The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 749 - Staten Island during the Revolutionary War. A Revisionist History Crossover!

Episode Date: September 1, 2026

Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine Staten Island during the Revolutionary War. They are joined by  Ben Naddaff Hafrey from Revisionist History for our first crossover. SOURCESTOUR DATESOFFICIAL MERCHSQUARESPACE - Use OFFER CODE: DOLLOP to save 10%Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me/vFut/4cq1zeop #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Discounts and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

And let's talk about when you can see my movie or come and see me do stand up in the next couple months. This is exciting. So go to gareth-Ronalds.com for ticket links and all that to all this stuff. Just scroll down if you want to see my film, Give It Up, and just stay on the tour dates part if you want to see my stand-up. Let's start with Give It Up the film. If you want to see it, you can see it August 10th in San Diego, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 12th, Denver, August 13th, Chicago, August 20th, New York City, August 23rd, Philly the 24th, Raleigh, August 25th, August 20th. 26th, Atlanta, and then Nashville, August 27th. And then if you'd like to see me do stand-up, August 13th, 14th, 15th, I'll be in Fort Collins, Colorado at the Comedy Fort.

And then in September, you can go see me at the Syracuse Funny Bone on September 17th, Vermont Comedy Club, September 18th and 19th, Albany on September 20th, East Providence, Rhode Island, September 22nd, Stanford, Connecticut, September 24th, New York, New York, September 25th, Springfield, Massachusetts, September 26th, Boston, September 27th, and then more dates coming soon. So go to garethreth Reynolds.com for tickets and information to all this stuff. Come check my movie out, give it up, and come see me on the road, garthrennels.com. Love you, dollheads. My father's dead. You killed you.

They think that I'm shiny. I am a pie man. I'm Pete Rose, and I only go to Gold's Gym, this one specifically. Rumor is that his penis is broke. And show up where the taco bar was. His brain just fucking exploded. River. of cheese. You've been drinking any gnome juice? No, officer. My dad had a fart chair. Hey, cover me. You're listening to the dollup on the All Things Comedy Network. This is an American

History podcast where each week, I, Dave Anthony, read a story from American history to a guy who grabbed a drink at the wrong time. It's spilling. Gerith Reynolds, do it, is no idea what the topic is going to be about. Good Lord. But before we jump into the dollup, which we're also calling the revisionist history dollop because we have a guest. We're doing a crossover, like when Batman and Robin used to do a Scooby-Doo. Everyone remembers that? Who's Scooby-Doo?

We're definitely Scooby-Doo. 100%. 100%. Without questions. We have Ben Nadafafafri joining us. And thank you. Thank you for joining us, Ben. This has been like in the works for a minute.

I'm honestly surprised this happened. I'm shocked. I'm shocked that. I'm not only shocked that this happened, but I was shocked in the first place that you guys immediately gravitated towards this story, because it is a deep cut. Well, it is a deep, but I like deep cut.

It's also our buddy did it. And then Dave was like, this is crazy. So Dave's been working on it in some capacity as well. But this is because you did a series on Staten Island. Yes. And then this was kind of one that there was just kind the leftover stuff. And we were like, well, let's do it together.

So what is the, what is the Staten Island series called and where can people listen to it? So it's called the Staten Island problem. And you can listen to it on the revisionist history podcast. That's what Colin Jost and Pete Davidson suffered from. Yeah, when their ferry boat is, you know, they bought that Staten Island ferry and they've for like a decade tried to figure out what to do with it. Yeah. Just like a month ago, a state official was like, I've got a great idea.

You should sink it. we can make an artificial coral leaf. I know. I think there's, that it's obviously been a terrible investment, but there's got to be something about being like officially sinking. It must be a tough one. But anyway, so the Staten Island problem and it's about Staten Island's attempt to secede from New York City.

For those who don't know, Staten Island is one of the five boroughs in New York. And the reason you may not know that, you know, it's Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island. Staten Island calls itself the forgotten borough as in like the like unloved unloved borough the one that like no one ever pays attention to and it's true it's totally true that's like why I did this story I was like they're kind of right I want to leave how they're being pouty though right oh this the chip on the shoulder is like core to the identity that's just like you got to

should they secede when I yeah yes yes absolutely when I lived in New York I went there to do stand up once. And it was like going to another country. And they hated you. I would arguably say the craziest, like, when I was first starting, the craziest set I'd ever gone through was in Staten Island

where everyone just yelled at you during your set. And every comedian went through it. So you were kind of like, it's not me, but you would just be up there just fighting. I was like, what is this? Was it a grandpa? I don't remember if it was a grandpas. Yeah, there was a comedy club called Grandpa's there.

It wasn't a comedy club. You're like notionally, I'm in New York, but this is not playing to a New York audience. But that's different. It didn't work. Like the train got me half the way. You can't, yeah, you got to take a ship the rest of the way, like a half hour out to see. Yeah, which is just never good. No.

But I think that's where the reason this story that you guys have actually done it, I know very little about ultimately. but it's about how what I why I gravitate towards the story is because it's it shows that Staten Island is like eternally not part of New York City. They're just they are always on the other side. Oh yeah. So that's, I'm happy that you guys are doing this. When I was going through this, I was like, oh, it's exactly the same. It's 200 years later and it's exactly the same.

Well, I don't understand what it. 200. I will not allow that last celebration for the 250 to be real. I want to redo. I want to do it. a 255 once we maybe get through some of this. Which we're worried. Anyway, well, welcome to the listeners from yours, and we encourage our listeners to go check

out the Staten Island problem and weigh in. And now let's do whatever the hell this is. 1738. Dave yells the day on their show. I've heard enough that I know that. Okay. I don't like the way you put that to be on. I've heard enough.

I've heard enough. That's how a lot of people describe our show. I've heard enough. Yeah, I've heard enough. I saw one comment on the one I listen to that was like when they get, it's like usually in a dollop episode, when they're 25 minutes in and like you have the main characters like four years old

and he's lived in three brothels. Like that's far for the course. But when you're like 25 minutes in and he's like middle aged, you know some crazy stuff. That's right. Yeah, that is very true. Yes.

Yeah, the quicker they age, the more you know it's a crazy story. Yeah, yeah. Like not a lot known about his boyhood. You're like, this is going to be bad. Oh, boy. Christopher Billup. He has two peas on the end of his name, which really throws me off.

I want to go Billup. It's like Verrazano with the ends. That's right. Was born on Staten Island, New York. He would be the oldest of eight alive kids born to Thomas and Sarah Farmer, Billup. Now, we always say alive kids because they had a lot more. Like, if you had, if you had eight alives, Yeah, we don't

We don't count the dead ones here I don't know about you, Ben, on yours But we don't know what the end It's the pre-vaccine world There's so many that passed, you know what I mean? They were eight living descendants in this family? Eight living, yeah, he had eight. That's remarkable.

He had seven brothers and sisters. That's what's more affordable on South Island. Eight, that is numbers too. That really has to be. You're batting above average. You've got to be putting out 20 to get eight. There's like a, there's also a. bust mosquito population on Staten Island in that era.

You know, a lot of disease for mosquitoes. They're really crushing it. Mosquitoes have really hung in there with their disease. They really don't like them. I was driving here. There's one of my car. I'm like, what's happening right now? I'm leaving down.

Keep going. Keep going. That's going to do you want. Get me out of here. Get me to Staten Island. I've got to go back. You live for half a day. Okay, so Christopher's dad, Major Thomas Billip, was the son of Anne Billip, who married a colonel,

and Anne was the daughter of a Royal Navy officer, another Christopher Billop, who was awarded 932 acres of land on the southern tip of Staten Island. And he builds a big stone manor house. The land is named Bentley Manor. So they got, they're loving it. It's pretty sweet. Yeah. It's a lot of land. Yeah, 930 acres on Staten Island is two on regular store.

One two-bedroom apartment. Yeah, it's a deeper one. It's a studio with a stove. So young Chris is destined to be in the military. He's from a military family. And eventually he does and he becomes a colonel, which is what everyone on Staten Island eventually starts to call him. So by the 1770s, he's.

known as kernel. By the powers of a deduction, you would say there were not a lot of kernels from Staten Island. Otherwise, remember, we're the Scooby-Doo part. So I just want to be very clear. We're the Scooby half.

Does that mean I have to, like, growl Batman voice this? No, you can be what Dave's kid called the Wacky Batman. Yeah, right. I'll be a wacky Batman. I'll be in 1960s like Capao, Bazinga Batman. Watch a shot. Yeah.

So Bentley Manor have been built up over the years, and now this Christopher Billup owns it. So there's the stone house on the water. There's Grantharo built. There's four more houses that he would rent out. And a neighbor remembers him. He's a very tall, slim man. Sure. Staten Island at this point, mostly farms.

Okay. If you can believe that. I can't. Everything else is agriculture. There's wheat and orchards. What is a statin? Oh, well. It's a Dutch term.

Is it? For what? I think so. I don't know. Well, look at you asking questions. It can't be answered. What is the Stad? There's a place called the Staten on Staten Island that's very famous.

Staten. Oh, interesting. It was probably at the time called, like, it's Richmond for a while, too. Oh. There's Richmond town in this, yeah. A weird change. Okay. Staten Island by Dutch Explorers.

Staten. Name honored the Staten General, which was the Parliament of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. I thought it had something to do with the Seven United States. You should have known that, yeah. Yeah, I'm...

That's his special. Break you, Break you, Ben. Okay, so there's wheat, orchards, cattle, salt hay off the marshes, oysters and clams. Big player back then. Out of the shallows, you know. They sell those and sell everything

into New York City, mostly, but they also... would sell it to the British. Have you ever read about the oysters in New York, Ben? The whole oyster situation? I knew about the oysters on Staten Island, but I didn't know about the rest of New York. There is an amazing book, which I wish I knew the title of right now,

about oysters in New York. It's incredible. Oh, you also wanted to mention the book that you based a lot of your stuff on quickly. Yeah. Who is that? Well, so yeah, all of everything we know about Staten Island, Island in the American Revolution comes from this historian named Phil Pappas, who is himself

a Staten Islander, born and bred, and wrote this amazing book called That Everloyal Island. Wow. That's condescending. Well, you'll see why when you get further into the story. But it's like, it's a fantastic book. The oysters in the Hudson were insane, right? Yeah. I mean, we Americans just lived on oyster.

for a long time and ended up just decimating that oyster population. It's like everything else that we get where you're like, if you just did it a little slower, it could be forever. We're like, no, we will eat it all and then no one will have anything. But I'm hungry now. I'm hungry to eat all the oysters now and make money. Yeah, it was really. My only complaint, no indigenous people have died on this venture.

We did two episodes on it. It's really crazy. Okay. So there's some. in New York City, and then in the years leading up to the revolution, a lot of what they're producing is sold to the Royal Navy. A warship anchoring there, that means hundreds of men who need bread and beef and fresh water, and the Navy pays in silver. So it's a good deal. Okay. And when the king's ship needs water, it fills its casks at a spring on the island's northeast shore, a spot

that is called the watering place. Very good title. You know what you're getting into. Yeah, yeah. I thought this was a brothel. That's very much like a surfer. Any surf spot is named after what the restaurants. Yeah.

Big Rock. Like it's all what you see from the surfboard. Colonel Billup, he's been in charge of the island's militia now for about three years, which is called Billop's core of statutes. Island Militia. Okay. Once again,

we're just naming things. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Well, it's also how book titles were, you know, what it would just be like,

he actually wrote a book about it called The Endless Forests in the area where I lived for five years and eventually left because my wife had tuberculosis. I don't need to read the book now. Yeah, exactly. So that's a peacetime appointment. Obviously, there's no war when he gets appointed.

Now, on the island, there's five churches. the biggest is St. Andrews, which is the Angelican Church at Richmond Town. Nice. Yeah, that's what we're just talking about. Yeah, you don't need to yell about it. I'm gonna. Out of the out of new

Dorp. Oh, come on. Yeah, there's a place called New Dorp. Stop. I don't want to even know where Dorp came from. Dorp. Could not sound more of like the Carlos Mencia sound he made when he was calling Dorp. Dorp. You stub your toe.

Dorp! It was the alt to Homer's dough. It's either dough or dorp. Let's wait here. What's that there's like, what is the alternate universe Simpsons thing? This just like triggered some deep Simpsons knowledge. It's like the Shelbyville Simpsons or something. Oh, right.

Oh, no, no. When he's like replaced by like Russians, there's like a film version of the Simpsons that they're trying to pass off as the real Simpsons family. Oh, I kind of remember that. That just takes me to when the Flanders have a family reunion. Sure. But yeah, I can't remember. There's like the fake Homer goes, duh, oh, or something like that.

I know the English Flanders goes, great googly. Mugly. Moogly. So out a new Dorp, there is a Moravian church, and the minister lives beside it with his family. his name is Hector Gambold and Gambold writes a lot of letters

and so that's a lot of those survived and that's a lot of what we know Okay, that's helpful Yeah, so write letters people Yeah Didn't help Comey but No Comey was like

But my journal they were like Yeah, get out of here My diary Definitely diary Unless you name's Fauci Then don't doubt Don't keep I met Barbara Streisade

On the other Island, there's five, oh, I already did that. So the trouble starts, right, over taxes, the colonies are paying to the crown. Sure. Right. There's a big shopping boycott, as we'll call it. The British Parliament closed the port of Boston because of the Boston Tea Party. Continental Congress answers by agreeing that no colony will buy British goods until parliament backs down. Okay.

And so, of course, Richmond County on Staten Island wants nothing to do with this. they're not going to change anything. They're like, but can't we still buy just maybe just a little? Like, we're so nice to sell to the British. That's what happens. That's the problem. It's a big market guys. And Colin Jost are like, now's our time.

Anyone want to buy this? So Staten Island refuses to join this. And the colonel does that personally. He sits in the New York Assembly and votes down every measure that favors the Congress. and when the assembly refused to see it. Yeah. No. No.

No. No. No. No. That one. No. No. No.

Oh, that's it. No. When the assembly refuses to send delegates to Philadelphia, somebody proposes going around it and putting the question straight to the people of Richmond County. But the colonel goes to that meeting. and beats it there too by a large majority. So it's clear Staten Island wants nothing to do with any of this business. They just want to be able to sell their stuff. Yep, they're happy.

And they're happy with the British. They're like, this is not so bad. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty good. I'm making money over here. You guys keep doing that. That's helping. Then in April of 1775, the shooting starts outside Boston at Lexington. And the first thing the colonel does after Lexington is to write.

to the British Army and asked them not to come. Okay. And he signs a letter to General Gage, who is the British Army's commander, requesting that no troops be sent into New York. And his explanation given nine years later said he was, quote, hoping the flame would blow over. Let's just ride this one out.

So good. Look, there's some guys got shot, some other guys got shot. I don't see this lasting very long. That's going to blow over. I don't think this is going to go on for too much longer. If you could give us a week, that would be really helpful. So he spent a year, in his words, quote, keeping the inhabitants of the island quiet until the arrival of British troops.

Meanwhile, Staten Island will not stop selling to the British Navy. Oh, God. They're the king's ships, right? And as far as Staten Island is concerned, this is the King's Island. The king would request more oysters. It's called Peckish again. They just leave all these oysters in the water? Yeah.

Come on. Secret oyster handoffs. There's also like, don't they, somewhere in here, they're also like, can't they propose like a truce? They're like, can't we just like make friends with the British again? It might be just a way to work this out. We made a side truce with the British. We are an island. I want to remind everyone to that.

So, of course, the colonies are now pissed that Staten Island won't join the boycott. So they start another boycott. New Jersey stops buying Staten Island's produce until the island appoints an enforcement committee. So the island appoints an enforcement committee, but then just ignores it. This committee, when I went around the island with Phil, the guy who wrote the book that was all. this he took me on like a tour of all these sites it was amazing like every single one of them is like next to like a no fault divorce like lawsuit clinic but there's we went to the place for this it's final form we went to the place where this committee met which is still preserved and I was

like what did they do here and he's like you know just kind of just kind of like threw a ball against the wall sort of like just like it was just kind of like met to meet they were just sort of like yeah We're not going to look into that report of just loyalty. That's awesome. So just pure, yeah, just purely just like, yeah, we're working on it. That's like most of our LA government committees. I was going to say, it reminds you very much of like the parliamentarian role or something like that where you're like, here's what I think. And I was like, cool, go fuck yourself.

Here's the point. It's just like letting it die in committee. Yeah, right. Yeah. Oh, that's very interesting. Is this the first let it die in committee? I blow me in. I love that this just all under the framework of let it blow over.

Let it just let this cool down. Two, three weeks. Two, two, probably two, maybe three. It's called an excursion. Right. So they're ignoring it. They're just trading with the crown still. And in February 1776, the Continental Congress, Congress writes the county into its minutes for, quote, enmity and opposition to the,

system and measures adopted for preserving the liberties of America. That's not good. You don't want to be written in for that. No, it's pretty targeted, obviously. Hey, traders. So they put us in the minutes. Boys, bad news. Never great.

But we are officially in the minutes. All right. I can still sell oysters, though, right? I mean, yeah, but we're on notice. I mean, we're in the minutes, and that's never good. So we've got to get these oysters going. It's not, I think you're taking away different. Get them out the door.

It's not, again, I'm sort of saying we're in a dark spot. But yeah, let's sell them. Yeah, get the oysters out there. At this point, the rebels, as we'll call the us, the Americans. Sure. The mainlanders. The rebels hold New York City. So that April, continental soldiers take up posts at the watering place, standing with rifles

between the Royal Navy and the island's drinking water. That's got to... I mean, you don't want to parched, you know, the Royal Navy, you don't want them parched. You can't even get to the no-fault divorce place anymore. No. Well, we're going to have to be header. But what the islanders do

is just row out to the warships to do business with them anyway. When you watch that, you're like, when you're just like, what are they... What the hell are they? It's just like a tiny sailboat inching on the horizon. Loaded up with a cartoon level of oysters.

They're going to go bad. They're fucking eating the oysters. Are they shucking? By June, Washington, that's George. Washington is demanding an investigation into reports that his own riflemen are taking bribes to row the islanders out. I just, this is actually the first fairy.

I can't. Yeah, it's not a bad idea. I'm often, I would say, Ben, the thing I've learned on this show

more than anything, which is why we say that history repeats itself or at least rhymes. I can never get over that it always has existed. That it's just like, it's just always been thus.

Rhybes find a way, you know, no matter what. Yeah. It's just so funny. You're going to give me 10 bucks? Okay, I'll roll you out there. Yeah, I have no principles.

Let me take up a new country. Sounds nice, but I mean, really. But also, my country sounds really good too. I'd be great. So Washington is pissed. He's just across the water in New York, and he writes that the people of Staten Island, quote, after the fairest professions,

have shown themselves our inveterate enemies. Wow. Now this is, yeah. That's bad. It's in the minutes again. Yeah, is that bad what George Washington calls your island enemy? Rowing out oysters. Man, we've really put our chips down now, now, guys.

Look, are we in or are we out, guys? I don't know. How far do we want to take this shit? I am amazed that Satin Island ever became part of New York City. It is crazy. It is geologically a part of New Jersey. It's like spiritually and. Geologically, it is New Jersey.

It's much closer. It's way closer to New Jersey. I understand fighting that, though. I understand fighting that. Yeah. There's an annexation movement. Oh, to join New Jersey? In 2025, I think it's still a foot maybe.

The Republicans in New Jersey are like, it would be helpful to have that. Oh, yeah. I bet it would. At some point, they'll blow up the Verasano Bridge. That was floated during the secession movement. They were like, when this happens, we'll blow up the Verizon. It's kind of awesome. It's just in 2025 to be like, we would, we're, we would like it.

Let's blow it up. Is that crazy? On July 3rd, 9,000 British soldiers begin landing on Staten Island. Unbelievable. Led by General William Howe, commander of the British Army in America. On July 4th, 1776, now that's a big day. Is it? You know what happened then?

Oh, that was one the Who wrote the song that I got to stand for? That's right. In Philadelphia, the Connoll Congress declared the colonies independent. And on July 6, 1776, in Richmond Town, Staten Island,

500 men gather in the road. Richmond Town is right in the middle of the island. There's a courthouse, two churches, a tavern, a few dozen houses, so not a big place. A divorce. Dwarce. A divorce.

Hutt. That was at fault divorce. Adfold divorce. Yeah. Governor William Tryan watches them Tryan is the royal governor in New York and he has been running

the king's government off the deck of a ship in the harbor for a better part of a year because the rebels hold the city. He's trying his best. Yeah, he is, yeah, yeah. And next to him there is General Howe. In front of them,

the 500 Staten Island of Farmers are sworn into the service of the king. They are from Billups, island militia. It feels traitorous. It does very much so. Do you know.

Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. I was going to say, but like there are still a lot of loyalists around. So. Yeah. So, but this is just. There always are.

A giant group of them in one place. Yeah. There's a ton of loyalists hoping. In New York at large, but like Staten Island is like remarkably so. Yeah. Remarkably. Honey, I think we're Britain again. I'm not sure.

They're taking some kind of oath out there. Wait, my, my favorite. thing that Phil told me is that the islanders burn the Patriot leaders in effigy after word of the Declaration of Independence comes out. And also that there's like all of these letters from the British soldiers when they arrived there where they're writing home and they're like, this island is amazing. And they're greeting us as like saviors from the rebel mom. And it's like they can't get over how happy they are that we're here. They're like, this is awesome. They got effigies of their government.

This is a real vibe. This is awesome. They really like us. They really go good. Babe, I'm famous here. So out of the 500 men are out of a total population of 2,847. And that includes children and slaves.

Well, who, so. If memory serves are not considered people. Yeah, correct. So that's, that's a. That's a pretty big chunk of the population. Yeah, it's a good hunk. For the colonel and his men, a job very easy at first, they watch 15 miles of shoreline facing New Jersey. Okay.

You're going to keep an eye on New Jersey. Sure. It's still the same. It's a, yeah. Still the same. They arm and assemble every time an alarm goes up with the colonel at the front. They dig dirt walls into the hills for the British to put cannons behind. Really?

They got the Yeah, they don't got the good job. They are like, is it an island or a pirate ship now? It's taking out that vibe. Column A, column B. Yeah. Like, if you're watching that, be like, Jesus Christ, they're putting cannons in the dirt.

There's the skull and crossbones flag. Oh, my God, look at that. They got parents. How have they get parents? They round up several hundred of their neighbors to drive wagons and haul artillery. The island's moving with this. There's a sail moving the gun. damn island. It's getting farther from

New Jersey. I think they're going to Britain. The haul artillery artillery for the British Army and the horses and wagons go with them. They find the army it's forage and it's firewood. So they're doing everything. They're the suppliers of the British Army. Okay. So the Colonel's Mansion

sits at the southern tip of the island right on the water facing... That says a lot. Facing Perth Amboy. The Colonel's mansion. Really just sort of justify a lot of this if you think about it. Back then all colonels had mansions. That's cool. So they're right across this narrow channel from New Jersey.

You can row across in a few minutes. Okay. And New Jersey is rebel ground. So the colonel's house is visible from New Jersey, as is the colonel when he just stands outside. Like you can see him. It's like how Sarah Palin describes him. Either I can see Russia from my house. I can see New Jersey from my house.

Like, but he was able to see him like, what is he doing? He's in a robe. He's having some hot beverage. He's really stretching. Oh, he's waving. He's enjoying himself. Years from now, we'll call it yoga. He's counting gold again.

Across the water in New Jersey is a rebel named Nathaniel Fitz Randolph. Everyone calls him captain. I'm going to call him Fitz. Okay. He's about 30 years old. He spends the war rowing over to Staten Island in the dark. And he does it often enough that papers on both sides are writing about how, you know, he's famous to the rebels and infamous to the loyalists. So we really, everyone knows who this guy.

We have like a rowing Batman. Yes, it was a slow news period. There wasn't, nothing big was happening in, you know, world historic events. Who is Roman? But even the people who hated him conceded that he was decent to the many captured and did not let his people. Rob Houses. Sorry, who is he capturing?

Yeah, I miss that. So he is rebel American going over and grabbing whatever a soldier, whatever, or an important person from Staten Island. Okay. So he's, he's anti-Satine Island, obviously. So he's,

he's anti-Satine Island. Yes, because Staten Island's part of Britain. He rose over and he does a comedy set. Yeah. He comes back. Yeah. They boo them. That did not go well.

So he's rowing over there and he's grabbing like someone of, of note and then he's bringing them back to the mainland and people are like, yeah, it's good. That's right. And then like, what the hell are you doing? He's like, it's a vibe. Staten Island, it's cap happening. This is how bad comedy is in Staten Island. David Tell went before me and he got off stage and was like, oh, God, get me out of here.

That is bad. I do. I got honestly, I want to hear more about these Staten Island since you guys did. I didn't even realize it was a comedy circuit that went. one time did, I think I did stand up on the ferry to Staten Island and it was

a death sentence. They're just slamming on the accelerator who's the first trip that took 10 minutes. I was like, that's a lot of smoke. You're really cooking. That was, oh God, I know who books that gig. Or did. The guy who booked it for me was a guy named Pudge, I believe. Oh, okay, that's different. Yeah. And it was

it was horrible. I bombed And then I bombed and then could hear people talking about how I bombed. I literally at one point said to someone, I go, I can hear you. She was like, oh, sorry. I was like, yeah, it's okay. But keep your voice down. Yeah, so Grandpa was in New Dorp, Grandpa's Comedy Club. And Grandpa was Al Lewis from the Munsters.

That's who owned it. That's why it was called Grandpa's. Dave's 80. Dave fought for the British. I did. A little bit. I still am. This is going to happen.

Dave took an oath after his set. Should we reconsider? 250 years. It's been long enough. The rogue guy grabs him. Oh, come on. You're going back to the mainland. You're listening to the dollop,

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Tell that to the judge. So the colonel puts a hundred pound bounty on Fitz's head. Okay. So then Fitz, in response, put a hundred pound bounty on the colonel's head. He's not allowed to do that. And he won up sit and said he was going to have to go get the colonel himself. Wow. So I guess he gets his own bounty.

Yeah. Do you pay yourself for taxes? Self-dealing. That doesn't happen until 250 years later in America history. You got to be president to do that kind of thing. Insider rowing. He then gets a tip that the colonel will be attending a ball on Staten Island. Who's the tip from?

This guy keeps looking over there and he can see everything. With bald eyes, he could just... How do I know? Because there's actually a ball going on right now. The colonel's at it. So it's several miles inland from his estate. So Fitz heads to Staten Island. And he goes to the house where the ball is happening.

This guy's wife, by the way, definitely was like, he's cheating. He's 100%. Oh, you're going to Staten Island again? You can just tell me if it. Okay. What's her name? I'm going to Staten Island again to try to get the key. Uh-huh.

And he, so he goes to the ball. He peaks inside so we can get a look at the colonel and see what he's wearing, worried that he might grab the wrong guy in the dark. So he wants to see... Poorly wetball. What a setup. I'm going to have to...

I'm going to have to go by feels. Did we immediately option this to be a movie? A major motion picture? This is like a Marvel plot, Roman. So... So Fitz... Fitz... Fitz Rant...

fits right enough. He's a wanted rebel. He has a price on his head, 100, 100 bucks or pounds. And he goes into a ball of a room full of loyalists on an island held by the British Army. Does he dress up? Yeah. I don't know how he pulled it off, but some people did recognize him, acquaintances, but they didn't say anything. He just, but he must have been playing the part a little bit. I don't, I don't you imagine he's just winking in a lot of people? How good are the British, huh? Look at all these oysters. This is awesome. This is living.

This is great, huh? I hope the mainland rower never comes this way. A colonel, nice outfit. How do we know that some people recognize him? It's like after the fact of the way that was. You don't get invited back. It's got in the letters. Yeah, I don't know how else you know.

That's all we got. That is a weird thing to put in your letter, though. Some people knew him. Others didn't. Definitely people wrote about it years later. so maybe that's why. Okay. The next morning,

the colonel is riding home from the ball. He's tired. He's half asleep. He's probably hung over. He did an all nighter at the ball? Yeah. Yeah. And when Fitz steps into the road,

right in front of him and seizes him. And the details have been lost to history, but for some reason, by July 27th, he's back on Staten Island. The colonel? The colonel? Yeah. They caught him.

He caught him, which is to be trying to do for a while. And then all of a sudden he's free. And we don't know why. What is the time difference between when he caught him to when he was back on the island? I don't have the date. Wait, the colonel never wrote like an extremely self-aggrandizing book about all this.

He just, he tweeted a bit. He assumed history would. No, he didn't. He assumed the history books would be like. And he never, he never anticipated this. No,

he never was like, this won't work? He was probably exchanged because he was kidnapped for the sole purpose of trading in a prisoner exchange. Okay. So he's probably traded. Okay. But this is not close to over.

I would hold on to that one. Yeah. Yeah. This is not close to over. In February of 1779, a raiding party from Staten Island comes for Fitts in Jersey. Okay. At three o'clock in the morning, a party of loyalist troops crossed from the island. They land, they walk into town.

Nobody sees them because it's 3 a.m. Nobody's up. And they go straight to the house where Fitz lives. This is going to be very validating for the cheating thing, though, for him. He'll be like, see? I'm there, man. They're coming to get me. Unbeknownst to the rating party, a rebel scout from a nearby post has stopped to spend the night at the house.

Okay. So there are 12 rebel soldiers inside with fits. Tough. That is brutal. It's not what it looks like. No, no. Yeah, he's like Jason boarding the room. He's like, there's only candles.

So the Sentry does not see the Loyalists Until they have nearly surrounded the building Okay And then he fires a musket once and runs away Wait, who does Fits? No, the Century. Oh, that guy. Oh, that guy. I love that guy. That's me. That's what I'm done.

I'm shooting at once and I'm taking off. Well, to be fair, I mean, he's like, it's going to take 20 to reload. Yeah, absolutely. Words out, I'm going to get a coffee. So when the gun goes off, the Loyalists storm the house and they just take fits and the other 12 guys easily with that incident. They're just like, ah. They're probably all laying on the floor or sleep.

Yeah, yeah. On the way out, they steal the buckles of the shoes of the women in the house. Smart. You got to get your stuff. That's just economics, obviously. I'm like kind of, like, how has everyone arranged? There's like one room with like 12 guys on the floor and then there's like bedrooms with the women of the house. When I picture these times, I always just imagine the three stooges.

sleeping caps. One of them's like, whoop, bo, bo, bo, bo, bo. There's definitely a bed. There's definitely three or four soldiers. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They did the 69 sleep.

When up until, I don't know when, the fire departments in the late 1800s, it was just always two dudes in a bed. That's just the way it was. Which is what I say we should do. Moving in fast version. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. So, he's put in a provost prison in New York. and then the British put him in irons. Oh, dear. Now, the rebels keep coming for the colonel. And in March, the New York Gazette reports

that two or three different parties have lately been at his house, quote, in order to captivate him once more with a view to get him for an exchange. So they're trying to get him to swap for fits. They just think he's valuable. They're not like, this guy is quarterbacking the whole thing. They don't think he's like the lynchpin of the British effort.

They just think they'll do anything to get him back. Yeah. Why don't they take him? Why don't they? The colonel? Yeah. They can't. They just can't have been able to steal on him.

It seems like it couldn't be that. It's hard to grab a guy. Especially if you can see him from New Jersey. Yeah. I mean, it's hard to grab him. He's right there in front of his house. I would be like, I can go get him. How can we not get this guy?

He's doing yoga every morning at 9 a.m. We can see him. So they do a couple of raids, they both fail, but then a third on June 23rd 1779 does not. As previously mentioned, the colonel's house can be seen across the water. So the rebels stationed men in the steeple of the town church and give them orders to watch for the colonel to come home. This is a Trojan church? They literally like, you guys, I got a great plan. Hear me out.

How did this take years? We watch his house. All right. So someone on the mainland invented hiding. And this is going to be, this is a huge technology, a huge breakthrough. What this is is not revealing where you are right away. It works better in summer when there are leaves. You guys remember surprise parties?

It's that but for kidnapping, okay? This is going to change all war. This is big. Peter Thiel has the copyright. So he comes home The rebels head across So they wait for him It's not like they're waiting in

Staten Island hiding They're still across In Jersey just watching the house The rebels How did nobody How was nobody like we could do this over there Also like to be visible from New Jersey You have to be at like the most extreme

Like outer edge of Staten Island Like he must have been the farthest south point of New York I believe it is. He is at this point. He is taunting at this point. Yeah. You really, I mean, obviously, if there's only like a little bit you can see,

and you're like, I choose to live there. You would think he would just be going out, dropping his pants and slapping his butchings. Yeah, yeah. He's spreading. He's doing the spread thing again. He's spreading.

So they head across in a boat in silence, muffling the sound of the oars, as you do. Sure. They land? I don't think you, it's probably quite ineffective, but you maybe just have to lay it flat.

Yeah. It's really, it's really taking a long time to get there. They land, they walk up to the house. We love we're back on the mainland. In a single file, they walk up to the house. They give the counter sign and go inside without anybody raising the alarm and the colonel's in bed. Yeah.

He's sleeping. Sure. So they just grab him. And when they're taking him out of the home, he asked for time to grab his hat. it's well I mean it was really different back then there are there are rules of engagement and there are war crimes

and obviously you've got to let the guy get his hat we do there's a lot of hat stuff on hat fishing yeah we've got through a lot of the the hat respect there's all like if someone is in disarray the papers are always like he was without a hat

like that's to describe how messed up things were for the national anthem is a pain in the ass you have no idea how lucky you are. They don't allow him to grab his hat. What the actual fuck? Oh man, things have changed. Well, that's not good. Well, that is just, I mean, that is not gentlemanly.

Death. His own guard is posted a short distance away but never noticed a thing. They got comfy. One rebel goes into the stable and takes the colonel's horse, beautiful animal, takes it down on the water, but the horse, because he's a jerk, will not get in the boat. So the man shoots the horse. Jesus.

I don't know why. I don't think we need that detail. What else are you going to do with the horse? I mean, look. If it's not going to get in the boat, what other options are there? So I just killed it. What?

Yeah, yeah. Just let the thing go. It's a beautiful. Nice horse. Yeah, I should have. I should have. What do you do? It's all happening so fast.

Yeah, we're moving. But there's so many moving pieces. It's not happening, fat. This is the slowest thing ever. I know. Hiding, hiding, I'd kind of turn my mind around. And I did, I did stomach, so it's a slow one. Why would you shoot him in the stomach?

I just completely, no, we didn't, we walked through a lot of versions of this. We never talked about that horse. Well, you're not supposed to take a horse. What is with a horse not getting on a boat? Doesn't it understand? Who does that? Who takes a horse? I'll get on a rowboat.

Completely agree. Completely agree. Can you do stealth mode rowing when you have a horse passenger? Trying to get a horse. The doors are quiet, but the naying is very loud. I had to get a horse on a rowboat. It's making it harder to row. Horse was definitely behaving rationally.

It's like, A, you don't need me. B, absolutely not. I'm not going to go. Yeah. No. No. So the gunshot alerts the British that something's going on. But by the time.

The idea that you could have just left the horse, not only for ethical reasons, but to seek off better. Yeah. Well, I shot the horse. The British know. I buckled. He looked mean. He looked real mean.

He was looking to be weird. What do I'm going to do? I buckled like a lady's shoe out there. I shot the horse twice. But it's too late because Jersey's so close that by the time the British organizing get done there. We're ready. They're back on the main line.

Yeah, they're in Jersey already. So Colonel's now a prisoner. But it's not so bad. Basically, he promises the Continental Army. He will not escape and will not take up arms. In exchange, They let him do his thing in New Jersey. So he's basically just cruising around in New Jersey now,

and he promises not to do anything bad. That's the prisoner situation. I don't understand. That's how it works with officers. It's a gentlemanly agreement. But then why not let him take his hat? Exactly where I was going. Well, here we go.

Exactly. He's going to hold a grudge, isn't he? As you should. Just walking around all that time. I mean, he can see it from where he's being. You can see it for he's right there on the hat rack. Right there. I can grab it.

Right next to the yoga mat. Yeah. So as long as he keeps his word, he stays out of a cell, right? So for four months, that is Colonel Christopher Billups' sentence. Okay. He's not in New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah.

May I go into jail now? But then in October, New York State blows. that agreement up, the legislature convicts him of loyalty to the king. Yeah. And we knew this. Yeah. We all knew this. Yeah. We knew. What are we doing? We knew that. The four months is the issue. He's in the legislature being like, we should all. Yeah. And you are sentenced to no hat. Well, guys. Guys. So the colonel is banished, and everything he owns is taken by the state. You're going to Staten Island. So they take his 1,078 acres,

the stone house, his grandfather built, the dead horse they take, they take everything. The hat. Jesus. In New York, the British are holding... Put it on in front of him. No! In New York, the British are holding two American prisoners and irons.

One is Nathaniel Fitz Randolph. So New Jersey decides to answer that by doing the same thing to a loyalist. and that's and that's uh colonel billip okay so the governor in new jersey wrote a letter saying the state had no personal resentment against the colonel quote it is this particular misfortune to be in our position at this melancholy juncture so hard we got to put this guy in prison the amount of things that were emotionally written back then and the amount of things that weren't and this is one where he's like it's melancholy

We're down. I'm really sad I got to put this guy at a prison. It's tough. He was just like popping around New Jersey and then they were like, things have changed. That's right. Events are such that now you must be in manacles. That was tough. But it is where he wrote bored and to run.

So on November 6th, the colonel is actually sent to prison. There are two letters that are sent with him. The first is for the jailer, quote. You are hereby commanded to receive in your custody the body of Colonel Christopher Billip, prisoner of war, herewith delivered to you, and having put irons on his hands and feet, you are to chain him down to the floor in a close room in the said jail. And there so detain him, giving him bread and water only for food. Karma with melancholy.

That feels very standard as far as... Doesn't it? Yeah. They're like, okay, yes. So he's a prisoner, got it. It's like the hiding thing. They're like, we got to really spell this one out. Don't get him wet.

Don't feed him after midnight. New Jersey, comma, earth. Yeah. The second letter is for the colonel. By the way, bread and water. You give me that for three days. I'm not upset. Really?

That sounds pretty good. I think there's longer than three days. Yeah. No, eventually I'd be like, can I get some butter? But for the first few days, they're like, I'm carbon and loving it. So the other letters to the colonel, the official who signed the first one says he is sorry. He writes, quote,

To be under the disagreeable necessity of treating him this way. But retaliation is directed, and the colonel can end it any time he likes by writing to New York and arranging better treatment for the two American prisoners. So they're saying, they just want him, they just want fits and the other guy out of irons.

Right. And he can do that. Yeah, he's like you, yeah. How about you get involved? Wow. What a... We can unmanacle the right hand or the left if you're a lefty. That is such a strange situation to be in.

So he is chained to a jail floor eating bread and water in order to improve the living conditions of the guy who kidnapped him in the first place. So weeks go by and a message comes to the colonel from George Washington. George tells him to resign his command of the militia, and he can go home. Nobody will touch you your property during the war or after it. So that's a pretty good deal.

That is the perfect deal. Take it. Yeah, he says no. He likes being in charge of the militia. Men have never been sane. He's like the king of... Rather than go to therapy. Yes.

Exactly. This is just like, dude, look, just say you miss your dad. No! No! chain me tighter he says no psychotic but regardless in December the two sides work out of trade and the colonel gets to go home on the 26th 19 days later

the water freezes now the winter of 1779 into 1780 was the hardest of the century water rays around New York froze solid enough to carry infantry artillery and cavalry across calvary across the Roman was like, this is tough. Just on foot. I've been made redundant. Yeah. So on the night of January 14th, 1780, Washington...

They thought everyone was Jesus. And now they're Jesus! So on the night of January 14th, 1780, Washington sent 2,500 men across the ice into Staten Island on 300 sleds borrowed from New Jersey farmers. Wee. Wee. This is fun! Hmm? Yay.

The whole British force on the island was 1,800 men, so not enough to... So Washington's done fucking around. Yeah. So the British Army asked the colonel to call out his militia. In town, the militia is mostly... Up until now, they've been mostly just doing the grunt work, right? Right. Building stuff and bringing the supplies.

Okay. Digging. So, yeah, digging. Mainly digging. A lot of holes. What are we digging for? Not sure. Keep going.

So combat like this is something new. So the colonel goes to some militia, and he asked them to come into the fort at Richmond, and then he begs them. He tells them what the Americans will do to this island if they take it, which is hang some of them, right? And ruin the rest. Sure. Hang some. And then do a set, burn some. Yeah.

Another set. May I be hanged? And then he walks into the garrison, like, let me. Let's go. And then nobody, nobody falls. Not one man would join the garrison. They then go to the public houses instead to drink and hear the news or they just went home to see about their cattle or their land. And these are not secret rebels.

They were men the American government had marked. Many of them refugees out of New Jersey. Some who had every reason. that is just remarkable New Jersey refugees That's what they call them in New York City We've been through so much Aren't you just doing this to make money on oysters?

Yeah Our home is gone It's there So some of them have every reason To expect to be hanged If the Americans win And lose everything they had, right? But they're still not going to step up and fight

Wow The truth is the British had overstayed their welcome and it abused the island and its people badly. Yeah. So a man named Blake interviewed years later said, quote, the soldiers in general behaved at first very well, paying for everything that they took. But when they came back from Jersey, they stole everything they could lay their hands on. They started with fences.

They started with stealing fences? That's right. What are you going to take? They fenced fences? Wow. You guys are being too literal. All right. Now this is how you fence, right?

No. If we put this up on the battlefield, they'll never get us. Look at all these posts. Idiots. Fences are very important for a farm community like Staten Island. They keep the livestock from eating the crops. But the British soldiers need firewood. Now you've come to fire.

So wait. So the prince just... My cow's over there. It's chaos. Oh my God. So, yeah, we got all this wood for our fences. We're quite cold. Is that possible, man?

Local Isaac Simonson, quote, the fences were all destroyed, not a rail being left in three months. At that time, things were very cheap. After the British came, prices more than doubled. Can I say, like, in the eternal Staten Islandness of this story,

This is like 18th century Nimbianism. Like literally not in my back. You're like you took away what demarcated my backyard. That was the taxes also. You think NIMBY's bad now. I mean, the British were so the thing my mind always goes back to is when they took Philadelphia. You know, they just took over houses. And instead of using an outhouse, they would just, they just cut holes in the floor.

God. And we'll just use that as their toilets. Oh, my God. So they're not great. Like, not good guess. Yeah. That's tough.

There's an outhouse. There's also an in-house. Christ. And that's how bathrooms are invented. We call it the Lou. Yeah. By the way, they weren't, the pitch was good. The pitch eventually.

Directionally, yes. Yeah. Eventually. A pipe and maybe. There's nothing worse than the long hike. Well, dad's pooping. He's taking that long walk of shame. The first time the army went to New Jersey, a proclamation went out.

Or if there was no toilet paper in the outhouse, that weird walk back to the main house? That is a rough one. Dad, were you shot? No. Without a TP. They just used their jacket and throw it away behind it. It's tough. It's a good conversation, though.

The first time the army went to New Jersey, a proclamation went out telling everyone to put their fences back up. We found the issue that really gets them going. It's just like how we get an amber alert. I've got it to fence alert. Then the army came home and destroyed the fences again. Damn it. What did the British use for firewood once they used up all the fences you ask?

Well, the churches, of course. Oh, my God. They're like literally the stuff that's most important. Like, let's do that first. What about the trees? Is there a church here? there was a there was a reformed

Dutch church at Richmond Town a frame building finished right about when the war started a minister named Van Pelt quote the British used it gradually up for firewoods they just used up the whole church Wow

Well now take the priest A Presbyterian meeting house became a hospital And was then destroyed This might be how they started Burning people at the stake Seriously We got we need to

more firewood. No, they needed a steak. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Not the steak. We'll burn them on her. The two women. Tape them together. Delores, stand as long as you can. Do you understand you've had taped this whole time? Yeah. You guys don't have tape? And yoga? Yeah. You guys don't do it. You don't have tape in yoga?

The Dutch church at Port Richmond had a balcony, a steeple with a bell on it, and shingles from the ground up. Those are gone. Soldiers lived in it until eventually it blew over in a storm. No one is inside, but it blew over at New Dorp, which is a name I'll never get over and no one should. And when it blew over, they all said, Dorp. A chorus of voices rose up. Oh, Dorp! Soldiers set fire to Gamble's Moravian Church, then came into the Parsons.

one evening, frightening his family, destroying their furniture, and carried off the congregation's records, probably to burn. Gamble wrote that a complaint by civilians to British officers commonly makes bad worse. One islander said he obeyed the two officers quartered in his house without ever objecting because there was no use in it. If I'd done so, we should have been requited with a curse and a blow of their swords. It's just amazing that they're true. the people that they're helping that they're helping them like this yeah right and that the people are

taking it like well okay so civil civil government there's an outhouse guys no no no uh civil government has stopped existing at this point the courts were closed the courthouse was burned Jesus can we get that gavel uh and yeah these are their allies so by this point the militia members aren't really feeling particularly inclined to lay down their lives for the crown you guys don't seem to have that you're not excited anymore am I crazy what's going on so when the american rebels arrive nobody is there to stop them but the garrison held the british spies had warned the americans were coming and they were ready and the soldiers stood on a frozen island in a blizzard for a day and a half and went home without incident but after the army came hundreds of american

civilians with sleds. They were dead set on looting the hell out of Staten Island. This is how it happens. Stop saying we. Not an invading army, but people like just getting stuff. They emptied a man's store while he stood in it and burned another man's two sloops. His two sloops? Sloops.

Ships, some kind of ship. Small ships. Sure. They took cattle, horses, carriages, bedding, and furniture. They took people. Long after the war, a man named Pompei Prahl remembered that night, he said, ice was so strong that, quote, the Americans come over and steal colored people and sell them for slaves.

Oh, sweet God. Never, never good. Got to make a buck, right? Never good. At all costs. Wait, the first part of that is ice was so strong. Yeah, so they could just run across the land. Their funding was in the Homeland Security Bill.

You're thinking, yeah, I get the, today's environment. I get to mix up. I was just trying to parse what was being claimed about the climate. This is, imagine a time when Tom Homan had teeth. That's what was happening in this area. No such time. The Colonel's house was looted to, of course. Quote, the severe frost at last gave the rebels an easy access to his farm on the ice

when they carried off a black man, his cattle, horses, carriages, bedding, and other furniture to a large amount. Not the bedding. Not the bedding. Now! Magistrates valued the lot at 944 pounds. It also, he said, compelled them to move his family out of so exposed a situation. He's like, well, I got to go. He's lost at all, I think.

I've got to get out of here. This is full repossession. I also, yeah. Go ahead. This house, I believe, in, I think it is Billups house where the attempt at a truce conference in the beginning of the revolution. is held. Like after the British launched the big battle in

New York City from Staten Island on September 11th I think 1776 they're like all right now you've seen what we can do do you want to make nice and they invite I think it's Ben Franklin and maybe

Adams over to Billups house on Staten Island and they're like we can make this all disappear you just like agree that nothing happened and you love the king and it can all go back to as it was and that's like that's the moment when we all could have just

remained part of Great Britain and we chose not to. Oh my God that's so great. They were probably like this is the most important thing that'll ever happen on 9-11. Exactly. This is huge. History will remember this. They will never forget what happened in here and day. Phil Pappas

remembers this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. So the colonel moves after he comes back from prison. He stopped sleeping in his house. Every night he walked up from Bentley to his father-in-laws to sleep. And every night somebody sat up to watch over him while he slept because the colonel was a very hard snorer. And he was worried he would sleep through another kidnapping attempt. Oh, my God.

Come on. That's R. That's amazing. You're stressed enough that you're worried that you're going to be. kidnapped at any point, but you're still sleeping deeply enough that you need someone to watch you. I would be up all night. I get 12 hours.

Yeah, all night. I mean, once I'm out, I'm out. Snoring. Also, the logic of that makes no sense. It's like he's snoring deep, loudly enough that he can't hear. That's probably what he thinks, yeah. Yeah.

This is a different time. They didn't know a lot of sleep apnea back there. He still got a. Casper mattress. Actually, it's where Helix is actually the mattress he probably had. Not to jump on your sponsor's term, but even back then, if you want a mattress, you could be kidnapped off. You know what? If he's sleeping that deeply, it's probably a helix.

Sounds like you have the California Duxlux, which is quite up in. The Staten Island Dux use promo code Staten Island or promo code Billups. It's filled with wooden fences. Yes, nice and comfy. The new Helix. horse meat mattress. Filled with a whole horse. It's one of a kind.

Listen, why did we shoot it? We don't know, but we stuffed it in some felt. Now you're going to felt a good night's sleep. So Staten Islanders are now refusing to serve in the loyalist militia, and they go further. What's their problem? Some are passing the Americans' information

about the strength and condition of British troops. A private complained that the residents were spying for the enemy, ambushing patrols, and taking every opportunity to shoot at the soldiers of the garrison. You're not on the same side anymore. It's pretty clear. It feels like it's turned. It feels like when they're actually shooting at you. I'm starting to understand how Staten Island became a part of New York.

The British had had enough, and they evacuated Staten Island on December 3rd, 1783. We've all done it. Residents came down to the shore. to watch the fleet go. One wrote, quote, We are very boisterous in our demonstrations of joy. We clapped our hands,

we waved our hats, we sprang into the air, and some few who had brought muskets with them fired a foetijoi. Fidijoy. A few others in the exuberance of their gladness

indulged in gestures which, though very expressive, were neither polite nor judicious. Wow. old finger. One guy from Philly ate horse poop to celebrate and everyone felt pretty weird about it. That is so funny

to listen to how they wrote about euphoria. Boisterous demonstrations of boisterous joy. There were demonstrations of boisterous joy. We were waving our hats. A few gentlemen shop muskets. Hey! Hey!

Remember, we have nothing. Some people left some sleds on the island, but other than that, Some people didn't realize it was the spring and tried to sled to the island. This was great. I shot a horse. Why?

What do we at? Woo! Nobody knows how many loyalists left with the fleet, but the island came out of the war with more people than when it started. Wow. Two thousand eight, forty seven. And it was now three thousand eight hundred and thirty-five. So they gained a thousand people. And Colonel Christopher Billip left.

and in September 1783, he filed his claim in London. His claim? For losses from incursions of the law. One hat. Three good night sleeps. My mommy gave me that hat. One yoga mat and block. Wow.

Horse, obviously. That was a tough one. That hurt. Okay. So losses. from the incursions of the enemy 1,500 pounds. Losses I don't think they would say it was valued at

944 pounds. Did you say where is that inflation? Losses of the ice of losses of the ice in one night 944 pounds. So that's when all the people came after when all the people

just ran over and stole everything. Losses to the British Yeah. Lossed. Losses to the British military. 1,441 pounds for living away from his family for seven years, 1,500 pounds. That was very tough.

You could have just stopped. No, that was a tough time. For the forced sale of his land, 4,752 pounds, to prove it all, he brings deeds going all the way back to 1687. He's got orders from three generals about him having to stay there

and an American newspaper reporting on his spirited conduct in the only battle he was in. So he brings, that's his records. Sure. Two generals swear for him. His claim for loss of property entered in the commissioner's ledger is 5,171 pounds and 10 shillings. That's like the rest of your life, right?

Yeah. You're set. That's a nice chunk. Well, then they just give him 400 pounds. Huh? What? And they offer him 80 pounds a year, I guess, in a pension or whatever. The British are not looking good in this.

No, they're not. Maybe the revolution was a good idea. For the first time ever, the British are coming out a little scathe. That is crazy. All that, they're like, we'll give you $490 a year. As that's terrible. It's a bad deal. The entire thing.

I gave my life up for what you were doing. Yeah, anyway, get out. One sentence was added to the decision, quote, At the time we think it is necessary to say that on his going to Nova Scotia, we mean the said allowance shall cease. So he goes to Nova Scotia, the 80 pounds is over because they know his plan is to move to Nova Scotia. And when he does, he gets no more money. He does move?

Yeah. It's a moving anyway. It's a lot of crisscrossing. It's like, why go to London from Staten Island just to ping pong right back again? Right? Yeah. That's how you don't make small talk with the decision makers. I think Nova Scotia is pretty nice.

They're like, got it. Newtage. I mean, I hate flying to the East Coast. I can't imagine. Oh, it's your life. Yeah. My life's been pretty much three boat rides. It's been pretty much it.

Or he was sitting there. And a couple months in New Jersey. Yeah. Yeah. Billup does very well in Nova Scotia. He sat in the first new. Brunswick Assembly and then on the province's council by appointer

the king and he died at St. John in 1827, age 90, worth at least $75,000. Wow. That's a lot of money. That's a real. Ninety-two. Are those Canadian dollars? Yeah. Oh yeah, there's a difference. Yeah, never mind. So it's seven dollars. He was a bummer.

Living to 90 with all that. That's really impressive. 90 and those, that's like, that's crazy. Those are solid staff. His headstone says that his uncompromising loyalty... His headstone at the end says turnover for more. Second episode to follow. His headstone says that his uncompromising loyalty

during the American Rebellion obliged him at the termination of that contest to abandon without compensation his hereditary property on Staten Island. So what you're saying about book titles. The headstone is still just like bitter. It's a bitter headstone. Also just like, you're like, wait, what?

He was a traitor. Staten Island was under occupation for seven years and five months longer than any community in America during the revolution. Wow, that is crazy. Yeah, but at what point do they start calling it an occupation? I know, right? Yeah, like three years in. All right, wait, fuck this. No, no, no, no.

You know what, this is bad for me. All right. Wait a minute. Wow, that is so, you know, that's what's. funny about this sort of stuff, at least for me, is I never think about these little wrinkles of how difficult this was to actually get done. Like, I feel like it's just like, yeah, one day it was done. And then instead you're like, no, no, no, no. Staten Island, like a traitorous island. Well, and they had like, obviously it was the right position. They were just like,

we have access to the British Empire. Totally. The rocking the boat is going to mean there's going to be guys on sleds coming over and kidnapping. Like, let's just. I mean, it's like a mini-hor moose. Well, it's almost like medieval or before. You just think of all of a sudden the river's frozen and then all these people are just running across the grab. Sledding. It was actually the

invention of the ice luge. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's the Bob Slutters. Sources. Philip Poppuss. That ever loyal island, Staten Island in the American Revolution. Charles Anthon. Anthon, who dropped, pull the Y off there? Dave Anthony, so he's obviously taking a shoe with it.

It's personal. It's personal now. Completely personal. The Y is the whole thing. Interviewed notebook, Staten Island, history of Richmond County. Richard Bales, history of Richmond County, J.J. Clute, Annals of Staten Island, and William Davis, the conference, or Billop House, Staten Island, New York.

Uh, yeah. Wow. That was great. That's wild. Amazing. Now, you didn't really know any of that, which also surprises me considering. I did not. I didn't know anything about the Billup story.

I knew about Staten Island's preferences during the American Revolution. Yeah. But Billup is really an amazing. He's a, as they say in story terms, he's a great donkey. Yeah, he really is. Yeah, he really is. He really is. Um, well, uh, Ben, thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, this was great. Yeah, this was a blast. Thank you, guys. So just remind everyone again where they can go if we've wet the palate of Staten Island. What I need is more Staten Island stories. If you want to hear this happen in 1989 to 1993 and think about it as a parable for what's going on in the country now, then you should come listen to the Staten Island problem on revisionist history. I mean, all I was thinking reading this is like, oh, so you.

you supported a king like sort of thing and then uh then uh then you cut shit all over yeah and now you're mad and how does it interesting uh how did that how did that go over time interesting yeah how'd that go in the log run layers yeah uh well thank you ben and uh and yeah enjoy what ben does and you you've been listeners enjoy what we do yeah this was great thank you guys this was this was really really fun thank you thank you