. Yeah. Yeah, I can't winthem all. Mamie Fish passed away unexpectedly on
May 25, 1915 at age 62. She was she had succumbed to acerebral hemorrhage in her bedroom at Glenclyth.

(01:12:01):
She was laid to rest in St. Peter's Churchyard inGarethon. Stu Vesad survived her by about eight
years. He died on April 10, 1923 at the age of 73. Hewas interred beside his wife and their infant son,
Livingston. They would have four childrentogether, three of which would reach adulthood.

(01:12:23):
I'm just going to leave you with a quote. Societywants novel entertainment, Mrs. Stu Vesad and
Fish explained, it is like a child. I try to give itPhillips. And when it came to the wealthy, that
meant you liven these people up. So that's thestory of Mamie Fish. I adore her. Me too. Oh, I have

(01:12:49):
pictures. I have pictures. Please and thank you.Allow me to share. Come on. I guess I have to do it
this way. Okay. Sorry. My screen is not being veryfriendly. Perfect. Okay, here we go. So the the the

(01:13:09):
moustachio, the gentleman is Stu Vesad. Okay.That is a very Sam Elliott stash that goes mid-Gel.
Yep. This is Mamie in her finery. Wow. That is avery, like that picture looks like it was done in
one of those touristy saloon dressold-fashioned. It really does. It really does.

(01:13:36):
Okay. So this is her bestie, Henry Lear. This ishis... Look on his face is like, could you be
kidding me? Absolutely not. This is also Mr. Learliving his very best life. That is an impressive
drag queen. Yeah, he loved drag. I love it. I loveit. Like, I when I saw that there are cube pictures

(01:14:01):
of him, I was like, oh my gosh, they're such polaropposites. I love it. So yeah, that's that's Mamie
Fish in her her crazy life. And when I learned ofher, I was like, oh my god, Teresa, I found your
great aunt. Especially when I got to the part thatwas no, darling, I said a toad, not a frog. I mean,

(01:14:27):
you're mistaken. Yeah. Like, I'm look, if I talksmack to your face or a behind your back, I will do it
to your face. Like, honestly, I'm going to give youthe chance to defend your own honor. Right. I don't
want to, I'm not going to be a liar. Exactly. And ifyou two are not a liar, and you think I have the
cahones to say it to your face, I am here for it.Rate, review, subscribe, um, join our Patreon and

(01:14:55):
comment on the episode on what your favorite partwas and who you think we should do next because we 605 01:15:03,100 --> are here for all of that. Love it. And on that note, goodbye. Goodbye.