Granville Lennox harbor in the Dominican Republic circa 1820's.
A recent excavation in the Dominican Republic uncovered a story that the world has been awaiting over a century and a half. Journals and diaries from the Catholic priests that inhabited the island in the early 1800’s reveal the actual story of the smiling Sailor Jack and his happy go lucky dog, Bingo from the front of the box of the beloved caramel corn snack Cracker Jacks. The priests of the island were considered local historians and kept records of the events that took place. Below is one such account.
From the journal of brother Bartholomew of Madrid translated to English
I am a Catholic priest sent from Spain to the island of Hispaniola as a missionary. There has been an overthrow of the order of things and I have recorded what I have seen in case I am never to make it back to my home land of Madrid. The troubles all stemmed from a cabin boy named Milosh who was trained as a sailor to guide the ships of the wealthy British aristocrat; Jack Blanchard Granville Lennox. Lennox owned and operated all the goods on the island. His plantation was operated by slave labor; there were thousands of them. He traded slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods along the triangular trade route. Jack had a partner named Charles Auxley. A brilliant man, some would say the brains of the whole operation. Rumor has it that Auxley approached Jack with an idea that would change the future of snacking. He proposed to mix caramel with popped corn from the cob, he wanted to combine the 2 to make a magic snack that no one ever seen or tasted. It was going to change the trade of goods and snacks forever. Jack loved the idea and wanted that magic snack for himself. The story goes that the sinister Jack snuck into Auxley's room and cut his throat before seeing his idea come to fruition. Jack then claimed the idea as his own.
Cracker Jack's boiling room where molasses was processed by slaves.
Jack was known for his iron hand. The slaves and the white indentured servants hated him with an unyielding passion. The slaves nicknamed him Cracker Jack, for they said he was the most evil Cracker this side of the Atlantic. The cabin boy Milosh accompanied most of the big parcel sailing trips. When Milosh was 10 years old he was kidnapped from his native Slovak village by a group of marauders. He was rounded up as a slave and was eventually sold to Cracker Jack, to be used as a cabin boy on his slave ships. He was trained by the other crew members to steer the ships and keep the cargo (slaves) in line. He worked on those ships for years and hated every minute of it. He was never seen without his trusty dog Bingo. On one of the trips to the Caribbean the ship hit a rough patch of water and Milosh went overboard. Bingo immediately jumped over the side and dragged Milosh to safety. The boy loved the dog from that day forward.
Being sold into slavery himself, Milosh felt an affinity with the other slaves being bought and sold by Cracker Jack . He heard rumors of slave codes used by slaves to send messages without saying a word. These codes involved tying knots on the boats in a certain direction, or setting out different images on the clothesline, or the hammering of blacksmiths to different patterns to send messages to the others on the island. Milosh became very close with the slaves of the island and soon learned all of the secret codes. Whenever the crew was asleep, Milosh would go down into the slave quarters and train each and every slave to make sure that they all knew the codes, so that if an insurrection was near they would be ready to act. Then in 1831 word spread of a powerful slave name Nat Turner in America that gathered his fellow slaves, went plantation to plantation, murdered the owners, and took his freedom by force. By the time the story got to Hispaniola it was as romantic as can be: a slave with such passion and courage that he was willing to take on slave owners. When the slaves heard about this mythical Nat Turner it gave them a new brand of courage.
It was 1832; the slaves and servants wanted freedom and Milosh was waiting for the perfect time to start the revolt. They planned for about a year to take over Cracker Jack’s plantation. Finally the time came and it happened faster than anyone could have expected. Milosh made a plan to tie all of the knots on all of the ships to the right for the whole week, so that everyone knew that a revolt was on the way. When they saw Milosh’s boat with all knots tied to the left they would know that revolution was coming.
Milosh’s boat was the last to come into the island from a new pick up of slaves and molasses that was traded for the caramel popped corn. When the first black smith saw that the knots were to the left, he hit his hammer in a pattern that sent a message of war to all who knew the code. The sound of the hammer of the black smith carried to the ears of the other black smiths who joined in on the chorus. Soon enough every slave in the island knew that the revolt was about to take place. It worked without a hitch. Everything on the island was set ablaze except for the caramel popped corn plant, and every one of Cracker Jacks men were either dead or captured. The priests were made to live in the church where we were not to leave, for fear of one of us escaping and spreading the word about the insurrection. When they finally found Cracker Jack hiding under his bed they decided to publicly execute him for all of the inhabitants of the island to see. He was crucified upside-down.
The reign of Cracker Jack was over and the slaves were now free citizens. They were to start a new society on the island. Everything in the plantation was destroyed except for the caramel popped corn factory. Milosh came up with an idea that would keep the citizens of the island prosperous for years to come. He was going to pose as Jack’s son; Cracker Jack Junior, and continue the trade of the beloved snacks for other goods. As far as any of his future trade partners were concerned, Jack Blanchard Granville Lennox had peacefully passed away in his sleep and was missed by family and friends alike. Milosh would take on the name of Jack and would work with the citizens of the island to sell and trade the valuable caramel popped corn for goods and services that would benefit the entirety of inhabitants on the island. All profit from the caramel corn plant was split evenly among the citizens. They decided to name the caramel popped corn after the original owner, Cracker Jack. The recipe remained virtually unchanged, with one notable exception: the addition of peanuts. These local treasures grew abundantly on the island and served as a staple in the cuisine of the native inhabitants for decades when little else was available. This would serve as a constant reminder of the glorious rebellion that freed the citizens of Hispaniola.
Milosh’s future would take a turn for the worst. On a trading trip to New York, Milosh met a local Scandinavian woman in a Brooklyn watering hole. He engaged in sexual perversions with this harlot and contracted a strong case of syphilis. He would eventually die an awful death, but not before losing his sight and going completely insane. He spent his last remaining years with his dog Bingo, howling at the moon like a crazed animal.
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