An Old Timey Podcast - 88: John Colt’s Fate (Part 4)

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

John Colt never denied killing Samuel Adams. As the murder trial wrapped up, the defense argued that John Colt never planned to kill Samuel Adams. He’d acted in self defense. In the finale of this series, the jury returns their verdict. John Colt faces the aftermath. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Dunphy, Thomas. Remarkable Trials of All Countries. Diossy & Company, 1870.Edwards, William. The Story of Colt’s Revolver. Stackpole Co, 1953.Phelps, M. Devil’’s Right Hand: The Tragic Story of the Colt Family Curse. Lyons Press, 2013.Schechter, Harold. Killer Colt: Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend. 1st ed. Open Road Integrated Media, Inc, 2010.Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts!Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.

Hear ye, hear ye. You are listening to an old-timey podcast. I'm Norman Caruso. And I'm Kristen Caruso. And on this episode, it's the finale of my series on John Colt and the Murder of Samuel Adams. Norm, your voice. What did I do? It just made me pay attention. It's like this guy knows what he's doing. Did you feel a little tingle in a certain place? That is none of anyone's business. The tingles that happen in my elbow.

Beau. Yes, welcome, everyone. This is the finale. Thank you for listening to our podcast. We appreciate it. We have lost steam already. All the tingles are gone. Everyone was a tingling and now they're not. Yep. But fear not, Norm. I have a Patreon plug. Bring this confidence back up, Kristen. Folks, does the world make you feel anxious, angry, annoyed, and agitated? Don't be apathetic. Take action. Support our adorable, non-aided, attractive podcast by joining our Patreon. For just $5 a month, how affordable, you'll get an abundant back catalog of bonus episodes with video. They're ad-free, amusing, and frankly, Angelic.

Be altruistic, won't you? Aid an old-timey podcast. Patreon.com slash old-timey podcast. Norm? What is happening? Norm, what is happening with your face? just gave an amazing Patreon plug. And you made faces at me like you were unimpressed and alarmed.

It felt like a segment on Sesame Street where it's like, let's use the letter A as much as possible. You know what? It was impressive. I enjoyed it. And I like Sesame Street. So it's a compliment. Oh, is it? Okay.

Well, thanks. Hey, those pants make your butt look better than usual. How's that for a compliment? Well, thank you, Kristen. You're welcome. Kristen's always lesson after my badonk-dunk. Everyone, it's just not fair. Sometimes the Lird and, you know, who am I to question the good Lord above?

But the Lord blessed Norm with one hell of a can back there, all right? My watch is going off because I think it's the Lord trying to intervene. Your heart rate's going up. That's the only logical explanation. It's saying we call 911. Your heart can't beat. No, no, there's no, there's no justice in the world because some of us, you know, we work out, but we've got the pancake booties. This man over here, I was trying to think of a breakfast food that's nice and round, but I really can't.

It's just a big butt is what it is, frankly. I've got like, like, Ex Benedict booty. This is got kind of a round, kind of sloppy, runny, you know. Right. Delicious, but it's a mess back there. Absolutely. Well, thank you. It's quite the compliment.

Yeah, this is, we're off to a weird start. This is a weird start. In fairness, last episode was weird because you brought up outhouse stories into a courtroom. Some poor guy was a rake and a dream to rummage through outhouse materials. I mean, I brought it up because it happened. I'm telling a story with the truth. Wow. And yeah, some guy went down into an outhouse.

with a rake and went through two feet of piss and shit. We'll get to that in the recap. Kristen, could you give me a previously on? Yes. Previously on an old-timey podcast. We learned about the trial of John Caldwell Colt for the murder of Samuel Adams. No, not that Samuel Adams.

But was it actually murder? The prosecution thought, So, District Attorney James Whiting called up witness after witness to reconstruct the events of that fateful day. They argued that Samuel Adams met John Colt in his office. The two men had a disagreement, and John Colt got so mad he killed Samuel Adams. Then he stuffed his body into a crate and tried to ship it off to New Orleans. The defense, led by John's cousin, Dudley Selden, disagreed. This was no murder.

Only manslaughter. Samuel Adams came to John Colt's office and attacked him. John even had a bruise on his neck to prove it. The case got really wild when a medical examiner pointed out a mysterious wound they found behind Samuel Adams' left ear. A small hole you could stink your pinkyfanger in. The prosecution pounced on what they saw as an opportunity. Perhaps this mysterious wound was a bullet hole. John Colt probably shot Samuel Adams in the head, thus proving this was definitely premeditated murder.

The only problem was no one heard a shot go off. The prosecution said that John had fired the gun without gunpowder, which made the weapon much quieter. But the defense was ready for this tactic. They called up John's brother, Samuel Colt, the literal inventor of the Colt revolver. And in front of the court, he fired his gun. at a book without gunpowder. The bullets bounced off the book, and Samuel Colt caught them in the air,

like a circus trick. Definitive proof that firing a bullet without gunpowder was not lethal. When the gun theory collapsed, the prosecution tried shock and awe. They showed the jury the bloody, smelly crate that Samuel Adams' body was stuffed in. But they didn't stop there.

They also brought in Samuel Adams' literal head to show the jury. The defense had their own nasty, nasty demonstrations too. Here you go, members of the jury. Take a look at these shit-covered clothes and items we found. John Colt threw them into the outhouse after killing Samuel Adams. It was kind of an odd tactic.

Why would the defense show this stuff? Wasn't it just more proof that John Colt was trying to hide the evidence? The defense wanted to show credibility, because John Colt had written down a full confession, and it was about to be presented to the court. and that is where we will pick up our story today. I cannot wait for the bullshit that is planned for us today. Yeah?

Yeah. Well, you think John's going to tell lies? I think it's going to be a wild tale. Really? Yes. Okay. It's actually not too crazy. Well, don't spoil it, sir.

Okay. Yeah, let's get into it. Okay, so Kristen, we've heard from all these fat cats and fancy boy lawyers, yapping away about, oh, John Colt murdered someone. Oh, John Colt was mean. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, no, it's all true. Well, no.

How about we hear from the man himself? Mm-hmm. How about we hear from the source? Okay. On Thursday, January 27th, 1842, the defense team held up a stack of papers and declared, quote, we have admitted that Colt took the life of Mr. Adams. And we now propose to tell you as far as possible how it was done.

Are you ready to hear what really happened that fateful day, Kristen? From John Colt himself. Sure. Here we fudgeon go. Oh. Picture it. It's the afternoon of Friday, September 17, 1841. It's around 3 p.m.

Samuel Adams arrives at the office of John Colt. John said he was sitting at his desk, shirtless. His large biceps and six-pack abs were glistening in the afternoon sun, shining in from the window. He was feeding a helpless kitten with milk from his large, succulent nipples. Oh, gross. I know. I don't think the jury's buying that.

No. Okay, here's what he actually was doing. John was reading over the latest edition of his book, The Science of Double Entry Bookkeeping. Kristen, you read it yet? You've heard about it since part one. No, but what page are you on? There's something I love about sitting and casually reading your own.

book. Hey, hey, he's about, he's publishing the latest edition. He wants to make sure there's no typos. Sure, sure. It's not a vanity read. Right, right. Actually, with John Cole, it might be. It definitely is. Look how amazing my book is. I, at this point, should pause to say, I have done this myself. Hmm, so you and John Colt, not so different, huh, Kristen? We're always throwing things into outhouses and then asking someone to go down and fetching. him later. The life of a successful author. So yeah, he's reading over his book, and then Samuel Adams took a seat in a chair and was like,

John, we need to talk about the $70 you owe me. John corrected him. Well, actually, I only owe you $55, and I'm an accountant, so you may want to adjust your numbers. Okay? Samuel Adams countered with, no. The problem is, you don't understand. understand the printing business. The two men went back and forth, back and forth.

They called each other liars, cheaters. And then they both stood up, shouting right into each other's faces. And things soon got physical. Samuel Adams threw a right hook, boom! Hit John right in the schnaz! And blood came out of his nostrils. John swung back, boom! And then they started grappling, Kristen.

Adams grabbed a hold of John and slammed him against the wall. Near his desk, John let out a moan. Did they kiss? Kiss me. Hey, this could be a good fanfic. No. So he slammed him against the wall, near his desk, and then he grabbed John's neck band, and he started twisting it. It was choking out John Colt.

John Colt was in trouble now. He put his hand on his desk and felt for something, anything, to fight back with. And that's when he came across his trusty hatchet hammer tool. He picked it up, and in a blind rage, he started wailing on Samuel Adams' head. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Soon, Adams let go of John Colt and fell over with a loud thud. Wow.

John Colt stood in shock, silently staring at Samuel Adams' body on the floor. Samuel Adams was breathing heavily. His last gasps as blood poured out of his head. What? As blood poured out of his head? There's just something about the way you said it. Oh, I'm sorry. Is this funny, Kristen? No, no, it's not.

I don't know, it felt very unserious, I guess. My apologies to Samuel Adams. John Colt recalled, quote, A horrid thrill came over me that I had killed him. That thrill was soon interrupted by a knock at the door.

This was Asa Wheeler, inquiring about the noises. John ignored it and then locked his door. He sat in his office chair, silent, contemplating what to do. Meanwhile, blood continued to spill out of Samuel Adam. his head all over the floor.

John worried that it would seep through the floorboards and drip down into the apothecary shop below. Boy, would that be a surprise? John quickly grabbed some twine and tight it around Samuel Adams' neck to help stop the bleeding. And then he grabbed a towel and started wiping up blood off the floor and wringing it out into a bucket. Dear God, you know, sometimes people ask, hey, are there any episodes that are okay to listen to with my kid. I'm guessing this one won't ever make the cut. Kids, we're going to be real

with you in this episode, okay? You know, we're not going to sense there anything from you. Wow. This is what life is like, folks. Is it? No, it's not. This is really messed up. Then there was another knock at the door. John ignored it again. He stayed hidden away in his office. He wrote, quote, my horrid situation remained from this time until dark, a silent space of time, of still more horrid reflection. At dusk, John decided he needed to talk to somebody he could trust, his brother, Samuel Colt. He snuck out of his office and ran over to the city hotel, where Samuel was whining and dining with potential investors. John interrupted their meeting and said, Sam, I need to speak with you. Samuel noticed that John looked anxious and de-shadowed.

But he was like, not now, I'm busy. Here's my room key. I'll meet you upstairs in a few minutes. But John never went up to the room. Instead, he left and wandered the park, thinking about his next moves. At one point, he thought, maybe I should go to the police and tell them everything. He never thought that. He did because he just said he said, Kristen.

Sorry for questioning this man. But the more he considered this, the more he got nervous about the potential fall. out. He thought about the quote, horrors of the excitement, a trial, public censure, false and foul reports that would be raised by the many who would stand ready

to make the best appear worse. A.k.a. the lying crooked media will twist all of this in ruin me. Hmm. Hmm. Then he had a new idea. Hmm. Maybe I should just set the building on fire. Oh my God.

But John... You're going to kill even more people. Well, great point, Kristen, and John Colt thought that too. And he was like, I'm no killer. What about all these innocent people in the building? I can't set it on fire. Yeah, plus that kitten I was breastfeeding is still in there. He's nursing it back to health. Was he going to burn to death in the building? Eventually, John Colt went back to his office. At around 9 p.m., Asa Wheeler left. It was then that John decided that the best course of action was to just get red. of the body. He looked around his office and he saw a crate, measuring three feet long, two feet wide, two feet high. John was very proud of this crate because he built it himself, Kristen,

but gosh, that was way too small to fit a body. Or was it? Oh, Lord. John quickly closed his window shutters and he set the crate down on the floor. He undressed Samuel Adams. And then he took some rope and he tied it around Adam's neck all the way around his knees. And when he tightened the rope, it sort of scrunched up the body, putting Adams in a fetal position. He placed Samuel Adams into some old window awning,

lifted him up, and by golly, he fit in that crate. Well, almost. His knees were sticking out of the top. So like Wiley Coyote on a rock that won't budge, John Colt stood on Samuel Adams' body and stomped him down until he fit in that crate. And then John took four or five nails and secured the lid.

It was then time to clean everything up. John took all of Samuel Adams' remaining possessions, his clothes, keys, wallet, money, pencil case, and he threw them into the outhouse outback. And then he cleaned his office floor, routinely emptying the bucket out into the street where the blood flowed into a sewer drain. Now John had to clean himself up.

He made his way to a nearby bathhouse To wash all the blood off of himself and his clothes It's weird because in his confession He never mentions how he like Hid himself You know you don't walk into a business covered in blood Right right I'm guessing he wore a coat

You know I doubt he looked like Carrie Walking into that bath house Oh hey It's my wife's time of the month And let's just say I enjoyed No I'm stopping you right there Like, now that's a real man. Uh-huh.

After cleaning up, John arrived back at the boarding house around 11 p.m. His girlfriend, slash fake wife, Caroline Henshaw, woke up and asked, Why are you home so late? John lied. He claimed he was visiting a friend from Philadelphia, and he had to wake up early to send him off. Well, the next morning, John went back to his office with more nails. He secured the crate as much as possible from all sides. and then he ran down to the maiden lane wharf, and he asked a sailor, hey, what's the first ship heading out for New Orleans?

The Kalamazoo, the sailor replied. So John ran back to his office. He addressed the crate to a totally made-up person in New Orleans. And then he took the crate. He shimmied it out of his office to the top of the stairs. And then this is where John's confession gets suss, as the kids say. because John claimed he did not carry the crate down the stairs. Instead, he found someone walking outside, and he asked,

hey, could you help me get this crate down? And the mysterious helper apparently, quote, got the crate down without any assistance. He preferred doing so. So this goes completely against the testimony of Law Acton, the building maintenance man. Right. You know, Law Acton claimed John himself took the crate down. braced the box against his shoulder and he slowly let it slide down the stairs. To me, this is clearly a tactic to dismiss the notion that John had gotten the bruise on his neck for moving the

crate. Oh, thank you. Okay, because I was like, this is a weird part of the story to lie about. I don't see the advantage. But that's, that's exactly right. Yeah, you need a self-defense wound and that's his only wound. Right. Also, perhaps the defense thought an all-wise jury would believe the white guy over the black guy. Yeah. Anyway, from there, John waved down the cartman, Richard Barstow, who took the crate down to Maiden Lane Wharf? I have to pause.

Okay. Everyone, if you don't have the video version of the podcast, you should know that Norm does a hilarious thing. Anytime he says cartman, he puts an image on the screen of Cartman from South Park. Well, credit to Joe, he first came up with. Oh, my apologies to Joe. I have continued the bit. Okay, okay.

Hats off to Joe and Norm. So yeah. Richard Barstow takes the crate down to Maiden Lane Wharf. It's loaded onto the Kalamazoo ship. And crew members ask John, hey, do you want a receipt? And he was like, no thanks. I don't want any paper trail of this, actually. Say it's from Mr. Anonymous.

Yeah. So it was done. John was exhausted. He walked over to the nearby Lovejoy, and he ordered a hot roll and coffee. Lovejoy Hotel? The Lovejoy Hotel. Goodness.

Definitely not a brothel. Hmm. But John said he wasn't hungry. He slurped down two cups of coffee and he headed back to his office. John looked everything over once again, cleaned up a little more, and then he returned to the boarding house and he went to bed. And that was the confession of John Colt. What do you think, Kristen? Um...

It's not too different. from what the prosecution's saying. Yeah, and that's what makes it good, in my opinion, is, and I think he must have gotten a lot of coaching from his attorney slash cousin. Dudley? Yeah, because I think left to his own devices, John would have come up with something really stupid. Like breastfeeding a helpless kitten? Well, maybe not that stupid. With his six-pack abs, glistening.

But I do think he would try to somehow paint himself as heroic. Mm-hmm. But really, I hate to say it, this isn't too bad. It's not bad. Yeah. Yeah. Now, his thing about like, oh, I didn't carry the crate down the stairs. Someone else did that.

What do you think about that? Because of his bruise on his neck. So the prosecution was like, well, he got the bruise on his neck from carrying down the crate. Yeah, so to me, that is huge. Yeah. That's a big lie. and you've got a witness who has no reason to lie, a witness who says, no, that's not the way that happened.

Right. Law, Acton has no reason to lie about this. Exactly. Well, let's see what happens. So after reading the confession aloud, the defense addressed the jury. They said the prosecution has to prove premeditation. They have to prove that John Colt had planned this crime in advance

and he had lured Samuel Adams into his office to kill him. And as you can see from this confession, this was simply a case of a death resulting from an argument that got way out of hand. Quote, from the testimony of Caroline Henshaw that she saw a mark on the neck of Mr. Colt, it is evident that a struggle took place. Mr. Adams, we have reason to believe, had his hands within Mr. Colt's neckcloth and was twisting it in such a manner as, to cause suffocation.

Hold on. Hold on. Yes. The bruise on his neck. Yes. Just one bruise? Is it on both sides? One bruise.

Does that really make sense for strangulation? Kristen, you are a true crime princess. It's true. It's true. You have pointed out a very, very important detail that the prosecution will bring up. Okay, yeah. Because that bruise is way more consistent with taking that homemade casket down the stairs than it is with someone actually. Because even if it was an injury he sustained in a fight, how would you get that exactly?

Yeah. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. The prosecution will point that out later. Okay. I'll continue this. Please don't. Let's just stop here.

So the defense said, Mr. Adams, we have reason to believe, had his hands within Mr. Colt's neckcloth and was twisting it in such a manner as to cause suffocation. In such a situation where self-defense only was exercised and death ensued, the case comes clearly under the class denominated by the statute as justifiable homicide. And with that, the defense rested. The next day, Friday, January 28, 1842, brought closing arguments. I'm not going to go into these too much because it's basically. a rehash of everything we have talked about. But basically, the prosecution said that John Colt had a victimhood complex. Oh, really?

He wanted the jury to believe that everyone was out to get him. But the evidence was clear. He brutally murdered Samuel Adams over a disagreement and then tried to cover it up. And yes, it was premeditated. District Attorney James Whiting defined it, stating, quote, all that is necessary is to show that there was time after his arm was raised to exercise reflection. Does the law require it shall have been a long time before? No, not even a single minute if the intention is to produce death and the blow is unnecessarily produced.

As for this whole notion of self-defense, okay, where is John Colt's neckcloth? Wouldn't he have had significant bruising on his throat? Surely if there was a struggle, wouldn't Asa Wheeler have heard a much louder commotion like someone being slammed against a wall? Right. In conclusion, Whiting told the jury, quote, I believe that life was taken by John Colt. I believe that if by laying down his own life he could restore that man to his family, he would gladly do it. But does that excuse him for taking the life of Mr. Adams?

You have a simple duty to perform. I have endeavored faithfully to do mine. thoughts, Kristen? I love his point about premeditation. Yeah. That's a very good point. Well, the defense was trying to mislead the jury on that one. Yeah.

So I thought about that a lot where, yeah, when you hear premeditation, you do think some guy days before is writing out his plan to kill somebody and, you know, strategizing. Which that can happen. Yeah. Yeah. But premeditation can also be within 30 seconds. I've decided I'm going to kill somebody. That's a great point he made.

Yeah. So now it's the defense's turn. Dudley Selden argued, this is clearly self-defense. John Colt didn't kill Adams for his money. That's nuts. John would have, quote, picked a more wealthy victim than poor Mr. Adams. Give me a break.

That bruise on John Colt's neck was proof that Samuel Adams tried to choke him out. In this case, the prosecution had failed to prove premeditation. Dudley Selden closed with, quote, If there is a doubt, you are bound to present a verdict of acquittal. Indeed, you must give a verdict of acquittal. The following day on Saturday, January 29, 1842, Judge William Kent instructed the jury. Their duty was not to determine if John Colt killed Samuel Adams.

That was not up for debate. The only question before them was, is this murder or is it manslaughter? Judge Kent then instructed the jury to ignore some evidence. While the salt on Samuel Adams' dead body was a gruesome sight, it had nothing to do with the charge. And the hatchet hammer tool, you cannot use that as proof of premeditation. Why not? Because John Colt had owned that tool for months, and he used it for his job.

And was it always out on his desk? Yes. Oh, okay. All right, Judge. I don't like it. Honestly, in my head, I was like, to me, that would be a big factor if I was on the jury. Gotcha. I guess I didn't really think about it too much.

I thought it made sense to me because, yeah, he had this hatchet, hammer tool for a long time, and he used it to build shipping crates. So, yeah, he didn't go out and buy it to kill somebody. Right. Above all, Judge Kent reminded the jurors that, quote, if there is a reasonable doubt, you must rule in favor of the prisoner. And with that, the court adjourned. John Colt buried his head in his hands, as Samuel consoled him with a friendly hand on the shoulder. At 6 p.m., the jury left to deliberate the case. Nine hours later, at 3 a.m. on Sunday, January 30th, 1842, the jury had reached their verdict.

Court was immediately called back into session. All right, Kristen, nine hours seems kind of quick. what do you think? Manslaughter or murder? Oh gosh. Honestly, I wouldn't be too mad at the jury if they found manslaughter just because it is hard to say. To me, the big thing is the bruise on his neck. Yeah.

To me, it's not consistent at all with him being strangled. Right. It lines up perfectly with the weird omission from his confession. And so that would make me think murder, not manslaughter. So I'm... You're going with murder? I'm... Wait, is it what I would say?

Or is it what I think the jury's going to say? Let's do both. What would you say it is? Oof. Okay, you know what? I am a weeny. You're a weeney? I'm a weenie.

My big fear... To me, the biggest fear is locking up an innocent person. Of course, this guy is not innocent. Right. He killed someone and he fully admits he killed somebody. I would hate to overdo it. I would rather err on the side of caution a little bit. And without, oh, maybe I would, maybe I'd do manslaughter.

Okay, I agree. I would charge John Cole with manslaughter. Really? Yes. Okay, I thought I was being just a lone weenie, but it turns out there's two weenies in this room. You're not a lonely weenie, Kristen. We should, we should have like two little hot dogs in love. That should be a portrait of us over our fireplace.

It's like a coat of arms and it's just two hot dogs in an X. Okay, so we both think he should be charged with manslaughter. What do you think the jury said, though? I think the jury went with manslaughter too. Okay, let's see what happens. Judge William Kent sat down, banged the gavel, and called up the foreman. How say you, gentlemen, the foreman stood up. Guilty of murder.

Oh. John Colt looked ahead, still and silent, as the defense pulled each juror for their answer. And it was official. John Colt was guilty of murdering Samuel Adams. I am one shocked weeny. Mm-hmm. John Colt was taken back to the halls of justice to await his sentencing. All around the country, the verdict was headline news, from the frontier lands of Missouri, up to the lobster orgies of Maine, down to the swamp lands of Florida. The trial was over, but many questions remained. What would the sentence be?

Would John's inevitable appeal be successful? Will Samuel Colt's influence get John a pardon from the governor? Only time would tell. John Colt was back in his jail cell, nervously awaiting his fate. But it honestly wasn't that bad because his brother Samuel had bribed the warden and got John some pretty sweet upgrades to his accommodations.

Oh, my Lord. For example, John got all of his meals brought in from local restaurants. What the hell? Mm-hmm. That's like your dream is to eat every meal from a restaurant. And, you know, if I had to live in a jail cell to do it, okay. Okay. Not bad.

His cell was also filled with fine furniture. And as for clothes, he didn't have to wear a jumpsuit, Kristen. John wore silk pajamas and slippers What? He got to spend his time reading books and smoking cigars. It's amazing what money will do for you in this country. Uh-huh.

Things have changed, though. Yep, it's not like that anymore. Gleine Maxwell, she's just having a real rough time. That's right. In the evenings, John sipped on cognac and wrote letters to friends and friends. Are you kidding me? No, I'm not kidding.

He's living a better life than like 90% of the country. Okay, and it's funny, in a letter to a friend, I didn't write this down, but in a letter to a friend, he bragged about how his accommodations were better than some of the finest hotels in New York City. Disgusting. Yeah, because now his brother is fully taking care of him. Previously, he had to fend for himself, and he wasn't too great at that. Right. So yeah, he's sipping on cognac, writing letters to friends and family. And in those letters, he continued to proclaim his. his innocence, and he hoped that his words would reach a sympathetic public. I sure hope you don't leak this letter. Don't tell anyone about this letter, and if you do, send it to the New York Times to the editor.

So in one letter, John wrote, quote, I did but defend myself against a wanton, vile, and unpardonable attack. And this I would do again at any time when insulted and assaulted. No man would do less. His very nature compels him to this. I have nothing in this affair to reproach my conscience with. He's believing his own bullshit now. This is when it gets really scary.

John Colt believed he didn't get a fair trial. The jury had convicted him for, quote, endeavoring to conceal a misfortune, not for killing a man. And that Samuel Adams guy, he was no saint. He was, quote, a most aggravating fellow, I had always before attributed his manner to ignorance, not to ill will. However, I was mistaken. I was cherishing a viper that was ready at any time to sting me.

Dude, you killed this man. Can you lay off? You don't have to insult him, too. Yeah. Although I do like that last line. That's a good line. That is a good line. Say it again, cherished.

I was cherishing a viper that was ready at any time to sting. me. Boy, been there, honey. I hate to relate to you, but I would like the silk PJs and the cognac, and I'd like to say that line to myself a few times. Yeah, I was going to say, I feel like you and maybe some of our listeners have been through a similar experience. We've all murdered somebody and put a bit of a crate that we may.

You've maybe put someone on a pedestal and, you know. Sure. No, this is something I think a lot of people can relate. I hate that. We're doing it in this way. But yeah, a lot of people, I think, can be like, oh, wow. Someone I trusted dearly turned out to be a viper. Now, that's not the case here, though.

I want to make clear this guy's a douchebag and his silk PJs. Really, I'm just jealous that he has silk PJs. I have some, you know, I mean, they're probably nylon. My God, I don't know. You bought some new PJs recently. You love them. I do. Where do they, Lansend?

We're not sponsored. The plaid. You love those plaid landsend PJs. I do love some flannel PJs. Yeah. All we need for you to do is sip on some cognac. I can do it. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, John has a way with words. It really does make me want to read the science of double-entry bookkeeping. But John Colt remained hopeful. He believed his appeals would get him a new trial. But even in the worst case scenario, if he was sentenced to death, John said he wasn't afraid. He wrote, quote, Death hath no terrors for me. I shall die as calm as any man died.

No, bullshit. He's, again, oh, I hope this brave letter doesn't get out to somebody cool. I hope people don't want to bang me because I'm so hot and calm. And also, I'm not worried about meeting the Lord because I definitely didn't murder someone in cold blood. Yeah, you remember how he talked about his six-pack abs and his big biceps. I'm onto this fella. Yeah, pretty much every letter he wrote got leaked. Yeah.

Okay, so let's talk about the appeal. So almost right away, John's lawyer slash cousin, Dudley Do Right, aka Dudley Selden, he got to work on the appeal. And it focused on several key issues with the trial. Ready, Kristen? Yes. The first problem was the jury selection. Judge Kent had brought in like 220-plus jurors, and the defense didn't get, quote, a fair opportunity. for scrutinizing the panel and preparing for a proper exercise of John's right to challenge.

And speaking of the jurors, you know what I heard? What? I heard one of those jurors was apparently talking shit about John Colt before the trial. Oh. He said that John would, quote, be hanged first and tried afterward. Oh, well, that is bad. What do you think of that? No, I think that sucks.

Mm-hmm. And by the way, the trial, it was bullshit. The judge fudged up when he allowed all that questioning and examination and evidence about guns. Dudley Selden wrote, quote, the only instrument specified in the indictment as the means of committing the offense was a hatchet. So why are we talking about guns? And finally, Dudley Selden presented a somewhat newish thing at the time. It was called forensic analysis.

The defense-hired medical examiner, Dr. David Rogers to analyze the attack on Samuel Adams. And Dr. Rogers believed there was proof that this was indeed a case of self-defense. You ready? Yeah. Number one, Samuel Adams was standing when he received the fatal blows. There were blood splatters on the wall above his head, and no one had heard anything after Samuel Adams fell to the floor.

Therefore, John Colt didn't attack Samuel Adams while he was on the ground. How is that for sure self-defense? I guess there was questions of, you know, he hit Samuel Adams, Samuel Adams fell to the ground, and then John Colt finished him off on the ground. So he's saying all the blows happened while he was standing. Okay. Number two, John Colt and Samuel Adams were at the most one and a half feet away from each other during their altercation. quote, several blows were received by Adams, any one of which would have felled him if unsupported, yet he did not fall.

So Dr. Rogers argued that Samuel Adams didn't fall because he was grabbing onto something. Specifically, he was grabbing John Colt's neckband. Number three, if John Colt had been the aggressor, surely he would have attacked Samuel Adams from behind. And if he attacked him from the front by surprise, wouldn't Samuel Adams have cried out in distress? If John Colt attacked without warning, he would have used the full swing of his arm to hit Samuel Adams. But Samuel Adams' wounds did not reflect that. John Colt's arms were tied up in a struggle. And then number four, there were no defensive wounds on Samuel Adams' arm because his arms were fully engaged.

So in conclusion, Dr. Rogers believed that the attack turned deadly when Samuel Adams stood up, lunged at John Colt, grabbed him by the neck band, and tried to choke him out. So that's the appeal. Kristen, is that enough for a new trial? Hmm. I would say the judge's error would certainly be enough. I would say that juror thing? Mm-hmm. That's bad.

The guy that was talking shit on John Colt? Yeah, that, yikes. Overall, yeah, I would say that's enough for a new trial. Yeah. I did think the forensic analysis stuff was pretty interesting. It is, it is. Yeah, like the no defensive wounds, the fact that they were able to prove that John Colt didn't have the full use of his arms

when he hit Samuel Adams. Yeah, it's, I mean, this is very early forensic analysis stuff. But it's super interesting. I also think it's enough for a new trial. So the appeal goes all the way to the New York Supreme Court. And here's what they said. The judges were, quote, unable to see any ground for interfering with the proceedings. Wow.

So that whole jury thing? Well, there's no limit to the amount of people the judge can call in for jury duty. It's completely at his discretion, so we can't even review that. And the pistol evidence, Judge Kent was correct to allow that. Because the indictment did contain account for killing, quote, with a certain instrument to the jurors unknown. Oh, okay. Plus, a medical examiner had presented a never-before-seen wound on Samuel Adams' head. It was okay for the court to look into that.

And that forensic analysis, the judges were like, we just don't agree with that. Wow. Appeal denied. Wow. Judge Kent was free to hand down John Colt's sentence. And that came on Tuesday, September 27, 1842. At around 10 a.m., Judge William Kent walked in. Will the prisoner please rise?

John, who was seated next to his brother, Samuel, and his lawyers, stood up. Prisoner, you may remember that you have been indicted for a certain murder. Upon that indictment, you were arraigned. Upon your arraignment, you pleaded not guilty and put yourself upon the country for trial, which the country has found you guilty. What have you now to say why judgment should not be pronounced against you according to the law? John Colt replied, I have prepared a few remarks that I wish to go to the court.

Oh boy. Here we go, Kristen. I won't read this verbatim because it is long and rambling. I'm sure it is. But basically, John Colt said he had an unfair trial, that he did not actually commit a crime, and that he had suffered a, quote, misfortune. And if it happened again, he would do the same damn thing.

John was like, this whole sentencing thing is a charade because I'm definitely going to get a new trial. Oh. Judge Kent did not appreciate the complete disrespect. And he, quote, came down on John like a hurricane. He was like, if the court erred at all, I believe it was too lenient. reconstructing the circumstances of your offense. Judge Kent continued. He read, quote,

The sentence of the court is that you, John Caldwell Colt, on the 18th of November next, be hanged until you are dead. And may God have mercy on your soul. Oh. That is a harsh sentencing. I mean, that's the harshest, right? Yeah.

You know, even today, once you've been convicted, It is not easy to get an appeal. And especially back in this time period, they just killed you lickety split. Quickly, yeah. That's tough to stomach considering that both you and I agreed that if we were on the jury, we would go with manslaughter. Yeah. John Colt showed no emotion, but his brother Samuel looked shocked and full of grief. John Colt was set to die.

but there was still a glimmer of hope. The defense may have lost their appeal, but they had two more shots to either A, get a new trial, or B, get a pardon. And their first step was to rally the public. Because, hey, if enough people complain about this, you know, something might get done. So in October of 1842,

John's friends published a pamphlet entitled, An Authentic Life of John C. Colt. It was a 70-page-long, biography of John that was the most flattering thing I have ever read. It described John Colt as brave, excellent conduct, remarkable talents, great generosity, ambitious spirit. It was, quote, truly a mystery that a man like John was in prison under sentence of death. At the end, the pamphlet included a rallying cry.

In a few days, it will be too late to repair the wrong, and unless there be some merciful some just interposition. Thousands of hearts will be rung with agony and horror for the untimely death of a young, amiable, gentle, and as all who know him believe, innocent man. To get a new trial, the defense would have to convince the Chancellor of New York, Ruben Wallworth. And if you're wondering, what the hell is the Chancellor of New York?

Okay, thank you, because I was like, am I this stupid? I do not know what this is. Great question. So it is a position that no longer exists. Okay, okay. Oh, is it one of these old-timey-appointed positions? Old-timey-appointed position. Back in the 1840s, the chancellor was the highest judicial office in the state.

It was above the Supreme Court. Wow. And it's just one person? One guy. So basically, you could appeal a Supreme Court decision, and it would go to the chancellor. Okay. So Ruben Wallworth was basically the king of the judges in New York. And so Ruben Wallworth had the power to give John Colt a new trial.

The defense thought they had a really good shot, too, because of nepotism. Ruben Wallworth was apparently acquainted with a lady relative of John Colt for more than 30 years. Oh. I don't know the circumstances of that. I don't know if they were banging. They definitely were. Maybe they were just best friends. Okay.

But to the defense's surprise, Ruben Walworth denied John a new trial. Quote, there was no reason to doubt that the prisoner has been properly convicted. So the new trial is off the table. So there's only one hope now for John Colt, and that is a pardon from the governor of New York, William Seward. Governor Seward would later serve as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of State. Oh, yeah. He was also the guy that purchased Alaska from Russia. For the low, low price of $7 million.

Huh. Adjusted for inflation, $132 million. Not bad. Not bad. You know, at the time, they called it Seward's Folly. Oh. Because they thought, what an idiot. Why would you buy that?

Useless land. Uh-huh. And now look, it's... And now look. He's laughing in his grave. There was an assassination attempt on him that night, right? Yes, on the night John Wilkes Booth killed... Abraham Lincoln.

Another guy was sent to Seward's house. Seward was... Sick, right? He was injured from a carriage accident. He had like a neck brace on. Oh, Lord. And Payne stabbed him, and he couldn't get the knife in him because that neck brace or whatever

was like blocking the... Jesus. Yeah. Yeah, vicious attack. God, what was that guy's name? Pain? Hang on. Thomas.

Watch me be right, folks. There's only a couple names. John, Thomas, or Sandel? Louis Powell. Oh, damn it. But sometimes he went by Lewis Payne, I guess. And sometimes Tom Payne. No, not.

Thomas Payne, you're thinking of that old writer for the Revolutionary War. So, yeah, they had to convince Governor William Seward to give John Colt a pardon. Governor Seward got a lot of letters for pardns. But, you know, he was used to it. That's part of the job. Yeah. But man, the requests for a pardon for John Colt, it was like nothing he had ever seen before. Seward later wrote that it, quote, eclipsed all other state business.

Most of them said the same thing. Samuel Adams' killing was not premeditated. Pardoning John Colt would, quote, be in the best interest of society. At the very least, John doesn't deserve the death penalty because it's nothing more than revenge. So Governor Seward did his due diligence. He reviewed the entire case. And on Friday, November 11, 1842, one week before John's planned execution, he reached a decision. And because of the public interest in this case, Governor Seward had his decision published in the Albany Evening Journal.

And it read in part, quote, Such a homicide could not have been accidental or necessary for self-defense. It was committed with a deadly weapon in a cruel and inhumane manner upon a defenseless and powerless man. Guilt seeks concealment. If the blood which had been spilled did not accuse the prisoner,

he would not have endeavored to remove the stains it left. Much less would the accused have mutilated those remains and disposed of them in a manner, the very account of which produces a revolt of all the sympathies of the human heart.

The expectation of pardon, the last hope of life, must be relinquished, aka pardon denied. Yeah. But Kristen, the defense, they're not going to take no for an answer. I thought that was the last guy you could go to. They have to, right? Well, a few days later, they gathered up 36 highly respected lawyers,

and they traveled to Albany, New York, and they demanded to speak with Governor Seward. Okay. Governor Seward refused to see them. He sent them away, and he called their act seditious. How? Basically, you're trying to, like, overthrow the decision of the governor. Get out of here.

My decision is final. It was official. John Colt was going to hang, and nothing could stop it now. Kristen, we've talked about the lack of entertainment in old-timey times. People were bored. They were looking for things to do. And here's a great example of the kinds of things people would do for entertainment back then. The Halls of Justice decided it would be a great idea to sell tickets to John's execution.

That's so gross. 300 tickets were available. I mean, why not? John Colt's case was still the talk of the town. Tickets to the execution became a hot selling item in New York City. But only men were allowed to attend. Yeah, ladies can't handle it. Can't handle it.

They're little weenies, right, Kristen? That's right. They just faint, and then that'd be a waste of a ticket. Exactly. On the night before his hanging, John had a visitor. It was the prison reverend, Dr. Henry Anthon. Reverend Anthon visited John often. He tried to get John to confess to his sins.

But John always refused because he maintained his innocence. But now Reverend Anthon had a new question for John. At what hour tomorrow do you wish to be executed? Up to that point, John had claimed he wasn't afraid to die. But now he broke down. The reality of his impending death hit him. John laid down, sobbing. And then he regained his composure, and he confidently said,

Sunset. How poetic. The next morning on Friday, November 18, 1842, crowds arrived at the jail. They got there early to get a good view because, quote, John was not to be hung high enough for those in the back of the crowd to see him. Those without tickets climbed onto nearby rooftops to witness the hanging from above. John Colt didn't sleep the previous night. He stayed up writing final letters to friends and family.

And that morning, Samuel Colt visited him. They spoke privately for a few minutes. And then Samuel handed John $500 in cash, and then he left. Say that again? So Samuel Colt visited John. They spoke privately. Samuel handed him $500, and then he left. Why?

You'll see. Is he going to... What? Is this going to be a prison break? A prison break? What do you mean, Kristen? Why would you give someone $500 when they're about to be executed? Maybe he owed him $500.

Wanted to pay him back before he died. That'd be a debt that I think you could just rest easy. That $500 I owe you, are we cool on that? We're cool on that because you're dying at sunset, right? At sunset. that. Interesting observation, Kristen. Well, I think anyone would have noted. Okay, fine, continue. I'm very intrigued. You're just a curious little ho, aren't you? That's right. After breakfast, Reverend Anthon came to see John Colt again, and he once again asked John to confess to his

sins. John again refused. I would not die with a lie on my lips, he said. And then John pulled out that $500 in cash that Samuel Colt had given. given him, and he handed it to the Reverend. He asked that the money go into a savings account and be distributed to Caroline Henshaw and their baby boy, Samuel, at a rate of $20 a month. And the Reverend agreed to do that. You're looking at me like, huh? Who to what?

I am, because why wouldn't his brother be in charge of that? Why would you trust this random third party to do that? I don't know. Okay. Maybe he wanted it to come from him. him. Like, it's coming from me, John. The money's coming from me. Okay. Yeah, no, that, that makes sense, but you're really putting a lot of faith in this reverent. Mm-hmm. He's a man of God, Kristen. Honestly, though, the whole confess your sins, confess your sins, confess your sins, sure.

Mm-hmm. But don't you imagine if you're, if you're in that position where someone's about to be put to death, wouldn't the right thing be to offer them comfort? Yeah, and I should say that the Reverend Anthony did do that. Okay. He consoled him and prayed with him. Okay. But he was also like, hey, you know, before you die, you should really confess to what you did. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.

My apologies to the record. Yeah, yeah. So the Reverend agreed to do that, you know, distribute the money to Caroline and their baby, who, by the way, is named Samuel. There's yet another Samuel in this story. Jeez. And then John made one final request. Reverend, will you marry Caroline and I?

And so as prison guards constructed the gallows right outside his cell window, John Colt married Caroline Henshaw. Caroline was looking fine as hell in a straw bonnet, green shawl, and a burgundy cloak. Kristen, I've said before on this podcast, I would love to rock a cape. I'm going to revise that. I want a cloak. Okay. It's even better than a cape.

They're longer. You get the hood. Uh-huh. Man, I would look cool. Caroline Henshaw put on a brave face and smiled as they exchanged vows. But inside, she was filled with dread. She worried about her and her child's future. After the ceremony, John and Caroline were left alone for an hour to, quote, bid each other farewell. An hour? John, you stud!

That's a sad. It is sad. That's just awful. I'm not a death penalty person. person. No. Unless I'm personally offended. Yeah, I go back and forth on the death penalty.

I really do. I've shared my opinion a million times on this podcast and my previous one, so I feel like I don't need to do it again. But it's just, oh. Yeah. I get it. As John and Caroline spent time together, Samuel Colt cried to the Reverend.

The reality was hitting him now, too. Oh, Reverend. I did not think it would come to this, he said. Sunset was approaching. Samuel and Caroline had to give their final goodbyes. John kissed Caroline passionately and hugged her tight as she sobbed. And then they left. John Colt was alone now.

Every now and then the sheriff would walk by John's cell just to check on him. As the final hour approached, John began begging the sheriff to call off the execution. But the sheriff informed him. it was impossible. You must prepare yourself to die, he said. John prayed one last time, and then he asked to be left alone. At around 4 p.m., the police began clearing a path in the crowd so John could walk to the gallows. Can you imagine that having to walk through a crowd before you're executed?

A crowd of people who are there for entertainment. Who bought tickets. They're wearing freaking landyards, probably. All right. It's so gross. Yeah. Meanwhile, a group of men, including the sheriff and the reverend, went to John Sell to get him. It was time.

The Reverend was the first man to walk into John's cell, and what he saw made him cry out in horror. John Colt was laying on his bed, covered in blood. A knife was buried deep into his chest. His skin was pale, his mouth open. The light in his eyes was gone. Oh. A guard ran out to the courtyard and yelled to the waiting crowd. Colt is dead in his cell. He's committed suicide.

The crowd gasped, oh my God. And as people took in this shocking announcement, someone else yelled out, The prison roof is on fire. Oh, sure enough, smoke and flames were shooting out of a cupola on the roof. The crowd was now screaming, rushing to get out of the prison yard. and firemen eventually arrived and were able to put out the fire. Can you imagine if you bought tickets to watch someone die and you almost died in the process? The irony.

Yeah. Holy smokes. John Colt killed himself. There was a fire. What the hell just happened? So almost immediately, rumors start going around New York City. People were like, well, I heard they dressed John Colt up like Caroline Henshaw. And then Samuel Colt bribed the gun.

guards and then someone set fire to the prison to distract everyone and they made their escape. Come on. It had to be true, Kristen. Do we really expect a wealthy, influential family to face justice? Well, I... Interesting. I think they probably did. I think the fire was probably unrelated, right?

Let's see. Okay. So, yeah, all of those accusations were completely unfounded. Yeah. The truth was John Colt had indeed killed himself, perhaps to spare his family from the public shame of an execution. The autopsy reported that John Colt had cut a two-inch square hole in his clothes right around his heart to ensure nothing would block the knife. Then he stabbed himself and twisted the knife around to ensure it punctured and severed everything it possibly could. My God.

One witness came forward and confessed that a week prior, John had asked for anatomy books, probably to figure out the best place to stab himself. But there was still one major question. How the hell did John get a hold of a knife? Well, he had cognac and silk pajamas and everything he ever wanted, for one thing, but also I bet his brother brought him the knife, or maybe Caroline did. Well, here's the deal. Whoever gave him that knife could face charges of him.

manslaughter. Oh, get bent. I'm sorry. I... Get bent. I know. That was a weird one. That's not something I say regularly. Who are you? Bart Simpson? You don't think someone should get in trouble for that? Not really. No. No? I know it's against the rules. Boo-hoo-hoo. 300 of us wanted to go have a good time. Bring a picnic. Bring the kids. We're going to watch a man get killed by the state. That's disgusting. And don't forget the rooftop views. It's kind of like a Wrigley field, you know. Yes, it is kind of like that. But no, I think if this were my loved one, if this were you, you bet your ass I'd be smuggling something in there and be like, hey, if you want to, if you want to do this yourself rather than have it done to you in front of a crowd, that's off to you.

Again, part of what's so disgusting to me is the spectacle of it all. Yeah, public executions are gross. One could argue that executions are gross. So the authorities start interviewing everybody that had come into John Sell or had been around John Sell, and that included his brother Samuel Colt, Caroline Henshaw, the Reverend, the sheriff. Heck, they maybe have even interviewed the baby. but everyone denied giving John the knife. And as for that fire, it was purely coincidental

that it happened around the same time. A couple of guards were in the cupola and they were cold. So they started a fire in the stove and they just weren't watching it too closely and the fire got out of hand and it set the cupola on fire and it spread to the roof. What a cupola nuts.

Hey! It was a bizarre ending to the whole John John Colt Samuel Adams' affair. John Cole had always wanted to make his mark on the world, to be known for something. He hoped his book on accounting would do that. Instead, John Colt's legacy would be the man who murdered Samuel Adams. After John's death, reporters began asking the bigger questions. Did John's lack of religious studies cause his violent outburst?

Oh, my God. Did John Colt have a fair trial? should the United States abolish the death penalty, which seemed like a form of legal butchery? Writer Walt Whitman said the John Colt case made him ponder if we truly know ourselves. He wrote, quote, let us ask, do we know ourselves any better than John Colt knew himself? Do we comprehend? And have we the fixed moral principle, the high moral energy to control the control the fearful volcano of human passions whose maddened fires roar and blaze within our bosoms.

They love that word bosom back then. Man, they used it all the time. And rarely was it a heaving bosom? Kristen. Don't even. Family podcast. This is an episode for children, clearly. Sorry, it's just when I hear the word bosom.

Sure. You know, I look over at you. The whole affair inspired creative minds across the country. Theaters hastily wrote up stage dramas about the murder. Poets wrote about it like an old-timey Greek tragedy. But perhaps the most famous work came from Edgar Allan Poe with his short story, The Oblong Box. Did you ever read The Oblong Box?

Tell me more about it. So it's the story of a man on a ship, and he's traveling from New York to Charleston. and he carries with him a mysterious pine box with an odd smell coming from it. Whoa. And in the end, it's revealed that his dead wife is in the box and she's covered in salt. Oh. Yeah.

John's death devastated his brother, Samuel Colt. Above all, he wanted to make sure Caroline Henshaw and her son were taken care of. In his letters, Samuel often wrote that he saw his nephew as if he were his own. son. Through his connection, Samuel got Caroline Henshaw into school to become a teacher. Samuel hoped that she could find work out west, where U.S. settlers manifest destined all over the rights of Native Americans. So Samuel turned to his younger brother in St. Louis, James, for help. At that time, Missouri was the jumping off point to the frontier. Listen, we all know this. We're fans of the show. Oh, Donner Party? We're talking Donner Party?

Don't you give me that, huh? Oh, I did a hell of a series on that, sir. Wow. If you're pet yourself on the back, Crystal. Don't mind if I do. It was an excellent series. Highly recommend you all listen to it if you have not. American Tragedy for sure.

Yeah. If you're not bummed out enough by this episode, go check out the Donner Party series. Yeah, part four and four. Just full laughs. It's nonstop fun. Wasn't it hilarious when they started eating each other? Oh, it was so good. So funny.

Start on the thighs. They're nice and thick. Oh, boy. So Samuel turned to his younger brother, James, in St. Louis, and said, hey, could you help Caroline find a job? But James said no. The West was no place for a lady like Caroline Henshaw. He didn't want her living in squalure. James suggested that maybe Caroline should move to the south.

She could find work as a private teacher for some wealthy enslaver. That was his idea? Mm-hmm. Oh, wow. Okay. But that never happened. And from there, we don't really know what happened to Caroline Henshaw. More than likely, she left the United States and returned to Europe with her son, Samuel. Caroline was originally from Germany.

It was probably for the best. Samuel Colt didn't really have time. time to worry about them anyway. His firearms company went belly up. He had to shut down his factory in Patterson, New Jersey. Really? Mm-hmm. But Samuel Colt was filled with determination.

Okay, there we go. He was now hyper-focused on another idea that the government actually seemed really interested in, Kristen, underwater mines. Oh. So Samuel Colt pitched these underwater mines as a harbor defense strategy. He was like, hey, if enemy ships try to invade the United States, these mines will blow those ships sky high. And Samuel Colt even demonstrated the mines several times publicly. One time he demonstrated them on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., where President John Tyler watched. A 60-ton boat explode into a thousand pieces.

And the Secretary of the Navy was like, who, hell yeah, this sounds awesome. because at the time the United States was having border disputes with Great Britain, specifically around Oregon and Maine. And so they're like, hey, what if the British try to invade us? You know, these mines could really do serious damage to the British Navy. So Congress approved some initial funding for Samuel Colt's idea. But by 1844, that money had dried up. And Samuel Colt wasn't really hopeful about getting more.

One reason was his idea was facing more and more opposition, particularly from a congressman and former president named John Quincy Adams. JQ Adams argued that underwater mines were unsportsmanlike. If enemy ships had to be destroyed, then they, quote, should be done by fair and honest means. Okay. It was against the rules of warfare, basically. Yeah. But honestly, the bigger problem was the United States didn't really need the minds anymore because they had resolved their border issues with Great Britain.

Samuel Colt was bummed about it. He later wrote it was one of his greatest personal disappointments. He tried some other ideas like a waterproof telegraph cable, but nothing really panned out for him. In 1846, Samuel Colt was 32 years old and not really sure what to do. But then, violence on the text. Texas frontier changed everything. So their Texas Rangers were duking it out with Comanchee Native Americans.

So the Comanchee were known for their archery skills. They could shoot off like a dozen arrows in under a minute from a galloping horse. Wow. They were very, very skilled archers. And meanwhile, the Texas Rangers had old, outdated, single-shot rifles. So they were getting absolutely slaughtered. Yeah. But then a young captain named Samuel Walker outfitted his 15-man unit with some old Colt Patterson revolvers.

And those 15 men were able to hold off a force of 70 Comanche warriors. So Samuel Walker was like, holy moly, we need more of these revolvers. It's our only hope. Yeah. So he asked Samuel Colt for a thousand revolvers to, even the playing field out in Texas, and he needed them in three months. Samuel Colt was thrilled,

but he didn't have his factory anymore. So he contracted with other gunsmiths. And so with their help, Samuel Colt created a new and improved revolver. It was called the Colt Walker. By the way, the Colt Walker, the official gun of the state of Texas. Okay.

I didn't know states had official guns. Yeah, I was going to say we got the state flower, the state bird. and the state gun. State gun, baby. Okay. And boy, Kristen, did those Texas Rangers love their Colt walkers.

Explorers and settlers liked them too. And then the army came calling. They're like, hey, we just declared war on Mexico. We need thousands of these revolvers. So orders came pouring in, and Samuel Colt quickly became the gun manufacturer in the United States. He opened a new factory in Hartford, Connecticut,

and soon he became one of the richest men in the country. What a turn of events. What an uplifting tale of death. Exactly. Samuel Colt enjoyed his wealth and fame. He was all about that money. In fact, during the American Civil War, he sold weapons to both the North and the South.

He didn't give a shit as long as he got paid. Yeah. Several Northern newspapers didn't really appreciate that, and they labeled Samuel Colt as a traitor to the nation. Yeah, he was. Mm-hmm. So in what was clearly a PR stunt, Samuel Colt formed his very own volunteer cavalry company for the union. And he was like, my unit will only use Colt weapons.

Dude, this is such bullshit. This is such bullshit. This is like the company that's just polluting on levels you've never seen before. And they're like, excuse me, attention to everyone. And we're putting a lot of money behind letting everyone. know that we're doing this. We have given every single one of our employees their own recycling pen. Exactly. That's what this is. They film a little promo of them cleaning a baby duck and they're like, we are committed to cleaning up the environment. Yeah. Oh, you want to split off from the

nation, become your own nation. Yeah, here's all your weapons, but I'm a strong patriot. Yeah. So yeah, he forms this volunteer cavalry company. He's going to lead, apparently. Yeah. Well, his unit never saw combat, and they disbanded after a month. Okay? It was complete bullshit. That would be me in any military situation.

Really pumped up at first. I would have a good outfit. I would have all the weapons. You'd have all these medals, all this gold. Sure. Yep. I'd want a portrait, you know, to share. But I would not want to do much actual work.

that's one of my favorite things about like Cold War era Soviet Union officers. Okay. They had so many medals. Many of them were probably completely made up. But it was like... Participation medals, Norm. The more medals you had, the cooler you were. So you had got...

I've seen pictures of like Soviet Union War II veterans with uniforms. and you don't even see fabric. It's just complete metals. Yeah. So that's how I imagine Samuel Colt was. He was like, I'm forming this company and we're going to ride into battle and defeat the Confederacy. You know what this is making me think of? What?

Your grandpa's photo of him in his Navy uniform. Oh, yes. It was very sexy photo. Okay. I don't know if we've told this on the podcast before, like we came across his photo in his Navy uniform. And I was like, whoa, because like the lighting was very flattering. He had kind of a debonair look on his face.

He was posed. I mean, it was really something. He was looking good. And it truly did not occur to me that this was a photo that he had had taken of himself. And so I turned to you and I was like, did the military use to. do this? Hell no. He heard of me that he went to basically like an old-timey glamour shots. He went to a photo studio.

No, the military did like mug shots basically. Yeah, no. The military did not do like, here's a hot photo of yourself in the uniform. It's part of, yeah, when you join the military, they give you a sexy photo shoot. I said thank you for joining. Yeah, my grandpa had professional photos done. He looked good. He had his Korean War participation medal.

He had his discharge. It was all framed in the shadow box, very nicely done. But it was funny that Chris was like, wow, I can't believe the Navy did this for him. I really, I was like, geez, the Navy really glammed themselves. Who was on the Navy's Glammer Squad? The Navy Glamour Squad. The fighting glams. So yeah, Samuel Cole forms this bullshit volunteer company.

They disband after a month. They never see combat. And Samuel Colt would not even live to see the end of the Civil War. He died in January of 1862 from Gout. Oh. At the age of 47. Too many eggs Benedicts. Maybe.

But Kristen, this story is not over. It still has more twists and turns. How is that possible? Everyone's dead. I know. Okay. After Samuel Colt's death, his family gathered in Connecticut. to hear his last will and testament.

And there's a lot of money at stake here, Kristen. Samuel Colt was worth about $15 million in 1862. Adjusted for inflation? $472 million. Holy cats. Turns out if you fund both sides of a war, you're going to do just fine. You're going to do good. And in his will, only three people were listed.

Three people. I thought he had a bunch of family. He did. So the first person was his wife, a woman named Elizabeth Jarvis. Okay. The second person was their three-year-old son, Caldwell Hart Colt. But the third person seemed like an odd choice. It was Samuel Caldwell Colt, the son of John Colt and Caroline Henshaw.

Why is that an odd choice? Well, he hadn't been seen in 20-plus years. It was the nephew. What was odd was Samuel Caldwell Colt was set to inherit quite a bit of money, $2 million, which is just for inflation, $65 million. Yeah. The Colt family was like, what the hell the nephew gets $2 million? I've never even met this nephew. And I assume there were other nieces and nephews who got nothing.

Yeah, I mean, Samuel Colt had brothers, nieces, nephews. He had a huge family. I'd be pissed too. So the family is like, what the hell is going on? So they contest the will. Eventually, Samuel Caldwell Colt, who was now in his early 20s, appeared before a judge to argue for his inheritance. And he revealed something shocking. His father was not John Colt.

Shut up. It was Samuel Colt. Shut up. Norman, keep talking. I know I said shut up twice. The young Sam Colt produced a marriage license. It stated that Samuel Colt had married Caroline Henshaw in Scotland back in 1838. What the?

Woo! Jerry, Jerry! I've got goosebumps. Keep talking! It was true. Back in 1838, when Samuel Colt was touring Europe to get investors for his gun company, he met and fell in love with three. the young, beautiful Caroline Henshaw, and they got married.

But in 1840, as his company was struggling to take off, Samuel thought his marriage to the humble Caroline Henshaw was a turnoff to potential high society investors and politicians. He felt that, quote, so humble a bride was no worthy partner. Gross. But, you know, divorce was frowned upon. Right. And then things got even more complicated.

complicated when Caroline Henshaw told Samuel she was pregnant with his baby. So Samuel Colt came up with an idea. He would keep his marriage to Caroline a secret. And to keep her close, he asked his brother, John Colt, to become Caroline's quote, protector and lover. Gross. Oh my God. It's a little weird, yeah. A little weird.

It's a little weird. We won't judge. It's a little weird, though. No, Norman, putting cheddar cheese on a slice of apple pie a little weird. This is disgusting. We're not going to kink shame here on an old time you pod. Yes, we are. This is gross. Oh, we are now.

Yeah. So John Colt agreed to do it. And in exchange, Samuel promised to take care of them financially, which was evident by him fully funding John's legal defense. Oh, gosh, I guess he didn't know what he was getting into saying that. Exactly. Holy. And then when John Colt married, Carol. Henshaw at the last minute, it was a legally binding way for Samuel Colt to ensure he could still look after his secret wife and son without it looking weird.

Yeah. Many people in the cult family thought it was all bullshit. They thought, this guy's making this up so he can get the inheritance. But historians think it's absolutely true. One huge clue was in Samuel Colt's letters. He always referred to his, nephew in quotation marks. Wow.

One historian commented he was, letting the world know that the handsome lad sprang from his own manly loins. Ew, what? I know. Which historians said that? May we slap him? Edwards from the 50s, they wrote very strange. The bosoms, the manly loins?

My God. And the judge agreed. Yeah. Young Samuel Caldwell Colt got his inheritance. and then he disappeared in Europe. The Colt Manufacturing Company. Wait, no, no, no, hold on. Oh, go ahead.

What the other wife think of this? She was pissed. Unbelievable. I mean, it's like a whole secret life. Yeah, you're not going to give me a heads up? Yeah. Good grief. Okay, continue.

The Colt Manufacturing Company is still around today, Kristen, making guns in Hartford, Connecticut. And that is the story. of an old-timey murder. Norman. Or wasn't? Norman, that was quite the twisty tale you told us. Yeah. Wow.

Shocking, but it makes total sense. Oh, absolutely. If you remember in part one, when John Colt moved to New York City and he had Caroline Henshaw with him, all of his colleagues were like, who the hell is this woman? And they're like, oh, yeah, we're in love. She's pregnant. It was so fast. And people were like, where did she even come from? And then you have Samuel Colt funding his legal defense completely.

Yeah. Writing about his nephew. No one else got quotation marks except the nephew. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And then, yeah, his in his will leaves a sizable amount. Norm, it's at this point in the show that I need you to make. make me a promise that if you've got a secret marriage behind you, you've got a secret

child and you're dying of gout, please find a moment to be like, ah, just a heads up, just a heads up. You want me to let you know before I die? Yeah, preferably. Okay. I think gout is curable today. Yeah, it's not, it's not as common, I don't think. I mean, that was thought of as the king's disease back in the day.

Yeah. Isn't it like inflammation, basically? This is a medical podcast, but let me Google it just in case. Oh, no, this just sounds terrible. Oh, no. Uh-oh. Risk factors include diet, red meat, sugar, and alcohol. I love all these things.

Uh-oh. Oh, obesity, certain health conditions, age, and being male. All risks, so don't be any of those things. don't be age. A painful inflammatory arthritis caused by too much uric acid in the blood. Yeah. Leading to sharp crystals forming in joints,

often the big toe. Yeah, I did like a brief little research on Gowlachau. It looks like it's mostly manageable today. But back then, yeah, you left untreated. Yeah, you'd probably die from it. Because it leads to like other complications and you die from those. But yeah, I promise you if I have a secret wife

and kid, I'll let you know. Thank you. Yeah. Will you let me know if you have a secret wife? Damn, I thought I was going to get away with that. I really, you know, you weren't asking me and I thought, oh. We revealed to me that.

Old Stevens just fine. That you've had a child with Dan Campbell. Oh, my gosh. Well. He'd be like, I'm going on a writing retreat for 10 months. And then I'll be back. And you know what? I trust you so much, Chris.

I'd be like, okay. I'm going to miss you. I'll miss you so much. I'll watch the dogs. Oh, Norm, well told. I had never heard that story before. Yeah. That's kind of fascinating, if nothing else,

because we've all heard of that gun. Yes. And who knew there was such a wild story behind it? I know. Yeah. Yeah, when I first heard about it, I was like, what? The guy that invented the revolver,

is his brother killed somebody? Well, and honestly, it makes me see John in a different light. Tell me more. Because I really was judging him. Not that I'm like scandalized by someone having a child and not being married. But back then, when a woman would really struggle to find work that could support herself and a child, like I do feel like if you got someone pregnant, you needed to marry them. Yeah. You know?

And the fact that he hadn't, and there were all these weird excuses, I thought, just spoke to his poor character. And I do wonder how that weighed on him in the press and how that weighed on the jury. He took a lot of the flack for that. Yes. When it was like he was doing a huge favor to his brother. It really does change things for me quite a bit. Yeah. Well, and I also, I really do think he shouldn't have been guilty of murder.

That's, he should have been found guilty of manslaughter. I think maybe he. And I know he was a big douche and he was like, everyone's out to get me and the lying crooked media and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But like, I really do think he did not mean to kill Samuel Adams. I think he got mad. Yeah, I think he got pissed. They were fighting. And he hit him and he killed him.

I don't think he meant to go that far. Okay. Remind me again with his previous girlfriend, who was actually his girlfriend. I'm assuming this wasn't. Francis, yep. Was he violent with her? No, never. Okay, just emotionally abusive.

Yes. Okay. Yeah, I think he accidentally killed Samuel Adams and he panicked. He didn't know what to do and he tried to hide the body. I want to say you're wrong, but maybe only because if that's true, that makes the story even more sad. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I struggled with it because, you know, yeah, covering it up and putting his body in the crate, it's like gruesome shit.

It is. And it's, it's terrible to think about it. And you think about poor Samuel Adams and his wife. Yes. But I really do think he didn't mean to kill him. I think they got into an argument and they got in a fight and he smacked him over the head a couple times and killed him. Yeah. Mm-mm.

Mm-hmm. Well, quite an end to a series. Yeah, and then there's a baby drama. Yeah. Baby daddy. Drama. So, Kristen, that's the end of my series. Do you have any spoilers for us?

Because you're next. Okay. I've got a series. It's a bigan. Oh. It's a bigan. Make way for my giant testes. Here I come.

It's so big that I'm kind of like, oh my gosh, what if I can't pull it together in time for next week? So I'm not going to say anything on the off chance that I panic and I have to do something else very quickly. What do we call that in sports terms? I'm going to have to call an audible. But I'm hoping I won't call an audible. I'm hoping everything will go according to plan and I will just win, baby. Just win, baby. Another great sports reference.

Thanks. I'm full of them. It's actually the end of it, though, so don't ask for anything more. I told Kristen about just Win Baby last week. I was inspired. Yeah, Al Davis, yeah. Inspiring man. Folks, thank you so much for listening to this episode of an old-timey podcast.

Once again, if you want to support non-threatening media, independent, non-threatening media. Sexy. Obviously sexy. They know. They see us, or they're picturing us in their heads. Think about me with my big old butt. And think about pancakes when you think about me. And then come on over to patreon.com slash old-timey podcast to support us.

Hey, no headphones this episode, too. The people know. Yeah, we've gotten some comments, Kristen. People are saying, oh, kind of miss that soundboard. Yeah. You know, don't know what you got till it's gone. That's kind of how I'm feeling about it. We can bring the soundboard back.

You didn't even take it off that desk. No, it's still here. Okay, so let us know, folks. Do you like it? Do you miss the soundboard? Do you like the freedom you hear in our voices? I'm trying to figure out if there's a compromise to where like we can play the sounds but also not have to wear headphones. Because I do like not wearing headphones. Yeah. I feel free and I feel like I'm just having a conversation with you.

But anyway, I think we should wrap this episode up. Norm, you know what they say about history hoes? We always cite our sources. And we always have the document pulled up. It's amazing, Norm, that you were the one who said, I think we should wrap this up, and you were in no way prepared to wrap this up. Oh, oh, look, he's ready. Go for it, Norm. That's right, Kristen.

For this episode, I got my information from the books. Killer Colt, Murder, Disgrace, and the Making of an American Legend by Harold Schechter. The Devil's Right Hand, the tragic story of the Colt Family Curse by M. William Phelps. Here's our favorite. The story of Colt's Revolver, the Bible. biography of Samuel Colt by William B. Edwards. That's your favorite. Remarkable trials of all countries by Thomas Dunphy.

That's all for this episode. Thank you for listening to an old-timey podcast. Please give us a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're at it, subscribe. Support us on Patreon at patreon.com slash old-timey podcast. Join the Reddit community, our slash old-timey podcast. Follow us on Facebook and YouTube and Instagram at Old-Timey Podcast. You can also follow us individually on Instagram.

She is the beautiful Kristen Pitts Caruso. I go by Gaming Historian. And until next time, Tulao, Tata, and Cheerio. Goodbye. See ya.