Ep. 81 - Madame Tussaud's MACABRE Origin Story

Summary

My Victorian Nightmare

Host: Genevieve Manion (Daylight Media)
Episode: 81 — Madame Tussaud's MACABRE Origin Story
Date: February 9, 2026

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Overview

In this captivating episode, Genevieve Manion plunges listeners into the grisly and gothic corners of Victorian history, centering on the chilling origin story of Madame Tussaud, the famed waxwork artist. The episode weaves together tales of haunted houses, fatal theater accidents, a murder in a rowboat and a furnace, dental tragedy, and the legendary loyalty of Victorian animals, all filtered through Genevieve's witty, darkly comedic lens and keen research. The show appeals to devotees of “spooky history,” offering not just facts, but the unsettling ambience of an era obsessed with death, mystery, and the macabre.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Mood & Listener Community

• Genevieve welcomes new Patreon supporters, sharing gratitude and highlighting extra Victorian and witchy content available via her Fan Coven (04:00).
• Opens with humor: “Hope your dissociative skills are sharpening…the happy places that you visit in your minds are glistening with sunlight. My happy place is my grandparents’ dank haunted basement.” (02:39)

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2. Contemporary Parallels: Victorian & Modern Dangers

• Victorian Candy Poisonings vs. Modern Arsenic Scare (04:38–07:07)
  • Genevieve recalls the 19th-century Bradford Sweets arsenic poisoning and draws a modern parallel: 28 of 46 popular contemporary candies (including Nerds, Skittles, KitKats) were found to contain toxic arsenic levels.
  • “This is absolutely horrifying…You should only have two to three Snickers a year.” (05:17)
  • Provides consumption guidelines and notes which candies were deemed safe.
  • Wraps with, “The more I discuss the horrors of the Victorian era, I find time really is a flat circle.” (06:56)

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3. Featured Segment: Madame Tussaud's Macabre Origins

Begins: 08:11
[Madame Marie Tussaud: A Life Through Trauma & Art]

• Born in France (1761), died in London (1850) — “an astoundingly long life considering at the time only about 50% of the population survived past 35.” (09:08)
• Apprenticed under Philippe Curtius; began with anatomical models, moving on to heads and full-body waxworks.
• Created wax heads of Voltaire, Louis XVI, Benjamin Franklin, and the Duke of Orléans.
• French Revolution's Infamous Parade:
  • “A mob broke into her studio and stole the wax head of the Duke of Orleans, then paraded it around the streets…while they paraded the wax head…they were shot at. This was the very first event where revolutionaries were shot and killed, and this event directly led to the storming of the Bastille.” (10:03–10:20)
• Tasked with casting wax models of real guillotined heads and high-profile figures—Jean-Paul Marat (“creating a non-decomposing version of him”), Maximilien Robespierre.
• Imprisoned after the monarchy criminalized models of revolutionaries (11:12); inherited Curtius’ figures (11:57).
• Emigrated to England, gaining popularity with a traveling show and her “Chamber of Horrors,” featuring not just royalty but notorious murderers (like Burke & Hare, Mary Ann Cotton, William Corder).
• Established first permanent exhibit on Baker Street; eventually expanded worldwide.
• Died peacefully at 88 in 1850 (“on my birthday, April 16th!”) and is buried in Chelsea, London.
  • “Her wax head kicked off the French Revolution.” (10:20)

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4. Haunting Tales: Firsthand Victorian Accounts

Segment: “With Their Own Eyes" (13:42)

• Chilling retelling from 1859 (The Jeffersonian): A reporter, his servant, and a dog spend the night in a haunted house.

  • Vivid supernatural details: unexplained cold air, candles “violently swayed by the wind,” a watch mysteriously sliding off the table, “three slow, loud, distinct knocks…at the bedside.” (15:04)

  • Servant flees in terror—“run, run, it is after me”—leaving the narrator alone. (16:16)

  • Genevieve's take: “That other guy did exactly what I would have done—run screaming into the night…” (16:48)

  • Memorable Quote:

    Host quoting reporter: "...My servant called out, 'Is that you, sir?'...he passed by me quickly, saying in a whisper, 'Run, run. It is after me.'" (15:58–16:16)

  • Genevieve humorously recounts a personal “haunted” bacon incident—“I started scream-crying…blinded by the tears that were shooting out of my eyes like they do in cartoons. He never scared me again after that.” (17:12–18:41)

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5. Spiritualism & Séance Room Oddities

Segment: “In the Séance Room” (19:04)

• Victorian Spiritualist Medium Episode:

  • Mr. J.J. Morse enters trance; spirit of Ellen Jones claims she was crushed in Bristol and seeks contact with her father. (19:10)
  • Host investigates: Finds matching name in a report of a fatal theater accident in Bristol—“Her name was only in one paper that I found...This girl died in January in Bristol.” (20:31)
    • “This is the first time where I was actually able to trace a spirit’s name given in a séance!” (22:12)

• Notable Quote:

  “Can this be death? I wish Father were here. Oh dear. Do for pity's sake, tell Father that Ellen's not dead. Do tell him.” – Spirit, via J.J. Morse (19:28)

• Mediums Forbidden Pork (Comic Relief):

  • Spirits threaten to revoke powers if mediums eat pork.

  • Explains the backdrop: Health reformers in Victorian Spiritualism promoted vegetarianism, cautioning against “unclean” foods for spiritual receptivity (23:06).

  • “What kind of spirit would want to possess a salty old pork chop medium?” (23:39)

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6. Victorian True Crime Snapshots

• Murder in a Rowboat:

  • German immigrant woman fatally shoots ex-lover Edward Waltz after he refuses marriage (and after losing a breach-of-promise suit). Called simply “German girl”; her fate unknown.
  • “There never was a truer adage that hell knows no fury like a woman scorned.” (25:10)

• Death by Laughing Gas (Dental Horror):

  • Miss Anna O’Shaughnessy dies at dentist’s office after nitrous oxide administration (27:26).
  • Host notes fear of anesthesia in the period; stories of surgeons and patients dying or being injured under ether, chloroform, and nitrous oxide abounded. Most preferred alcohol as anesthesia.

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7. Offbeat & Tragic Human Interest

• Well-off Wife Begging in NYC:

  • Mary Matthews, in rags but with a well-dressed 5-year-old, begs in a New York saloon; turns out her mentally unwell, affluent husband didn’t report her missing out of shame (29:55–31:10).

• “Made Her Own Shroud”:

  • Family tragedy in Iowa: Father buys a shroud for dying daughter, but wife dies suddenly instead. (31:34)
  • “Heavens. Now, I couldn’t find any more info here. There are no names in that article. This could often mean it wasn’t true.” (32:44)

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8. True Crime: Family Loyalty & Cover Ups

• Mother-in-law Takes the Fall:
  • Mrs. Julia Ortmann confesses to murder to save her son-in-law from hanging, but on closer cross-examination, her story falls apart and the real killer, Charles Marlow, is sentenced. The crime: Marlow poisons and kills a lodger for cash, with wife’s involvement strongly suspected. (34:02–38:52)
  • “The order of one who has saved another would be deemed remarkable and heroic by any human being—done by a mother-in-law on behalf of a daughter's husband, it is phenomenal, if not sublime.” (34:19)

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9. Animals: Loyalty, Rescue, and Intoxicated Humans

• Heroic Dog:

  • Newfoundland dog drags shipwrecked woman and child over a mile across stormy water to Sable Island (40:50). Only the dog and woman survive.

  • Quote:

    “That sweet dog somehow had had the strength to help the lady and her child all the way to shore for a mile. Oh, I wish I found more information about the sweet dog, but it seems like he was okay...” (42:36)

• Comedic Horse Story:

  • Mare repeatedly grabs her drunk master's collar to keep him upright, even sets him on his feet, and tries to “kick” another drunk who bumps him over (43:00).
  • “No more info here on this particular article other than we don’t deserve horses or dogs.” (44:14)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the Victorian Era’s Parallels: "The more I discuss the horrors of the Victorian era, I find time really is a flat circle." (06:56)
• On Facing Fear: “I talk a big game about liking spooky stuff, but you couldn’t pay me to step foot in a haunted house, much less investigate one.” (16:54)
• On Mediumship Diets: "What kind of spirit would want to possess a salty old pork chop medium?" (23:39)
• On Tragic Coincidence: “Heaven’s now, I couldn’t find any more info here. There are no names in that article. This could often mean it wasn’t true. But honestly, it could have been. Illnesses like cholera...came on fast and killed faster.” (32:44)
• Animal Loyalty: “No more info here on this particular article other than we don’t deserve horses or dogs.” (44:14)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [08:11] — Madame Tussaud's Origin Story
• [13:42] — With Their Own Eyes: Haunted House Account
• [19:04] — Séance Room: Ellen Jones’ Spirit & Porkless Mediums
• [24:38] — Illustrated Police News: Murder in a Rowboat
• [26:35] — “Death Laughs at the Laughing Gas” – Dental Anesthetic Dangers
• [29:56] — Well-To-Do Wife Begging in NYC
• [31:34] — “Made Her Own Shroud” – Sudden Family Tragedy
• [34:02] — Mother-in-law’s False Confession for Son-in-law’s Murder
• [40:50] — Extraordinary Shipwreck & Dog Rescue
• [43:00] — Intoxicated Man Rescued by His Mare

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Closing

Genevieve wraps with her signature warmth, encouraging listeners to rate, review, join her Fan Coven, and “be kind to yourselves—see you in your nightmares.” The episode blends humor, empathy, and the undeniably eerie, affirming this show as a haven for lovers of morbid Victorian history.

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Transcript

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Co-host/Guest]

My goodness.

[Genevieve Manion]

I have been flirting with ordering myself Chew Me Natural snacks for a while.

[Co-host/Guest]

Now, but they looked too dangerous and I was right. They are delicious. They are irresistible. They are now my favorite second cup of coffee companion.

[Genevieve Manion]

Chummy Natural snacks are not nut free, gluten free, dairy free and soy free cookies, macaroons and brownies.

[Co-host/Guest]

I ordered like five bags and I ate every single one in a week and I can't even say which one was my favorite.

[Genevieve Manion]

I had mint chocolate brownies, dark chocolate brownies, classic coconut macaroons, chocolate chip cookies.

[Co-host/Guest]

I put them all in my special.

[Genevieve Manion]

Containers that I keep for snacks that make me feel like I have my life together.

[Co-host/Guest]

And every single time I went to the kitchen it was game over. I usually put the container away but it stayed on my countertop for the whole week.

[Genevieve Manion]

The kitchen they use ingredients like honey and date paste, pumpkin seeds and unsweetened coconut.

[Co-host/Guest]

However, they are not loaded with sugar. I've been trying to cut back on.

[Genevieve Manion]

My gummy bear addiction and this lower.

[Co-host/Guest]

Sugar addiction has replaced that addiction. I think I'm very proud of myself.

[Genevieve Manion]

Chew Me Naturals are not available on Amazon. They are a small business from Maine and they would make such a lovely.

[Co-host/Guest]

Gift for any of your gluten free, dairy free, nut free girlies like my two best friends who are all of those things got their Christmas presents sorted.

[Genevieve Manion]

Use coupon code Victorian20 for 20% off your [e-mail] and get to know these wonderful products again. That's Victorian20 for 20% [e-mail] you'll be.

[Co-host/Guest]

So glad that you did.

[Genevieve Manion]

Hello and welcome to My Victorian Nightmare. I'm your host, Genevieve Manion, and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era. Because to me there's just something especially.

[Co-host/Guest]

Intriguing, creepy and oddly comforting about horror.

[Genevieve Manion]

And mayhem from the 19th century. So listener discretion is advised. Hello friends and welcome to this, my 81st episode. I hope that you had a lovely week. I hope that your disassociative skills are sharpening. The happy places that you visit in your minds are glistening with sunlight. Palm trees swaying in the wind. My happy place is my grandparents dank haunted basement.

[Co-host/Guest]

They had a real human skeleton down there.

[Genevieve Manion]

Spent a lot of time talking about.

[Co-host/Guest]

Jem and the holograms to that guy in the 80s.

[Genevieve Manion]

Great listener. Happy memories. Anyway, for you today, dear listener, I have Madame Tussaud's creepy origin story, haunted houses, fatal theater accidents, murder in a.

[Co-host/Guest]

Rowboat, murder in a furnace, death in.

[Genevieve Manion]

A dentist chair, and a courageous life saving dog. All this and much, much more. But first, thank you to Amanda, Delia, Megan, Sarah, Olivia, Nikki and Erin for joining the Patreon this week. You and everyone who has joined are the reason why my show can continue. If you would like to receive the show ad free or you feel you would enjoy some Victorian true crime extras, perhaps witchy content or dark Victorian poetry read in my most chocolatey podcast voice, go to myvictorianightmare.com to find out how. I've been posting a lot of extra peaceful energy brightening and regulating meditations on the fan coven lately that have been very helpful for me in these times of woe.

[Co-host/Guest]

If you yourself have been flirting with.

[Genevieve Manion]

The idea of witchcraft and want to learn more, visit myvictoriannightmare.com to find out how.

[Co-host/Guest]

Okay, before we get to today's creepy.

[Genevieve Manion]

Articles and segments, I need to issue.

[Co-host/Guest]

An important public safety announcement. Remember last week when I discussed the horrifying Bradford Sweets arsenic poisoning that killed at least 20 people?

[Genevieve Manion]

Well, guess what was found in 28 of some of the most popular candies currently on the market.

[Co-host/Guest]

I'm just going to cut to the chase. Toxic levels of arsenic was recently found in 28 of 46 popular candies by a company called Healthy Florida First Nerds.

[Genevieve Manion]

KitKats, Skittles all contained toxic levels of arsenic.

[Co-host/Guest]

This is absolutely horrifying.

[Genevieve Manion]

A couple of outliers here.

[Co-host/Guest]

Based on the amount of arsenic found.

[Genevieve Manion]

In Snickers, children should only have two.

[Co-host/Guest]

To three of these a year.

[Genevieve Manion]

Banana Laffy Taffy, you should only have nine of those a year.

[Co-host/Guest]

Black Forest gummy bears, only 40 of those. I literally eat gummy bears for dinner.

[Genevieve Manion]

Almost every single night. Luckily not those.

[Co-host/Guest]

You should have only 60 nerds. That's like how many come in a box? Actually, that might not even be the entire box. 15 sour apple jolly Ranchers.

[Genevieve Manion]

Again, this is how many you should.

[Co-host/Guest]

Be consuming a year of these things based on their arsenic content. 20 Twizzlers, 6 Kit Kats and 20 Swedish fish. Not the Swedish Fish. There are more guidelines for different candies. I put the link in the show notes of the article about this.

[Genevieve Manion]

Now mind you, arsenic is a naturally.

[Co-host/Guest]

Occurring metal found in soil, water, rock. It enters foods through natural weathering of rock, but also by pesticides and toxic fertilizers.

[Genevieve Manion]

It absorbs most easily into rice but.

[Co-host/Guest]

Also fruits and vegetables. So we're always getting at least some doses of arsenic.

[Genevieve Manion]

But again, the amount in these particular.

[Co-host/Guest]

Products appear to be completely off the charts. Safe candies, incidentally were Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Whoppers, M&MS. Twix, and Milky Ways. I don't think that they tested my favorite brand of Gummy bears though. I'm gonna have to do some deeper dives this weekend, so Jesus Christ. It's funny, the more I discuss the horrors of the Victorian era, I find.

[Genevieve Manion]

Time really is a flat circle. If you told me last year that a silk Blissy pillowcase would be one of the most hydrating things that I could do for my skin in the winter, I would not have believed you.

[Co-host/Guest]

But I am honestly shocked. I was meant to live in a.

[Genevieve Manion]

Bog, not monstrously dry winters in New York City.

[Co-host/Guest]

So my skin isn't meant for this. And you would think that I were.

[Genevieve Manion]

Sleeping in a snug, dank and dewy.

[Co-host/Guest]

Bog back in County Cork with the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Way that my Blissy pillowcase is seriously keeping my skin bouncy, moist and lovely.

[Co-host/Guest]

If you see videos of me on.

[Genevieve Manion]

Instagram, check out my baby Soft skin.

[Co-host/Guest]

That's not a filter, that is Blissey.

[Genevieve Manion]

With over 3 million sold, these pillowcases are made of 100% silk, not plasticky satin and not cotton, which I wrongfully believed was the best fabric for pillowcases. Cotton clogs your pores. It's not any anywhere near as breathable as silk. It doesn't improve your skin or reduce hair frizz like silk does. Blissy pillowcases also reduce breakage and better help keep your hairstyles from getting smushed and losing their curls and waves in your sleep. They're also naturally cooling, which is so luxurious they're hypoallergenic and they do not require hand washing.

[Co-host/Guest]

You can just throw them in the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Wash and not even worry about it. Now because you're a listener, Blissy is offering 60 nights risk free, plus an additional 30% off when you shop at Blissey.com MVNPod that's Blissey B-L-I-S-S-Y.com MVNPod and use code MVNPod to get an additional 30% off your skin and hair. Will thank you. Okay, before we get to today's creepy articles and segments, I've been having a lot of fun starting the show off with unsettling little known facts about eccentric Victorians. I might make this its very own segment going forward. Let me know if you too are enjoying it Today. I wanted to talk a bit about Madame Marie Tussaud herself. We all know that this woman created one of the most famous Victorian era attractions that still exists today, her wax museum. But not many folks know where she learned the art of creating such creepily realistic wax figures. Let's talk about it. She was born in France in 1761 and died in London in 1850, which is an astoundingly long life considering at the time only about 50% of the population survived past 35. She lived through wars, revolutions and at least a dozen epidemics to create a Victorian era obsession that is still going strong. In her early years, she was trained by a Swiss master of anatomy named Philippe Curtius. She began creating wax models of organs and body parts, but quickly moved on to creating busts like full human heads, then full human figures. She first modeled the heads of Voltaire, then Louis xvi, Benjamin Franklin and the Duke of Orleans. She was in Paris during the French Revolution and a mob broke into her studio and stole the wax head of.

[Co-host/Guest]

The Duke of Orleans, then paraded it around the streets. He was actually a supporter of the French Revolution.

[Genevieve Manion]

He was a cousin of the King and fully supported dismantling the monarchy.

[Co-host/Guest]

But these folks didn't really care that he was a supporter of the revolution. He was a member of the monarchy.

[Genevieve Manion]

So they paraded his wax head around in a mock funeral, regardless of his politics. While they paraded the wax head of the Duke around the streets, they were shot at. This was the very first event where revolutionaries were shot and killed and this event directly led to the storming of the Bastille. Two days later, her wax head kicked off the French Revolution. In not too much time, Madame was making wax casks of real guillotined heads and called to make full wax figures of high profile executed and murdered individuals. She was asked to make a cask of the rapidly decomposing body of Jean Paul Marat. He was a journalist and politician who was assassinated, stabbed to death in his own bathtub. She was tasked by revolutionaries with making.

[Co-host/Guest]

Him look nice, creating a non decomposing version of him.

[Genevieve Manion]

The still operating monarchy quickly made it illegal to create wax figures of revolutionaries or anyone it deemed unacceptable. And when this figure was found, she was arrested and imprisoned. By the time she was released, the revolution was over.

[Co-host/Guest]

However, there were a few more heads that she was tasked with making models of.

[Genevieve Manion]

Her last was the head of Maximilien Robespierre. He was actually a leader of the French Revolution. He famously oversaw the bloody Reign of terror from 1793 to 1794, orchestrating mass executions to purge perceived enemies of the Revolution.

[Co-host/Guest]

But his own people turned on him.

[Genevieve Manion]

As he became increasingly tyrannical and threaten his own deputies.

[Co-host/Guest]

His execution was essentially the last hurrah.

[Genevieve Manion]

Of the Terror in July of 1794. That same year, Marie Tussaud's mentor died and left everything to her, including all of his own waxwork figures. He wasn't wealthy, but he left her enough money to start her own business.

[Co-host/Guest]

She decided to take all of her.

[Genevieve Manion]

Heads and her full wax figures to England and created a traveling show of her work for about 333 years. The English were very interested in the French Revolution and the figures involved. So in 1802, she added to her menagerie of figures a separate chamber of horrors, an area blocked off behind a black curtain that included the heads of Marie Antoinette and King Louis xvi, besides other executed victims of the revolution. But as time went on, she added murderers like body snatchers, Burke and Hare, Mary Ann Cotton, I spoke about her in episode 76. And William Corder, he was the Red Barn Killer. I did a whole episode on him in my Patreon. Victorian True Crime Extras. After touring for so long again 33 years, she decided to establish her first permanent exhibition on Baker street in London. The permanent exhibition remained as a major tourist attraction in London and expanded to 26 other locations around the world. Marie Tussaud died peacefully in her sleep in London on my birthday, April 16, 1850, at the age of 88. She's buried in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Chelsea, London. Okay, let us begin with our first segment with Their own eyes, where I share with you the personal haunting accounts of petrified Victorians.

[Co-host/Guest]

Today. We return to the bone chilling ghost.

[Genevieve Manion]

Hunt from last week. This article in The Jeffersonian from 1859 was written by a reporter who stayed.

[Co-host/Guest]

The night in a purported haunted house.

[Genevieve Manion]

With an assistant and a dog. And his terrifying experience continues as follows. After retiring to my room, I read quietly enough till about half past eleven. I then threw myself dressed upon the bed and told my servant he might retire to his own room, but must keep himself awake. I bade him leave open the doors between the two rooms. Thus alone I came, kept two candles burning on the table by my bed. I placed my watch beside the weapons and calmly resumed reading. Opposite to me, the fire burnt clear, and on the hearthrug, seemingly asleep, lay the dog. In about 20 minutes I felt an exceedingly cold air pass my cheek. I fancied the door to my right, communicating with the landing. Place must have got open, but no, it was closed. I then turned, turned my glance to my left and saw the candles violently swayed by the wind. At the same moment, the watch beside the revolver slowly slid from the table. Softly, softly, no visible hand. It was gone. I sprang up, seizing the revolver with the one hand, the dagger with the other. I was not willing that my weapons should share the fate of the watch. Thus armed, I looked around the floor. No, no sign of the watch. Three slow, loud, distinct knocks were now heard at the bedside. My servant called out, is that you, sir? No, I said. Be on your guard. The dog now roused himself and sat on his haunches, his ears moving quickly backward and forward. He kept his eyes fixed on me with a look so strange that he concentrated all of my attention on himself. Slowly he rose up, all his hair bristling, and stood perfectly rigid and with the same wild stare. I had no time, however, to examine the dog. Presently my servant emerged from his room, and if ever I saw horror in the human face, it was then. I should not have recognized him had I met him on the street, so altered was every liniment. He passed by me quickly, saying in a whisper that seemed scarcely to come from his lips, run, run. It is after me.

[Co-host/Guest]

He gained the door to the landing.

[Genevieve Manion]

Pulled it open and rushed forth. I followed him into the landing, involuntarily calling him to stop. But without heeding me, he bounded down the stairs, clinging to the banisters and taking several, several steps at a time. I heard where I stood, the street door open, Heard it again, clap to. I was left alone in the haunted house. End quote. We will continue with the rest of this story next week, leaving you on a little cliffhanger there.

[Co-host/Guest]

That other guy did exactly what I would have done, run screaming into the night, out of the house.

[Genevieve Manion]

I talk a big game about liking spooky stuff, and I do obviously like.

[Co-host/Guest]

Spooky stories, but you couldn't pay me to to step foot in a haunted house, much less investigate one. I could absolutely imagine dying of fright. One time, this guy that I was with thought he would play a funny.

[Genevieve Manion]

Little scary joke on me.

[Co-host/Guest]

And I don't think I have ever felt closer to death. We were in his house, and I was making bacon in the George Foreman, and he left to go grab some orange juice. But when he got back, he snuck around the house and came in the back door where I wouldn't hear him. He thought it would be funny to sneak up on me now. We had binged every episode of Haunting of Hill House the day before, so I was already in rough shape. I loved that show so much, but it scared the bejesus out of me. Long story short, I thought that I.

[Genevieve Manion]

Would steal an extra piece of crispy.

[Co-host/Guest]

Bacon before he got home.

[Genevieve Manion]

He would never be the wiser when.

[Co-host/Guest]

We split the rest 50 50. And just at that moment, he screamed behind me. And my first thought, but if you could even call it that, it was more like an impulse, was, oh, no, I've been caught stealing more than my fair share of bacon. But then the very next was, in that instant, oh, God, I've been caught.

[Genevieve Manion]

Stealing more than my fair share of bacon by the devil.

[Co-host/Guest]

And instinctually, I reached all the way down and I pulled my entire dress over my head. And I started scream, crying. If it was the devil or someone that wished to do me harm, I would have done half the work of incapacitating myself. I couldn't. Could barely breathe. I had to sit on the floor. I was blinded by the tears that were shooting out of my eyes like they do in cartoons. He never scared me again after that, by the way. I think he also thought I literally could have died of fright right then and there.

[Genevieve Manion]

Again, I may talk a tough game, but I need to be handled very lightly. Okay, won't you follow me into the seance room where we discuss the goings on in the Spiritualist society of the 1800s. Today, I have two tiny bits from the Spiritualist newspaper from 1870.

[Co-host/Guest]

The first is horrifying and terrible and spooky, and the second is kind of hilarious to me.

[Genevieve Manion]

Okay, the first one reads, Mr. J.J. morse, medium, passed into the trance state, and the first spirit influence acting upon him made him cry bitterly. The spirit gave the name of Ellen Jones. She said that she had been crushed to death in Bristol and that her father was a carrier living at Weston Super Mare. Her control of the medium only lasted about two minutes. And she said, my friends cry and grieve a great deal about me. So many think about me. Can this be death? I wish Father were here. Oh, dear. Do for pity's sake, tell Father That Ellen's not dead. Do tell him. End quote. She was promised that her message should be delivered, and she left the medium. The intense grief displayed during this short communication made the scene a very painful one. Okay, that's the first one, and we will talk about it soon.

[Co-host/Guest]

Here's the second one. It is called Media Mystic D Diet, and it reads.

[Genevieve Manion]

Within the past month, we have met with five mediums in London who have been forbidden by spirits to eat pork on pain of having their mediumship taken away. Mr. Peebles says that in the United States, the same objection to pork is almost universally expressed by the spirits.

[Co-host/Guest]

End quote.

[Genevieve Manion]

Okay, that first article is so sad and terrible. And I couldn't help but search the papers to see if I could find if an Ellen Jones was crushed to death between 181869 and 1870. And in the Bristol Mercury and Daily Post from one month earlier, I found this written in an article called Terrible and Fatal accident at the new theater. 18 persons killed and several seriously injured.

[Co-host/Guest]

This is what it says.

[Genevieve Manion]

It says it will be seen that nearly all the persons killed were young and for the most part, natives of Bristol. One young woman, Ellen Jones, who was the daughter of a carrier, and one young man, Tommy. And it goes on to list more and more victims of this terrible tragedy. Her name was only in one paper that I found. And unfortunately, the text in the paper.

[Co-host/Guest]

Was wrinkled, so I couldn't see exactly what happened.

[Genevieve Manion]

In the theater, it looks like a large crowd gathered for some event, and when they opened the doors, people rushed in and many people were crushed to death.

[Co-host/Guest]

Now, could the medium have read this paper and pretended that the spirit of this poor girl was.

[Genevieve Manion]

Was speaking through him? Sure.

[Co-host/Guest]

But again, I found this name in.

[Genevieve Manion]

Only one local paper. And in the spiritualist newspaper there was a whole section about this particular medium having spent the month of January and February in Glasgow. This girl died in January in Bristol.

[Co-host/Guest]

I was gonna search to see if that one paper was even sold in Glasgow. But he could have heard about it from somewhere.

[Genevieve Manion]

Even if it wasn't, who can say?

[Co-host/Guest]

But this is the first time where I was actually able to trace spirit's.

[Genevieve Manion]

Name that a medium gave in a seance.

[Co-host/Guest]

And I'm just gonna allow myself to.

[Genevieve Manion]

Be a little goose pimply about that.

[Co-host/Guest]

Just let myself sit with that very creepy and very sad feeling. If he really did make contact with a spirit like that in that manner. Okay, goose pimples felt onto the second article about mediums and pork. On the surface, that just seems like a silly situation. Goose ghosts telling mediums that they aren't allowed to eat pork. So I dug into this because I had to, to see if there was any historical significance to why, just why. And despite the fact that I have been making this show for like a year and a half, I'm still learning new and bonkers things about these folks. By the 1860s 1870s, American and British.

[Genevieve Manion]

Spiritualism was deeply entangled with health reform and temperance culture. Many leading spiritual promoted vegetarianism or semi vegetarian diets, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and stimulating foods like spicy or overly sweet foods, and simple pure eating to keep the body spiritually receptive.

[Co-host/Guest]

Pork was considered, and they weren't wrong. Dangerous if not cooked properly, it was.

[Genevieve Manion]

Thought of as unclean.

[Co-host/Guest]

And what kind of spirit would want.

[Genevieve Manion]

To possess a salty old pork chop medium? The Mr. Peebles mentioned in that article was likely AJ Davis Peebles. He was a prominent American spiritualist lecturer who promoted dietary reform. He linked food directly to spiritual development.

[Co-host/Guest]

And traveled all over the world speaking.

[Genevieve Manion]

About American spiritualist norms.

[Co-host/Guest]

So that's the reason why mediums were.

[Genevieve Manion]

Told not to eat pork by dead.

[Co-host/Guest]

People in the 1800s.

[Genevieve Manion]

The more you know, this is your fix.

[Stassi Schroeder]

I am your host, Stassi Schroeder. Welcome to Tell Me Lies, the official podcast. What's the most unhinged thing of season three?

[Co-host/Guest]

Steven because he's so evil, I do think he is misunderstood. You see everyone face consequences. It's intoxicating.

[Stassi Schroeder]

The writers just know how to trick. Yeah, there's always a twist in this show. Tell Me Lies the Official podcast January January 6th and stream the new season of Tell Me Lies January 13th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney.

[Genevieve Manion]

Okay, this first article from the Illustrated Police News Law Courts and record from 1872.

[Co-host/Guest]

Got the COVID illustration. It is amazing. Take a look on the Instagram.

[Genevieve Manion]

The link is in the show. Notes this article is called A girl pursues her faithless lover and shoots him.

[Co-host/Guest]

In a rowboat while crossing the south.

[Genevieve Manion]

To Elizabeth Port, New Jersey. And it reads, Edward D. Waltz, German gardener employed upon Staten island, was shot a week or two since, under peculiar circumstances, he had won the affections of a young German girl and then refused to marry her. She sued him for breach of promise and the case was decided against her. On the day of the shooting, Waltz went to Elizabeth Port, crossing the sound in a rowboat. On his return he was met by his abandoned and desperate sweetheart, also in a rowboat. Indignant at his desertion, she shot him him the ball lodging in his thigh. Waltz declared that she fired at him no less than six times while he protected himself behind the gun wall of the boat. There never was a truer adage that hell knows no fury like a woman scorned. Waltz has since died and the woman has been arrested. End quote. Goodness. So it took 10 days for Mr. Waltz to actually die. That was the only information that I could find about this situation, which is horrible. I couldn't even find her name. So I was unable to find out what happened to her. Eventually, every article, and there were a number of them, just called her a German girl. It's highly likely that she was found guilty of murder and imprisoned.

[Co-host/Guest]

If she wasn't, that would have been a big enough story. If a woman murdered a man and.

[Genevieve Manion]

Wasn'T found guilty, that would have more likely made it to the papers. Yikes.

[Co-host/Guest]

Okay, this next one is awful, but the illustration is magnificent.

[Genevieve Manion]

This article is called Death Laughs at the Laughing Gas behind the Dentist's Chair. And it reads, the coroner in the case of Miss Anna o', Shaughnessy, who died in a dentist's office in New York on the 20th under the influence of laughing gas, has rendered a verdict censuring the dentist for the manner in which the gas was. Was administered. We have heretofore taken occasion to remark that this anesthetic should only be administered by the most skilful practitioners and that the patient himself, if aware of any internal weakness, should avoid it. Too many are led to submit to severe operations because they can be made insensible to the pain, not knowing that their systems are unable to withstand the shock and the reaction. They should remember that Grim Death has taken his stand of late behind the dentist's chair.

[Co-host/Guest]

End quote.

[Genevieve Manion]

Okay, I've mentioned that people were more afraid to have any anesthetic during tooth extractions and other kinds of dental surgery in the 1800s because they would hear terrifying tales of surgeons huffing laughing gas.

[Co-host/Guest]

And, like, jumping out of windows, throwing.

[Genevieve Manion]

Themselves off bridges, breaking their necks, falling down stairs.

[Co-host/Guest]

And this was happening. People had a right to be concerned.

[Genevieve Manion]

But this was another reason why most people preferred the pain of dental surgery to being given nitrous oxide. Although it was rare, people did die not directly from nitrous oxide, but from asphyxiation. Inhaling straight nitrous gas without oxygen can suffocate you to death. Again, it is rare, but it can and did happen far more often in the 1800s.

[Co-host/Guest]

Man. Okay, what would you choose if you.

[Genevieve Manion]

Had a rotting tooth in 1800s? Let's list our laughing gas.

[Co-host/Guest]

With the chance of suffocating to death hypnosis, which was being done in some.

[Genevieve Manion]

Parts, but some folks would wake up during the surgery.

[Co-host/Guest]

Ether or chloroform, which would knock you out, but unless they worked quick, you would also wake up during it. It would also make you really sick and you might puke. Or would you like to get wasted first? Getting drunk first was actually the most common form of anesthesia. Most people would just get wasted it before going to the dentist. Or better yet, how about we stop thinking about it and let's have another horrible story instead. Okay, this one isn't that bad, but.

[Genevieve Manion]

It is strange though. It is called A well to Do Jerseyman's Wife Begging in the Streets of New York and it reads, On Sunday night Mary Matthews was seen begging in The Saloon at 31 Park Row, New York. She had a boy aged five who seems to be well cared for and evidently belonged to well to do pet tyrants. He was dressed in a nice velveteen suit while she wore scarce anything but rags. Her conduct was also suspicious and a gentleman who had given her alms caused her arrest. The boy cried bitterly when he was asked whether the woman was his mother and seemed very much attached to her. When she came into the station house, she fell on her knees crying forgive me and offering to return the money which had been given to her by the gentleman who had caused her arrest. When brought before the Court of Special Sessions, she denied having stolen the child but asserted that her husband was living in comfortable circumstances in Orange, New Jersey. She was committed on the charge of vagrancy until further notice. End quote. Okay, I dug into this one and.

[Co-host/Guest]

It just got weirder and weirder.

[Genevieve Manion]

It sounds like this poor woman was.

[Co-host/Guest]

Having some kind of mental health crisis.

[Genevieve Manion]

She was the wife of a fairly well off man in a woman, Orange, New Jersey and she told her husband and their older daughters that she was going to New York for the day with the young son to retrieve a dress that she had ordered. She'd left the house but then never returned. Her husband had gone numerous times to New York to try to find her and quote his daughters said he cried bitterly every night since their mother went away. But when the little ones were asked why their father did not inform the police authorities of her mysterious disappearance, they answered that he did not witness wish his acquaintances to learn of her actions. End quote. The article mentions that the wife had never left the home by herself for more than a day before and although she was respected in the community, she was quote unquote, rather singular in her actions and considered not quite mentally well. When she was found, the husband came back to the city to retrieve her and the little boy. Gosh, what a frightening situation. I hope everyone was okay after that. It's a shame that the husband didn't want to contact the police because he was worried about what people would think about the situation that's concerning to me. But at least she and the little boy were eventually alright. Okay, Here is a terribly sad, though beautifully written one.

[Co-host/Guest]

A very good, gracious, miserably Victorian situation.

[Genevieve Manion]

It is called Made her own Shroud and it reads the Dubuque Telegraph has the following Death makes strange movements sometimes, and while suffering one to linger long in affliction, he strikes down another without warning. This is exemplified by the event which has taken place in Whitewater township on Saturday. Mr. Kowa came to Dubiciu and in view of the evidently approaching death of a beloved daughter, he and his wife thought it best to prepare somewhat for the funeral. Funeral he accordingly purchased a shroud as part of the Habiliments incident to the last sad rites. On returning home at evening, his wife was taken sick and after an illness of only two days, she died on Monday night. The daughter still living. The shroud was used for dressing the mother for the grave. She was buried in the cemetery of the sisters at St. Joseph. The daughter is still living, but with great and small uncertainty as to her recovery. Heavens now, I couldn't find any more info here. There are no names in that article. This could often mean it wasn't true.

[Co-host/Guest]

But honestly, it could have been.

[Genevieve Manion]

Illnesses like cholera, which were rampant in Iowa at this time, came on fast and killed faster. You could be dead within 24 hours after drinking cholera infected water in this specific area. In 1872, malaria, cholera, typhoid and influenza were at a literal fever pitch. Oh that poor family.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

You.

[Co-host/Guest]

Okay, let's have a fantastically written, somewhat Confounding murdery little article called Mother.

[Genevieve Manion]

In Law's the Crime of a Daughter's Husband Assumed by a Tennessee Mother. And it reads, mothers in law have somehow fallen into bad odor in modern society from time whereof the memory runneth.

[Co-host/Guest]

Not to the contrary, they have been.

[Genevieve Manion]

Chosen targets for the arrows of wit and satire.

[Co-host/Guest]

They have been pilloried in novels and.

[Genevieve Manion]

Sneered at in essays, and generally held up to scorn and reviling. Yet now and then, at rare intervals, appear one of this malignant order to.

[Co-host/Guest]

Refute by some exceptional action all these vilifications.

[Genevieve Manion]

Such a one seems to be Mrs. Julia Ortmann, an old German woman living close to the village of Jamestown, New York, the deed by which she has deserved at least the brief immortality of print. The order of one who has saved another would be deemed remarkable and heroic by any human being, done by a mother in law on behalf of a daughter's husband. It is phenomenal, if not sublime. The circumstances of this curious case are. Briefly. Charles Marlow, a German brewer, was last August with his wife, wife and mother in law, Mrs. Ortman, just outside the village, mentioned a stranger, also German, named Bachmann, sought shelter with Marlow one night and after lodging with him several days, suddenly disappeared. Suspicion fell on Marlowe. The premises were searched and Bachmann's remains, with some articles of clothing were found buried in the cellar of the brewery. The circumstantial evidence was strong against Marlow as the murderer. There seemed an fact, no reasonable doubt, of his guilt.

[Co-host/Guest]

But here the mother in law came.

[Genevieve Manion]

Forward and accused herself of the crime. She related, with minute detail, corroborated by her daughter, how she had surprised Bachman one afternoon in the act of assaulting Mrs. Marlowe had struck him with a hammer and killed him. The two women, affrighted at this unexpected result, had hastily thrust the body into the furnace of the brewery and resolved to keep the occurrence a profound secret. So well was the story invented and so strictly sworn to, that the lawyers were puzzled and the jury distrusted. On second trial, however, a more rigid cross examination broke down Ms. Ortman's consistency at last, and with it her singular invention. Marlowe's guilt was clearly proved and he is under sentence to be hanged on the 29th. In the record of crime, this case is probably unique. Doubtless it was the blind devotion of maternal love which prompted the old woman. Woman's singular impulse of self sacrifice.

[Co-host/Guest]

End quote.

[Genevieve Manion]

Okay.

[Co-host/Guest]

While reading this article, I thought it sounded familiar and I checked my scripts and I found that I covered this.

[Genevieve Manion]

Whole case in one of the Victorian true crime extras on the Patreon. I'll give a quick rundown here. It is a horrifying confounding situation. Basically, a man named Charles Marlow had a man named named William Bachman spend the night at his brewery, which was also operating as like an inn. His wife and mother in law lived there as well. These men didn't know each other personally.

[Co-host/Guest]

But for some reason Mr. Bachman had a lot of cash and he asked.

[Genevieve Manion]

Mr. Marlow if he could look after that cash while he took in the sights around town.

[Co-host/Guest]

$6,000 in cash, which would have been about like 150 grand in today's currency. Marlowe was very confused by this. Did this guy steal this money? Why the hell is he asking a random dude to watch a fortune? Maybe he knocked off a bank and Marlow was just thinking like I don't want anything to do with that when the law shows up. But it turns out the guy just.

[Genevieve Manion]

Was not very smart and was very trusting, which he should not have been. Long story short, after Marlowe realized that.

[Co-host/Guest]

This guy was just had a lot of money that didn't seem to be nefariously begotten, he decided to kill him.

[Genevieve Manion]

As soon as he got back. And by kill I mean he gave him some beer that was laced with strychnine and when he drank it he started convulsing and seizuring. But he wasn't dying right away. So Marlow hit him with a lead pipe, then dismembered his body. And his wife allegedly helped him dispose of the pieces in a furnace. They tried to burn all of the evidence, but an employee of the brewery actually went to the police and told them that he saw some of this happening. So that's how Marlo and his wife were arrested. It looked like a pretty open and shut case.

[Co-host/Guest]

But then just as it was about.

[Genevieve Manion]

To be fully shut, the mother in law claimed that she was the killer to prevent her son in law or daughter from going to prison or receiving.

[Co-host/Guest]

A death sentence sentence themselves.

[Genevieve Manion]

It was just to throw a wrench.

[Co-host/Guest]

In the whole trial. The case ended up in a mistrial.

[Genevieve Manion]

But on appeal no one bought the mother in law's story. Marlowe was sentenced to hang. Now it's unclear if his wife actually went to prison or if she was jailed temporarily. It appears more likely that she was jailed during the first trial for her husband, but may have been released after his second trial. It's likely that they couldn't prove that she was an accomplice and she, Charles, admitted to everything. In a final confession, the charges against her were most likely dropped. Such a wild and horrible story. Okay, this next article is very sad, but also very wonderful in a way. It is called extraordinary shipwreck and wonderful sagacity of a dog. And it reads, papers of February 29 contain harassing details of the wreck of the Bar Lilly Parker of Swansea, England, which left Swansea on January 8th bound for Halifax. The Lily Parker was commanded by Captain Fletcher, a native of Liverpool. One of the crew, William Carter, also lived in that city and had a wife and five children. The narrative is that the watchmen on duty at Sable island, attracted by the whining of a dog on attaching a lantern to his neck, were able to follow the him and were brought to the beach where they found a woman and her child, a little girl, two years old, lying almost drowned. They removed her to the sailors hospital about half a mile distant, where she lay insensible for a day or two. The child died the following morning from exposure. When the mother became conscious, she asked where she was. Her appearance was refined and handsome. On being told that she had been saved from some wreck and was in the hands of those who would take care of her, she earnestly expressed her gratitude. Memory returning, she suddenly asked, where is Robert? Where is Captain Fletcher? No one could tell. The surgeon could only respond that as nothing had been yet learned of the wreck, Captain Fletcher might still be safe. The poor lady wept bitterly and asked for her child. Mrs. Fletcher's bewildered memory could not lead her. The ship, she said, suddenly broke in two, and those on board were either thrown into the sea or had time to seize some portion of the wreck before the vessel fell asunder. All was confusion and dismay. Some shrieked for ropes, some for boats, and the captain cried out wildly for Bella, his wife. Mrs. Fletcher remembers little after the parting of the ship until she was conscious of being dragged ashore by somebody as she thought thought. She held her baby firmly clasped to her during the awful ordeal. It was her faithful Newfoundland dog that saved them, and the noble animal was worn out when his whines attract the attention of the watchman. End quote.

[Co-host/Guest]

Ugh. This was a true story, by the way.

[Genevieve Manion]

This was not made up, and very sadly, this woman and the dog were the only survivors. The ship and all of the crew were never found. After about five days, days of being at sea, there was a terrible storm that lasted two full days. Their sails had been badly damaged, but luckily they had about 10 days of clear skies to repair the damage at that time. But then they got hit with a hurricane, which, according to the woman, completely split the entire ship in two. They were doing their best to make their way to Sable island before the storm hit, but they were at least a mile out. So that sweet dog somehow had had the strength to help the lady and her child all the way to shore for a mile. Oh, I wish I found more information about the sweet dog, but it seems like he was okay. He was strong enough to find help. Darling creature with a lantern around his neck.

[Co-host/Guest]

I know that if Toby were able.

[Genevieve Manion]

He would do the same for me.

[Co-host/Guest]

Only he weighs 14 pounds. It breaks my heart to know that he would certainly try, even being as.

[Genevieve Manion]

Small as he is.

[Co-host/Guest]

Okay, let's have one more funny one. This article is called Witch the Human.

[Genevieve Manion]

And Witch the Brute.

[Co-host/Guest]

Wonderful sagacity of a mare which assists her drunken owner home by the coat collar.

[Genevieve Manion]

A Dubique correspondent vouches for the following.

[Co-host/Guest]

Singular horse A few evenings since a.

[Genevieve Manion]

Man whose name we could not learn.

[Co-host/Guest]

Was seen winding his way up Julian.

[Genevieve Manion]

Avenue leading a mare by the bridle.

[Co-host/Guest]

He was badly intoxicated, so much that he staggered, and it was something sometimes as much as he could do to maintain his equilibrium.

[Genevieve Manion]

The mare kept a close watch on.

[Co-host/Guest]

His movements and whenever he came near falling, the mare would grab his collar between her teeth and hold him up. She did so no less than a dozen times in the presence of several interested spectators.

[Genevieve Manion]

The drunken man fell down in the street once, but no sooner had he.

[Co-host/Guest]

Done so than the animal grabbed the back of his coat and set him on his feet again when, a little.

[Genevieve Manion]

Beyond McNulty's house, the owner of the mare met an acquaintance of his who was also drunk. They engaged in conversation and while talking.

[Co-host/Guest]

Bumped against each other and the man first alluded to fell. He was immediately picked up by the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Mayor and just as soon as she finished her job, she turned around and let her heels fly in a savage manner at the man who knocked her master down.

[Co-host/Guest]

Fortunately, her heels missed the mark. End quote. No more info here on this particular article other than we don't deserve of horses or dogs.

[Genevieve Manion]

I'm glad that all of my drunken.

[Co-host/Guest]

Saunters home in my twenties never involved bothering any innocent creatures. I picked my own self up by the scruff of my neck and miraculously.

[Genevieve Manion]

Somehow survived the decade. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please rate the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Leave me me comments because I love them so much and join the fan coven to directly support my show. Listen ad free and for even more creepy and witchy content. Until next time, be kind to yourselves.

[Co-host/Guest]

And I will see you in your nightmares.