WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:13.800 This episode maintained content of a graphic nature, including descriptions 2 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:18.359 of physical and sexual violence against adults, children, and animals. 3 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:20.920 Listener discretion is advised. 4 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.600 Hi. I'm Shannon. Hi I'm Tanya, and we are Crimes 5 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:43.079 and Consequences, a hardcore true crime podcast. Hey Shannon, Hey Tanya. 6 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:43.799 How you doing. 7 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.439 I'm doing pretty good for this day after our long 8 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:48.600 holiday weekend. 9 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:52.520 Yes, and it's hard. I'm not going to complain. I'm 10 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.200 just going to state that it's hard to know what 11 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.079 day it is with a two week old. And I 12 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:01.280 say that with much glee, even though you don't hear 13 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:06.000 it in my voice because of how extremely tired I am. 14 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:09.480 But yes, it was a nice holiday. This weather was great. 15 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.599 What did you guys do? Did you barbecue? What'd you do? Cute? 16 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:18.000 Yes, we spend some time outside barrens just I spent 17 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:20.280 a lot of time outside because the weather was so beautiful. 18 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:23.400 Yes, yeah, you have to when it's like that. Oh 19 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.040 we've been waiting. We've been waiting since gosh what September 20 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:29.959 for these nice sunny days to come back. So I 21 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:30.680 am here. 22 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:34.319 For it, like mild times, beautiful sun. So yeah, it 23 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:37.560 was a little hard getting up this morning. And people 24 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:42.079 were crazy today at my job. No, not driving, but 25 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:45.680 like people sending in complaints and whatever, and like people 26 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:47.840 be wild and out there. I don't know, like you 27 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.000 think it was a full moon. That's how crazy it was. 28 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:53.239 It's just the weather. It's something people. It takes so 29 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.079 little nowadays you think it was the moon. But now, jeez, 30 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.959 what time is it? Did the wind blow? 31 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:01.920 I was a little tired tape. By ten thirty, I 32 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.239 was done. I'm like, I am done with these people. 33 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:07.000 Yeah, I like to take some personal time. 34 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:11.719 Yeah, bring my coffee creamer because I ran out. I 35 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:12.439 didn't bring my. 36 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.319 Resale and I was like, oh my god, I need caffeine. 37 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.159 I can't get your post to my assistant and like 38 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:20.439 she's working from home today and she's like, I have 39 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:22.520 some in the fridge in my under my desk, And 40 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:23.719 I was like, oh God, bless you. 41 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:26.840 I was able to have a cup of coffee this morning. 42 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:29.520 Oh that's nice. So what do you bring into the 43 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:31.039 table this week for us? 44 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:34.800 Oh? I have a crazy ass story. Do you know 45 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.080 who Frank Lloyd Wright is? 46 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:38.599 The name is familiar. Is he an architect? 47 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:42.560 He's an architect and he used to design homes and 48 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:46.120 he had like a movement and everything. Yeah, this center's 49 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:50.000 around him. So before I get into it, just would 50 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:52.400 like to remind everyone to hit subscribe or follow on 51 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.599 whatever app you're listening to. And as I mentioned Frank 52 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.280 Lloyd Wright, he was a pioneer of what came to 53 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:02.719 be known as the Prairie School movement of architecture. This 54 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:06.000 model of home was to have one or two stories, 55 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:11.159 an open floor plan, low pitched roofs, strong horizontal lines, 56 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:15.879 ribbons of windows, and integration into the surrounding landscape with 57 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.639 the use of natural materials. The first iteration that he 58 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:25.879 did was a home that he called Talleison one and 59 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:28.800 that was his personal home and studio and it was 60 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:33.560 located in spring Green, Wisconsin. It was built to epitomize 61 00:03:33.639 --> 00:03:37.520 the characteristics of the Prairie School home in his own vision, 62 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:40.639 and he built his home. He ended up sharing it 63 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:46.960 with his mistress, Ms. Mayma Bouton Bothwick, and it was 64 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.639 a one story, thirty seven thousand square feet wow. It 65 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:54.840 was an L shaped complex and it was made of 66 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.879 partially detached structures. The sprawling estate included a residential wing, 67 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:03.879 an agricultural wing, and an office wing. And it had 68 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.400 a courtyard, stables, servants quarters, and a garage on the 69 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:09.520 thirty one acres. 70 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.199 It was built on Tanya. That sounds a place where 71 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:13.199 I want to live. 72 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:17.360 Right, thirty seven thousand square feet with a fucking stable 73 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:18.839 and servants quarters and. 74 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:23.439 Duns, and I make a movie room, geology room. 75 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:26.160 This I know. 76 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:31.959 So, as I mentioned Mayma, she is Frank Lloyd Wright's 77 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:35.160 mistress at the time of the story. And our story 78 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.839 takes place on Saturday, August fifteenth, nineteen fourteen. And on 79 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.720 that day, Mama sat down on the terrace just outside 80 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:48.439 the family dining room of the Talleison estate with her children, 81 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.879 twelve year old John and eight year old Martha. And 82 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.639 these are not Frank Lloyd Wright's children, Maima and that's 83 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.560 her nickname. I believe her name was Martha as well. 84 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:02.720 But Mayma was married prior to having this affair with 85 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.839 Frank Lloyd Wright, and Frank Lloyd Wright was also married. 86 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:06.879 FYI. 87 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:11.399 So she's out on the terrace of the Teleisin estate 88 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:15.480 with her kids, and there were servants on the property. 89 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:19.839 There was Julian Carlton and his wife Gertrude, and Gertrude 90 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:23.319 was the cook she had prepared the soup that Julian 91 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.800 would be serving for lunch that day. Laborers and draftsmen 92 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.439 working for Frank Lloyd Wright were also on the property 93 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.199 waiting for Julian to bring their lunch into the workmen's 94 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.360 dining room, which was about eighty feet from the terrace 95 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:40.360 where Mayma was and was being served. So they're like 96 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:41.079 in a different wing. 97 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:41.720 Yeah. 98 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.920 Gertrude finished up the food preparation and handed the soup 99 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.279 she'd made off to Julian, who walked up to the 100 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.439 terrace to serve the family first. After ladling the soup 101 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:54.639 into the bowls, the family began to eat. Julian was 102 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.759 standing off to the side of Mama in his white jacket, 103 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:01.519 where he produced a hatchet. And this is where the terror. 104 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:07.399 My gosh, yeah, Mama took the first hit. The hatchet 105 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:10.920 hit her with such rage and intensity that her head 106 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.480 nearly split in two as she fell forward onto the 107 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.759 table and slunk to the floor. Julian had already taken 108 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:20.120 the weapons to young John, who was killed with a 109 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:23.480 quick blow to his forehead. Little Martha, eight years old, 110 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.079 having witnessed the end of her mother and her brother, 111 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.439 ran through the dining room and entryway and out into 112 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.560 the driveway, where Juliane caught up with her. He would 113 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:35.759 beat her as if with a hammer, repeatedly in the head, 114 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.560 like with this axe this hatchet. When she collapsed, her 115 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.639 attacker would assume that she was dead, but unfortunately for her, 116 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:47.360 she was not. Around this time, Gertrude, Julian's wife, who 117 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:51.160 had heard the commotion of what was happening, began to 118 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.560 work on an escape. After she gathered her things, she 119 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:57.720 began to look for an exit, initially trying a basement door, 120 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.560 but she couldn't get it to budge. Eventually, she dove 121 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:03.560 through a window and began to run. The men waiting 122 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.079 to be served in the workmen's dining room had no 123 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.639 idea what was taking place. So they're sitting around a table, 124 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:11.800 and like I said, this is a separate wing, so 125 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.399 they don't know what's going on. So they're sitting around 126 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.959 a table discussing the work of the day, and Julian 127 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.439 walks into the dining room to dish out the soup. 128 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:23.079 Once he was done ladling the soup into their bulls, 129 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:25.439 he walked out of the door and he bolted the 130 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.639 outside locks to prevent the man from escaping, so he 131 00:07:28.759 --> 00:07:31.600 leaves the room and he bolts the doors. Then he 132 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.480 pulled a pipe out of his pocket and he lit it, 133 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.680 taking a few puffs, after which he bent down and 134 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:39.800 picked up the cans of gasoline that he had gathered 135 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.040 that morning, and he began pouring the liquid out onto 136 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:47.319 the floor, where it silently flowed into the workmen's dining room. 137 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:52.360 Herbert Fritz, a young twenty something draftsman from Chicago, saw 138 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:57.360 the steam flow toward the table, thinking the servants must 139 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:00.720 have spilled, you know, maybe his mop bucket. And it 140 00:08:00.759 --> 00:08:03.079 wasn't until he recognized the smell of gasoline that he 141 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.560 opened his mouth to begin to warn the others. But 142 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:08.959 in that same moment, Julian dropped the match used to 143 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:12.199 lightest pipe, and the room the men were in just 144 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.680 burst into flames at once. The men rose to their feet, 145 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:19.800 howling and flailing their arms trying to exit. They threw 146 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.920 themselves against the door that Julian had bolted shut. As 147 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:26.519 their struggle continued. The one who caused all the happenings 148 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:28.639 that afternoon was waiting just outside with. 149 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:29.639 The hatchet in hand. 150 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:32.759 For the sixth he had trapped to break down the 151 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:38.159 door and come running to escape somehow Herbert's he gathered 152 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.840 the presence of mind to remember that there was a 153 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.399 creek just down the hill from where Julian had locked 154 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:47.320 him in. He threw his body against one low window 155 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.080 and fell a story and a half, breaking his arm 156 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:54.399 before he rolled down a steep, rocky incline attempting to 157 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:58.039 reach the water. Julian spotted Herbert rolling down the hill 158 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.919 on the other side of the house, tipping his gaze 159 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:04.440 to the lower south window Herbert had broken through. There, 160 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:09.320 Julian spotted a mill Brodell, attempting to make the same exit. 161 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:11.759 Of all the people in the home at the time, 162 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.240 a mill wasn't going to be able to dodge the 163 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:18.200 fate that Julian had created for all of them. Driven 164 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:21.240 to seal a mill's doom, Julian bolted from his watch 165 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.200 over the door and ran to the ground below to 166 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:27.639 the broken window. He reached it just as Brodell squeezed through, 167 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:30.759 and he swung the hatchet, catching his victim at the 168 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.720 hairline just above his left ear, slicing through his brain. 169 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:37.120 Herbert Fritz had paused making his way down to the 170 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:40.559 creek just in time to witness this entire grizzly scene. 171 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.639 Then he watched Julian run back to his place monitoring 172 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:46.799 the door of the workmen's dining room. Fritz's clothes were 173 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:49.720 no longer on fire, but he was thoroughly burned and 174 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:53.320 had his broken arm. He decided to begin hiking back 175 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.799 up to tally Icon. The killer reached the door that 176 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:59.639 he'd been guarding just as the other men he trapped 177 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.799 began to break through. He was there in time, but 178 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.240 he'd been put off by the temporary lapse and his plan. 179 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:09.639 By the time carpenter Billy Weston broke through the doors, 180 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:12.639 the rattled Julian hit him in the head twice with 181 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.000 the blunt end of the hatchet instead of its blade. 182 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:19.159 Then came Tom Brunker, who received a glancing blow but 183 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.360 was able to avoid serious injury from the weapon as well, 184 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.399 and he began running. Billy Weston's young son, Ernest, followed, 185 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:30.200 and Julian by then had regained his bearings. He hit 186 00:10:30.240 --> 00:10:33.120 the boy right on the head, leading him to stagger away, 187 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:37.679 collapsing in the fountain, where his charred remains stayed. Last 188 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:42.480 came David Lindblom, who was savagely burned and fell upon 189 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:44.879 being struck on the back of the head. Only after 190 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.399 all the workers were out of the room did Julian 191 00:10:47.480 --> 00:10:50.600 begin chasing down Tom Brunker, who he was able to 192 00:10:50.679 --> 00:10:53.480 hit with such a thump that his skull opened and 193 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:57.120 his brains protruded through the gap. By this time, Herbert 194 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.120 Fritz had reached Tellyson after his clon and he hobbled 195 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.039 his burned body around the corner in time to witness 196 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:08.559 Tom Bunker's demise at Julian's hands. After all the exertion 197 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:12.120 and shot, he fainted among the bodies, poor Herbert. 198 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:12.960 No kidding. 199 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:16.720 Seeing no one left standing, Julian grabbed the gasoline and 200 00:11:16.759 --> 00:11:19.559 began dousing Mama and her son John with the liquid 201 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:23.440 before they burst into flames. Young Martha, still alive, caught 202 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.919 fire due to the burning bodies inflaming gasoline around her. 203 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.759 She would not survive to the next day, found with 204 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.120 three hatchet wounds to the back of her head, one 205 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:37.279 of which had gone completely through her skull. A fourth 206 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:39.919 hatchet wound got her in the face, just under her 207 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.279 right eye. In the end, seven of the nine victims 208 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.639 who had been at the estate that day would die 209 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.600 the survivors would be Herbert Fritz and Billy Weston. The 210 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.240 estate that Lloyd Wright had imagined for his beloved mistress 211 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.799 sat on a hill in the Helena Valley that day 212 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:59.399 in nineteen fourteen. Anyone looking in the direction of that 213 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:03.200 hell would have seen smoke billowing from where Talley Ison sat. 214 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.879 The smoke is what brought farm hand Jack Ferris onto 215 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:10.440 the scene. Julian, taking stock of his surroundings and seeing 216 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:12.879 that residents were curious and would come to check it out, 217 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:15.399 decided it wasn't a good idea for a black man 218 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.000 to be found living among all the dead white people. 219 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:18.399 Right. 220 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.639 He dug in his pocket for a vial of a 221 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:24.440 said and he went to see got a place to hide, 222 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.080 hatchet in hand. Twenty five years before the death of 223 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.279 Mama Borthwick, Frank Lloyd Wright had met and married a tall, 224 00:12:33.639 --> 00:12:39.919 suitably virginal redhead named Catherine Kitty Lee Tobin, with both 225 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.639 families unsure of the union. Kitty was shipped off to 226 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:46.279 northern Michigan for several months, and Frank's mother actively was 227 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.039 attempting to sabotage the nuptials. Frank had always been banned 228 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:53.200 with money taking that trait from his father, and Kitty 229 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:56.399 was moneyed and sat a bit higher on the social 230 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:00.799 spectrum than the struggling architect that was wooing her. The 231 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.840 two were married on June first, eighteen eighty nine, and 232 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:07.879 Frank was twenty two and Catherine was barely eighteen. Catherine's 233 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:12.159 father cried through the entire ceremony and Frank's mother, Anne fainted. 234 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.399 A lot of reactions. 235 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.960 Nuptials, right, it's supposed to be a happy day, so happy. 236 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:21.600 Yes. 237 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.399 Over the course of their marriage, Anna, Frank's mother, would 238 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:30.080 continue to be adversarial toward her son's wife, and he 239 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:34.039 did little to nothing to stop this treatment of poor Kitty. Ever, 240 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:36.799 the dutiful daughter in law, she took the abuse with 241 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:41.320 remarkable competence. It's been said between the years of eighteen 242 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:44.399 ninety to nineteen oh five the couple was relatively happy 243 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.279 outside of Anna's torment, and Kitty gave birth to Frank's 244 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:54.000 six children, and there were some rumored infidelities. Frank seemed 245 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:58.000 to be an active and happy parent, his son John 246 00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:01.480 saying quote, there were parties somewhere all of the time 247 00:14:01.559 --> 00:14:04.519 and everywhere some of the time. It was just fun 248 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:08.440 to have him about end, but there seems to have 249 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.879 been a shift in his attitude toward domesticity and family life. 250 00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:16.320 Around nineteen oh five, Frank began feeling his home life 251 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:21.000 was frustratingly restrictive and Kitty, having become a mature woman 252 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:23.919 and mother, was no longer the girl he married. She 253 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.600 had been taken over by raising children, attending social clubs, 254 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:31.039 and other aspects of family life. He felt she had 255 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:37.039 deteriorated intellectually simply being content with her successful husband, healthy children, 256 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:38.039 and beautiful home. 257 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.399 What a dick. And I was gonna say, don't blame her, 258 00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:45.159 trying to make her sound like she's dumb down? Are 259 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.759 you kidding me? You just want some new tale. Yeah, 260 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.240 so don't put it on her. 261 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.559 Don't put it on her. But you know so, I'm 262 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:57.279 guessing he's restless, right, sure. So It's believed that Frank 263 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:03.639 met mister and missus Edwin Cheney, who was Maema Borthwick's 264 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:08.679 married name, Cheni Okay, through Kitty's membership in the Oak 265 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:13.440 Park's nineteenth century women's club, having been mentioned together within 266 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:17.080 the social pages of the town newspaper. Mayma who was 267 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.279 born in Iowa in eighteen sixty nine, moved to Oak 268 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:23.799 Park when her father, who was a machinist for the railroads, 269 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:27.320 was promoted to superintendent of the repair department. She would 270 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:30.720 attend the University of Michigan, where she would meet her 271 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:35.279 future husband, Edwin Cheney. He was majoring in electrical engineering 272 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:39.080 while she took classes and languages in literature. Edwin would 273 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:43.519 pursue her tirelessly for nearly a decade while she continued 274 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:47.399 her education, receiving a master's degree in teaching. She would 275 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.679 become a librarian in Port Huron, Michigan for five years. 276 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:51.159 Wow. 277 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:55.320 Yeah, Port Huron's gorgeous. Sorry off, Lake Huron. Yeah, Lake 278 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:59.279 Huron is gorgeous. It wasn't until she was approaching her 279 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:02.039 thirtieth birthday around the time of her mother's death, that 280 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:05.759 she conceded to marrying mister Cheney. After the birth of 281 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:08.279 their son John in nineteen oh two, the couple decided 282 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:11.080 it was time to build a house. They commissioned Frank 283 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:13.639 Lloyd Wright to build the family home for the family 284 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.000 unit he was about to destroy. 285 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:19.120 Yes, he was what. 286 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.759 The assumed timeline for the development of their relationship begins 287 00:16:22.799 --> 00:16:25.480 around the time that he was commissioned for the Cheney 288 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.440 family Home Park were attempting to dissuade the man from 289 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:33.279 continuing to persist in his disastrous relationship with Missus Cheney. 290 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.440 Mima did give birth to her daughter by Edwin, named Martha, 291 00:16:37.480 --> 00:16:40.759 in nineteen oh six. However, by nineteen oh nine, both 292 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:44.679 Frank and Mema were asking their respective spouses for divorce. 293 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.360 For Edwin, although his pursuit of Mama was long and 294 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:54.000 hard one, he didn't seem the least bit ruffled. Described 295 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:57.320 as charming and gracious by his neighbors, he was not 296 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:00.240 ever known to have an enemy or even who have 297 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:04.079 raised his voice. On the other hand, Kitty was shocked. 298 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.240 Not one to give up her marriage without attempting to 299 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.160 save it, she told Frank she would like one year 300 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.759 of grace, and if he still desired the divorce, she 301 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.599 would grant it to him. She was confident that he 302 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:21.640 would return and that they would reconcile. Ellen Key Kay, 303 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.839 she was known by Kate, was a Swedish writer and 304 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:28.759 feminist of the era during the time of Wright's struggle 305 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.359 with deserting his family. Her writings were the ones Mamma 306 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.079 was tesked with translating in her ideas. Frank found comfort 307 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:40.839 in his choices if not expressed permission to abandon his 308 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.079 wife and children. He believed his desertion of his family 309 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:48.519 showed the pursuit of loftier goals, including devotion to his 310 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.759 ethical principles, which I find to. 311 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:57.319 Be a sorry early ethical principles and desertion of family. 312 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:00.559 Never thought I'd hear those two things as yeah, because 313 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:01.480 that's some bullshit. 314 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:06.000 Frank, thank you. So Kay supported this belief, stating quote, 315 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:10.759 marriage not mutual is worse than slavery end quote, and 316 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.400 described it as barbaric. With these thoughts in mind, in 317 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.680 nineteen oh nine, Frank was offered an opportunity to go 318 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:21.480 to Berlin. This trip would allow a German born Harvard 319 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:25.839 professor to oversee the publishing of a portfolio of Frank 320 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:29.720 Lloyd Wright's collected work. With the excitement of this opportunity, 321 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:33.039 he sent his draftsman to prepare for the trip and 322 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:36.519 visited Mama to tell her all about it. Later that year, 323 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.079 Mama took her children to Boulder, Colorado, to quote unquote 324 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:44.319 visit a pregnant friend. While there, she eventually messaged Edwin 325 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:47.359 to come pick the children up, and by the time 326 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:52.160 he arrived Mama was gone. Shortly thereafter, Frank Lloyd Wright 327 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:57.039 hurriedly sold his architectural firm, practically giving it away to 328 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.880 an architect with a vastly different style who worked mostly 329 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:05.920 on conventional church buildings rather than Frank's prairie style residential homes. 330 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:09.000 Soon after, he said goodbye to Kitty and his kids, 331 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:12.200 telling his thirteen year old son David, who was the 332 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.440 third of his six kids, that he was now man 333 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:17.000 of the house and leaving him with a nine hundred 334 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:22.400 dollars grocery bill. About yeah. About seventy years later, David 335 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.680 was interviewed and questioned about it, still appearing to be 336 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.279 vexed about the whole situation in which his father had 337 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:31.680 left him. After Frank had thoroughly cut his ties, he 338 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:33.599 boarded a train to New York to meet up with 339 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.240 Mama and set sail for Europe. They're going to go 340 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:41.039 gallivanting off to Berlin. When they first reached Europe, Mamma 341 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.839 took a job as a teacher and rented an apartment 342 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.359 in Berlin while Frank went to Florence to work on 343 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.279 his portfolio. When he needed to stay in Berlin, he 344 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:52.359 would stay at mama's apartment with her. When the exhibition 345 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.880 was completed, he brought her to Florence, where he seemed 346 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.799 utterly content. It was here that he saw Villa Medici, 347 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:06.400 the inspiration upon which he would design Talley Iison. However, 348 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.839 within the year nineteen ten, mister Wright was back in 349 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:14.960 Oak Park with Kitty with his wife. He had written 350 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.640 his wife and given her the conditions upon which he 351 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.680 would return, the most substantial of which being that they 352 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.759 would no longer share normal marital relations, but they would 353 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:27.599 put up a front for the kids. In return, he 354 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:31.200 would give up Mama, though he couldn't stop loving her, 355 00:20:31.480 --> 00:20:33.920 But he told Kitty that he was afraid if he 356 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.680 stayed in Italy with her, he would start to hate her. 357 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:38.920 So I'm not sure that what went down. 358 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:41.119 I would like to point out real quick because I 359 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.079 did look up his birthday. Frank was a Gemini. Okay, 360 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:49.880 that speaks fucking volumes on this flip flop, flip flop. 361 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:51.440 I bet this, I want this, I want this. No, 362 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.400 I don't want this, So. 363 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:56.359 I put it out God, bless our, why. 364 00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:03.480 Please absolutely, I am married to Yeah, my best friend 365 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.960 in high school was a Gemini, which was her husband. 366 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.720 That's how I met she, so I took his friend 367 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.920 away from him. 368 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:12.839 That's right. 369 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:15.759 Oh that makes a lot of sense, totally, And I 370 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.480 love you geminis. Some of the life have been geminized absolutely, 371 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:23.119 ever the dutiful son. After sending out his letter to 372 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:25.160 his wife, he also sent a letter to his mother 373 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.359 with a copy of what he sent to Kitty. So 374 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:30.759 Frank not only wrote his wife, he tells his mom 375 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:35.119 what he told her. In his correspondence with Anna, he 376 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.160 defended his actions, telling her that his behavior should be 377 00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:42.599 excused because his family hadn't given him quote emotional support 378 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.920 in his time of need. 379 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.839 And oh no, that sounds Oh I can't be mean, 380 00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:49.799 I'm not Can I even say anything? It sounds like 381 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.000 sounds like some Gemini male bullshit. 382 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:00.119 After sending the letters, he took Mama to Paris and 383 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.319 left her there before he boarded the next ship sailing 384 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:07.920 back to the US. Upon his return, Kitty, feeling reasonably 385 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:12.279 sorry for herself, wrote a friend saying, womankind seems to 386 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:16.359 be so moveable, a feast easily sold and easily bought, 387 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:20.519 and passed around and tossed away, and no mercy except 388 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:26.480 from outsiders end quote preach, yes, yeah, girl oak Park 389 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.319 was alarmed when Frank arrived on October eighth, nineteen ten. 390 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:34.680 Frank was equally alarmed by the town's cold reception. Women 391 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:37.400 would turn away from him in the street. Former friends 392 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:41.279 would cross the road to avoid walking past him. Ministers 393 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:46.119 across town were preparing sermons educating on the sins of adultery, 394 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:50.920 and he became a social outcast. In nineteen eleven, Frank 395 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.079 approached his mother about a thirty one acre parcel of 396 00:22:54.200 --> 00:22:58.039 land in Helena Valley, Wisconsin. Knowing the plot of land 397 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:02.000 had a hill similar to that which Villa Medici sat 398 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.559 up han. He immediately got to work right after, mentioning 399 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.799 to friends that he was thinking about building a small 400 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.200 house for his mother there. So he did this all 401 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:12.200