Spring Gun in the Grape Vines (episode 235)

Transcript

Music

Jake:
[0:05] Welcome to hub history where we go far beyond the freedom trail to share our favorite stories from the history of boston, the hub of the universe.
This is episode 235 Spring gun in the Grapevines.
Hi, I’m jake. This week. I’m talking about the strange case of a 1907 shooting in Jamaica plain.
There was a gun, a gunshot and a gunshot victim, a child in fact, but there was no shooter at least no human shooter.

[0:39] If this was happening today, we might be talking about a terrifying robot machine gun 1907 was a little bit early for that.
Instead, we’re talking about a deadly trap laid by a homeowner to protect his grape arbor for setting this deadly trap. The homeowner would face criminal trial for assault but pay only a trivial fine.
As bizarre as the case sounds, it was part of a trend that was sweeping the nation at the time, including many spring gun cases arising in the boston area until the matter was finally settled in a state Supreme Court case that every first year law student still studies today.
But before we talk about boston’s landmark spring gun case, I just want to pause and thank everyone who supports the show on patreon.
These are the listeners who sign up to contribute $2 $5 or even $10 a month to offset the cost of making hub history.
As you might imagine. I listened to a lot of podcasts before deciding to start one of my own and I still listen to a lot today.
There’s a podcast for every interest, Even incredibly niche interests like say 235 episodes about Boston history.
One of the best things about podcasts is that they’re free to listen to.
Unfortunately, it’s not free to make a podcast with expenses like podcast, media hosting, web hosting and security research databases and online audio processing tools.

[2:06] Our Patreon sponsors like our latest sponsor, Alice P make it possible for us to focus on researching and recording shows without having to worry about the money, which are incredibly grateful for,
to everyone who’s already sponsoring the show.
Thank you and anyone who would like to start, just go to patreon dot com slash hub history or visit hub history dot com and click on the support us link.
Plus loyal listeners can stick around to the end of the show for a quick update about our fifth anniversary and our one millionth download and with that it’s time for this week’s main topic.
Henry Cantwell wasn’t a bad boy. He just couldn’t resist the temptation of some tasty grapes at least that’s what his attorneys would argue when his case came before the judge.
You see when Henry, a 15 year old from heath street in Roxbury climbed a backyard fence on september 22nd 1907 to sneak a few grapes a gunshot instantly rang out,
Henry fell from the fence bleeding from his thigh, but the gunman didn’t immediately appear, his friends picked Henry up and carried him to the closest streetcar, then rushed him to boston City Hospital.
So who or what had fired the shot.

[3:28] The grapes were in the backyard of Frank, b Seiberlich, whose house was located at four Boylston Street in Jamaica Plain,
that’s right near the corner where South Huntington’s in Boylston and Center Street all come together,
For Boylston was known as the Curtis House or the Parker mansion and it was one of the biggest and oldest homes in the neighborhood, having been built sometime before 1722.
It was set high above street level, with a fence atop a high ledge, which meant that young Henry had to use some creativity and trying to get his hands on Seiberlich’s grapes.
He went around the corner to Center Street and cut through the grounds of the german baptist church that backed up on Seiberlich’s yard.

[4:12] The german Baptists are gone now, but their church building remains as the River of life Church.
However, in 1907, the church was still fairly new. It had opened in 1904 with German language services and hymns in the morning and a bilingual service in the evening.
Henry Cantwell climbed the 14 steps from the street level up to the church grounds and slipped around behind the building to Seiberlich’s yard.
The ledge on this side was even with the second floor windows in the Seiberlich home.
So Henry was planning to climb up the fence to the top, which is a board fence with a row or two of wire around the top from there, he’d have to lower himself down the far side, then climbed down the ledge inside the fence to the great barber.
It was while Henry was in the middle of this exertion that the gun went off, frank, Seiberlich initially claimed that the teenager hadn’t even been shot.
Instead, he told reporters that the sound of the gun must have startled Henry into a nasty fall.
It is my opinion that the boy was on the fence and when the gun went off that it frightened him when he fell down the ledge of rocks under the fence and got his hurts in that way.

[5:25] The next day things started to get weird first the newspapers reported that though Henry Cantwell had gunshot injuries, there was no shot or bullet to be found.
The globe reported. Henry Cantwell is suffering from what was at first term two gunshot wound, but the physicians state positively that there was no bullet or shot of any size found in the wound.
The effect was just what would be expected from a blank cartridge is the report, the wound is on the thigh and from this wound were taken pieces of burnt powder and wadding.
This wound from the gun appears to be the only one from which the lad is suffering and even this is not considered serious at the hospital, the only fear being that blood poison may set in.

[6:14] Then Seiberlich showed up in court and demanded an arrest warrant for Henry for trespassing in his garden.
Seiberlich was an immigrant, having been born in Baden Germany in 1832.
By the time of our story, he lived a rich life and was a member of a sort of lay nobility among the german american community in Jamaica plain.

[6:37] When he was 18 years old, he had boarded a ship alone and made the 40 day voyage to the US, settling in Boston.
After working for a while as a machinist, he got bored and decided to try his hand as a prospector in the California gold rush.
A volume of family history says that he made a fortune in the gold fields, lost most of it due to illness and bad investments, then made another fortune with 1000 acre fruit orchard in California’s Central Valley.
Perhaps getting bored again. He moved back to boston and bought his large home in Jamaica Plains, german american neighborhood.
By this time, his brother joseph had also immigrated to the states and settled down on JP.
A machinist by trade, joseph was also trained as a brewer and found profitable work helping Rudolph Frederick Haffenreffer establish a large brewery in Jamaica Plain.
Both brothers were active in the state Republican Party, developing deep political connections Frank, enlisted in the army in 1863 and saw combat in the civil war.
Joseph son and frank’s nephew, also named frank. Seiberlich was basically born into Republican politics.
The younger Frank was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1903 and by 1907 he was serving as a state senator.

[8:00] Things weren’t going so well for the older frank. In 1907, his four Children had all died.
Both his wife and his brother were ailing and would die in the coming year.
He was over 70 years old and I think by this point he officially qualified as a grumpy old man.

[8:20] Maybe he was overconfident because of his political connections, or maybe he just didn’t care anymore, But on September 24 he made a bold admission.
He may not have pulled the trigger, but it was his rifle that had shot young Henry, he said to the boston globe, I will give you a true story.
I put up a fence at the top of the ledge of rocks and wired it in such a way that no one could get over the fence to my grapevine without striking a wire that connected with a gun that I had set up in the summer house near the grapevine and would discharge it.
The gun is an old Springfield rifle and was loaded with coarse powder and paper wadding. There was no shot.
It was set in such a way that the wadding from the gun would have struck the boy in the shoulder and not in the thigh.
I went to bed at seven p.m. About eight p.m. my wife woke me up and said the gun had gone off.
I got up and looked out the window, but could not see anyone and heard no outcry.
About one a.m. 4 policemen came to my house and woke me up and said they had heard the boy’s story and they wanted to hear my story.
I told them that there was a gun, they’re charged with a little powder and paper wadding and that I had put it there for a scarecrow.
I am not so cruel as to want to shoot a boy for stealing my grapes.

[9:43] The same edition of the Globe carried a description of the spring gun, The Seiberlich, it’s set up as a trap in the foundation of a garden shed.
An old Springfield rifle was made fast in the carpenter’s miter box, which was raised from the floor of the house by two pieces of two inch rejoiced one at each end.
This gave room for the butt of the rifle to rest securely on the floor. And the barrel of the rifle was made fast to the bottom of the box.
A piece of wood about six inches long, which worked on a pivot was attached to the side of the miter box,
and a second piece of wood made fast to that reached to the trigger of the rifle and was operated by a wire that ran out through the house to the fence and along the length of the fence.
An opening was made in the front of the building to allow the discharge of the gun outside of it.
If the wire on the fence was touched by anyone climbing over it, the gun would be discharged.

[10:38] Okay, let’s break that description down. First of all, what’s a Springfield rifle.
My grandfather had a 1903 bold action Springfield which was developed right here in massachusetts and served as America’s standard infantry rifle in World War II.
And even at the beginning of World War Two.
However, I don’t think that a four year old design would have been referred to as an old Springfield rifle in 1907.
Instead, it probably referred to one of the early single shot breech loading Springfield rifles that you’ve probably seen portrayed as almost supernaturally accurate in western movies, including the 1950 to Gary Cooper film Springfield Rifle.
So an antique rifle is held in a miter box, which is used by a carpenter to cut precise angles.
And would the miter box also allowed the butt stock of the gun to sit on the floor of the shed while the barrel was clamped tightly in place at a precise angle, pointed out a hole in the sheds foundation.
The wire that ran around the top of the board fence served as a trip wire.
When Henry climbed over, he pulled on the wire, the wire ran into the shed and it pulled on the block of wood on the side of the miter box,
that piece of wood pivoted and it pushed the second piece of wood block back on the trigger with that.
The shot rang out even though there was technically no human shooter.

[12:07] That’s what keeps Seiberlich the confidence to say, I don’t know what they can arrest before. Anyway, I did not fire the gun.

[12:17] The shot was supposed to be a blank, but the muzzle blast was enough to injure Henry anyway,
he suffered from powder burns and the paper wadding and residue were blown into the flesh of his upper thigh at the hospital, the bleeding was stopped and the wound was cleaned and dressed.
The teen was expected to recover, He wasn’t immediately discharged, but doctors said that he’d be home in less than 10 days.
Henry’s father Edward Cantwell also appeared in court the day after the shooting seeking a warrant against frank Seiberlich for assault.
Ironically though Seiberlich got his trespassing summons, the Cantwell’s wouldn’t get the same satisfaction until Henry was well enough to appear in court.

[13:03] Finally, a week later, both parties received their summonses, one for trespassing and one for assault.
Seiberlich’s assault case came up 1st. The case was tried by Judge john Perrins junior in Jamaica Plain Municipal core and Seiberlich was represented by a neighbor who was not an experienced trial attorney.

[13:25] The prosecution’s first witness was a doctor Edward p Seaver, the surgeon who had treated Henry Cantwell at the City hospital.
He described the wound Henry had received and said it was consistent with being shot with a blank cartridge, Henry’s father testified and then Henry testified.
He openly admitted that he had climbed Seiberlich’s fence in order to steal his grapes.
He described the moment of the shot saying he was less than three ft from the Muzzle when the gun went off.
He then held up the coat and trousers he’d been wearing at the time showing the holes in both over the right hip.
The investigating officer, Sergeant Arnold described how the gun had been rigged as a trap and he held the rifle up for the jury to see then it was the defense’s turn.
As far as I can tell, frank, Seiberlich is the only witness they called, he testified straightforwardly.
I own the gun shown in court, I put the gun there so it would make a noise and I would know when the boys were stealing my grapes.

[14:32] In his testimony, he described how he had set up the gun in trip wire, but he stressed the relatively small powder load he put in it and he reinforced the fact that he had not put a bullet in the gun.
Only newspaper, he said that the arrangement of the fences meant that Henry couldn’t have gotten closer than six ft to the gun, not three ft is Cantwell have testified,
and he said that he had personally been within inches of the spring gun when it fired without injury.
As part of his closing argument, Seiberlich’s, lawyer rather counterproductive lee said,
we in our neighborhood have suffered from thieves, we have had no protection from the police and I don’t know what we’re going to do but to take the matter into our own hands.

[15:17] The verdict was guilty before sentencing. Judge, parents made the following pronouncement.
A person has every right to protect his property, but has no right to set up a spring gun for that. He is going beyond the law and the protection of his property.
A man who sets a spring gun to protect his grapevines takes a great risk of maiming or killing a person.
And certainly this is not a pop gun.
Then he announced the sentence for setting up a spring gun and for entering a teenage boy badly enough that he was hospitalized for several days frank Seiberlich got the crippling sentence of A $60 5.

[16:02] The idea of a hidden spring gun sounds pretty crazy to the modern ear. You might think that this case is unique in local history.
Unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
In my research. I found spring gun cases from Canton and Bellingham in 1906, From Denim in 1911, And from Middle Brewster Island in Boston Harbor in 1923.
None of the gun traps in those cases use blanks, either, each of them ended in death.
In fact, the Cantwell case seems to have occurred in the middle of a sort of spring gun boom, Seiberlich’s. Gun trap was home made, but if you weren’t a handyman, there were commercial options at the time.
Out of curiosity, I did a quick patent search for spring gun mechanisms and I found dozens that were patented between the 1850s and the 1940s.
The patent applications described them as devices for use in hunting or trapping, such as a filing for a bait holder for a spring gun.
From 1858 described as an apparatus having projectiles are killing implements projected to kill the animal triggered. Thereby.

[17:12] There was a particularly sad application in 1886 for a box gun trap meant specifically for stray cats, which animals as a class as is somewhat generally admitted are at night.
Nuisances in urban neighborhoods.
As the application stated, the design included a sound deadening box to make the shot in obtrusive in an urban neighborhood added incorporated a catnip tray in which to place the bait.

[17:42] From 1903 to 1911, there was a spike of patent applications.
There are new ways to hold the bait, ways to trigger a gun, new ways to mount a gun.
Even entirely new firearm designs, there were only meant for use in a trap.
There was a way to use a revolver as a repeating spring gun and a very puzzling design for a crossbow used as a spring gun.
So it seems like the concept of a spring gun was in the culture in the 19 odds, when several spring gun cases started coming to trial in the Boston area,
in the can’t in case an intruder broke into a private hunting club called birch point thomas jones.
The caretaker who rigged the shotgun trap that killed robert Bradshaw was charged with assault with intent to murder.

[18:30] In Bellingham eo Woodberry summer cottages suffered repeated break ins during the off season.
He rigged a shotgun behind his basement stairs to a spring on the third step from the bottom so that it would fire at anyone who descended from the house upstairs.
When a man named Charles Proctor identified news articles as a hobo from Rockland Maine came down the stairs, he got a load of buckshot in his back.
He lived long enough to leave bloody handprints on the inside of the bulkhead where he tried to get out it was locked and he bled to death in the basement.

[19:07] Woodberry came back days later and discovered the body. Woodberry was charged with manslaughter and it seems like the case hinged on determining whether Proctor intended to steal anything from the house.
If he was simply trespassing, deadly force was not authorized and Woodberry would be guilty if Proctor had been committing a felony by burglarizing the house, then the shooting would be considered justified.
I couldn’t find a record stating how the case turned out in the daytime case.
Homeowner Henry Sharp rigged a shotgun to the door of his hen house which ended up killing a recent italian immigrant who lived in Wrentham Sharp was also charged with manslaughter.
He was found guilty in a jury trial but the globe reported that he was only fined $300 for the killing after,
District Attorney Albert F barker recommended to the court that Sharp be dealt with lightly, but suggested that some penalty be imposed because deaths of the same nature as Dorrell’s had occurred far too frequently in Norfolk County over the past few years.

[20:16] On middle brewster Island fishermen, Hjalmar reus set a shotgun facing a window in his cottage, and he connected the trigger to the window sash via a system of ropes and pulleys.

[20:28] 15 year old Victor Camacho of the North End was clamming on the beach with his father and brother.
When it became thirsty, his father testified that he went to ruth’s cottage to get a drink and tried to force the window open.
He was instantly shot dead, Bruce was arrested by the whole police and stood trial for manslaughter and Hull.
He was convicted and given a $750 fine.
So it seems that the law regarding spring guns in massachusetts was a bit muddled, but a precedent had been set that even inside a private house, a spring gun shooting that resulted in death would be prosecuted as manslaughter.
That wasn’t the same in other places. A survey of cases published in 1916 in the magazine-Cason comment found that the current case law held that setting a spring gun in an open field, even if it was your private property,
was considered criminal homicide,
setting a spring gun in your home shed or shop that killed someone was not a crime as it was seen as self defense against a potentially deadly attack.
Even if you weren’t home when the gun went off.

[21:41] In 1923, survey of cases from Virginia finds an evolving standard,
older case law held that a spring gun that killed a trespasser was allowed in defensive property only while more recent precedent said that only a defensive life was permissible spring gun set to protect property would be considered manslaughter.
It also noted a precedent that the owner must post a public warning about any spring gun that an innocent person might encounter, which kind of seems self defeating.

[22:14] 1922. The Yale Law Journal looked at cases from south Carolina Alabama Washington State in Connecticut.
They gave the following explanation of the nationwide shift to treating spring gun shootings, manslaughter or murder.
It has long been recognized that a mute concealed instrumentality or agency is sensitive only to touch and cannot discriminate between a technical trespasser, e. G, a child or an idiot, A one who breaks and enters to commit a felony.
The deceased was unarmed in the instant case and under the circumstances had the defendant been there in person, he could not have successfully maintained a plea of self defense.
The preservation of human life is of more importance to society than the protection of property.
And the case is in accord with the almost universal rule that one who sets a spring gun is criminally responsible for the death of a trespasser, the degree of homicide, depending on the intent.

[23:13] If there are any attorneys or law students listening, I’m sure they’re already screaming.
What about cat cov briny first of all, calm down.
I can’t actually hear you yelling at me also, I’m getting to it right now.

[23:30] Kako is a case that almost everyone studies in law schools. An illustration of torts.
It’s based on an incident in Iowa in 1967 bertha briny had inherited an old farmhouse which she left sitting vacant for a decade.
She boarded up the windows and posted no trespassing signs but people broke into the home repeatedly Frustrated.
She finally put a 20 gauge shotgun trap in the master bedroom.
She pointed it downwards so it would shoot an intruder in the legs instead of the chest. Her head.
About a month later, Marvin, Kako broke in with the intent of stealing some antique canning jars.
The spring gun worked perfectly riddle and catcalls legs with buckshot after he was finally released from the hospital, he filed a civil suit against brian e The case would eventually be appealed all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court.
They ruled that it was unreasonable to use deadly force to defend an unoccupied property even if it would be reasonable to use it when occupied.
While the homeowner doesn’t have an obligation to make the house safe for a trespasser, he or she doesn’t have the right to set a deadly trap for a trespasser either.
They said the law has always placed a higher value upon human safety than upon mere rights and property.

[24:54] That case was finally settled in 1971. Pretty much driving the last nail in the coffin for spring guns in the United States.

[25:04] So how did things turn out in Henry? Cantwell is trespassing case.
He was hauled before the same judge parents in Jamaica Plain municipal court. About two weeks after he had testified in Seiberlich’s case.
He was joined in court by the three friends who had been with him that night, john whole James Dignan and john will, all of whom were also teenagers.
The trial seems to have been an open and shut affair especially since Henry had already incriminated himself in this case while testifying against Seiberlich.

[25:38] All four boys were found guilty of trespass, but I couldn’t find any record of the other three being inside the fence.
At any point, John will was fined $10 while the other three each had to cough up $15 In total.
That’s $55 which almost equals the $60. Seiberlich was fine for the assault with the spring gun.
Not much is known about Henry. Cantwell’s life after this injection of excitement.
There is one small item in the boston globe’s police blotter from about three years later.
It says that Henry Cantwell then 19 years old but still residing at the same Heath Street address have been arrested for shooting craps on a public street corner and fined $25.

Jake_:
[26:24] So perhaps he wasn’t an angelic boy. Let us stray by the temptation of fresh grapes after all to learn more about the JP spring gun Check out this week’s show notes at hub history dot com slash 235.
We’ll have diagrams of the crime scene created by the boston globe as well as links to the globe’s coverage of the Seiberlich case and other local spring gun shootings.
We’ll also link to patent applications showing some of the designs for gun traps that were created around this time.
A map showing where Seiberlich’s house was an article about the german baptist church and a Seiberlich family history.
Plus, there will be links to the legal commentary and precedents around spring guns that helped lead to the Kako vi briny case and a special thanks this week to the Jamaica Plain historical society whose blog post first tipped us off to the spring gun case.

[27:21] Before I let you go, I have some listener feedback to share brian K recently emailed to share a wealth of photos taken during pilgrimages by the ancient honorable artillery company to Lafayette’s grade in paris.
He writes, hi jake, I recently discovered the podcast. Thanks for making and sharing it.
Having just listened to episode 1 63 boston’s favorite fighting Frenchman. You may be aware that the ancient and honorable Artillery Company of massachusetts has a long and deep history with the marquis and his descendants.
Happy to expound sometime, but I thought I’d share a few recent pictures that may illustrate.
He shared pictures from a 2009 visit where the group deposited fresh soil from Bunker Hill on Lafayette’s tomb and met with descendants.
And also pictures from a 2017 visit where they laid a wreath at the Tomb he closes.
I’m sure there are many other documented visits of the ancients to the tomb of the marquis dating back at least to the late 19th century. Thank you for the podcast and please keep bringing boston’s history to life.

[28:28] The folks behind traveled new England must have just listened to episode 2 27 about the three battles for boston light because they tweeted after listening to hub history today, I realized that there is no point in building a lighthouse. My dreams are crushed.
Either the british will burn it down or the rebels, especially in the boston area. Just use GPS to steer clear of the rocks and whatnot.

[28:51] I learned a lot from jail bells boston 17 75 blog.
So I was thrilled to be able to teach him something with our episode about the Busey Bridge disaster number 2 18.
After listening to it while driving through Roslindale, he tweeted,
today I learned via hub history that the words commute and commuter derived from the commutation ticket those riders bought from their local railroads, giving them a reduced fare for multiple rides without luggage.
At first the fair was what was commuted our friends at the paul Revere House recently tweeted,
reading our recent Revere Express about the relationship of Edith Derriere and Edith Brown reminded us of a past podcast episode of hub history exploring the concept of boston marriages in life and literature.
Apt for LGBTQ history month.
And then after listening to episode 2 29 about the enslaved painter Scipio, Moorhead in Prince dima.
They said we got a little behind in our hub history listening during the height of the summer but love this recent podcast episode on african american artists working in boston.

[30:01] After hearing the same episode, the folks behind the 11 names project said I learned a lot from this episode and recently added it to the additional media and resources section of my sites bibliography.
The same 11 names folks listen to our last episode where I interviewed dr Jared ross Hardisty about his book mutiny on the Rising Sun and tweeted, I’ve been waiting for this one follow up.
It was great. Thank you to the both of you.

[30:31] Jim be with whom I’ve argued. Politics on twitter at least once said, hub history is absolutely wonderful.
Forget current political tendencies. Although that would be a cool program for the future.
Copyright L. O L.

[30:47] Peter in who suggested our recent episode about the secretly gay Harvard professor disappeared in a storm off the irish coast in 1933.
Wrote in with another suggestion saying, here’s another topic.
Although I don’t know if it would fill a whole podcast, my apologies if you’ve already done it.
I know you’ve made references to it in other podcasts.
I was wondering how the english civil war and the interregnum before the restoration of Charles. The second affected boston in the massachusetts colony.
Cromwell was very religious. But how did his religious views set with the puritans in general?
Where do the sentiments of the colonists here fall with regard to the conflict?
Also, Cromwell confiscated lots of catholic land in Ireland and expelled the people who lived there.
And I know some of them ended up in the north american colonies.
Do they come to this area? And did that have any historical impact on the development of the boston area?

[31:44] Now that’s an era that I don’t know a whole lot about. So while I’d love to do a show on the topic, it might be a while.
I know some Scottish prisoners captured at the battle of Dunbar were brought to massachusetts and forcibly indentured at the Saugus ironworks.
But I don’t know of any other crime. William prisoners in the area.
Sounds like a good topic to research for the future.

[32:07] And after listening to episode 2 32 about Professor Kingsley Porter’s disappearance.
The 11 names project said Jake. I was so team secret getaway for Porter.
Then you hit us with the conspiracy theory, truth, hammer shattering our hopes at the end.
So disappointed, unsubscribed, disgraceful that you didn’t explore the Porters. Highlander angle he still walks the earth.
Totally missed the highlander angle. 11 names. Sorry about that.

[32:39] I also wanted to highlight a recent review on Apple podcasts from somebody named Wayne who says,
Jake strength is a digital historian is that he engages not only the classic boston history that all locals are taught in school, but he also highlights new scholarship and underprivileged stories from folks in the margins History for Jake is not just 1776 or William Lloyd.
Garrison Jake’s range looks at colonial slavery one week and the Cold War the next when I appreciate the kind words while I would never describe myself as a historian After all.
I don’t think I took a history class after 11th grade, I do try to highlight forgotten stories from boston history.
If you write in with your mailing address, I have a hub history sticker with your name on it And for the fans who stuck around all the way to the end.
Here’s your reminder that this is our fifth anniversary show with our first episode going out on October 30, 2016.

[33:38] I appreciate everybody who stuck around since the beginning and watched us grow just as much as I appreciate those who have only recently discovered the show.
I’m especially grateful for those who stuck with us through the transition from weekly to biweekly around this time last year at the time, I was really worried about losing half our audience from the schedule changed. We just keep growing.
I checked our download numbers this week and it looks like we passed one million total lessons with our episode about boston’s Nike missile defenses back in july, That’s just a mind blowing number Throughout the year.
I’ve released old episodes as bonus content around black history month, Pride and the boston marathon and they’ve all gotten much more traction than I expected.
I guess there are enough new listeners who haven’t encountered the old stuff before.
So I’ll probably continue with these bonuses in the coming year in terms of new content this year.
You really liked our show is about ghosts for Halloween last year, Frederic Tudor, the Ice king Nike missile sites, a shooting inside the statehouse in 19 oh seven and our interview with steven Wilk about his book on the wonderland amusement park.
I can’t wait to see what the top episodes for next year will be.

[34:54] We love getting listener feedback whether it’s because we taught you the origin of the word or because you’re convinced that the Highlander still lives.
We’re happy to hear your episode suggestions, factual corrections and alternate sources that we might have missed.
If you’d like to leave us some feedback on this episode or any other, you can email us at podcast at hub history dot com.
We’re hub history on twitter, facebook and instagram or you can go to hub history dot com and click on the contact us link while you’re on the site, hit the subscribe link and be sure that you never miss an episode.
If you subscribe on Apple podcast, leave us a brief review like Wayne Dead and I’ll send you a hub history sticker as a token of appreciation.

Music

Jake_:
[35:39] That’s all for now. Stay safe out there, listeners.