The Most Interesting American You've Never Heard Of

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  • Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
  • Mr. Beat films live on location in Lucas, Kansas, to tell the story of Samuel P. Dinsmoor, the most interesting American you probably haven't heard of.
    For a paper Mr. Beat wrote about Dinsmoor as well as a complete list of sources, visit: drive.google.c...
    Want a specific history topic covered? Your idea gets picked when you donate on Patreon: / iammrbeat
    Mr. Beat's band: electricneedler...
    Mr. Beat on Twitter: / beatmastermatt
    So, you may have not heard about Samuel P. Dinsmoor, but his story is about as Americana as it gets. Dinsmoor was born near Coolville, Ohio, on March 8, 1843. His youth abruptly ended after enthusiastically signing up for the Union Army after the Civil War began. Standing at just five-foot five inches, fellow soldiers nicknamed him “Little One.” He later claimed to be involved in 18 big battles during his three years in the war. He spent much of his service as a nurse, likely assisting in amputations and often witnessing horrifying deaths.
    Incredibly, Dinsmoor made it through the war with no major injuries. However, just a few days after the war was over, a commander’s horse he was riding threw him off, slicing his head open. Always abstaining from alcohol, he refused to sip liquor as doctors stitched his head up.
    He then returned home to Ohio and soon moved west to the Mississippi River, settling on the Illinois side just north of St. Louis. In 1869, he began a brief career as a schoolteacher. During this time, he fell in love with a woman four years older than him named Frances Barlow Journey. They married on August 24, 1870. The two exchanged vows on horseback in a stream bed, and yes, the presiding minister was also on a horse.
    After the wedding, Dinsmoor quit teaching to farm, helping run a 341-acre property near the river that Frances had inherited after her first husband died. Frances and Dinsmoor managed one of the highest valued farms in the area. For 18 years, the family grew and lived a peaceful life. Yet, when Dinsmoor was 45 years old, he decided to move the family west to Kansas, leaving their prosperous and comfortable life back in Illinois behind. It’s not clear why he decided to do this, but some speculate it was because of how promoters hyped Kansas up.
    By the time Dinsmoor arrived in Lucas, Kansas, his family had grown to five children, although his two stepchildren, now in their mid twenties, stayed behind. As soon as Dinsmoor arrived, he bought a small farm east of Lucas for $800. Unfortunately, the family arrived in Lucas at a time of economic downturn. Kansas farmers struggled, in particular, due to drought, which caused crop failures and major dust storms. By the end of the 1880s, many couldn’t pay back loans due to lower crop production. It’s unknown how badly this widespread depression hurt Dinsmoor, but regardless his family moved to Nebraska just two years after arriving in Lucas.
    Dinsmoor later sold insurance for a company based out of Omaha, so perhaps this explains why the family made the move. However, less than one year after living in Nebraska, they lost everything in a house fire. This is probably why they ended up back on their land in Lucas less than one year later.
    Back in Lucas, Dinsmoor became heavily involved in the trendy Populist movement. By 1892, Dinsmoor was probably the biggest Populist supporter in Lucas.The local newspaper called him a radical due to his outspoken and sometimes controversial views.
    In 1896, Dinsmoor served as a delegate at the Populist national convention in St. Louis. He also held large Populist rallies at his house, sometimes attracting as many as 300 people. That same year, he achieved his first and only elected office, as justice of the peace of Fairview Township.
    However, just as the Populist Party began to fade in the late 1890s, so did Dinsmoor’s political ambitions. In 1898, he lost a state representative race, which devastated him. He vowed to never run for public office again after that.
    In 1905, at the age of 62, Dinsmoor sold his farm and moved into Lucas, buying land that would later be world famous. Despite not having any experience in architecture or engineering, he built a stone log cabin almost entirely by himself, completing it two years later. But he always had cement, and couldn’t stop creating with it. After he built a cement fence, he built a grape arbor that reaches from the back porch to the road. From there, at the end of the arbor facing the street, he created Adam and Eve, although Adam started out as a scarecrow he messed up.
    After Adam and Eve, Dinsmoor began constructing the first of his eventual 29 concrete trees, some as high as 40 feet. Over the next 22 years, Dinsmoor used 130 tons of cement to create over 150 life-sized statues. Today, if these statues were cut up and sold at an auction, they’d likely sell for millions of dollars.

КОМЕНТАРІ • 158

  • @iammrbeat
    @iammrbeat  7 років тому +86

    Supreme Court Briefs returns next week. Comment here to predict which will be my next case. 😶

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому +4

      That video is not coming next week, but definitely happening later on.

    • @XoXitsSaruhh
      @XoXitsSaruhh 5 років тому +1

      I've actually been there. I had no idea what it was and thought we were going hiking in a national park. I think everyone was being purposefully vague.

    • @roshinimaricar5219
      @roshinimaricar5219 5 років тому

      @@iammrbeat ARE U A JEW ! 👩💑

    • @dragonborn3609
      @dragonborn3609 5 років тому

      @Fred Flintstone What?

    • @aquilescastro1794
      @aquilescastro1794 3 роки тому

      Yes

  • @DennisGr
    @DennisGr 7 років тому +382

    not even clickbait. what an amount of plot twists this had.

    • @Jrue61
      @Jrue61 3 роки тому +3

      Mr. Beat is never clickbait.

    • @hiwotekubay1137
      @hiwotekubay1137 3 роки тому +3

      Mr. Beat never say never

    • @pippincovington1348
      @pippincovington1348 3 роки тому +1

      What plot twists?? Omg, he moved to a different state 😮😮 woahhhh, he built a statue!!! 😲🤯🤯🤯 No wayyyyyyy

  • @siamiam
    @siamiam 7 років тому +338

    he was a busy guy that cemented himself in to history

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому +28

      You were always good with the puns

    • @RaimsWitDaBigTaims
      @RaimsWitDaBigTaims 7 років тому +22

      yeah, and his political views were *concrete*

  • @brucewallace3860
    @brucewallace3860 2 роки тому +30

    Dad fought in civi war, son fought in Vietnam….awesome factoid! Gotta be the singular example.

  • @1survivor566
    @1survivor566 3 роки тому +69

    Me after the first few minutes: Okay he's kind of interesting, but it's nothing THAT wild.
    Me at by the end: ....

    • @pippincovington1348
      @pippincovington1348 3 роки тому +2

      Me in the beginning: this dude is boring af
      Me in the end: this dude is boring af

    • @binbows2258
      @binbows2258 2 роки тому +3

      @@pippincovington1348 well thats what happens when you have untreated ADHD

  • @brownmcjuggernuggets5292
    @brownmcjuggernuggets5292 7 років тому +90

    "Seament"

  • @Zylork0122
    @Zylork0122 6 років тому +68

    That’s a lot of SEMENT.

  • @agent9809
    @agent9809 6 років тому +39

    Samuel Dinsmore is and was an eccentric person of his time

  • @KoolSpool
    @KoolSpool 2 роки тому +5

    We went from soldier to homesteader to artist in 9 minutes.

  • @dylanwilliams4459
    @dylanwilliams4459 4 роки тому +11

    Mr. Beat thank you for making Kansas history such a priority it makes me proud to live here.

  • @sosachamberlain6069
    @sosachamberlain6069 Рік тому +3

    6:22 what a wholesome and wonderful video. Surely nothing will change my outlook on this fine man.

  • @thelifeandtimes.ofazombiegirl
    @thelifeandtimes.ofazombiegirl 3 роки тому +10

    What a character! Thank you for such an interesting video. Like you said I had never heard of him. This will be a place to visit for sure when I'm traveling anywhere close. J.

  • @ospididious
    @ospididious 2 роки тому +1

    I did know about this guy, but I didn't know this much about this guy. Thanks for making this video and by all means, please keep it up.

  • @Magocracy
    @Magocracy 2 роки тому +3

    Dinsmoor’s story and property is unique but familiar at the same time. I grew up near a small town in Wisconsin called Phillips that is home to Fred Smith’s Concrete Park. Fred created over 200 life size concrete statues of men, women and animals, including the Budweiser Clydesdales wagon team and a chariot from the movie Ben Hur. A lot of the statues were damaged by a storm in the 70’s but now everything is in good repair and it’s worth a look if somehow you find yourself in the middle of the Northwoods.

  • @michellereno6414
    @michellereno6414 Рік тому

    I just came across this video, and I’m going to be driving from Tulsa, OK to Hays KS in about a week! I’m delivering 2 rescue hounds to their new humans there! Now I’ve got something new to check out on my way home!!❤❤😂 Thanks Mr. Beat!!

  • @ericpa06
    @ericpa06 6 років тому +8

    What an amazing vídeo! Thank you for having made it :)

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  6 років тому +1

      +Eric P. Alvaro Thanks for watching and for the kind words!

  • @petemagnuson7357
    @petemagnuson7357 7 років тому +6

    Neat. I'll be sure to check it out next time I'm in the area.

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому +2

      It's certainly one-of-a-kind!

  • @Spongebrain97
    @Spongebrain97 4 роки тому +14

    Lmao a Vietnam war vet's father fought in the civil war

    • @Zeekiel
      @Zeekiel 2 роки тому +1

      It's crazy

  • @donnakeeley7924
    @donnakeeley7924 5 років тому +3

    Very interesting, never knew this! Thank you!

  • @krishinrichs143
    @krishinrichs143 4 роки тому +1

    Excellent post! I will be stopping in next time we are down that way!

  • @anonymeese
    @anonymeese 2 роки тому +1

    Dude my family visits Lucas nearly every year! It's a blast, we always go to the Garden

  • @avhgptws
    @avhgptws 10 місяців тому

    Mr. Beat, my brother and I are traveling out to the greater Kansas City area next month. Thanks to your video, we are going to incorporate a trip to the Garden of Eden while we're there. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up! It'll be quite a drive, but I believe it'll be worth it. I've told a lot of people about Dinsmoor, and they're all floored when they hear about him.

  • @erikbou3092
    @erikbou3092 7 років тому +7

    This is fascinating

  • @carlramirez6339
    @carlramirez6339 2 роки тому +1

    Thanks for this interesting story. Wikipedia's article on him is quite lacking.

  • @lst9701
    @lst9701 Рік тому +2

    Please do more folklore!

  • @Newstatejournal1
    @Newstatejournal1 5 років тому +3

    Mr. Beat, I like your videos and your distinctive style. You remind me a little of Huell Howser from California's Gold. Huell expressed his passion that really resonates with a positive vibe.

  • @josephbolz4550
    @josephbolz4550 2 роки тому +3

    Lucas is the folk art capital of Kansas because of him and his garden. He was an interesting dude. He did leave his young wife with the tax man breathing down her neck as he didn’t believe in them

  • @HectorVII
    @HectorVII 2 роки тому +1

    wow... this has to be one of the most entertaining history videos ive ever seen. what a bizarre twist! very outsider. very interesting

  • @Jayn0x
    @Jayn0x 2 роки тому +3

    If you were born in Coolville you are undeniably cool everyone knows that

  • @saimalishahid1406
    @saimalishahid1406 4 роки тому +4

    That second marriage was just... disturbing

  • @freddyt55555
    @freddyt55555 5 років тому +1

    I got an ad for a Kansas concert at the end of the video. LOL

  • @bigslice54
    @bigslice54 Рік тому +2

    Strange that a soldier 5'5 would be named "Little One" when the average height of soldiers was 5'7, & who wants to bet the insurance salesman had his home insured prior to the fire?!?!

  • @davestrasburg408
    @davestrasburg408 Рік тому +1

    lnteresting video!

  • @melliott604
    @melliott604 2 роки тому +2

    Very cool place to see. He’s well preserved! Some air got into his casket once it appears. But he his first wife under him and his last on top. What a guy. Lol

    • @thelegend2571
      @thelegend2571 2 роки тому

      any pictures of the corpses?

    • @melliott604
      @melliott604 2 роки тому +1

      @@thelegend2571 sadly you can’t. I mean you could if you were really sneaky. You now have to ask a guide and they follow you in there etc.

    • @thelegend2571
      @thelegend2571 2 роки тому

      @@melliott604 take one anyway only 30days if u have to punch someone

  • @jacksoneverything25
    @jacksoneverything25 Рік тому

    And this guy lived to be 89, what a champ.

  • @RowdyRuth
    @RowdyRuth Місяць тому

    I have been there several times the first was accidentally. He was getting moldy by the second visit but he was still in the casket. 😊

  • @jakefendelman737
    @jakefendelman737 3 роки тому +1

    My mom grew up on Dinsmoor Dr. in St Louis. Had no idea the street was named after a person

  • @buzzclark
    @buzzclark 4 роки тому

    I visited that place. I am from NESS COUNTY KS. Specifically Arnold - out on a 2600 acre wheat/oil/cattle FARM. From years back. I miss it. Maybe FreeMason as well. This guy was way ahead of his time !!!!!

  • @gracev5288
    @gracev5288 2 роки тому

    Me watching this on July 21st and revisiting it the 22nd

  • @Daniel.Liddicoat
    @Daniel.Liddicoat 6 років тому +9

    I'm sure if there are more interesting Americans I haven't heard of them yet.

  • @binbows2258
    @binbows2258 2 роки тому

    Nice video.

  • @WorkingClassic
    @WorkingClassic 4 роки тому +1

    What a legend

  • @franklinhopman4290
    @franklinhopman4290 3 роки тому +2

    I legit thought you were going to reveal that Dinsmoor was your grandfather or something.

  • @constantinexii418
    @constantinexii418 3 роки тому +2

    Andronikos I and Agnes of France: we married when andronikos was 60 and Agnes was 12
    Samuel: Amateurs

  • @hiwotekubay1137
    @hiwotekubay1137 3 роки тому +1

    The most interesting American you have never heard of
    Mr. Beat yes you Mr. Knock 😂😂😂😂😂 Hilarious

  • @jere9maz
    @jere9maz 5 років тому +1

    thx mr beat

  • @032319581
    @032319581 2 роки тому

    Amazing story!

  • @ABCDEFGH-or2eb
    @ABCDEFGH-or2eb 6 років тому +4

    Video request: Missouri bellwether
    I recommend using "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers as Music. The Doobie Brothers are from Missouri.

  • @dantean
    @dantean 4 роки тому +4

    Props to any man still getting busy at age 82! This guy gives the Dos Equis guy a run for his money.

  • @TexasandPacific
    @TexasandPacific 9 місяців тому

    I went there this summer

  • @Mii.2.0
    @Mii.2.0 3 роки тому +1

    Wow. Samuel Dinsmoor things than I ever did in my life. 😞

    • @filozof90
      @filozof90 9 місяців тому

      Depends. How many years until you're over 80?

  • @vontsss
    @vontsss 4 роки тому +1

    he reminds me of the dad in “sticks” by george saunders

  • @nannerz1994
    @nannerz1994 6 років тому +1

    Another interesting dude: George Streeter, I'd love to see you do a video about him.

  • @lenorajones6986
    @lenorajones6986 2 роки тому

    he was ahead of his time

  • @pablosilva6988
    @pablosilva6988 2 роки тому

    Dinsmoor had some great game.

  • @rockinrobin7105
    @rockinrobin7105 Рік тому

    I went yesterday, I got the feeling he was a little nutts. 😆

  • @gavinpage5655
    @gavinpage5655 2 роки тому +1

    Where did bro get all that cement

  • @internetstrangerstrangerofweb
    @internetstrangerstrangerofweb 2 роки тому

    Dude that roblox Union army cap it’s so good on his head

  • @mummyneo7112
    @mummyneo7112 7 років тому +2

    Do Gonzales vs Raich and I think Samuel P. Dinsmoor is a great and interesting person!

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому

      +Mummy Neo Another marijuana case!

  • @joshuacoleman8000
    @joshuacoleman8000 5 років тому +12

    I bet you were elated when the Royals finally won the world series again after 3 decades!

  • @skxyz4269
    @skxyz4269 4 роки тому

    I just visited his house earlier today in Lucas kansas his house called garden of eden is so interesting and creepy I couldnt stop thinking about it so I wanted to find stuff out about the guy the whole town is tiny and has weird art almost everywhere

  • @poopsock7493
    @poopsock7493 3 роки тому +1

    He has inside jokes with total strangers

  • @williamtoad8040
    @williamtoad8040 11 місяців тому +1

    My father died when I was only 4 years old.
    I’m so sorry he died so young
    Actually he was 89
    Im sorry but you said “father” right?

  • @kennykimbrough4020
    @kennykimbrough4020 3 роки тому +1

    This guy was playing real life minecraft and got bored

  • @andrewbates3505
    @andrewbates3505 4 роки тому +1

    You can only get that much sement by using two wrists. Dinsmoor "loved to mess with the two wrists."

  • @ICBsTurf
    @ICBsTurf 2 роки тому +3

    61 year age gap? 😬

  • @golgarisoul
    @golgarisoul 7 років тому +4

    Sounds a bit like the working class version of Winchester. Only a bit.

  • @jade63073
    @jade63073 3 роки тому

    I love the history of my family! Politicians, Engineers, Artists, Farmers. We have a long history in America.

  • @samd2865
    @samd2865 6 років тому +4

    Reason he's not remembered is because even though he served he did not become an accomplished political figure and did not invent anything that contributed to society. You need one or the other.

    • @truls9578
      @truls9578 5 років тому

      I would argue that his main legacy is as an artist and those are quite Well known. If you ask the avrage amarican most of Them Will most likley know Pablo Picasso more Than James buchanon or chester Arthur.

  • @marshawoods4983
    @marshawoods4983 4 роки тому

    Very interesting story

  • @thanosandnobill3789
    @thanosandnobill3789 7 років тому +2

    His two kids died before 4 years!

  • @Michael_Likes_Food
    @Michael_Likes_Food 4 роки тому +1

    I thought his name Samuel Dinosaur.

  • @devinsamuel3612
    @devinsamuel3612 2 роки тому

    Interesting as hell, but counterpoint: William Hope "Coin" Harvey. He was a lawyer (and impacted early jim crow laws), a silver prospector, hotel owner, organized TWO Rocky Mountain Mardi Gras, raised money for the Colorado Mineral Palace, became America's first millionaire author, wrote political speeches for William Jennings Bryan, opened a resort in Arkanas (which featured the nation's first indoor swimming pool), invented the forerunner of the Interstate Highway System (including a large portion of Route 66 on his plan), became convinced the world was ending, tried to build a 900 foot tall marble pyramid (but only finished the base), ran for president while blind from cataracts, got 100,000 votes somehow, and then when he died he was so bankrupt his secretary hired men to dig him a tomb with dynamite.
    I like to call him the Great Ametican Madman.

  • @ehanoldaccount5893
    @ehanoldaccount5893 4 роки тому

    He was literally ahead of his time..

  • @JaxTheCartographer
    @JaxTheCartographer 6 років тому +3

    All I can say is
    interesting.

  • @sharonreddig2291
    @sharonreddig2291 6 років тому +12

    I'm related to him by marriage

  • @Dan_Ben_Michael
    @Dan_Ben_Michael 3 роки тому

    What an original Nickname his mates came up with.

  • @spuburq
    @spuburq 2 роки тому

    That's alot of sea-meant

  • @joshuaba
    @joshuaba 3 роки тому

    March 8 1843-July 21 1932
    AGE’89

  • @harrytruman5700
    @harrytruman5700 4 роки тому +1

    I never heard this Ohioan and Kanans.

  • @valerielhw
    @valerielhw 2 роки тому +1

    This man KNEW that he would never live to see his children grow up. It is a fact that it is far, _FAR_ less stigmatizing for a man to produce children late in life than it is for a woman to do the same.

  • @davidwordsworth5584
    @davidwordsworth5584 3 роки тому

    Read about him in Driving Mr. Albert, had to know if true or fiction. If they don't make money they are insane if they make money they are eccentric. He is still making money.

  • @conversationtosaurusrex
    @conversationtosaurusrex 6 років тому +1

    What happened to his wifes body and his own? You said she was buried on the property in a mausoleum he built. Is she still buried there and is he as well buried there?

    • @kirtreeves7777
      @kirtreeves7777 5 років тому +2

      They are both interned in the mausoleum, and if you take the tour they show you his body, under glass, she is interned underneath his coffin, so no one will disturb her.

  • @dancingzorbas
    @dancingzorbas 7 років тому +1

    I'm calling it, next week's Supreme Court Brief is Loving v. Virginia

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому +1

      +Luke DelVecchio Such a good guess but nope :)

  • @reversecardthompson1197
    @reversecardthompson1197 3 роки тому +1

    Um I just went to his Wikipedia page there's Literally nothing about him

  • @CadChamberlain
    @CadChamberlain 4 роки тому

    Dinsmoor, summoner of concrete

  • @fromulus
    @fromulus 3 роки тому

    Wow, what a story, and I had never heard of him before. And fortunately for him, he lived in a time when it was acceptable to be an American and a socialist, before all of the government conditioning started.

  • @ashleighstratmann7783
    @ashleighstratmann7783 5 років тому

    Why don't you do a video on the Vietnam War, from how it started and why it took so long to end it?

  • @amandagolden3837
    @amandagolden3837 6 років тому +1

    Mr. Beat when will you do the story of 9/11??

    • @tannerwilson4843
      @tannerwilson4843 6 років тому +2

      Amanda Golden I don’t think so. You can find 9/11 stuff anywhere.
      Would rather see more videos like this.

  • @robertdbrozek2384
    @robertdbrozek2384 7 місяців тому

    Samuel P. Dinsmoor was My Uncle by Marriage he Married my Aunt Emille Brozek

  • @AmericanwrCymraeg
    @AmericanwrCymraeg Рік тому

    Not going to lie. I assumed this was going to end by you telling us he was your great grandfather.

  • @Nomorehats
    @Nomorehats 4 роки тому +1

    Is this what Kansans do for fun?

  • @sydn2698
    @sydn2698 2 роки тому

    Why do you pronounce cement like that?

  • @SilentCheechGaming1991
    @SilentCheechGaming1991 5 років тому +2

    Sea-ment lol

  • @enkephalin07
    @enkephalin07 Рік тому

    I think your hype set expectations that neither you nor Dinsmoor were able to meet.

  • @jimkinkade6919
    @jimkinkade6919 4 роки тому

    An early Bernista?

  • @mississippisteeler95
    @mississippisteeler95 4 роки тому

    Anyone know if his body is on display like it says he wanted in the video. He seemed like an interesting guy

    • @alvinsorrels5700
      @alvinsorrels5700 4 роки тому

      I don't know if it is still on display but in the late 1980s when you visited you could see his remains. They were in relatively good condition at that time but it appeared that the sealing on the glass to cement coffin were beginning to fail allowing some "growth" to begin in the coffin. It was an interesting side trip on a trip through central Kansas, if you are interested in "folk" art and eccentric things.

  • @LetsGoGetThem
    @LetsGoGetThem 2 роки тому +1

    84 and fertile at that time, that is impressive.

  • @despaahana
    @despaahana 7 років тому

    What happened to his step children in Illinois?

    • @iammrbeat
      @iammrbeat  7 років тому

      I could never find records of that, so unfortunately I do not know.

  • @absoluteraft51
    @absoluteraft51 3 роки тому

    Ngl the most interesting thing about this is that he married his first wife on my birthday