Episode 143: MAIL BAG

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:16)
Lindsay, what's your favorite? Feed, grab, maybe hand?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:21)
I'm sorry, what?

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:23)
Oh, sorry, what's your favorite kind of bag? Shut up, you old bag! No one asked you, Jerry.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:28)
I can honestly say I have never thought about this. Maybe Balenciaga, I don't know.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:33)
Well, now's your chance, because today we're doing Mail Bag.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:46)
Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:48)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:50)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:17)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day. Saddle up.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:22)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:30)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast. Listeners, you know us. We love the chronology. Staying on task is our middle name.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:58)
What are you talking about? You're the most tangenty person on earth. Shh.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:02)
Don't blow this. They're buying it.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:04)
Lies.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:05)
Fine. Whatever. It's true. I admit it. I do love some good weeds. However, this time, it's all your fault. No, not you, Lindsay. I mean, you, listener. You people have been dropping amazing stories in our laps lately. So thanks to you, we're off on part one of two of Mail Bag Adventure. You've got mail. That's the spirit.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:40)
Thanks to listener Susanna, we've got a real banger for you. And it requires our trusty time machine, however. And so we're gonna get there, but thanks for listeners who send us cool stuff. We try to get to all of you. I know we don't get to all of you, but we really do try because we know you've got the goods. This one from Susanna is good. Let's rev up the time machine to 88 miles an hour because we're headed back to the shores of Mississippi, Old Swampy, the always moist city of Nauvoo.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:10)
What?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:11)
The damp queen of the Midwest?

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:13)
Oh, uh, go fight in mosquitoes. Well, actually, to get started, we need another time machine first. So maybe park your DeLorean and we'll use the train from Back to the Future III instead for this one. See what I did there, Susanna? The dude of our story, Edward Robinson, was born in Cheshire, England in 1807 So that puts him just before the Dickens era. In other words, no matter how many times you ask, please, sir, could I have another? You get coal. It's coal all the way down. Edward Robinson apprenticed as a footman for a royal family, driving the lords and ladies around so they can chase their foxes.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:48)
So you're saying he would know exactly what the fox said.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:51)
Not funny. We don't have time for that crap. There's a whole family tradition of how this introduced Edward to the fine arts and how he loved to dress nice and be out in nature, all famously not associated with coal.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:02)
Wait, wasn't soot basically coating everything?

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:05)
Okay, maybe mild association with coal.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:07)
So in 1828, Edward marries the lady of our story, Mary Smith. Same kind of story with her. She pulls herself up by her bootstraps.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:15)
Maybe heels of her glass slippers?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:17)
Something like that. But Mary also gets on the fast track as a tutor to a royal family.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:22)
She excelled at tooting.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:24)
Not even close to funny. Edward transferred his footman skills to the new shiny thing on the block, the railroad. So, you know, seeing she'll be coming around the mountain to yourself, but in a British accent. And there are lots of family stories about this. Often they describe Edward as the first conductor of the train. Like ever. While that's not quite true, he was there at the beginning of the trains in England. They were doing okay financially, trying not to pay too much attention to Tiny Tim coughing over in the corner when their own disaster hit. Bryan, cover your ears. The Robinson's had already lost two children when a third became sick. Mary did what everyone wishes they could do in times of despair. Call Brigham Young.

**Bryan Buchanan** (5:04)
Elder Brigham came to the rescue. He comes to their house and blessed Tiny Little William, and sure enough, he recovered. No big city expert, but that sounds like the actions of someone with game.