July 17, 2025 • 57 mins
TRIGGER WARNING - This Episode contains mentions of accidental shootings and murder-suicide. If these are too much for you, please, feel free to skip the episode. You Matter!
Well, Friends and Neighbors, pull up a chair and sit a spell as we go back to the birth of Kansas City to talk a little about the early days of Kansas City and a figure that came out of it named Sands. W. Hopkins. A child who lost his parents young, was raised by his Uncle, hunted a ghost, with pistols of course, while attending college, lost his wife in an accidental shooting and whose life bogged down into gambling, drinking and depravity from there. We cover his birth, his amazing life and his slow descent into madness, alcoholism and death in this local and incredibly strange episode of the Family Plot Podcast!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/family-plot--4670465/support.
Well, Friends and Neighbors, pull up a chair and sit a spell as we go back to the birth of Kansas City to talk a little about the early days of Kansas City and a figure that came out of it named Sands. W. Hopkins. A child who lost his parents young, was raised by his Uncle, hunted a ghost, with pistols of course, while attending college, lost his wife in an accidental shooting and whose life bogged down into gambling, drinking and depravity from there. We cover his birth, his amazing life and his slow descent into madness, alcoholism and death in this local and incredibly strange episode of the Family Plot Podcast!
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/family-plot--4670465/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm Dean, I'm the dad, I'm Laura, I'm the mom.
I'm Arthur, I'm the son, and together we are Family Plot,
finally getting this show started. Let me get the housekeeping
out the way. Some ways you can help out the show. Hey,
(01:07):
maybe you'd like some Family Plot merchandise I don't know,
like hoodies, strets, months, or stickers, all with Arthur's original
and beautiful artwork on them. You can get that at
our t Spring Merchandise store. However, if you cannot afford merchandise,
(01:28):
which is a bit pricey, you can always go to
our patreon and for just a dollar or three dollars
a month help us out with a monthly donation. That'll
keep the lights on around here, which you know, we
have kids. That's an expense, yes, and so you can
do that. And if you join our Patreon you get
(01:49):
special benefits like ad pre episodes and episodes that are
not BEG thirteen, where we let Arthur say well, pretty
much whatever you want, with the exception of, you know,
smack a fat baby. We don't ever let him say that.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I've ever said that in my life, so I definitely
hope ark.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Why why would anyone want to smack a cute fat baby.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I don't know, but we just don't let them say that.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well that's good because violence is wrong.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, especially against fat babies, any baby babies, any baby boy,
but fat babies.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yes, speak lobby and yes, especially to you, especially to
you mother to the world.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I do like babies have all kinds.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Now, if you have babies of your own and they
keep you from making that Patreon payment, I knew i'd
tie it in Since you did that. Yeah, you can
always go to buy me a coffee and do a
one time donation of a dollar or two. If you
cannot afford to do that, we don't hold it against you.
There is something you can do for us that is
absolutely free. If you enjoy the show, please share it
(02:58):
on social media.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Share with funds, share it with families.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
With everyone, and you could also leave us a five
star review. If you don't enjoy the show, please keep
it to yourself.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So
what are you talking about tonight?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, tonight we dig back into the early days of
Kansas City to learn about the Gillis House Hotel and
a young man named SAMs W. Hopkins, an interesting character
who literally hunted a ghost, became a socialite and a
well known figure about town. He suffered tragedy and loss,
(03:45):
turning him into a very different person in this why
don't they teach this in Schools? Episode of the Family
Plot podcast. A final note, most of the research for
this show came from an article from the Martin City Telegram,
so feel free to check that out. Also, should let
you all know that some heavy duty stuff is going
(04:09):
to happen in this episode.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So also some point of contact advertisement that we do
not in any way shape or form a tribute to
us or the show.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What we actually have ads we will read in this
show that are four based on products that were really
sold around the time of these events. Now that being said,
they're not real ads for real products, but they are
based on real products and they are written in that
(04:46):
old timey style, so fabulous. Yeah, we'll be doing those
as the show goes on. So I will get it
started by talking about the Gillis House Hotel. The hotel
began life as the Union HOTELILT in eighteen forty eight
by William Gillis, a former fur trader, land speculator and
(05:07):
one of Kansas City's founding fathers. He partnered with his
niece's husband, doctor Benoist trust I've heard that name before,
the city's first physician. Together they cleared a tavern from
a bluff near Westport Landing and erected what would become
Kansas City's first real hotel, a two story brick structure
(05:30):
overlooking the Missouri River. Gillis, born in Maryland in seventeen
ninety seven, had a wild backstory, runaway sailor War of
eighteen twelve, veteran adopted into the Delaware tribe of Indigenous people,
and a savvy trader with deep ties to Native American communities,
he saw the riverfront not just as a place to
(05:52):
dock boats, but as the gateway to the West. The
hotel's timing was perfect. Giffs months after it opened, news
of the California gold Rush broke, Thousands of westbound travelers
flooded through Kansas City, and the Union Hotel became a
prime stopover. It was later renamed the Gillis House, and
(06:12):
by eighteen fifty seven it had hosted over twenty seven
thousand guests.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's quite a few.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Among its most noticeable visitors, Kit Carson the legendary frontiersman
reportedly stayed there before heading west. The hotel also became
a hub for Santa Fe traders, politicians, and riverboat men.
A guest in eighteen fifty one wrote that it was
getting to be more and more a favorite resort for
(06:39):
those engaged in the Santa Fe trade during the Border
War era eighteen fifty four. At eighteen sixty, the hotel
became a hotbed of political tension. It changed hands between
pro sligavery and abolitionist proprietors, and its halls echoed with
arguments of men who would soon be on opposite sides
of the civil wars. Gillis himself fleeed pro slavery boo boo,
(07:05):
but he was also a businessman. First, his hotel welcomed
anyone with coin. After Truce sold his share in eighteen
fifty one, Gillis and his nephew, William Barkley expanded the hotel,
adding a third story and widening the ground floor. As
Kansas City's population and businesses moved south, the riverfront lost
(07:26):
its luster. The Gillis House, once Kansas City's crown jewel,
became a relic. By the eighteen eighties, it was the
last major hotel on the riverfront. Eventually, the building was repurposed,
turned into a pickle factory of all things, and in
the nineteen twenties it burned the ground, leaving only a
stone wall behind. That wall still stands today between Delaware
(07:51):
and Wyandott Streets, a ghost. See what I did there?
Of the hotel's former self, The Gillis House is more
than a building. It's a symbol of Kansas City's transformation
from muddy frontier town to bustling metropolis. It hosted pioneers, politicians,
and possibly a few phantoms, and in the case of
(08:12):
SAMs W. Hopkins, it may have driven one man to madness.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Ooh, what a leading babe. Well, I try my patients
mostly sorry.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Well, Arthur, are you ready to take over and regale
us with the tails from your corner?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Your cat snotted on me again?
Speaker 1 (08:39):
His cat snots on everybody. Yeah, his cat should be
named Snotty.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
No none name changing My cat's name the snaughty even
if it's true.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Whatever snotty?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Really man, really man, really.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Here ye here, ye allow me to present Arthur's corner. Hi,
it is it's Wednesday. It is a Wednesday. My dudes,
how are we doing today?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Uh? I'm good. I guess. I guess I'm mostly being
a pain in mom's.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
But yeah, I heard that.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I love him.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I love your mom.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What say.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I've got your kiddie.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, my mom has my cat because my cat has
decided since I will no longer hold him up to
my chest because he is a spoiled bratt. He need
somebody else to love on him, so he has chosen
my mother.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm very lovey.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And to be fair, and for those that listen, there
might be one or two who know this. When I
called him snotty. That is actually a movie reference to
a movie called Drop Dead Fred that starred Phoebe Cates
and Ritten Mayol.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Okay, alrighty then.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Rick Mayle is an English actor who is in a
TV series called The Young Ones. He played a character
named Rick, or as the other cast members called him Rick.
Okay then, but anyway. Drop Dead Fred was her imaginary
friend as a child, and for some reason she brings
him back as an adult and he sort of gets
(10:46):
out of control. But whenever he talks to her at
some point, he always introduces her as snotty snotface. No
snotty because he will walk up to her, pick his
nose and go on her jacket or whatever she's wearing.
That's for you, snotty.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
That is gross.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's it's a it's a pretty disgusting movie. You've seen it, Yes,
I've seen drop Dead fread. Oh, I've seen dropped a
bread well, I mean other than Arthur. But we have
cable television for most of his young life, so there's
there's that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
But okay, anyway, so what's going on in your corner? Snotty?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I'm not snotty. It's this one. It's this one.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes, but he's your son, so that makes you snotty? Dad?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You want to need it, dude? What you just that
happen in the fucking movie really gross?
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Don't so you don't grow. Don't be a gross kid.
Your your son. Your son's gross enough.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
He is snots all over everything.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Why calling me snow day, It's why I don't don't
associate with him very much because I don't like snunt.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
But he is adorable.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
He is adorable. He's very cute. He's a long haired
Russian blue mix and he did you pretty baby, and
he's a squirt. He's a tiny little squirt. The only
ways like six pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
He's little, bitty's a little runch he.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Doesn't not even six pounds, like maybe four pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, he's small, four small small.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He's small, but he he like he will jump on
you without consulting you or getting your attention first. Just
you happen to be in the kitchen. He wants something,
he'll jump on your back. And it's funny.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Somebody came to the door a couple of weeks ago
and he was laying in the window and they said,
that is the cutest cat.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
See, my son just loves.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Your son is trying to eat plastic. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure he's the brightest.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You not the smart He's not the sharpest tool in
the shed. Excuse your sir, No, he's not the sharpest
tool in the shed. Let's see what And he has
chosen to go to dad. Now he's just wopping places
wherever hec fit. Okay, what have I done this weekend?
(13:29):
Not this weekend, but this week just in the past
two days, I was watching I have been watching a
or I watched the one of the new movies uh
K Pop Demon Hunters.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Okay, very it's a good movie. That well.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Plus, haven't you and Blue been watching that Big Mouth series? Yeah,
that looks just horrible. And I'm just talking the the
art on it. What's horrible.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
The art on it is horrible, but that's kind of
what makes the show.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Everybody on that show has Uncanny Valley and the whole
show disturbed. Hey, man, I get it.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So that's how I felt when I walked it on
Blue watching it, I was like, what the freak man?
But yeah, I've also was started watching that and that
is certainly interesting to say the least. Let's see my
(14:38):
partner is back for.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
A little while.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah, after being at their moms for so long or
just out for so long.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I thought they were on vacation.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Well they were, they were, but that was earlier this summer.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That was earlier this summer. Yeah, they keep moving around
in houses and deaf.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Well, that's kind of what summer is.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
For, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I thought summer was for Aaron.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Well that summer that that one spelled differently. That was cute, though.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I've noticed some people in the trailer park have their
summer teeth in really yeah, summer green, summer yellow.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Ha ha ha anything else.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I'm thinking.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Dad jokes coming in hot mm hmmm, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I just did one the summer teeth.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
That that that that definitely classifies as a dad joke.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He's right. I was just saying I dropped dad jokes.
You did, That's all. I wasn't saying I was going
to drop more.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
But let's see.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My school.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Oh he's already preparing for shipment.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So that's fine. That's good. That overly expensive piece of
furst suit that you.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Purchased, Arthur's a fur suit.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Arthur is, Arthur is a sweet, adorable boy.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Wow, that's a lot of ink. Yeah, it was, dear god,
thing is dripping, it's bleeding out. That's how I feel
on my time of the month.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Wow, you brought that up on the podcast, dude.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Oh no, I'm gonna have to beat that whole thing.
Oh no, which, but I only had to beat you
once last week, So you know, so you were you.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Were, you were overdue for some bleeping.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, I was overdue for a little bit of bleeping.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Fonder he loves him, Grandpa.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, I don't think I have anything else to say.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Lot yea Arker Corner.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
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your soul has begun to wonder where it ought not,
reach for the bottle. Trusted by mediums, mourners and moonshiners alike,
Doctor Thistlewait's Etheric Combustion Elixir, Distilled under midnight's hush and
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ethereal cobwebs to illuminate your path through the veil. One
(17:35):
sip and the other side whispers back.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
Do you want to take I gave my son a
bath yesterday, there you go, Yes, and he much needed
it to.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
The day before.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That was the day before. He much needed it, and
he smells much better it was the day before, indus,
even though even though he's doing his best to make
himself smell like cats fit.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
That's true, but that's kind of a cat thing that
they do.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, I still don't get why Apollo does it, but
because his breath could stun a buzzard at twenty paces.
And that's my child I'm talking about. You're getting their
little one, So Arthur, you want to take this next
section on SAMs Hopkins and tell us all about him.
(18:23):
Sure thing.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Sans was born in eighteen fifty nine to doctor William
SAMs and his wife Elizabeth Hopkins.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So that's how they named him. They named him with
both of their names, apparently weird.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
SAMs was born in Kentucky, but moved with his family
while he was still a baby. Shortly after moving to
Kansas City, doctor William and his brother Charles had purchased
and were running the Jill's Gillis House hotel. The Gillis
House at this point was a four story structure with
(19:06):
a huge steeple and a bell which was to be
wrung at meal times. The hotel contained a common room
to those who had to those that only heard that
phrase in D and D yes. Common rooms were actually
a thing with twenty beds. If you could not afford
(19:27):
to rent a single room, you could rent a bed
in the common room. It also contained a huge dining
hall with a long table for all the guests to
sit while they eat. When William passed away in eighteen
sixty seven and Elizabeth passed away in eighteen sixty nine, Charles,
(19:52):
a single child and childless man, at the time was
the only one left to care for young sam. Charles
had inherited all of his brother's properties, however, and held
on to them for young Sands. Eventually. Eventually Sands would
(20:18):
attend the University of Notre Dame, where he would do
well in his in his studies, though he had a
taste for ladies, gambling, and whiskey, and was well known
for the energy. For the energy with which he sowed.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
So I don't.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
My mouth was drying, it's sticking me off, sowed his
wild oats. Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
It's an old phrase basically meaning.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
After all had found out.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
However, having unless of the finding out, I do you
know what?
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I oh?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Okay might give him more to read.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
However, Young Sans would eventually settle down. During his education,
the Gillis House would close as a hote would close
as a hotel, though Charles continued to live there. Sans
would come back and visit his uncle often. Eventually, Sans
would return to Kansas City studies completed in eighteen eighty one,
(21:31):
and he would meet a young girl from a wealthy
family who lived just south of Independence at the time.
Her name was Faniic Fanny Mage Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. Okay,
the two courted and soon were wed, with Uncle Charles
telling Kansas City Times that they were like two children
(21:56):
and with Fanny's money and social connections, Sam will be
a part of Kansas City social scene.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So let's take a break here and hear from some
of our fellow content creators.
Speaker 8 (22:11):
Hello, my name is Kayla and my co host Lexi
and I host a podcast called a Little Wicked. On
our show, we discussed true crime cases such as serial killers,
fessing persons, and victims of crime, along with cults, conspiracies, cryptids,
urban legends, and everything in between. Find us on Apple, Spotify,
and wherever else you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 9 (22:35):
Hey, it's Travis from the bar Banter podcast where friends,
drinks and dumb debates collide. Ever argue what's the best
cereal milk? Or could you fight one hundred duck sized horses?
How about is Diehard a Christmas movie?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Spoiler alert?
Speaker 9 (22:50):
We're still fighting about that one. New episodes drop every
Wednesday because your midweek needs more chaos. Find us on YouTube, Instagram,
and all your favorite podcast apps. Be sure to hit
the link tree at the Underscore Bar Banter Podcast, and
when you do join us, be prepared to grab a drink,
take a side, and banter responsibly.
Speaker 7 (23:12):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Oh a little wicked in Borkle.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, so now we have to go back a bit
and discuss an event that happened in eighteen seventy six.
In eighteen seventy six, people reported a ghost would appear
near a warehouse, a woman dressed all in white. Oh,
we've heard about those women in white before, with a
(23:36):
fleshless face and burning eyes. She was reported so often
to the police that the police were She was reported
so often the police were apprised of her appearance and
reports appeared in the Kansas City Times. Two police officers
encountered the specter, with one claiming that he caught her
(24:00):
fought with her, only to have her simply vanish from
his arms. The warehouse was very near the old Gillis
Hotel Gillis House Hotel, and since Sands had grown up there,
he was going to get to the bottom of the situation.
He moved into the Gillis House, which was home to
(24:22):
family at this time, with a friend, and they both
had brought pistols because Hunting ghosts with guns never ends badly.
For more information on this, check out episode two one
about how the Curious about the Curious murder of the
Hammersmith Ghost. Yes, I do remember that episode. We'll wait,
(24:46):
so back to our intrepid ghost hunters. As they were.
While they were waiting, they heard sounds of doors opening,
which woke them. They went towards a sound where they
soon saw a white figure moving through the home, which
they begin to fire at with pistols, because that's how
(25:07):
you take down a ghost. Obviously, they lost track of
the ghost though. Come morning in the attic of the
Gillis house, a white stray dog was found dead. Oh,
poor puppy from multiple gunshot wound. No, then you shun't. Yeah,
(25:28):
the ghost would never be seen again. Oh it's.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Oh puppy.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Oh you would a misforgotten ghost hunt said deal. So
now we'll take a minute for a word from some
of our sponsors. Keep in mind that if you don't
like sponsor messages, you can get rid of those by
either being a one dollar or a three dollar Patreon subscriber.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Now it's time for a word from an old timey sponsor.
Speaker 10 (26:05):
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or an unshakable sense that your parlor is haunted, then
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(26:26):
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Speaker 7 (26:39):
It's time to get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Wow, yeah, still.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
What going on?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
It's going on my Christmas list for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I don't know that it would help with the reading
of smut. I don't know if smut and sentience.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Sensation, paranormal smut is a thing.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
It is, okay, so let me take this next section
fragedy strike. The couple were very much in love and
traveled to the city often. On January twenty ninth, eighteen
eighty three, just a couple of weeks after their second
wedding anniversary, they returned home from a trip into the city,
(27:22):
stowed their horses in a nearby barn and went into
the home. Fanny decided to read her book chillingly called
A Day of Fate. And I want to stop here.
I know it's an important local name, the mcgees, but
Fanny McGee is a horrible name, and her parents should
(27:42):
be hung and horsewhipped for naming her that. Okay, anyway, Well.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Weren't we just talking about how we shouldn't use violence
at the beginning of this episode?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Probably we were so oh dew yeah. Now, Say, who
had noticed rabbit tracks around the barn, decided he was
going to hunt the rabbits who had been getting into
their crops. I couldn't find out whether they had a
farm or just a garden. He loaded his gun, sat
(28:14):
in the living room across from his wife, and cleaned
the locks with gun oil. As he did so, his
thumb slipped on the shotgun's hammer lock, causing it to
snap into the shell and fire and hit his wife
in the face.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
She died instantly, like you do generally. At her funeral,
a cloth covered her face. The funeral was quiet and subdued,
as one could expect. She was then laid to rest
at Union Cemetery, covered way way back in episode eleven.
Check it out, we'll wait. Nine months later, a tragedy
(28:52):
struck again when Fanny's younger brothers and sisters returned home
to discover their father, mother, and older sister, all this
time ceased. Fanny's father, who traveled between Missouri and Kentucky
for work, was known to be an intemperate fellow. Indeed,
he had once shot a man three times in Kentucky
during an argument over politics. That's called getting out of
(29:14):
hands the little Apparently, the father had to come upset
with the mother and the older daughter, shot both of them,
and then ended his own life. So you're going to put.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
A trigger warning at the beginning of this episode two.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
That's why I mentioned at the beginning that it covers
a lot of This took Sands deeper into the depressed
state he was already in. He dealt with this by
returning to his earlier passions of whiskey and gambling. He
was so deep into this the Kansas City Times would
even comment on it in an article.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Wow. So now let's take anther break for a word
from our sponsors. And as we come back from our
word from our sponsors, hear about an old tiny sponser.
Speaker 11 (30:08):
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presence of a woman with eyes of flame? Do you
find yourself listless, pallid, or lamenting unseen torments in the
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(30:29):
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Speaker 10 (30:37):
Ask for it by name at your local apothecary.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That's doctor hay Goods.
Speaker 11 (30:41):
Because no man ever went mad who stayed mildly sedated.
Speaker 7 (30:45):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
So Charles Sant's uncle, if you recall, despair it over
his nephew's state. Charles was still managing his brother's property.
He's probably a good thing at this point that he
now co owned with his nephew, But due to his
nephew's mental state, he began to give his nephew an
alone WinCE rather than just let him at his family's
(31:10):
fortune like you do. Charles and Sands both moved into
apartments in what is now the Quality Hill area. Sans
entertained many people, and when he wasn't entertaining, he was traveling.
He went to Europe with Thomas H. Swope. We've talked
(31:31):
about him before at episode sixteen, which spends to be
one of my very favorite episodes check it up.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Wait.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
However, he was also beginning to spend out of control
because of his constant gambling. Sans had an impressive array
of gambling debts. One such person he owed a debt
to was John Gavin, who braced him in his rent
room and told Sands that if he didn't pay the
(32:03):
four hundred dollars he owed him, he would make sure
people knew about the debt. Gambling debts were considered quite
dishonorable during this time. Also that four hundred dollars debt
would be worth approximately thirteen thousand dollars in today's money,
so yikes, that was a pretty big debt. Later, Sands
(32:26):
encountered Gavin and put a pistol in his face, telling
him that if he revealed the debt, he would kill
the man. In another instance, he would assault Gavin with
a whip and a pistol. Well, Gavin did not sustain
an injury. He did avoid Sands thereafter, so apparently the
whip and the pistol got the job accomplished, one way
(32:50):
or the other. The police spoke to Sands about the incident,
but no one arrested him. Another interlude led to a
very inebriated Sands attempted to take his horse out for
an evening ride. The young man working in the stables
told Sands that he was too drunk to ride a horse.
(33:11):
This led to Sands shooting the young man. This time, however,
did land Sands in jail, and come morning he paid
a two hundred dollars fine and was able to leave.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
How are you gonna pay a two hundred dollars fine
when you still have four hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I mean, there's a difference between owing somebody a gambling
debt and paying two hundred dollars to get out of jail.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Fair enough, I thought it was like a legal debt
of com sort. And now we take we shall take
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Feel sponsored nice?
Speaker 1 (33:53):
All right? Now?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
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Speaker 7 (34:38):
Yeah, that doesn't sound like never mind, It's time to
get back to the show.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Wow. Sins would travel to Europe once more, this time
bringing along a bodyguard. The bodyguard would be ordered to
slug anyone who irritated mister Hopkins. I want to be
that kind of witch.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
No right.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
There were were bets made as to whether or not
bodyguard would survive the trip due to sands, irritability and
drinking habits. However, only six days in Europe, the pair
returned Sans claiming to be very ill. He left for
(35:19):
Hot Springs, Arkansas and place, a place known for its
health due to its natural hot springs, where he gambled
and soon incurred yes large debts to other gamblers. He
returned to Kansas City in poor health and would pass
(35:39):
away due to the effects of long term alcoholism and
taking an overdose of laudanum laudon yeah, okay, the night
before on December fourteenth, eighteen eighty seven. There are those
who say, if you travel to the parking lot where
(35:59):
the young man's home once was, you can still occasionally
see Sans Hopkin looking for something he could never find
in life.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Oh. I mean, I'd feel a lot worse for him
if he weren't an addict and kind of an overall
mess overall. But at the same time, anyway, no, go ahead. Well,
I mean, that's probably more of a chat to have
when we get the final thoughts.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Fair enough, fair enough. I should have looked up laudanum.
It occurs to me that we mentioned it two or
three times, and I don't know if the modern listeners
many of them will know what is.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
I know, it's like a it's like an art similar
to an narcotic. It was a depressant or ain reliever
of some kind or sleeping alos.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
I wanna say it was distilled from opium.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Yeah, someone in those lines.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
I'm going to look it up, and it was a
bit of a hallucinogenic.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
One more word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yes, while you look that up, let's take a moment
for a word from our sponsors. And now, after that
word from our sponsors, how about a final word from
an old time sponsor.
Speaker 10 (37:19):
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(37:42):
Apply literally at twilight. Results may vary depending on the
number of sins unconfessed Doctor Everhart's because some ghosts aren't
meant to be seen.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Wow, it's time to.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
Get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Laudanum is a tintuer of opium, historically used as a sedative, analgesic,
pain reliever, and anti diarrheal. It was widely prescribed in
the nineteenth century, but fell out of favor due to
its highly addictive nature and potential for overdose. Today, laudanum
is not used in medical practice because it had so
(38:17):
many issues.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Okay, what I was going to.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Say, because that brings us to our summary and final thoughts,
which I want to thank you for going and finding
all of those products for us. But what I was
starting to say before getting to our summary and final thoughts,
because I'm just going to start those week since I
already had something, was that I while he did a
(38:47):
lot of things wrong, it also was a time where
there was not a lot of mental health available and
the man lost a lot. He lost his parents fairly young,
he lost his wife surely after whether it was an
accident or wasn't an accident, because that's kind of a
weird accident, but those kinds of accidents did happen, especially
(39:10):
during that timeframe. Things weren't anywhere near, didn't have the
safety measures that they have now, But it's really easy
to condemn him because of the drinking and the alcoholism
and the drinking, the gambling and the womanizing and whatever
else he went around doing. He wasn't necessarily he was
(39:33):
definitely wasn't a saint of a man by any stretch
of the imagination. But at the same time, he had
been through quite a bit in his life, and so
you can kind of see that those were hoping mechanisms,
at least they could have been in his frame of mind.
That was my thought.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
But I feel like less of coping mechanism, more of
letting go, not specific quickly, because I understand like that
they don't have They didn't have the help that some
people have today. But like when you not only let
(40:14):
yourself get into alcohol and stuff like that, Like alcohol
is one thing that could be some sort of coping mechanism,
but once you take more than that, you just know
that you're just gonna let go. Maybe, but.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
People's relationship to alcohol was different back then, like it was.
Speaker 3 (40:44):
They didn't mean so when you think about it like this, think,
just to throw this out there, people get in trouble
now for drinking and driving, Arthur, But that's a newer
that's a newer lot. My grandmother, my mother's mother, was
(41:04):
killed in nineteen sixty nine by a drunk driver. That
drunk driver didn't even get a ticket for killing my
grandmother because driving under the influence of alcohol at that
point in time was not illegal and against the law
like it is in today's time. You weren't required to
(41:27):
even more seat belts. So there's a totally different expectation
of how people live their lives and expectation of what
is morally correct. I think now than even fifty years ago,
(41:48):
but definitely two hundred years ago, right, well, and years ago.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
But like, that doesn't mean that they can't know that
they're not gonna let go. I understand that the rules
were different back then. I understand that, But that doesn't
mean that they don't know that they're letting go.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
You're right, and for what it's worth, I don't think
Sands meant to shoot his wife. I do not think
he meant to do that at all.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
I think we might like it.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
I feel a little bad for him, and the whole
thing with hunting the ghost, a ghost with a fleshless
face and burning eyes that feels like a curse to me,
not necessarily a haunting, maybe because it would be a
(42:46):
fair description of his wife after he shot her in
the face with a shotgun, that minus the burning eyes.
Unless well I don't even want to think about that.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Yeah, don't dig too into it. It won't be able to
sleep tonight.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
And I will have to tell Andrea Benson because she
got it right. She said it was about a pickle factory,
and it kind of was, because that's what the Gillis
House became, was a pickle factory factory. Yeah, that's wild,
that's amazing. I didn't expect her to get it, but
she did. That's cool. That is cool. So Andrea Benson,
(43:24):
good Ones World one. Yeah do you know her? Because
I don't other than just being a member of the fan.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
Yeah, I'm The name sounds familiar. I'm not sure where
she became a member of the fan from, but the
name does sound familiar. I have some amazing friends in
social media that I have come across through different groups
that I've been in that I don't necessarily know in person,
(43:56):
but I've been friends with for years on social media,
and you know, some of them are really awesome people.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yeah, and this is such a Kansas City story. And
by that, I don't mean that Kansas City is full
of drunks and and and people of who make poor decisions.
But it's just it's.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
A lot of bounding names. Yes, it's a lot of
names that are still very present in this city. Gillis
and Truth, Magee and Truth.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
And although Fanny McGee is not related to the McGhee
street because that's spelled differently, that's an mc she's an
m a g e m a g e e. Sorry,
I specifically look that up and the best I could
come up with is if she is, it's an offshoot
of the family. I got you, But they they were,
(44:50):
They are pretty important in this area. The McGee is
that that's spelling. I just I don't know why.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
But yeah, well but you said her family was from Independence.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Yes, yes, so that would make sense then yeah, yeah,
And again Fanny, I know it was a common name
at the time, but Fanny McGee sounds like code for
something like, hey, baby, I want to see your Fanny
McGee like like something. It's it's somebody get.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Him a bar soap so he can wash out his brain.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
You don't need more than a bar so funny. He
don't need the whole right there, baby.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
I'm just, I'm just it doesn't sound like that to you,
like some sort of euphemism for something you can't publicly say, like, hey,
I went out. I went out with Susie last night.
She gave me a Fanny McGee.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Where's the power washer? Somebody needs to get in it
here and.
Speaker 3 (45:55):
Of play it out.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
I'm just saying to me, it sounds like I'm just
saying to me, it sounds like some sort of weird euphemism.
I can see it, you know, and it doesn't necessarily
even have to be dirty. You might want to wash
that shirt still got some Fanny McGee on it. Just
(46:20):
it's it's a weird you.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
It's a that one doesn't work even more than.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
The last one. So you're just jealous because I'm funny.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Did you just call me honey?
Speaker 1 (46:32):
He did?
Speaker 2 (46:34):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Let me do that again.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
I did. With the snaps, the snaps, the snaps, I
doubt the microphone picked up the snaps, but they were
good snaps.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Okay, thank you, three of them. You always do three
snaps out. I don't know why, uh, but this is
this is very much a Kansas City story. Also, just
the idea that this fellow hired a guy to be
(47:12):
not just his bodyguard, but to punch people who annoyed him.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Hey, if anyone annoys me, you're gonna pop him in
the face. That's it. Just a boom, that's it.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
And and the fact that and this was such a
bad idea that people at the time were like, I
don't think the bodyguard is gonna make it. That guy's
pretty irritable. He's gonna punch something the wrong person in
the face.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's amazing. Though still I want to be that kind
of ri rich. I think anybody is that kind of
rich anymore these days.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Like no, because these days you're far more likely to
get sued over that sort of behavior. But but I
just I picture it now, just like some guy just
nattering on on a train or something somewhere and sick.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
You're annoying my boss.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Yeah, just guy walks up, You're annoying my boss.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
It's drawing true.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
And if Sands hadn't gotten sick or you know, drank
so much, because I'm sure that's why he got sick, huh,
that guy might not have made at home. I think
that the people betting against him were in the right
because Sans was not a good person at that point.
He was he was gr Obviously.
Speaker 3 (48:31):
Sounds like Sands wasn't a very good gambler either beyond
everybody and their brother money.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
He wasn't. But the the as you know, people whose
vice are gambling or do I know it's hard to shake,
get him to shake that, and they'll they'll, they'll, they'll
do themselves in with it if they will. I mean,
that's and and I will admit the reason that I
(48:58):
have not gambled very much is because I can feel
that pull, like I can feel if that this is
easy and kind of fun and this I'm gonna do this.
I can feel that pull, and I stopped myself because
there's very few outcomes where it's going to end well.
(49:20):
Although that is one of the reasons I love to
be in Vegas is because you get to watch people
make life changing decisions, and almost always their life they're
bad life changing decisions. Yeah, Like I once saw a
girl walk into a casino and she came and sat
next to me for a while, and I was with
(49:42):
April at the time, and April came over and sat
on the other side of me and introduced herself, and
the woman went away and then saw a guy dancing
on the table and cheered him for a minute and
then went and hit on the bar attender. That girl
was going home with someone, and she wasn't being picky.
Speaker 3 (50:04):
I see.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
Bad life decisions fair because you you know, she wound
up with some horrible cheesehead, just just rotten human being
entirely possible. And by cheesehead, I mean like brain of cheese.
Not from Wisconsin. Wisconsin. Yeah, I got you fairly nice,
most of them that I've ever met, anyone. So, but like,
(50:33):
this guy was a big fan of bad decisions. Everything
he did. I'm gonna go, honey goes with a gun. Okay,
that didn't work out. Me, that doesn't ever work out.
Speaker 10 (50:46):
Well.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
I feel so bad for that poor puppy though.
Speaker 1 (50:49):
Yeah me too.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
Just out there living your best life, sniffing around in
somebody's house next thing, you know.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
And then his wife like, I'm sure when she got
to heaven, it's like, how did I get here? Your
husband accidentally shot you in the face. How do you
not go back immediately and like kick his bike? Yeah, yeah,
maybe that's why his life fell apart. Is like spiritually,
she was there the whole time, going I will end you.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
Pope, Pope poke, Pope poke, bad hand, bad hand, bad hand.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Back and then her father, Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (51:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
Well, just so many tragedies in this. But again, it's
a Kansas City story. It's one I wish they kind
of taught in school because it's so interesting. It paints
a picture of the time period. It paints a picture
of Kansas City as it grows up, and it paints
a picture of a lot of the people in Kansas
(51:54):
City because he was he was at fingertips length with
like Thomas Swope and doctor Truce and yeah, I forget
what Gillis's first name was, but he's at fingertips length
with all these names that are important to Kansas City. Yeah,
(52:15):
and yet he is like this.
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Drunk gambling addict.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Yeah, this poor gambling addict that has more money than
since for most of his life. And I want to
go to Union Cemetery and see if we can find
Fanny McGee's grave. Although I bet I'm doing some digging.
(52:43):
It looks like she was moved to another cemetery, so
then probably not, but they may still have her headstone.
I don't know or a marker there for Fanny, but
I would be interested in seeing that. I see just
because one I like Union Cemetery any It's an interesting place.
(53:07):
It's got a very spooky vibe. It was the city's
first cemetery. People still get buried there, which amazes me
because and as Arthur knows from the episode we did
on it, it has such a unique history. Like literally
it was a cemetery for a while, and then the
(53:30):
board that owned it so to sold off some of
the acreage to make streets. And when they were grading
those streets, they found skeletons, They found bones of people
that had like that had been buried in Pauper's grapes
that was on this soul land. So and there's a
(53:52):
lot of ghostly activity around.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
There are a lot of poor folks around Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
Well, especially at that time. Also, I didn't know that
common rooms lasted as long as they did. I thought
I thought common rooms were probably done by the eighteenth century.
But to find that a hotel was still selling you know,
beds in a common room up until the eighteen fifties
(54:19):
or sixties.
Speaker 3 (54:20):
I mean, look at some of the poor shanties that
were taking place in New York up until the early
nineteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (54:29):
True, true, But I also wouldn't mind going and seeing
the wall that still stands from the Gillis House.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
Might be something to look into at some point.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
Because I want to say it's still there at McKean, Delaware.
Speaker 2 (54:46):
Place with the dinosaur stuff, you know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:51):
What place with the dinosaur stuff.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
The one that Mom showed me. I don't know if
she showed anyone else but that.
Speaker 3 (55:02):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (55:05):
Okay, statues of dinosaurs. Oh you know what, I think
it was.
Speaker 3 (55:13):
It might have been Nelson Atkins, I think.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
So, it could have been, could have been. But yeah,
I just I loved doing this episode because it really
gave me a chance to dig into local history and
some of those those products and like I said, those
products are fictional, but they were all based on real products.
(55:40):
Just amazing. And I will say I created those ads
with the help of Bing's co pilot. So there's that
anything else before we wrap it up and call it
a show.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (55:53):
I think that's the end of our.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Show, and that's our show. Thanks for listening, Thanks for
keeping us in the good Pods top one hundred. Thanks
for being members of the fam. Thanks to Blue Lexi, Laura,
and Arthur. Thanks to Bill, Paige and Aaron. Bill is
Bill Barrant. That last name is spelled b e h
(56:15):
R e n d T. Bill does our theme music.
If you need music for a project, Bill's your guy.
Also send Bill lots of condolences and get well soons.
He just went into the hospital for surgery. He's still
there recovering, slowly but recovering. Yeah so, Bill Barrand at
(56:37):
SBC global dot Net. Thanks go to Page of the
Reverie Crime podcast, who combines her love of Canva with
our own Arthur's artwork to create some logo art for us.
Thank you, Paige. Thanks Thanks Saren Gunnerk of The Big
Dumb Fun Show, who continues to promote us locally and
join us next week as we look into the life
(56:59):
of someone else who got her start in Missouri, Bell
Star Die
I'm Dean, I'm the dad, I'm Laura, I'm the mom.
I'm Arthur, I'm the son, and together we are Family Plot,
finally getting this show started. Let me get the housekeeping
out the way. Some ways you can help out the show. Hey,
(01:07):
maybe you'd like some Family Plot merchandise I don't know,
like hoodies, strets, months, or stickers, all with Arthur's original
and beautiful artwork on them. You can get that at
our t Spring Merchandise store. However, if you cannot afford merchandise,
(01:28):
which is a bit pricey, you can always go to
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(01:49):
special benefits like ad pre episodes and episodes that are
not BEG thirteen, where we let Arthur say well, pretty
much whatever you want, with the exception of, you know,
smack a fat baby. We don't ever let him say that.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
I've ever said that in my life, so I definitely
hope ark.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Why why would anyone want to smack a cute fat baby.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I don't know, but we just don't let them say that.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well that's good because violence is wrong.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Yeah, especially against fat babies, any baby babies, any baby boy,
but fat babies.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Baby.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Yes, speak lobby and yes, especially to you, especially to
you mother to the world.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Well, I do like babies have all kinds.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Now, if you have babies of your own and they
keep you from making that Patreon payment, I knew i'd
tie it in Since you did that. Yeah, you can
always go to buy me a coffee and do a
one time donation of a dollar or two. If you
cannot afford to do that, we don't hold it against you.
There is something you can do for us that is
absolutely free. If you enjoy the show, please share it
(02:58):
on social media.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Share with funds, share it with families.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
With everyone, and you could also leave us a five
star review. If you don't enjoy the show, please keep
it to yourself.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. So
what are you talking about tonight?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, tonight we dig back into the early days of
Kansas City to learn about the Gillis House Hotel and
a young man named SAMs W. Hopkins, an interesting character
who literally hunted a ghost, became a socialite and a
well known figure about town. He suffered tragedy and loss,
(03:45):
turning him into a very different person in this why
don't they teach this in Schools? Episode of the Family
Plot podcast. A final note, most of the research for
this show came from an article from the Martin City Telegram,
so feel free to check that out. Also, should let
you all know that some heavy duty stuff is going
(04:09):
to happen in this episode.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So also some point of contact advertisement that we do
not in any way shape or form a tribute to
us or the show.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What we actually have ads we will read in this
show that are four based on products that were really
sold around the time of these events. Now that being said,
they're not real ads for real products, but they are
based on real products and they are written in that
(04:46):
old timey style, so fabulous. Yeah, we'll be doing those
as the show goes on. So I will get it
started by talking about the Gillis House Hotel. The hotel
began life as the Union HOTELILT in eighteen forty eight
by William Gillis, a former fur trader, land speculator and
(05:07):
one of Kansas City's founding fathers. He partnered with his
niece's husband, doctor Benoist trust I've heard that name before,
the city's first physician. Together they cleared a tavern from
a bluff near Westport Landing and erected what would become
Kansas City's first real hotel, a two story brick structure
(05:30):
overlooking the Missouri River. Gillis, born in Maryland in seventeen
ninety seven, had a wild backstory, runaway sailor War of
eighteen twelve, veteran adopted into the Delaware tribe of Indigenous people,
and a savvy trader with deep ties to Native American communities,
he saw the riverfront not just as a place to
(05:52):
dock boats, but as the gateway to the West. The
hotel's timing was perfect. Giffs months after it opened, news
of the California gold Rush broke, Thousands of westbound travelers
flooded through Kansas City, and the Union Hotel became a
prime stopover. It was later renamed the Gillis House, and
(06:12):
by eighteen fifty seven it had hosted over twenty seven
thousand guests.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
It's quite a few.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Among its most noticeable visitors, Kit Carson the legendary frontiersman
reportedly stayed there before heading west. The hotel also became
a hub for Santa Fe traders, politicians, and riverboat men.
A guest in eighteen fifty one wrote that it was
getting to be more and more a favorite resort for
(06:39):
those engaged in the Santa Fe trade during the Border
War era eighteen fifty four. At eighteen sixty, the hotel
became a hotbed of political tension. It changed hands between
pro sligavery and abolitionist proprietors, and its halls echoed with
arguments of men who would soon be on opposite sides
of the civil wars. Gillis himself fleeed pro slavery boo boo,
(07:05):
but he was also a businessman. First, his hotel welcomed
anyone with coin. After Truce sold his share in eighteen
fifty one, Gillis and his nephew, William Barkley expanded the hotel,
adding a third story and widening the ground floor. As
Kansas City's population and businesses moved south, the riverfront lost
(07:26):
its luster. The Gillis House, once Kansas City's crown jewel,
became a relic. By the eighteen eighties, it was the
last major hotel on the riverfront. Eventually, the building was repurposed,
turned into a pickle factory of all things, and in
the nineteen twenties it burned the ground, leaving only a
stone wall behind. That wall still stands today between Delaware
(07:51):
and Wyandott Streets, a ghost. See what I did there?
Of the hotel's former self, The Gillis House is more
than a building. It's a symbol of Kansas City's transformation
from muddy frontier town to bustling metropolis. It hosted pioneers, politicians,
and possibly a few phantoms, and in the case of
(08:12):
SAMs W. Hopkins, it may have driven one man to madness.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Ooh, what a leading babe. Well, I try my patients
mostly sorry.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Well, Arthur, are you ready to take over and regale
us with the tails from your corner?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Your cat snotted on me again?
Speaker 1 (08:39):
His cat snots on everybody. Yeah, his cat should be
named Snotty.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
No none name changing My cat's name the snaughty even
if it's true.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Whatever snotty?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Really man, really man, really.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Here ye here, ye allow me to present Arthur's corner. Hi,
it is it's Wednesday. It is a Wednesday. My dudes,
how are we doing today?
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Uh? I'm good. I guess. I guess I'm mostly being
a pain in mom's.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
But yeah, I heard that.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I love him.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
I love your mom.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
What say.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
I've got your kiddie.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, my mom has my cat because my cat has
decided since I will no longer hold him up to
my chest because he is a spoiled bratt. He need
somebody else to love on him, so he has chosen
my mother.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
I'm very lovey.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
And to be fair, and for those that listen, there
might be one or two who know this. When I
called him snotty. That is actually a movie reference to
a movie called Drop Dead Fred that starred Phoebe Cates
and Ritten Mayol.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Okay, alrighty then.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Rick Mayle is an English actor who is in a
TV series called The Young Ones. He played a character
named Rick, or as the other cast members called him Rick.
Okay then, but anyway. Drop Dead Fred was her imaginary
friend as a child, and for some reason she brings
him back as an adult and he sort of gets
(10:46):
out of control. But whenever he talks to her at
some point, he always introduces her as snotty snotface. No
snotty because he will walk up to her, pick his
nose and go on her jacket or whatever she's wearing.
That's for you, snotty.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
That is gross.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
It's it's a it's a pretty disgusting movie. You've seen it, Yes,
I've seen drop Dead fread. Oh, I've seen dropped a
bread well, I mean other than Arthur. But we have
cable television for most of his young life, so there's
there's that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
But okay, anyway, so what's going on in your corner? Snotty?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I'm not snotty. It's this one. It's this one.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes, but he's your son, so that makes you snotty? Dad?
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You want to need it, dude? What you just that
happen in the fucking movie really gross?
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Don't so you don't grow. Don't be a gross kid.
Your your son. Your son's gross enough.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
He is snots all over everything.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Why calling me snow day, It's why I don't don't
associate with him very much because I don't like snunt.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
But he is adorable.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
He is adorable. He's very cute. He's a long haired
Russian blue mix and he did you pretty baby, and
he's a squirt. He's a tiny little squirt. The only
ways like six pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
He's little, bitty's a little runch he.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Doesn't not even six pounds, like maybe four pounds.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah, he's small, four small small.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
He's small, but he he like he will jump on
you without consulting you or getting your attention first. Just
you happen to be in the kitchen. He wants something,
he'll jump on your back. And it's funny.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Somebody came to the door a couple of weeks ago
and he was laying in the window and they said,
that is the cutest cat.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
See, my son just loves.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Your son is trying to eat plastic. I'm not sure.
I'm not sure he's the brightest.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
You not the smart He's not the sharpest tool in
the shed. Excuse your sir, No, he's not the sharpest
tool in the shed. Let's see what And he has
chosen to go to dad. Now he's just wopping places
wherever hec fit. Okay, what have I done this weekend?
(13:29):
Not this weekend, but this week just in the past
two days, I was watching I have been watching a
or I watched the one of the new movies uh
K Pop Demon Hunters.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Okay, very it's a good movie. That well.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Plus, haven't you and Blue been watching that Big Mouth series? Yeah,
that looks just horrible. And I'm just talking the the
art on it. What's horrible.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
The art on it is horrible, but that's kind of
what makes the show.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Everybody on that show has Uncanny Valley and the whole
show disturbed. Hey, man, I get it.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
So that's how I felt when I walked it on
Blue watching it, I was like, what the freak man?
But yeah, I've also was started watching that and that
is certainly interesting to say the least. Let's see my
(14:38):
partner is back for.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
A little while.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Yeah, after being at their moms for so long or
just out for so long.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
I thought they were on vacation.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Well they were, they were, but that was earlier this summer.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
That was earlier this summer. Yeah, they keep moving around
in houses and deaf.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Well, that's kind of what summer is.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
For, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
I thought summer was for Aaron.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Well that summer that that one spelled differently. That was cute, though.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
I've noticed some people in the trailer park have their
summer teeth in really yeah, summer green, summer yellow.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Ha ha ha anything else.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I'm thinking.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Dad jokes coming in hot mm hmmm, absolutely not.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I just did one the summer teeth.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
That that that that definitely classifies as a dad joke.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
He's right. I was just saying I dropped dad jokes.
You did, That's all. I wasn't saying I was going
to drop more.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
But let's see.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
My school.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Oh he's already preparing for shipment.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
So that's fine. That's good. That overly expensive piece of
furst suit that you.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Purchased, Arthur's a fur suit.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Arthur is, Arthur is a sweet, adorable boy.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Wow, that's a lot of ink. Yeah, it was, dear god,
thing is dripping, it's bleeding out. That's how I feel
on my time of the month.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Wow, you brought that up on the podcast, dude.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Oh no, I'm gonna have to beat that whole thing.
Oh no, which, but I only had to beat you
once last week, So you know, so you were you.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Were, you were overdue for some bleeping.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, I was overdue for a little bit of bleeping.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
You'll be okay.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Fonder he loves him, Grandpa.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, I don't think I have anything else to say.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
Lot yea Arker Corner.
Speaker 6 (17:15):
Folks, if your knights are restless, your shadow's misbehaving, or
your soul has begun to wonder where it ought not,
reach for the bottle. Trusted by mediums, mourners and moonshiners alike,
Doctor Thistlewait's Etheric Combustion Elixir, Distilled under midnight's hush and
blessed by the silence between heartbeats, It burns away the
ethereal cobwebs to illuminate your path through the veil. One
(17:35):
sip and the other side whispers back.
Speaker 7 (17:37):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
Do you want to take I gave my son a
bath yesterday, there you go, Yes, and he much needed
it to.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
The day before.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
That was the day before. He much needed it, and
he smells much better it was the day before, indus,
even though even though he's doing his best to make
himself smell like cats fit.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
That's true, but that's kind of a cat thing that
they do.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, I still don't get why Apollo does it, but
because his breath could stun a buzzard at twenty paces.
And that's my child I'm talking about. You're getting their
little one, So Arthur, you want to take this next
section on SAMs Hopkins and tell us all about him.
(18:23):
Sure thing.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
Sans was born in eighteen fifty nine to doctor William
SAMs and his wife Elizabeth Hopkins.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So that's how they named him. They named him with
both of their names, apparently weird.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
SAMs was born in Kentucky, but moved with his family
while he was still a baby. Shortly after moving to
Kansas City, doctor William and his brother Charles had purchased
and were running the Jill's Gillis House hotel. The Gillis
House at this point was a four story structure with
(19:06):
a huge steeple and a bell which was to be
wrung at meal times. The hotel contained a common room
to those who had to those that only heard that
phrase in D and D yes. Common rooms were actually
a thing with twenty beds. If you could not afford
(19:27):
to rent a single room, you could rent a bed
in the common room. It also contained a huge dining
hall with a long table for all the guests to
sit while they eat. When William passed away in eighteen
sixty seven and Elizabeth passed away in eighteen sixty nine, Charles,
(19:52):
a single child and childless man, at the time was
the only one left to care for young sam. Charles
had inherited all of his brother's properties, however, and held
on to them for young Sands. Eventually. Eventually Sands would
(20:18):
attend the University of Notre Dame, where he would do
well in his in his studies, though he had a
taste for ladies, gambling, and whiskey, and was well known
for the energy. For the energy with which he sowed.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
So I don't.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
My mouth was drying, it's sticking me off, sowed his
wild oats. Okay.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
It's an old phrase basically meaning.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
After all had found out.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
However, having unless of the finding out, I do you
know what?
Speaker 2 (20:59):
I oh?
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Okay might give him more to read.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
However, Young Sans would eventually settle down. During his education,
the Gillis House would close as a hote would close
as a hotel, though Charles continued to live there. Sans
would come back and visit his uncle often. Eventually, Sans
would return to Kansas City studies completed in eighteen eighty one,
(21:31):
and he would meet a young girl from a wealthy
family who lived just south of Independence at the time.
Her name was Faniic Fanny Mage Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. Okay,
the two courted and soon were wed, with Uncle Charles
telling Kansas City Times that they were like two children
(21:56):
and with Fanny's money and social connections, Sam will be
a part of Kansas City social scene.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
So let's take a break here and hear from some
of our fellow content creators.
Speaker 8 (22:11):
Hello, my name is Kayla and my co host Lexi
and I host a podcast called a Little Wicked. On
our show, we discussed true crime cases such as serial killers,
fessing persons, and victims of crime, along with cults, conspiracies, cryptids,
urban legends, and everything in between. Find us on Apple, Spotify,
and wherever else you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 9 (22:35):
Hey, it's Travis from the bar Banter podcast where friends,
drinks and dumb debates collide. Ever argue what's the best
cereal milk? Or could you fight one hundred duck sized horses?
How about is Diehard a Christmas movie?
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Spoiler alert?
Speaker 9 (22:50):
We're still fighting about that one. New episodes drop every
Wednesday because your midweek needs more chaos. Find us on YouTube, Instagram,
and all your favorite podcast apps. Be sure to hit
the link tree at the Underscore Bar Banter Podcast, and
when you do join us, be prepared to grab a drink,
take a side, and banter responsibly.
Speaker 7 (23:12):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Oh a little wicked in Borkle.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Yeah, so now we have to go back a bit
and discuss an event that happened in eighteen seventy six.
In eighteen seventy six, people reported a ghost would appear
near a warehouse, a woman dressed all in white. Oh,
we've heard about those women in white before, with a
(23:36):
fleshless face and burning eyes. She was reported so often
to the police that the police were She was reported
so often the police were apprised of her appearance and
reports appeared in the Kansas City Times. Two police officers
encountered the specter, with one claiming that he caught her
(24:00):
fought with her, only to have her simply vanish from
his arms. The warehouse was very near the old Gillis
Hotel Gillis House Hotel, and since Sands had grown up there,
he was going to get to the bottom of the situation.
He moved into the Gillis House, which was home to
(24:22):
family at this time, with a friend, and they both
had brought pistols because Hunting ghosts with guns never ends badly.
For more information on this, check out episode two one
about how the Curious about the Curious murder of the
Hammersmith Ghost. Yes, I do remember that episode. We'll wait,
(24:46):
so back to our intrepid ghost hunters. As they were.
While they were waiting, they heard sounds of doors opening,
which woke them. They went towards a sound where they
soon saw a white figure moving through the home, which
they begin to fire at with pistols, because that's how
(25:07):
you take down a ghost. Obviously, they lost track of
the ghost though. Come morning in the attic of the
Gillis house, a white stray dog was found dead. Oh,
poor puppy from multiple gunshot wound. No, then you shun't. Yeah,
(25:28):
the ghost would never be seen again. Oh it's.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Oh puppy.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Oh you would a misforgotten ghost hunt said deal. So
now we'll take a minute for a word from some
of our sponsors. Keep in mind that if you don't
like sponsor messages, you can get rid of those by
either being a one dollar or a three dollar Patreon subscriber.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Now it's time for a word from an old timey sponsor.
Speaker 10 (26:05):
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Speaker 7 (26:39):
It's time to get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Wow, yeah, still.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
What going on?
Speaker 3 (26:46):
It's going on my Christmas list for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I don't know that it would help with the reading
of smut. I don't know if smut and sentience.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Sensation, paranormal smut is a thing.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
It is, okay, so let me take this next section
fragedy strike. The couple were very much in love and
traveled to the city often. On January twenty ninth, eighteen
eighty three, just a couple of weeks after their second
wedding anniversary, they returned home from a trip into the city,
(27:22):
stowed their horses in a nearby barn and went into
the home. Fanny decided to read her book chillingly called
A Day of Fate. And I want to stop here.
I know it's an important local name, the mcgees, but
Fanny McGee is a horrible name, and her parents should
(27:42):
be hung and horsewhipped for naming her that. Okay, anyway, Well.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
Weren't we just talking about how we shouldn't use violence
at the beginning of this episode?
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Probably we were so oh dew yeah. Now, Say, who
had noticed rabbit tracks around the barn, decided he was
going to hunt the rabbits who had been getting into
their crops. I couldn't find out whether they had a
farm or just a garden. He loaded his gun, sat
(28:14):
in the living room across from his wife, and cleaned
the locks with gun oil. As he did so, his
thumb slipped on the shotgun's hammer lock, causing it to
snap into the shell and fire and hit his wife
in the face.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
She died instantly, like you do generally. At her funeral,
a cloth covered her face. The funeral was quiet and subdued,
as one could expect. She was then laid to rest
at Union Cemetery, covered way way back in episode eleven.
Check it out, we'll wait. Nine months later, a tragedy
(28:52):
struck again when Fanny's younger brothers and sisters returned home
to discover their father, mother, and older sister, all this
time ceased. Fanny's father, who traveled between Missouri and Kentucky
for work, was known to be an intemperate fellow. Indeed,
he had once shot a man three times in Kentucky
during an argument over politics. That's called getting out of
(29:14):
hands the little Apparently, the father had to come upset
with the mother and the older daughter, shot both of them,
and then ended his own life. So you're going to put.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
A trigger warning at the beginning of this episode two.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
That's why I mentioned at the beginning that it covers
a lot of This took Sands deeper into the depressed
state he was already in. He dealt with this by
returning to his earlier passions of whiskey and gambling. He
was so deep into this the Kansas City Times would
even comment on it in an article.
Speaker 3 (29:49):
Wow. So now let's take anther break for a word
from our sponsors. And as we come back from our
word from our sponsors, hear about an old tiny sponser.
Speaker 11 (30:08):
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(30:29):
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Speaker 10 (30:37):
Ask for it by name at your local apothecary.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
That's doctor hay Goods.
Speaker 11 (30:41):
Because no man ever went mad who stayed mildly sedated.
Speaker 7 (30:45):
It was time to get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
So Charles Sant's uncle, if you recall, despair it over
his nephew's state. Charles was still managing his brother's property.
He's probably a good thing at this point that he
now co owned with his nephew, But due to his
nephew's mental state, he began to give his nephew an
alone WinCE rather than just let him at his family's
(31:10):
fortune like you do. Charles and Sands both moved into
apartments in what is now the Quality Hill area. Sans
entertained many people, and when he wasn't entertaining, he was traveling.
He went to Europe with Thomas H. Swope. We've talked
(31:31):
about him before at episode sixteen, which spends to be
one of my very favorite episodes check it up.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Wait.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
However, he was also beginning to spend out of control
because of his constant gambling. Sans had an impressive array
of gambling debts. One such person he owed a debt
to was John Gavin, who braced him in his rent
room and told Sands that if he didn't pay the
(32:03):
four hundred dollars he owed him, he would make sure
people knew about the debt. Gambling debts were considered quite
dishonorable during this time. Also that four hundred dollars debt
would be worth approximately thirteen thousand dollars in today's money,
so yikes, that was a pretty big debt. Later, Sands
(32:26):
encountered Gavin and put a pistol in his face, telling
him that if he revealed the debt, he would kill
the man. In another instance, he would assault Gavin with
a whip and a pistol. Well, Gavin did not sustain
an injury. He did avoid Sands thereafter, so apparently the
whip and the pistol got the job accomplished, one way
(32:50):
or the other. The police spoke to Sands about the incident,
but no one arrested him. Another interlude led to a
very inebriated Sands attempted to take his horse out for
an evening ride. The young man working in the stables
told Sands that he was too drunk to ride a horse.
(33:11):
This led to Sands shooting the young man. This time, however,
did land Sands in jail, and come morning he paid
a two hundred dollars fine and was able to leave.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
How are you gonna pay a two hundred dollars fine
when you still have four hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (33:27):
I mean, there's a difference between owing somebody a gambling
debt and paying two hundred dollars to get out of jail.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Fair enough, I thought it was like a legal debt
of com sort. And now we take we shall take
a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Feel sponsored nice?
Speaker 1 (33:53):
All right? Now?
Speaker 2 (33:55):
An old timey sponsor.
Speaker 7 (33:57):
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Speaker 12 (34:00):
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(34:21):
and a trace of powdered magnetite. Professor Audley's formula is
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your sance circle. And remember, if it's from Oddley, it's otherworldly.
Speaker 7 (34:38):
Yeah, that doesn't sound like never mind, It's time to
get back to the show.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Wow. Sins would travel to Europe once more, this time
bringing along a bodyguard. The bodyguard would be ordered to
slug anyone who irritated mister Hopkins. I want to be
that kind of witch.
Speaker 3 (34:57):
No right.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
There were were bets made as to whether or not
bodyguard would survive the trip due to sands, irritability and
drinking habits. However, only six days in Europe, the pair
returned Sans claiming to be very ill. He left for
(35:19):
Hot Springs, Arkansas and place, a place known for its
health due to its natural hot springs, where he gambled
and soon incurred yes large debts to other gamblers. He
returned to Kansas City in poor health and would pass
(35:39):
away due to the effects of long term alcoholism and
taking an overdose of laudanum laudon yeah, okay, the night
before on December fourteenth, eighteen eighty seven. There are those
who say, if you travel to the parking lot where
(35:59):
the young man's home once was, you can still occasionally
see Sans Hopkin looking for something he could never find
in life.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
Oh. I mean, I'd feel a lot worse for him
if he weren't an addict and kind of an overall
mess overall. But at the same time, anyway, no, go ahead. Well,
I mean, that's probably more of a chat to have
when we get the final thoughts.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Fair enough, fair enough. I should have looked up laudanum.
It occurs to me that we mentioned it two or
three times, and I don't know if the modern listeners
many of them will know what is.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
I know, it's like a it's like an art similar
to an narcotic. It was a depressant or ain reliever
of some kind or sleeping alos.
Speaker 1 (36:49):
I wanna say it was distilled from opium.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Yeah, someone in those lines.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
I'm going to look it up, and it was a
bit of a hallucinogenic.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
One more word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yes, while you look that up, let's take a moment
for a word from our sponsors. And now, after that
word from our sponsors, how about a final word from
an old time sponsor.
Speaker 10 (37:19):
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(37:42):
Apply literally at twilight. Results may vary depending on the
number of sins unconfessed Doctor Everhart's because some ghosts aren't
meant to be seen.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Wow, it's time to.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
Get back to the show.
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Laudanum is a tintuer of opium, historically used as a sedative, analgesic,
pain reliever, and anti diarrheal. It was widely prescribed in
the nineteenth century, but fell out of favor due to
its highly addictive nature and potential for overdose. Today, laudanum
is not used in medical practice because it had so
(38:17):
many issues.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Okay, what I was going to.
Speaker 3 (38:24):
Say, because that brings us to our summary and final thoughts,
which I want to thank you for going and finding
all of those products for us. But what I was
starting to say before getting to our summary and final thoughts,
because I'm just going to start those week since I
already had something, was that I while he did a
(38:47):
lot of things wrong, it also was a time where
there was not a lot of mental health available and
the man lost a lot. He lost his parents fairly young,
he lost his wife surely after whether it was an
accident or wasn't an accident, because that's kind of a
weird accident, but those kinds of accidents did happen, especially
(39:10):
during that timeframe. Things weren't anywhere near, didn't have the
safety measures that they have now, But it's really easy
to condemn him because of the drinking and the alcoholism
and the drinking, the gambling and the womanizing and whatever
else he went around doing. He wasn't necessarily he was
(39:33):
definitely wasn't a saint of a man by any stretch
of the imagination. But at the same time, he had
been through quite a bit in his life, and so
you can kind of see that those were hoping mechanisms,
at least they could have been in his frame of mind.
That was my thought.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
But I feel like less of coping mechanism, more of
letting go, not specific quickly, because I understand like that
they don't have They didn't have the help that some
people have today. But like when you not only let
(40:14):
yourself get into alcohol and stuff like that, Like alcohol
is one thing that could be some sort of coping mechanism,
but once you take more than that, you just know
that you're just gonna let go. Maybe, but.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
People's relationship to alcohol was different back then, like it was.
Speaker 3 (40:44):
They didn't mean so when you think about it like this, think,
just to throw this out there, people get in trouble
now for drinking and driving, Arthur, But that's a newer
that's a newer lot. My grandmother, my mother's mother, was
(41:04):
killed in nineteen sixty nine by a drunk driver. That
drunk driver didn't even get a ticket for killing my
grandmother because driving under the influence of alcohol at that
point in time was not illegal and against the law
like it is in today's time. You weren't required to
(41:27):
even more seat belts. So there's a totally different expectation
of how people live their lives and expectation of what
is morally correct. I think now than even fifty years ago,
(41:48):
but definitely two hundred years ago, right, well, and years ago.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
But like, that doesn't mean that they can't know that
they're not gonna let go. I understand that the rules
were different back then. I understand that, But that doesn't
mean that they don't know that they're letting go.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
You're right, and for what it's worth, I don't think
Sands meant to shoot his wife. I do not think
he meant to do that at all.
Speaker 2 (42:17):
I think we might like it.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
I'm just saying.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
I feel a little bad for him, and the whole
thing with hunting the ghost, a ghost with a fleshless
face and burning eyes that feels like a curse to me,
not necessarily a haunting, maybe because it would be a
(42:46):
fair description of his wife after he shot her in
the face with a shotgun, that minus the burning eyes.
Unless well I don't even want to think about that.
Speaker 3 (42:59):
Yeah, don't dig too into it. It won't be able to
sleep tonight.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
And I will have to tell Andrea Benson because she
got it right. She said it was about a pickle factory,
and it kind of was, because that's what the Gillis
House became, was a pickle factory factory. Yeah, that's wild,
that's amazing. I didn't expect her to get it, but
she did. That's cool. That is cool. So Andrea Benson,
(43:24):
good Ones World one. Yeah do you know her? Because
I don't other than just being a member of the fan.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
Yeah, I'm The name sounds familiar. I'm not sure where
she became a member of the fan from, but the
name does sound familiar. I have some amazing friends in
social media that I have come across through different groups
that I've been in that I don't necessarily know in person,
(43:56):
but I've been friends with for years on social media,
and you know, some of them are really awesome people.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Yeah, and this is such a Kansas City story. And
by that, I don't mean that Kansas City is full
of drunks and and and people of who make poor decisions.
But it's just it's.
Speaker 3 (44:16):
A lot of bounding names. Yes, it's a lot of
names that are still very present in this city. Gillis
and Truth, Magee and Truth.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
And although Fanny McGee is not related to the McGhee
street because that's spelled differently, that's an mc she's an
m a g e m a g e e. Sorry,
I specifically look that up and the best I could
come up with is if she is, it's an offshoot
of the family. I got you, But they they were,
(44:50):
They are pretty important in this area. The McGee is
that that's spelling. I just I don't know why.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
But yeah, well but you said her family was from Independence.
Speaker 1 (45:05):
Yes, yes, so that would make sense then yeah, yeah,
And again Fanny, I know it was a common name
at the time, but Fanny McGee sounds like code for
something like, hey, baby, I want to see your Fanny
McGee like like something. It's it's somebody get.
Speaker 3 (45:26):
Him a bar soap so he can wash out his brain.
Speaker 2 (45:30):
You don't need more than a bar so funny. He
don't need the whole right there, baby.
Speaker 1 (45:37):
I'm just, I'm just it doesn't sound like that to you,
like some sort of euphemism for something you can't publicly say, like, hey,
I went out. I went out with Susie last night.
She gave me a Fanny McGee.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Where's the power washer? Somebody needs to get in it
here and.
Speaker 3 (45:55):
Of play it out.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
I'm just saying to me, it sounds like I'm just
saying to me, it sounds like some sort of weird euphemism.
I can see it, you know, and it doesn't necessarily
even have to be dirty. You might want to wash
that shirt still got some Fanny McGee on it. Just
(46:20):
it's it's a weird you.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
It's a that one doesn't work even more than.
Speaker 1 (46:24):
The last one. So you're just jealous because I'm funny.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Did you just call me honey?
Speaker 1 (46:32):
He did?
Speaker 2 (46:34):
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Let me do that again.
Speaker 3 (46:37):
I did. With the snaps, the snaps, the snaps, I
doubt the microphone picked up the snaps, but they were
good snaps.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
Okay, thank you, three of them. You always do three
snaps out. I don't know why, uh, but this is
this is very much a Kansas City story. Also, just
the idea that this fellow hired a guy to be
(47:12):
not just his bodyguard, but to punch people who annoyed him.
Speaker 3 (47:18):
Hey, if anyone annoys me, you're gonna pop him in
the face. That's it. Just a boom, that's it.
Speaker 1 (47:23):
And and the fact that and this was such a
bad idea that people at the time were like, I
don't think the bodyguard is gonna make it. That guy's
pretty irritable. He's gonna punch something the wrong person in
the face.
Speaker 3 (47:37):
It's amazing. Though still I want to be that kind
of ri rich. I think anybody is that kind of
rich anymore these days.
Speaker 1 (47:46):
Like no, because these days you're far more likely to
get sued over that sort of behavior. But but I
just I picture it now, just like some guy just
nattering on on a train or something somewhere and sick.
Speaker 3 (48:02):
You're annoying my boss.
Speaker 1 (48:04):
Yeah, just guy walks up, You're annoying my boss.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
It's drawing true.
Speaker 1 (48:12):
And if Sands hadn't gotten sick or you know, drank
so much, because I'm sure that's why he got sick, huh,
that guy might not have made at home. I think
that the people betting against him were in the right
because Sans was not a good person at that point.
He was he was gr Obviously.
Speaker 3 (48:31):
Sounds like Sands wasn't a very good gambler either beyond
everybody and their brother money.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
He wasn't. But the the as you know, people whose
vice are gambling or do I know it's hard to shake,
get him to shake that, and they'll they'll, they'll, they'll
do themselves in with it if they will. I mean,
that's and and I will admit the reason that I
(48:58):
have not gambled very much is because I can feel
that pull, like I can feel if that this is
easy and kind of fun and this I'm gonna do this.
I can feel that pull, and I stopped myself because
there's very few outcomes where it's going to end well.
(49:20):
Although that is one of the reasons I love to
be in Vegas is because you get to watch people
make life changing decisions, and almost always their life they're
bad life changing decisions. Yeah, Like I once saw a
girl walk into a casino and she came and sat
next to me for a while, and I was with
(49:42):
April at the time, and April came over and sat
on the other side of me and introduced herself, and
the woman went away and then saw a guy dancing
on the table and cheered him for a minute and
then went and hit on the bar attender. That girl
was going home with someone, and she wasn't being picky.
Speaker 3 (50:04):
I see.
Speaker 1 (50:06):
Bad life decisions fair because you you know, she wound
up with some horrible cheesehead, just just rotten human being
entirely possible. And by cheesehead, I mean like brain of cheese.
Not from Wisconsin. Wisconsin. Yeah, I got you fairly nice,
most of them that I've ever met, anyone. So, but like,
(50:33):
this guy was a big fan of bad decisions. Everything
he did. I'm gonna go, honey goes with a gun. Okay,
that didn't work out. Me, that doesn't ever work out.
Speaker 10 (50:46):
Well.
Speaker 3 (50:46):
I feel so bad for that poor puppy though.
Speaker 1 (50:49):
Yeah me too.
Speaker 3 (50:51):
Just out there living your best life, sniffing around in
somebody's house next thing, you know.
Speaker 1 (50:57):
And then his wife like, I'm sure when she got
to heaven, it's like, how did I get here? Your
husband accidentally shot you in the face. How do you
not go back immediately and like kick his bike? Yeah, yeah,
maybe that's why his life fell apart. Is like spiritually,
she was there the whole time, going I will end you.
Speaker 3 (51:20):
Pope, Pope poke, Pope poke, bad hand, bad hand, bad hand.
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Back and then her father, Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (51:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:34):
Well, just so many tragedies in this. But again, it's
a Kansas City story. It's one I wish they kind
of taught in school because it's so interesting. It paints
a picture of the time period. It paints a picture
of Kansas City as it grows up, and it paints
a picture of a lot of the people in Kansas
(51:54):
City because he was he was at fingertips length with
like Thomas Swope and doctor Truce and yeah, I forget
what Gillis's first name was, but he's at fingertips length
with all these names that are important to Kansas City. Yeah,
(52:15):
and yet he is like this.
Speaker 3 (52:20):
Drunk gambling addict.
Speaker 1 (52:23):
Yeah, this poor gambling addict that has more money than
since for most of his life. And I want to
go to Union Cemetery and see if we can find
Fanny McGee's grave. Although I bet I'm doing some digging.
(52:43):
It looks like she was moved to another cemetery, so
then probably not, but they may still have her headstone.
I don't know or a marker there for Fanny, but
I would be interested in seeing that. I see just
because one I like Union Cemetery any It's an interesting place.
(53:07):
It's got a very spooky vibe. It was the city's
first cemetery. People still get buried there, which amazes me
because and as Arthur knows from the episode we did
on it, it has such a unique history. Like literally
it was a cemetery for a while, and then the
(53:30):
board that owned it so to sold off some of
the acreage to make streets. And when they were grading
those streets, they found skeletons, They found bones of people
that had like that had been buried in Pauper's grapes
that was on this soul land. So and there's a
(53:52):
lot of ghostly activity around.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
There are a lot of poor folks around Kansas City.
Speaker 1 (53:57):
Well, especially at that time. Also, I didn't know that
common rooms lasted as long as they did. I thought
I thought common rooms were probably done by the eighteenth century.
But to find that a hotel was still selling you know,
beds in a common room up until the eighteen fifties
(54:19):
or sixties.
Speaker 3 (54:20):
I mean, look at some of the poor shanties that
were taking place in New York up until the early
nineteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (54:29):
True, true, But I also wouldn't mind going and seeing
the wall that still stands from the Gillis House.
Speaker 3 (54:40):
Might be something to look into at some point.
Speaker 1 (54:43):
Because I want to say it's still there at McKean, Delaware.
Speaker 2 (54:46):
Place with the dinosaur stuff, you know, yeah.
Speaker 1 (54:51):
What place with the dinosaur stuff.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
The one that Mom showed me. I don't know if
she showed anyone else but that.
Speaker 3 (55:02):
I don't know what.
Speaker 2 (55:05):
Okay, statues of dinosaurs. Oh you know what, I think
it was.
Speaker 3 (55:13):
It might have been Nelson Atkins, I think.
Speaker 1 (55:15):
So, it could have been, could have been. But yeah,
I just I loved doing this episode because it really
gave me a chance to dig into local history and
some of those those products and like I said, those
products are fictional, but they were all based on real products.
(55:40):
Just amazing. And I will say I created those ads
with the help of Bing's co pilot. So there's that
anything else before we wrap it up and call it
a show.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
I don't think so.
Speaker 3 (55:53):
I think that's the end of our.
Speaker 1 (55:54):
Show, and that's our show. Thanks for listening, Thanks for
keeping us in the good Pods top one hundred. Thanks
for being members of the fam. Thanks to Blue Lexi, Laura,
and Arthur. Thanks to Bill, Paige and Aaron. Bill is
Bill Barrant. That last name is spelled b e h
(56:15):
R e n d T. Bill does our theme music.
If you need music for a project, Bill's your guy.
Also send Bill lots of condolences and get well soons.
He just went into the hospital for surgery. He's still
there recovering, slowly but recovering. Yeah so, Bill Barrand at
(56:37):
SBC global dot Net. Thanks go to Page of the
Reverie Crime podcast, who combines her love of Canva with
our own Arthur's artwork to create some logo art for us.
Thank you, Paige. Thanks Thanks Saren Gunnerk of The Big
Dumb Fun Show, who continues to promote us locally and
join us next week as we look into the life
(56:59):
of someone else who got her start in Missouri, Bell
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