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.
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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.
Supreme Court Briefs returns next week. Comment here to predict which will be my next case. 😶
That video is not coming next week, but definitely happening later on.
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.
@@iammrbeat ARE U A JEW ! 👩💑
@Fred Flintstone What?
Yes
not even clickbait. what an amount of plot twists this had.
Mr. Beat is never clickbait.
Mr. Beat never say never
What plot twists?? Omg, he moved to a different state 😮😮 woahhhh, he built a statue!!! 😲🤯🤯🤯 No wayyyyyyy
he was a busy guy that cemented himself in to history
You were always good with the puns
yeah, and his political views were *concrete*
Dad fought in civi war, son fought in Vietnam….awesome factoid! Gotta be the singular example.
Me after the first few minutes: Okay he's kind of interesting, but it's nothing THAT wild.
Me at by the end: ....
Me in the beginning: this dude is boring af
Me in the end: this dude is boring af
@@pippincovington1348 well thats what happens when you have untreated ADHD
"Seament"
🤣
Jdjdkdkd
That’s a lot of SEMENT.
Samuel Dinsmore is and was an eccentric person of his time
Heck yeah he was
We went from soldier to homesteader to artist in 9 minutes.
Mr. Beat thank you for making Kansas history such a priority it makes me proud to live here.
6:22 what a wholesome and wonderful video. Surely nothing will change my outlook on this fine man.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
What an amazing vídeo! Thank you for having made it :)
+Eric P. Alvaro Thanks for watching and for the kind words!
Neat. I'll be sure to check it out next time I'm in the area.
It's certainly one-of-a-kind!
Lmao a Vietnam war vet's father fought in the civil war
It's crazy
Very interesting, never knew this! Thank you!
Excellent post! I will be stopping in next time we are down that way!
Dude my family visits Lucas nearly every year! It's a blast, we always go to the Garden
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.
This is fascinating
Thanks for this interesting story. Wikipedia's article on him is quite lacking.
Please do more folklore!
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.
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
wow... this has to be one of the most entertaining history videos ive ever seen. what a bizarre twist! very outsider. very interesting
If you were born in Coolville you are undeniably cool everyone knows that
That second marriage was just... disturbing
I got an ad for a Kansas concert at the end of the video. LOL
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?!?!
lnteresting video!
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
any pictures of the corpses?
@@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.
@@melliott604 take one anyway only 30days if u have to punch someone
And this guy lived to be 89, what a champ.
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. 😊
My mom grew up on Dinsmoor Dr. in St Louis. Had no idea the street was named after a person
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 !!!!!
Me watching this on July 21st and revisiting it the 22nd
I'm sure if there are more interesting Americans I haven't heard of them yet.
Nice video.
What a legend
I legit thought you were going to reveal that Dinsmoor was your grandfather or something.
Andronikos I and Agnes of France: we married when andronikos was 60 and Agnes was 12
Samuel: Amateurs
The most interesting American you have never heard of
Mr. Beat yes you Mr. Knock 😂😂😂😂😂 Hilarious
thx mr beat
Amazing story!
Video request: Missouri bellwether
I recommend using "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers as Music. The Doobie Brothers are from Missouri.
Props to any man still getting busy at age 82! This guy gives the Dos Equis guy a run for his money.
I went there this summer
Wow. Samuel Dinsmoor things than I ever did in my life. 😞
Depends. How many years until you're over 80?
he reminds me of the dad in “sticks” by george saunders
Another interesting dude: George Streeter, I'd love to see you do a video about him.
he was ahead of his time
Dinsmoor had some great game.
I went yesterday, I got the feeling he was a little nutts. 😆
Where did bro get all that cement
Dude that roblox Union army cap it’s so good on his head
Do Gonzales vs Raich and I think Samuel P. Dinsmoor is a great and interesting person!
+Mummy Neo Another marijuana case!
I bet you were elated when the Royals finally won the world series again after 3 decades!
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
He has inside jokes with total strangers
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?
This guy was playing real life minecraft and got bored
You can only get that much sement by using two wrists. Dinsmoor "loved to mess with the two wrists."
61 year age gap? 😬
Sounds a bit like the working class version of Winchester. Only a bit.
I love the history of my family! Politicians, Engineers, Artists, Farmers. We have a long history in America.
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.
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.
Very interesting story
His two kids died before 4 years!
I thought his name Samuel Dinosaur.
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.
He was literally ahead of his time..
All I can say is
interesting.
I'm related to him by marriage
prove it
What an original Nickname his mates came up with.
That's alot of sea-meant
March 8 1843-July 21 1932
AGE’89
I never heard this Ohioan and Kanans.
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.
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.
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?
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.
I'm calling it, next week's Supreme Court Brief is Loving v. Virginia
+Luke DelVecchio Such a good guess but nope :)
Um I just went to his Wikipedia page there's Literally nothing about him
Dinsmoor, summoner of concrete
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.
Why don't you do a video on the Vietnam War, from how it started and why it took so long to end it?
Mr. Beat when will you do the story of 9/11??
Amanda Golden I don’t think so. You can find 9/11 stuff anywhere.
Would rather see more videos like this.
Samuel P. Dinsmoor was My Uncle by Marriage he Married my Aunt Emille Brozek
Not going to lie. I assumed this was going to end by you telling us he was your great grandfather.
Is this what Kansans do for fun?
Why do you pronounce cement like that?
Sea-ment lol
I think your hype set expectations that neither you nor Dinsmoor were able to meet.
An early Bernista?
Anyone know if his body is on display like it says he wanted in the video. He seemed like an interesting guy
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.
84 and fertile at that time, that is impressive.
What happened to his step children in Illinois?
I could never find records of that, so unfortunately I do not know.
Ngl the most interesting thing about this is that he married his first wife on my birthday