The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Manhunt | 3

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

By 1876, criminal boss Big Jim Kennally was ready to put his Lincoln body-snatching plan into motion. But his gang of thieves needed one more member before they could attempt the heist.

Soon, they found their new recruit: a former horse thief from Wisconsin named Lewis Swegles. But what the gang didn’t know was that Swegles was a “roper” – an undercover informant, employed by Secret Service agent Patrick Tyrrell to bring down Kennally’s counterfeiting ring. When Swegles revealed the Lincoln plot to Tyrrell, the agent knew he had to act fast. First, however, he had to convince his bosses at the Secret Service that the far-fetched plot was real.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:19.0	Imagine it's the evening of November 6, 1876.
0:23.0	Your reporter at Chicago Central Station loading luggage onto the overnight train bound for Springfield, the Illinois State Capitol.
0:30.0	It's the night before Election Day and the train is packed.
0:33.0	You're scrambling to get everything on board in the last 10 minutes before the train's 9pm departure.
0:39.0	Among the passengers still milling around on the platform are four men.
0:43.0	One is slender with a walrus moustache holding a burlap sack.
0:47.0	You move to take it off his hands.
0:49.0	Allow me, sir.
0:50.0	But as soon as you touch the sack, the man jerks it away from you.
0:54.0	As he does, you can hear metal objects clinking inside.
0:57.0	Hey, hands off! I'm a porter, sir. I'm trying to... I'll load my own damn bag.
1:02.0	A whistle blows, the five minute warning.
1:06.0	You don't have much time left. You turn from the man and go back to grabbing luggage.
1:11.0	A few minutes later, you feel a tap on your shoulder.
1:15.0	You look up to see a broad-shouldered man with a cleft chin gazing down at you.
1:19.0	Excuse me, you're a porter here?
1:21.0	Yes, sir. Well, please keep this quiet, but I'm a detective. I'm looking for a group of passengers.
1:26.0	Oh. Who? What do they look like?
1:29.0	One has a bushy beard. Another a walrus moustache. Probably carrying tools with it.
1:35.0	Oh, my goodness. Yes, I did. They were right.
1:38.0	But when you turn to point, the men and their burlap sack are nowhere to be seen.
	...

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