Hey there, lodge members! Number #13 here. I know you weren’t expecting an episode this week, but for secret reasons the Grand Jackalope has ordered me to release this bonus episode of errata and addenda. She also commanded me to have a few shots before recording it, I’m not sure why. Praise be to the Grand Jackalope her mysterious and unfathomable ways.

Cold Hard Cash

In episode #7, “Cold Hard Cash,” I said that the Federated States of Micronesia was founded in 1976. I was off by about a decade. The Federated States formed a government in 1979 and gained full independence from the United States in 1986.

Hold Fast What Thou Hast

In episode #11, “Hold Fast What Thou Hast,” I said that Harmony, Indiana was purchased by Richard Owen. That was a mistake. Richard Owen, of course, is the famed paleontologist who coined the word “dinosaur.” Harmony was actually purchased by Robert Owen, a textile baron and socialist who engaged in a number of curious utopian experiments. I also said Robert Owen was Scottish. Owen, of course, is Welsh, which should be obvious from his name. His textile mills were in Scotland.

Spirit Princess

In episode #15, “Spirit Princess” I said that there was some debate about whether Ann O’Delia Diss Debar’s accomplice was the actual “General” Joseph Hubert Diss Debar. I finally finished John Benedict Beucher’s definitive biography of Ann O’Delia, Empress of Swindle, and can confidently say that that debate has been settled. There’s no doubt he was the deal real, even if there are some people in West Virginia who claim otherwise.

I also said “Prince” Michael K. Mills of the Detroit Jezreelites had been released from prison early with the understanding that he leave the United States and never return. That plan was indeed floated while Mills was serving his sentence, but nothing ever came of it. Mills was denied entry to the United States in 1907 because he was Canadian by birth and had a criminal conviction in the United States.

Ann O’Delia Diss Debar’s “assistant” David Livingston Mackay was deported from the United States because he’d failed to mention a criminal conviction in Canada for distributing obscene literature. In the episode I made that sound like he’d been distributing pornography, but it was more like blasphemy. Mackay had printed Jezreelite literature that got more than a bit salty when it came to describing Mills’ political opponents. You’ll hear more about the Jezreelites in the near future (hint hint).

Milking It for All It’s Worth

In episode #17, “Milking it for All It’s Worth,” Number #7 referred to “nanuta” sauce. That’s actually Nantua sauce, named after the city in southeastern France but extremely popular in Cajun-inspired recipes. It’s made by mixing béchamel sauce with crayfish butter, and usually served with seafood.

Pleadings from Asbury Park

In episode #19, “Pleadings from Asbury Park,” I stated that Laura Biggar had Jarndyce v. Jarndyced away her potential inheritance from the Henry M. Bennett estate. Going back over my sources it’s clear that Biggar inherited enough money to live comfortably but not luxuriously, but it’s also clear that she could have walked away with so much more if she hadn’t fought the executors tooth and nail for more money.

The Centers of All Things

And, woof, the big one. Folks, episode #23, “The Centers of All Things” is why I work from a script instead of off-the-cuff.

First, the title of the “world’s biggest pecan” has been traded back and forth between Seguin, Texas and Brunswick, Missouri several times. Seguin’s 16′ long, 8′ wide fiberglass pecan is the current record holder. No word as to where the world’s biggest functional pecan is — or even what a “functional pecan” is, for that matter.

Number #7 claimed that Fort Riley, Kansas had a monument to a “Commander Odgen.” That would actually be Major Edmund Augustus Ogden, who died of cholera during the construction of the fort. Commander is not actually a rank in the U.S. Army. It is a rank in the U.S. Navy, but there are precious few naval bases in Kansas.

She also said the U.S. Route 2 was the “Empire Builder.” That’s actually the name of the Amtrak route that parallels the highway. The highway itself is nicknamed “The Highline.”

We also implied that they were no longer holding Miss Geographic Center competitions in Rugby, North Dakota. They have not stopped. Congratulations to Miss Geographic Center 2020, Courtney Hagen, who is awesome. You should follower her Twitter and Instagram accounts, which rock.

Also, our knowledge of the actual geographic center of North America was a bit out of date. In 2018 Center installed a small monument proclaiming itself “The Scientific Center of North America.” That should put those cardboard-balancers in Rugby and Robinson in their place.

Preview of Series 5

That’s it for errata. Our upcoming Series Five should be an interesting one. Thanks to COVID-19 we did not have access to many of the resources we would normally rely on, especially the public library. That led to a small shift in the type and tone of the stories we could research. Let’s just say, it helped if we could rely on newspapers.com and older books that were in the public domain.

Just to give you a brief taste of what you can expect, here are some of the resources we did consult while researching those episode:

• American Eccentrics
• City in a Park
• The Big Book of Pennsylvania Ghost Stories
• The Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology
• The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft
• Extracts from the Flying Roll
• Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science
• Let There Be Light
• The Saga of Eirik the Red
• The Skeptical Inquirer
• The Star of Bethlehem

Series Five… should be interesting. So have a great Labor Day.

The Ancient and Esoteric Order of the Jackalope podcast will return on September 14th, with an episode we’re calling “I’m the Naughty Boy.” Until then, remember: quiquid minime sciunt, optime scire.

L8r sk8rs!