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The Poor Rich Man

The Poor Rich Man

Released Tuesday, 9th January 2024
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The Poor Rich Man

The Poor Rich Man

The Poor Rich Man

The Poor Rich Man

Tuesday, 9th January 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
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Episode Transcript

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0:00

You're listening to an Airwave

0:02

Media Podcast. Listen

0:30

to History That Doesn't Suck on Spotify. Are

0:35

you interested in the parts of history

0:38

that remain a mystery? Do you want

0:40

to learn more about the historical myths

0:42

and misconceptions used to prop up false

0:45

belief today? I'm Nathaniel

0:47

Lloyd. In my podcast, Historical

0:49

Blindness, I delve into all

0:51

of these topics, sharing puzzling

0:53

tales from the past, and

0:55

examining hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and

0:57

misremembered events that provide insight

1:00

into modern politics and religion.

1:02

Find out what's real and

1:04

what's not when it comes

1:06

to famous conspiracy theories,

1:08

like those surrounding notorious

1:10

assassinations and secret societies.

1:13

Discover the weak and

1:15

deceptive underpinnings of modern

1:17

political ideologies and religious

1:19

beliefs. Join me as

1:21

I attempt to shed some light

1:23

on our historical blind spots. New

1:26

episodes every two weeks. Find

1:28

historical blindness on most podcast

1:30

players and platforms. Today,

1:34

we're going to take a trip back in time to

1:36

1950s Arlington, Virginia. Now,

1:40

I've only been to Arlington a few times

1:42

while chaperoning high school trips to Washington, D.C.

1:45

So to say that I've been to Arlington,

1:47

well, you know, that's a bit of an

1:49

exaggeration. What it really

1:51

was was that I've been a passenger on a

1:53

bus that dropped a group of us off in

1:55

Arlington National Cemetery. Of course, we walked

1:58

around for a bit and we got right back.

2:00

on the bus a couple hours later. Which

2:03

basically means I've never been

2:05

to Arlington. But

2:07

the story that I'm about to tell you took place there

2:09

in 1951 during the construction of what

2:12

was then called the Parkinson Shopping Center.

2:15

And that was some name dreamed up by

2:17

some executives at the Hecht department store chain.

2:19

And that was the company building the complex.

2:23

Today, Hecht has been replaced by Macy's,

2:25

the mall's been completely reconfigured, and of

2:28

course it has a new name, the

2:30

Boston Quarter Mall. But

2:33

as I've already pointed out, I've never been there.

2:35

So I really had no choice but to turn

2:38

to Google Maps and use their street view to

2:40

see what it looks like today. You

2:42

know, it's kind of like going there without ever

2:44

going there if you know what I mean. In

2:48

particular, I was able to see the exact

2:51

location of where today's story took place. Now,

2:54

if you were to go there today,

2:56

all you'd see is an oversized garage

2:58

entrance with lettering above it that reads

3:00

loading and delivery access. But

3:03

back in 1951, an elderly gentleman

3:05

lived there in a shack that lacked

3:07

all modern conveniences. But

3:10

he had something that the builders of the

3:12

mall desperately wanted. That was

3:14

the plot of land on which the house

3:16

resided. But he wasn't letting

3:18

go of it that easily. So

3:22

today, I present to you the story of the poor rich

3:24

man. It's kind of an underdog, you know, David

3:27

versus Goliath type story. And

3:30

sometimes this man would win, but at other times the system would

3:33

beat him down. But at least in

3:35

my opinion, I think he always came out on top in his

3:37

own small way. I am

3:41

Steve Zilman and welcome to the beginning of the

3:43

17th year of the Useless Information Podcast. Useless

3:49

information. As

3:55

I've mentioned before in this podcast, I grew up in

3:57

a small town in the Catskill Mountains of New York

3:59

City. state and they

4:02

were just two department stores in the entire

4:04

county. That was a James

4:06

William Monticello and a Sullivan's in Liberty.

4:10

Now both of those stores are long

4:12

gone and today the only department store

4:14

in the entire county is a gigantic

4:16

Walmart and that sits right across the

4:19

street from where that old James Way

4:21

store stood. And while it wasn't this

4:23

particular Walmart that put James Williams Sullivan's out

4:25

of business, I mean they were both gone

4:27

before Walmart came to town, they

4:30

both definitely fell victim to their inability

4:32

to compete with those larger chains. Now

4:36

prior to World War II, nearly every town had

4:39

a shopping district you know a downtown and

4:41

they included many mom-and-pop type stores

4:43

and of course some of those

4:45

were so successful they were able

4:47

to develop into the larger department

4:49

stores. But

4:52

then after the war people began to move

4:54

out to the suburbs so these

4:56

stores really had no choice but to

4:58

follow along. One

5:01

of those department stores was the Hecht Company

5:03

which began in 1857 as a used

5:06

furniture store in Baltimore, Maryland.

5:09

Success allowed the store to not only

5:12

expand its offerings but also to move

5:14

into bigger and better locations. It

5:17

wasn't long before Hecht became a

5:20

full-fledged department store. Then

5:23

additional Hecht stores were opened in New

5:25

York City in both Easton and Annapolis,

5:27

Maryland and what would become

5:29

its flagship store that was in

5:32

Washington DC. Then

5:34

in 1947 Hecht opened a large

5:37

three-story department store in downtown Silver

5:39

Spring, Maryland and that lies just

5:41

north of Washington DC. But at

5:45

the time some questioned Hecht's decision to open

5:47

a store in the suburbs but their bet

5:49

paid off. In

5:52

fact it proved to be so successful that

5:54

within a few years they added a fourth

5:56

story to the building. Basically they needed more

5:58

selling space. So,

6:01

Heck began to look around for a location

6:04

to open a second suburban store. This

6:07

time they decided to head a bit south

6:09

of Washington DC and they found exactly what

6:11

they were looking for. So,

6:14

in April of 1950, it was announced

6:16

that Heck's would open a store in

6:18

Arlington, Virginia, and that was

6:20

a locale whose population had nearly tripled in

6:22

the preceding decade. And

6:25

it would be a monster of a store.

6:29

There would be five floors, there would be four above

6:31

ground and a basement, and that would

6:33

provide an estimated 250,000 square feet of selling space. Put

6:38

that in the metric system, that's 23,225 square meters of selling

6:40

space. That

6:44

is a big store. A

6:48

four floor parking garage would provide space for

6:50

an estimated 2,000 cars. They

6:54

also planned to build and rent out 30

6:56

additional stores to chase into the main building.

6:58

This is kind of unheard of at the

7:00

time, but they were building an early shopping

7:02

mall. And this was going

7:04

to cost a lot of money. The

7:07

project in total was estimated to cost

7:09

$10 million. Adjusted

7:11

for inflation, that's $118 million today. When

7:17

the store finally opened on November 2nd,

7:19

1951, Heck claimed that construction

7:21

included the installation of 400 branch telephones, $100,000 or

7:23

about $1.16 million a day

7:25

worth of

7:30

carpeting, $175,000 or $2 million today

7:32

for cash registers, and $40,000 or about $463,000 a

7:39

day just for the chairs. At

7:43

the time, this was the largest suburban

7:45

department store in the entire United States.

7:49

The store was built on a triangular 18 acre

7:52

site and much of it was once home

7:54

to a sand lock ballpark. But

7:57

the remainder was made up of homes that mostly belonged to

7:59

the city. long to poor African Americans.

8:03

Initially, these homes were purchased at reasonable

8:05

prices, but it wasn't long

8:07

before the value of property in the area

8:10

just began to skyrocket. And

8:13

as with most large-scale projects like

8:15

this, unexpected issues invariably arise, and

8:18

that can introduce complications, delays,

8:20

or possibly canceling the project

8:22

in its entirety. These

8:25

issues may stem from difficulties in

8:27

securing project financing, navigating unexpected legal

8:30

regulations, facing court challenges, and

8:32

you know, so on. The

8:35

HEC project was no exception, but what

8:37

set this situation apart was that a

8:39

single individual stood in the way of

8:41

its completion. That

8:44

man was 85-year-old Reverend Harrison Galloway.

8:47

At the time, he was living in a two-story shack at 604

8:50

North Randolph Street, which just happened

8:53

to be one of the three streets that

8:55

boarded the triangular plot on which the HEC

8:57

store was being built. As

9:00

for the value of his house, it was assessed in 1949 for

9:02

$3,700. That's about $43,700 today. Of

9:10

course, HEC didn't want the house. What they

9:13

really wanted was the nearly one acre parcel

9:15

on which it was built. And

9:18

Galloway wasn't against selling the property, but he

9:20

wouldn't do so until HEC met his price.

9:23

He demanded payment of $1,000 for every year he was alive. Let's

9:25

say $1,000 per year for 85 years. Simple

9:31

math. Quote,

9:34

I know my price. It is

9:36

$85,000 in cash with six months

9:38

to vacate. Unquote. Adjusted

9:41

for inflation, that would be a little over

9:43

$1 million today. Wow. He

9:47

told the reporter, quote, I've been offered

9:49

$85,000 already, but I'm not going

9:51

to sell to the fellows that talk to me.

9:54

They wanted to pay me in stocks and bonds,

9:56

and I want cash. And when I get my

9:59

money, I'm going to. build a church.

10:01

Not here, but some place in Arlington where

10:03

lots of colored people can come and listen

10:06

to the word of God." He went

10:09

on. Another fellow said he'd

10:11

give me 55,000 cash, but I'm not going to sell

10:14

unless I get 85,000 cash

10:17

and six months to vacate. Then

10:20

with a bit of a smile, he added, I think

10:23

I'll get it. Hey

10:25

Matt, did you know that Wombat's poop

10:27

cubes? Nope, never heard that

10:29

before. Did you know the unicorn is

10:32

the national animal of Scotland, Ken? I

10:34

didn't know, nor do I care. Neil,

10:36

did you know that Liechtenstein is the

10:38

only doubly landlocked country in Europe? Jeff,

10:41

isn't that an American pop artist? Well,

10:43

actually, it's both. If

10:45

you want to learn things like that and more,

10:48

join us each week on Triviality, a pub trivia

10:50

style game show podcast where a lack of seriousness

10:52

meets a little bit of knowledge. And

10:54

then each week to answer general knowledge trivia

10:56

alongside exciting guests from around the world. And

10:59

we're here too. Join us every

11:01

Tuesday for new hour-long episodes of Triviality,

11:04

plus tons of extra themed content on

11:06

everything from The Office and Lord of

11:08

the Rings to Science and Geography. And

11:10

sometimes we even do sports. Find

11:13

us on all your preferred podcast apps and take part

11:15

in the fun of playing bar trivia without the need

11:17

to wear pants. Real mature, Jeff. Forget

11:20

it, Neil. It's Triviality. Galloway

11:26

made it clear that he was willing to wait

11:28

them out. Quote, I've

11:30

lived here 35 years and I'm not rushing

11:32

to get out. I

11:34

don't have any relatives. I live alone with my

11:37

chickens and ducks. I don't have

11:39

electricity, just a couple of oil lamps. I

11:42

have a water pipe in the front yard and

11:44

I keep warm with an oil stove and a wood

11:46

stove. My congregation keeps

11:48

me in food. I have a garden and

11:50

I cook my own meals. I'm

11:52

happy enough. Unquote. Now

11:56

the old congregation is referring to where the

11:58

65 members of the Sea-Dwelling Grove Baptist

12:00

Church that once stood beside his

12:03

home. He explained, quote,

12:06

All the congregation moved away so I tore

12:08

the church down. He

12:11

added, The church was

12:13

never self-supporting, the people just couldn't

12:15

do it. I supported the church.

12:19

Little documentation exists regarding Harrison Galloway's

12:21

early life, but I was able

12:24

to piece together the following. Quote,

12:27

I was born a slave baby in 1865 down

12:30

in Orange County, Virginia. I

12:32

started preaching when I was 15. Unquote.

12:37

A check of the US Census shows he's unemployed in 1910,

12:40

did labor or some sort of street work in 1920, was active as

12:42

a preacher in 1930, had a $100 income as

12:44

a salesman of some sort

12:49

of liniment in 1940, and by 1950 had effectively

12:52

retired. And

12:56

that just happened to be the same year that Hecht

12:58

announced the construction of their new store. Galloway

13:02

claimed that he and his wife Mary had purchased

13:04

the now valuable piece of property back in somewhere

13:06

around 1916 for $300. That's

13:10

around $8,500 a day. He

13:15

first built a small home for the couple

13:17

to live in, and after that he constructed

13:19

his church. Sadly

13:21

Mary died at age 60 on March 3rd,

13:23

1939 from a cerebral hemorrhage. At

13:29

the time of her death, Galloway would have been around 74 years

13:32

of age and was the father of two

13:34

adult sons. They were Lewis and Daniel. According

13:38

to one article that I read, Mary was

13:40

Galloway's second wife while others implied she was

13:42

the first, so I'm not sure if she

13:44

was the mother of his two sons or

13:47

not. Three

13:50

years after Mary's passing, September 15th,

13:53

1942, Galloway married Mabel B.

13:55

Lowry in Washington, D.C. He

13:58

was 76 and she was 70. Sixty

14:00

three years old, As.

14:02

You think he has a thing for younger women?

14:05

We'd see here this next one. He

14:08

married once again on August twenty

14:10

ninth, Nineteen Forty seven, to Rosa

14:12

Bell Millsap. He. Was eighty

14:14

years old and see was

14:16

thirty eight Fifty year difference.

14:20

The union lasted only three

14:22

months, although they divorce wasn't

14:24

finalize until January twenty Fifth

14:26

of Nineteen, Fifty One. Just

14:29

coincidentally, that was the same day that the

14:31

news of his refusal to sell his home

14:34

began to appear in the newspapers. In.

14:37

An interview with The Evening Star,

14:39

He proclaimed quote, i'm not gonna

14:41

get married again, I'm too old.

14:44

Was. He a think will he be able

14:46

to resist the temptation and. Old

14:49

in may have been but Galilee was still

14:52

holding from to as eighty five thousand dollar

14:54

asking price. But. He may

14:56

been setting is sites too high. A

14:59

spoof since the The Heck company told the

15:01

press that they had all the land that

15:03

was needed to build the new store and

15:06

worry no need of Reverend Galloways parcel. And.

15:09

We've all seen this picture play out

15:11

many times before. You. Know a

15:13

property owner refuses to sell their property

15:15

so that developers simply built right around

15:18

there structure. And

15:20

futurists issue a quick search on life

15:22

or property holdouts and it really shouldn't

15:24

take you long to see some really

15:26

notable examples. The.

15:29

Reality was it. Harrison Galloway was

15:31

going up against a mighty big

15:33

corporation. Who. Would win. You

15:36

know, with the developers, pay him what he

15:38

wanted or they simply construct the mall around

15:40

his property. Galloway.

15:43

Commented Court. I started

15:45

to sell three years ago, but I changed

15:47

my mind and decided to stay. And.

15:49

Now I want my price. I

15:51

won't sell cheap. Unquote,

15:55

On. January Thirty first, Nineteen Fifty One

15:57

next five days after the press began

16:00

reporting on the story, Of

16:02

reverend announced that they had agreed to

16:04

his hands. On. A

16:07

man city was speaking for some Florida

16:09

people offered me eighty five thousand dollars

16:11

cash from my land citing forgive me

16:14

for months to vacate to. He

16:17

added. These. Florida people said

16:19

they'll pick me up friday the go to

16:21

the courthouse and close the deal on quote.

16:25

Galloway agreed to the offer, but he noted

16:27

that in Arlington attorney will be handling the

16:29

deed transfer. Than. He told a

16:31

reporter quote I knew I get it. It

16:35

for some reason he never got it.

16:38

And one could speculate as to what a

16:41

gone wrong but those absolutely no mention made

16:43

in the papers as to why the deal

16:45

had collapsed. They're.

16:47

Sort of March eighth and Galloway analyses

16:50

lowering his asking price to fifty five

16:52

thousand dollars in cast as about six

16:54

hundred and fifty thousand dollars today. He

16:58

spleen that is doing so because quotes the

17:00

Lord will soon be calling for me. I

17:02

think. He added the

17:04

once you pay the taxes on the sale,

17:06

he would use the remainder to quote by

17:08

Little House in Washington and wait for God's

17:11

call. Luckily.

17:13

For Galloway they call did not come

17:15

quickly. But. He was unable to sell

17:17

the house for the fifty five thousand dollars

17:20

he was seeking. Then.

17:22

On September twenty seventh and Nineteen Fifty One

17:25

it was announced city of reached an agreement

17:27

with Fact. The. Selling price was

17:29

twenty five thousand dollars. That's about

17:31

two hundred ninety five thousand dollars

17:33

Today. Show was

17:35

finalized have to Galloway signed the deeds

17:38

answer with a simple letter x. Must

17:42

immediately work began grading his front

17:44

yard and bulldozers were brought into

17:46

demolishes house. It. Was clearly

17:48

time for Harrison Galloway to move out,

17:50

but he had nowhere to go. And

17:53

that's because his attorney bad so we'll

17:55

email she's since he was refusing to

17:57

turn over the eighteen thousand, eight hundred.

18:00

Having nine dollars or means after

18:02

taxes and legal fees are paid.

18:06

Harrison Galloway may have been rich on

18:08

paper, but he had absolutely no money

18:10

to spend. He was a

18:12

poor rich man. The.

18:16

Reality was a season was simply working in

18:18

the best interests of his client. Because.

18:21

Reverend Galloway was an elderly man with suddenly

18:23

come into a large chunk of money is

18:25

seem like every Tom Dick and Harry wanted

18:27

a piece of a pie. Is

18:30

included two women who said they wanted

18:32

to marry him, another who claimed to

18:35

be a secretary in numerous relatives that

18:37

the reverend hadn't had contact with in

18:39

many years. So. Attorney

18:41

Houston concluded that the best way to keep

18:43

Galloway from squandering his money with the simply

18:46

keep it in a bank. Even

18:49

say gala we got was so fun of

18:51

a lawyer and filed suit against quotes from

18:54

Houston. On. Friday, October

18:56

nineteenth and Nineteen Fifty One Assuring

18:58

was held in Federal District Court

19:00

in Washington D C before the

19:02

Judge Scenes or Kirkland. And.

19:04

As you'll hear, Kirkland's name comes up quite

19:06

a bit throughout the remainder of the story.

19:10

Anyway, he carefully listen to arguments from both

19:12

sides and and said could. I

19:15

don't care if there is sixty women want to

19:17

marry him and nine hundred relatives who are interested

19:19

in this money. If. Mr. Galloway

19:21

has the capacity to make indeed

19:24

selling the property he is entitled

19:26

to the money. On

19:28

court. Judge

19:30

noted not only Galloways advanced stage,

19:32

but also that he was illiterate.

19:34

And perhaps most importantly, Had. Google

19:37

Clear recollection of selling is home to

19:39

set. To cooking

19:41

ordered investigation be me to

19:43

determine if Reverend Galloway had

19:45

the quote mental capacity unquote to

19:48

meet such decision. He

19:51

said quote. There's. Serious question

19:53

as to whether this illiterate, Eighty Six

19:55

Zero men had the capacity to make

19:57

the deed. If. It is

19:59

determined. Had the capacity. I suppose

20:01

he's entitled to the money unquote.

20:05

Then. One week lead of church's from

20:07

in the Galloway did in fact lack

20:10

the mental capacity to make such decisions.

20:12

Consequently, The judge ordered the difference

20:15

be retained in the bank until it guarding

20:17

could be appointed to safeguard the of. A

20:21

few days later, a petitions filed in

20:23

the Arlington Circuit Court seeking the appointment

20:25

of Galloway sixty year old son Louis

20:27

as the guardian of his father's estate.

20:30

In that top commit loose allege that his

20:32

father was quote. Mentally. And

20:35

physically incapable of properly menacing as

20:37

a state unquote. To.

20:40

School to to Mccarthy rule the Reverend

20:42

Galloway was unable to properly manage his

20:44

a state. But. In a surprising

20:46

decision, didn't not appoint a son. Louis

20:49

has his guardian. You.

20:51

Know perhaps the fact that he hadn't seen

20:53

his father and fifty three years had something

20:55

to do with the judge's decision. Instead.

20:59

And Alexander Attorney was designated as

21:01

the guardian for the reverence Est.

21:06

Meanwhile, Andrew ng Carol want to Harrison

21:08

Galloway lawyers file papers in Federal court

21:10

requesting that the sale of the lands

21:13

who the heck company be voided. And.

21:16

That's because there was considerable doubt as

21:18

to whether his client had the mental

21:20

capacity to understand that he was signing

21:22

away both his house and the land

21:24

underneath it. In. Addition,

21:26

those felt that he did not receive a

21:28

fair amount for his land. Or

21:32

Galloway insisted that he had never signed

21:34

the deed, the transferred the properties Mrs.

21:36

Virginia One Burns, a notary public. See

21:39

stated that she witnessed some signing

21:41

the documents with his ex. In

21:44

addition, Fred Cause Nail, the County

21:46

tax assessor stated the see Celtic

21:49

yellow he had received a quote

21:51

fair amount unquote for the sale

21:53

of his properties. Now.

21:55

that suit would ultimately be thrown out by

21:57

the judge both right around the time that

22:00

being argued in federal court, Reverend

22:02

Galloway found himself back in the

22:04

Arlington Circuit Court for a completely

22:06

different reason. On

22:09

Wednesday, November 7, 1951, the now

22:12

86-year-old Galloway and 64-year-old

22:14

Mrs. Rosetta Mills-Lewis, a

22:16

widow, arrived to obtain

22:18

a marriage license. Having

22:21

grown up in Arlington and known the Reverend since she

22:24

was a child, they planned to

22:26

marry the following Tuesday. However,

22:29

Court Clerk H. Bruce Green, aware of

22:31

the ruling on Galloway's mental capacity, refused

22:34

to issue the marriage license and that's

22:36

where they were back in court. Informed

22:41

that it would be several days before a

22:43

judge would review Green's decision not to issue

22:45

that license, the couple came up

22:47

with an alternate plan. Since

22:50

Mrs. Lewis was a resident of

22:52

Washington, D.C., they would simply apply

22:54

for a license there instead. And

22:57

once again, they were refused. Instead

23:01

of being their wedding day, the two found

23:04

themselves standing before Judge Kirkland on November 13,

23:06

1951. Remember

23:09

how I said his name would come up again? Here he is.

23:12

Anyway, he concluded that Reverend

23:15

Galloway was, quote, of retarded

23:17

mental development, unquote, and ordered

23:19

that no marriage license be

23:21

issued. But

23:23

the two still had hoped that after a judge

23:25

heard their case back in Arlington, they would be

23:27

allowed to marry. Well, that

23:29

wasn't going to happen either. One

23:32

day after Judge Kirkland denied them

23:34

a license, Judge McCarthy upheld County

23:37

Clerk Green's decision to deny the

23:39

couple a marriage license. Well

23:42

not one to give up easily, Galloway

23:45

went back to D.C. on November 20th

23:47

and once again applied for a marriage

23:49

license. And for the

23:52

second Tuesday in a row, Judge

23:54

Kirkland once again squashed their plans

23:56

to marry. It

23:59

was clear that there was a absolutely no

24:01

way the two could get married anywhere in

24:03

the area surrounding Washington, D.C. Let's

24:06

face it, Galloway's story was just too

24:08

well known there. So

24:10

they opted to head off to a place where

24:12

they probably wouldn't be recognized. That

24:15

place was Charlottesville, Virginia, which lies approximately

24:17

95 miles or 153 kilometers southwest

24:21

of Arlington. There,

24:24

on Thursday, February 28th, 1952, the two were finally married. But

24:30

an examination of their license shows that they

24:32

fibbed just a little bit with the information

24:34

that they provided. Rosetta

24:36

gave her address as a rural route

24:38

in Charlottesville, even though she lived in

24:40

D.C., while Reverend Galloway gave his age

24:42

as a youthful 72. He

24:45

just had to knock off about 14 years. The

24:50

two would stay married until his passing on Tuesday, May

24:52

24th, 1955, at the D.C. General Hospital.

24:58

And Harrison Galloway was 91 years of age. His

25:02

estate was valued at $15,000. In

25:06

his will, he accuses son Lewis, whom he hadn't seen

25:09

for all of those 53 years, of displaying,

25:11

quote, disrespect to me during

25:14

my lifetime, unquote. And

25:16

to emphasize the sentiment, he bequeathed

25:18

him a paltry $5. Now,

25:22

that's about $55 today. Ouch.

25:27

The remainder of his estate was bequeathed

25:29

to his wife, Rosetta. Useless,

25:31

useful, I'll leave that for you to decide.

25:37

I just want to mention that I first started working on a story

25:39

back in 2013, but while I

25:43

was doing my research, I stumbled upon

25:45

the Tunnel Joe Home Story that's podcast

25:47

number I

25:50

seem to recall that they were both printed

25:52

on the same page as the Baltimore Afro-American

25:54

newspaper. However,

25:56

there were a lot of gaps in Galloway's story

25:58

when I first began researching. it so it

26:00

made more sense to set it aside and

26:03

focus on the Tunnel Joe Holmes story instead.

26:06

And this happens to me quite a bit. I start working on

26:08

what I think will be the next podcast, but

26:10

when there are too many unanswered questions associated

26:12

with a story, I just move on

26:15

to something else. Well

26:18

all I can say is what a difference a

26:20

decade makes. There's just so much

26:22

more documentation available online now than there was

26:24

when I first took up this story. So

26:28

I resume work on the story probably about a

26:30

week before the new year, and I have to

26:32

tell you within a few hours I was able

26:34

to locate the answers to nearly all of the

26:36

questions I had back in 2013. I think the

26:39

only one that I couldn't answer was his exact

26:41

birth date. I knew he was born in 1865,

26:44

but I found no documentation as

26:47

to his exact birthday. Now

26:50

one thing that I didn't focus on in the

26:52

story was Reverend Galloway's race. Excluding

26:55

articles in the Afro-American newspaper and Jet

26:57

Magazine, I have to tell you every

27:00

single article seemed to mention that he

27:02

was a colored man. And

27:06

while I have no proof, my hunch

27:08

is that the combination of him being

27:10

a post-Civil War African-American baby, uneducated, poor,

27:12

I think all of that

27:14

played a large part in the courts

27:17

declaring him mentally incompetent. But that's

27:19

really just speculation on my part. Just

27:23

a reminder to subscribe to the Useless

27:25

Information Podcast and you can find it

27:27

wherever you get all your other podcasts.

27:30

The Useless Information Podcast is part of

27:33

the Airwave Media Podcast Network, so

27:35

be sure to visit airwavemedia.com and

27:37

there you will find a curated

27:39

selection of some of the best

27:41

podcasts out there. Anyway,

27:43

I just want to welcome everyone to 2024

27:45

and I hope that this new year brings

27:47

you happiness and health. Take care

27:49

everyone. Bye.

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