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Our world is full of the unexplainable,

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and if history is an open book, all

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of these amazing tales are right

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there on display, just waiting

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for us to explore. Welcome

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to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

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As the conflict between the North and the South

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boiled during the mid nineteenth century,

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Southern slaves did all they could to flee their

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captors and rebuild their lives up

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north. Many ended up in Canada,

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while others settled in states like New York,

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Connecticut, and New Jersey. It

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was in New Jersey, in the town of Quentin, to

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be exact, where John Barry lived.

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John was a bit of a loner, living

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by himself in the Quentin Woods, away

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from the rest of the community, which had scattered

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itself into clusters of homes all over

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the area, tiny individual

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neighborhoods that mostly kept to themselves.

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He was a spiritual man too, a

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Methodist, and he had a divine

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revelation to bring everyone closer.

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They had come so far and risk

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so much, and John Barry believed that

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the only way they would survive the war raging

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in the South was together. They

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needed a meeting place, a symbol

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of unity, faith, and strength.

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In short, they needed a church.

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John erected a log cabin in the Quentin

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Woods, as well as a small cemetery

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next door. He called his new house of worship

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Barry's Chapel, and it seemed that his hard

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work didn't go unnoticed. Barry's

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Chapel became such a hit with the community

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that African American Methodists flocked

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from all over to hear John lead them

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in prayer and song. As the war

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progressed, Barry's Chapel became

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a popular stop on the underground railroad.

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The Quentin Woods provided substantial

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cover as former slaves made their

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way north to other territories. But

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there were some other individuals who

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weren't thrilled about Barry's Chapel nor

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the services it provided to the community.

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White men, members of what would eventually

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become the Ku Klux Klan began harassing

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the members of Berry's Chapel on a regular

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basis. You might

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not know this today, but long after the

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Civil War ended, New Jersey became

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home to a very active branch of the

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k k k. In fact, a meeting

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held in nineteen twenty three once garnered

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a crowd of twelve thousand members who

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surrounded another church in order to tell

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the congregation that they weren't welcome

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there. Town historians

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still regard the clan as the chief harassers

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of Barry's Chapel during the nineteen twenties.

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They broke up meetings and harassed members

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until another church opened up not too

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far away. Berry's congregation

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moved en massed to the other church almost

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immediately, and the original chapel

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fell into disrepair, eventually

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burning down. That's

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not how the locals with though. Ask

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them and they'll tell you what really happened

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to Barry's Chapel. According

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to people who lived in Quentin their entire

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lives, the church never made it to

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the twentieth century. It didn't even

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make it to the eighteen seventies. Someone

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had wanted to send a message and they

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burned the church to ash one night. No

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one had been inside at the time, and the

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members got to work building a new chapel.

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It was bigger, better, and able

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to fit more worshipers inside.

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But grudges die hard, and so

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it is bigotry, and not long after its

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completion, another fire was started.

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It's not known whether the second fire was set

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by the same person who had burned down the first

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What we do know is that the church was full

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that night as they

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worshiped in their pews, John

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reading from his Bible at the altar. Every

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single member of the buried chapel congregation

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perished. The church went up in flames,

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and John Barry was taken along with

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it. He was buried deep in the woods,

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and a rave no one can find today.

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The stone marking his final resting place

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has long disappeared. What

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hasn't disappeared, though, is Barry

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or his church. If

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you venture out into Quentin Woods on most

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nights, you might see it ablaze

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in the dark as the fire consumes

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its wooden frame and surrounding

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the smoldering chapel. Well.

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The people who live in Quentin today swear

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they've witnessed John Barry and his congregation

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singing and dancing around the burning

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church. Wait long enough, and you might

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also hear the sound of scraping metal

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and people screaming. John

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Barry built his church hoping it would bring people

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together, and it did. The

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work he did to unite his community was

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nothing short of a miracle. His

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congregation knew the value of what he'd

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done, and they stood by him through

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the worst event even

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according to the story in

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death, Theodore

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Roosevelt is remembered today as an

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icon of strength, and for good

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reason. He was a cowboy,

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a hunter, and a soldier before

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he ever stepped foot in the White House. But

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not everyone knows the truth behind the bull

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moose is tough demeanor. Growing

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up, Teddy was sick a lot.

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He battled asthma for most of his childhood

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and woke up many nights suffering from severe

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breathing problems, a feeling he compared

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to being smothered to death. As

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he got older, joining his father on

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hikes and camping trips, the attacks

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lessened. Teddy realized the secret

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to beating his asthma was in physically

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strengthening his body. He

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took up boxing and studied biology.

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Hunting became a beloved pastime, especially

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on his ranches in North Dakota. His

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resilient carried him through college,

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where he studied naval history and strategy.

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Even as he worked his way up through the New

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York State Assembly, governor's office,

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vice presidency, and then finally

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the White House. Teddy

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had grand plans for his presidency, and

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one of those plans included an unprecedented

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third term in office. It was

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the fall of nineteen twelve in Milwaukee,

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Wisconsin, when he left his hotel

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to deliver one of the last speeches of his

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grueling campaign. He'd been on

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the road for weeks, shaking hands and

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talking before crowds of hundreds, even

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thousands of voters at a time, his

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voice had all but disappeared, but

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Teddy pressed on. There were bigger

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issues at stake, and by this time

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Teddy was known for speaking softly.

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Clad in his thick army overcoat,

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he stepped into a waiting car ready to whisk

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him off to the auditorium. Inside

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his breast pocket, Teddy had placed his

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folded up speech, about fifty pages

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in total, and his metal eyeglasses

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case. The crowd cheered when

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they saw him, and Theodore Roosevelt,

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not one to disappoint his adoring constituents,

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stood to wave back at them.

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He never saw John Shrink. The out

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of work bar keep raised the Colt forty

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five to his chest. The shot rang

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out, and Shrank was quickly tackled

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and arrested by Roosevelt's bodyguards. There

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would be assassin claimed that the ghost of William

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McKinley had visited him in a dream

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one night and told him to avenge McKinley's

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assassination by killing President

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Roosevelt. Teddy

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pale but calm, touched his fingers

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to his lips. If the bullet had pierced

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his lung, he would have blood coming out of

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his mouth. When his fingers came back

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clean, he instructed the driver to

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get him to the auditorium right away.

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Once they're three doctors examined the

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severity of the President's wounds. The

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bullet had, in fact pierced his skin and

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lodged itself in the right side of his chest.

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It had been slowed, though, by the thick wad

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of pay for and the metal case in his

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pocket, so much so that the damage

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was only superficial. Teddy

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pressed on, determined to deliver this

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important speech. He

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sent one of his bodyguards out on stage

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to explain to the audience what had happened. Some

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of them, though, didn't buy it. One

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man shouted in all too familiar refrain.

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Fake Teddy

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took to the stage, the blood stained shirt

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on display for all to see. He

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held up the speech with the whole going straight

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through, all fifty pages, and just

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like that, the crowd fell silent.

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He spoke for an hour and a half before finally

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heading to the hospital. Doctors

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were unable to remove the bullet, but

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Teddy lived on with it inside his chest for

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the rest of his life. His

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valiant efforts didn't win him any points

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with the voters, though. One month later,

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Woodrow Wilson won the election and

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became the President of the United

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States. But Teddy wasn't

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phazed by the attempt on his life. He'd

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been expecting something like that to happen for a

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while. When asked how he

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was able to remain so calm and deliver

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his entire speech even after

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being shot in the chest, this

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was his reply, in the very

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unlikely event of the wound being mortal,

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I wish to die with my boots

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on. I

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hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of

9:26

the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe

9:29

for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn

9:31

more about the show by visiting Curiosities

9:33

podcast dot com.

9:35

The show was created by me Aaron

9:37

Manky in partnership with How Stuff

9:40

Works. I make another award winning

9:42

show called Lore, which is a podcast,

9:44

book series, and television show, and

9:47

you can learn all about it over at the World

9:49

of lore dot com, and

9:51

until next time, stay curious.