Rachel Schmidt (ca. 1760–1789) may have had a biblical given name, but she was an unholy terror. Said
to be the first female American pirate, she took part in the murders of some two dozen sailors in the
early 1780s. Born on a farm near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Schmidt chafed under the discipline of her
devout Presbyterian parents. She escaped by eloping with a veteran of the Revolutionary War, an iffy
sort named George Wall. The couple settled in Boston, where Rachel found work as a maid while George
went to sea on a fishing schooner. In 1781, George Wall came up with a devilish scheme that involved
his wife and five of his friends. The gang pretended to be fishermen whose vessel had been disabled by a
storm. Rachel’s job was to play the damsel in distress, calling out to any passing ship for help. When a
rescuer came near, the pirates swarmed aboard, killing the crew, seizing their cargo, and sinking their
ship. George Wall drowned at sea in 1782, leaving Rachel to continue her life of crime in Boston. In
1789, she was arrested for robbing a young woman. Confessing to acts of piracy, she made her final
appearance at the end of a rope, the last woman to be hanged in Massachusetts.

Jerry Mahoney was a wooden-headed know-nothing, but the ventriloquist who supplied the dummy’s voice, entertainer Paul Winchell (1922–2005), was no dunce. Amazingly versatile and creative, Winchell received some thirty patents during his lifetime. His most important invention was the first artificial heart, designed to sustain patients during open-heart surgery. Born in New York, Winchell took up ventriloquism as a youngster. In 1936, he won first place on a radio talent contest, which led to his start in vaudeville. Winchell got his own TV program in 1947. He also appeared regularly on top variety shows, landed acting roles on hits such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Perry Mason, and voiced numerous cartoon characters. Interested in medicine and hypnosis, Winchell enrolled at Columbia University in 1959. After observing open-heart surgeries, Winchell built a prototype of an artificial heart, for which he received a patent in 1963. When he learned of the University of Utah’s efforts to develop an artificial heart, he donated his patent to further the work. Incorporating many of Winchell’s ideas, Dr. Robert Jarvik perfected the Jarvik-7, which was implanted in patient Barney Clark in 1982.

Jerry Mahoney was a wooden-headed know-nothing, but the ventriloquist who supplied the dummy’s voice, entertainer Paul Winchell (1922–2005), was no dunce. Amazingly versatile and creative, Winchell received some thirty patents during his lifetime. His most important invention was the first artificial heart, designed to sustain patients during open-heart surgery. Born in New York, Winchell took up ventriloquism as a youngster. In 1936, he won first place on a radio talent contest, which led to his start in vaudeville. Winchell got his own TV program in 1947. He also appeared regularly on top variety shows, landed acting roles on hits such as The Beverly Hillbillies and Perry Mason, and voiced numerous cartoon characters. Interested in medicine and hypnosis, Winchell enrolled at Columbia University in 1959. After observing open-heart surgeries, Winchell built a prototype of an artificial heart, for which he received a patent in 1963. When he learned of the University of Utah’s efforts to develop an artificial heart, he donated his patent to further the work. Incorporating many of Winchell’s ideas, Dr. Robert Jarvik perfected the Jarvik-7, which was implanted in patient Barney Clark in 1982.

Rachel Schmidt (ca. 1760–1789) may have had a biblical given name, but she was an unholy terror. Said
to be the first female American pirate, she took part in the murders of some two dozen sailors in the
early 1780s. Born on a farm near Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Schmidt chafed under the discipline of her
devout Presbyterian parents. She escaped by eloping with a veteran of the Revolutionary War, an iffy
sort named George Wall. The couple settled in Boston, where Rachel found work as a maid while George
went to sea on a fishing schooner. In 1781, George Wall came up with a devilish scheme that involved
his wife and five of his friends. The gang pretended to be fishermen whose vessel had been disabled by a
storm. Rachel’s job was to play the damsel in distress, calling out to any passing ship for help. When a
rescuer came near, the pirates swarmed aboard, killing the crew, seizing their cargo, and sinking their
ship. George Wall drowned at sea in 1782, leaving Rachel to continue her life of crime in Boston. In
1789, she was arrested for robbing a young woman. Confessing to acts of piracy, she made her final
appearance at the end of a rope, the last woman to be hanged in Massachusetts.