Aug. 13, 2025

The Origin of Weird: Mayor Lincoln the Goat

The Origin of Weird: Mayor Lincoln the Goat

Ever wondered what would happen if your town elected a goat as mayor? In this delightfully quirky episode, Bradley teams up with a special guest co-host – his young son Xavier – to explore the fascinating story of Lincoln the Goat, who became the honorary mayor of Fairhaven, Vermont in 2019.

The father-son duo dive into how this small town of just 2,500 people transformed a playground fundraiser into an unconventional election, charging $1 per vote for various animal candidates. Lincoln, a three-year-old Nubian goat, emerged victorious and served a one-year term complete with a mayoral sash and appearances at community events. Xavier's spontaneous interjections and repeated mentions of the mysterious "Mayor Ruffles" add an endearing layer of chaos and charm to the storytelling.

As we discover, Fairhaven isn't alone in its animal leadership. From the beer-drinking goat mayor of La Jeta, Texas, to the four-term canine leader of Cormorant Village, Minnesota, these unusual elections have become beloved traditions across America. Bradley even shares fascinating goat facts – their rectangular pupils provide nearly 360-degree vision, some can climb trees, and they're natural escape artists. Throughout this heartwarming exploration of civic creativity, we're reminded how communities can come together through humor and unconventional ideas, proving that sometimes the most memorable leaders have four legs instead of two.

Join us for this playful dive into one of history's most charming political oddities, and subscribe to History Buffoons wherever you get your podcasts. Connect with us on social media or email historybuffoonspodcast@gmail.com with your questions and ideas for future episodes!

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00:16 - Introduction with Special Guest Xavier

02:49 - Lincoln the Goat Becomes Mayor

06:58 - Other Animal Mayors Around America

09:00 - Fun Facts About Goats

11:22 - Wrapping Up with Mayor Ruffles

13:10 - Episode Closing and Contact Info

WEBVTT

00:00:16.352 --> 00:00:16.972
oh, hey there.

00:00:16.972 --> 00:00:20.315
Uh, this is bradley from the history buffoons.

00:00:20.315 --> 00:00:29.112
I have a special guest host today who's more or less just going to be someone I talk to and hopefully tell a story for the origin of weird.

00:00:29.112 --> 00:00:38.115
Kate's dealing with something with one of her kitties, so we hope everything goes well and everything's fine up there.

00:00:38.115 --> 00:00:44.353
But, yeah, she wasn't able to be able to record this with me, so I have a special guest.

00:00:44.353 --> 00:00:48.807
So, hey, buddy, hello, what's your name?

00:00:50.993 --> 00:00:51.514
Xavier.

00:00:53.582 --> 00:00:55.829
So this is my son, xavier.

00:00:55.829 --> 00:01:02.106
He's our special guest on the Origin of Weird today, and I'm going to try this.

00:01:02.106 --> 00:01:07.472
I'm not usually the one who does the stories, so hopefully this doesn't suck.

00:01:07.472 --> 00:01:11.525
But how are you doing today, buddy?

00:01:11.947 --> 00:01:12.248
Good.

00:01:12.569 --> 00:01:15.305
Yeah, did I just make you some pizza for dinner?

00:01:15.305 --> 00:01:17.230
No, yes, I did.

00:01:17.230 --> 00:01:18.504
No, you didn't.

00:01:18.504 --> 00:01:20.373
You don't think so?

00:01:20.373 --> 00:01:25.367
All right, so I got a little weird story for you.

00:01:25.367 --> 00:01:31.069
You, uh, buddy, um, you know, you know the person who's in charge of a town.

00:01:31.069 --> 00:01:32.355
Do you know what they're called?

00:01:32.355 --> 00:01:37.103
Typically the mayor?

00:01:37.103 --> 00:01:38.766
Mayor.

00:01:38.766 --> 00:01:40.748
Have you ever heard of a mayor before?

00:01:41.748 --> 00:01:43.650
mayor ruffles mayor ruffles.

00:01:47.135 --> 00:01:59.161
I don't know what mayor ruffles means, well, uh, so basically a mayor is elected and they run the town, basically, for the most part mayor ruffles okay, get, stop with the mayor ruffles.

00:02:00.322 --> 00:02:10.596
Uh, so apparently there was this one town, um, and okay, you need to stop with the mayor ruffles there.

00:02:10.596 --> 00:02:12.728
This may, this might've been a bad idea.

00:02:12.728 --> 00:02:15.687
Um, can you listen to what I'm telling you?

00:02:15.687 --> 00:02:20.262
Okay, one, jesus, this is weird.

00:02:20.262 --> 00:02:21.022
This is weird.

00:02:21.022 --> 00:02:30.795
So one time a town in the city of Vermont, or town of Fairhaven, vermont Now I'm screwing it up.

00:02:30.795 --> 00:02:35.070
You're making me laugh too much.

00:02:35.070 --> 00:02:49.480
Okay, let me start that again.

00:02:49.480 --> 00:03:01.376
Back in 2018, this little town with a population of about only 2,500 people had a fun idea Instead of just electing a regular mayor, a human mayor that's important that I say human mayor they decided to hold a special mayor election to raise money for a new playground.

00:03:01.376 --> 00:03:04.007
But here's the twist on that story.

00:03:04.007 --> 00:03:04.830
Buddy, you ready?

00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:06.961
Not Mayor Ruffles?

00:03:06.961 --> 00:03:16.639
The candidate, the people that, jesus, the candidates that they put up for that weren't people.

00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:22.264
They were animals cats, dogs and one goat named lincoln.

00:03:22.264 --> 00:03:24.826
Would you like a goat named Lincoln?

00:03:24.826 --> 00:03:28.169
Yeah, you can talk.

00:03:28.689 --> 00:03:29.631
Mayor Doggy.

00:03:30.572 --> 00:03:31.372
Mayor Doggy.

00:03:31.372 --> 00:03:35.977
No Mayor Doggy said Okay, you need to speak into the microphone when you talk?

00:03:35.977 --> 00:03:40.426
Mayor Doggy said Okay, you don't need to yell, it's a microphone, All right.

00:03:40.426 --> 00:03:47.451
The way it worked was simple People in town could vote for their favorite animal by donating $1 per vote.

00:03:48.539 --> 00:03:49.683
Mayor Godeson.

00:03:50.006 --> 00:03:58.968
Mayor Godeson, the animal with the most money raised, would become the town's honorary mayor, so he wouldn't be the real mayor, but he'd be the honorary mayor.

00:03:58.968 --> 00:04:00.925
I want to be the mayor.

00:04:00.925 --> 00:04:01.647
You want to be the mayor?

00:04:01.647 --> 00:04:02.925
That would be kind of fun.

00:04:02.925 --> 00:04:04.620
You still need to talk into the microphone when you talk.

00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:05.625
Okay, mayor.

00:04:06.604 --> 00:04:07.229
Am I the mayor?

00:04:07.229 --> 00:04:10.451
Am I the mayor of the house?

00:04:10.451 --> 00:04:13.448
Yeah, Okay, fair enough.

00:04:13.448 --> 00:04:14.704
Alright.

00:04:14.704 --> 00:04:20.399
So Jesus Lincoln the Goat was a three-year-old Nubian goat.

00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:31.028
I have no idea what a Nubian goat is, but he was owned by a local family and was known for being friendly, curious and just a little bit stubborn Most goats are, I think.

00:04:31.028 --> 00:04:39.552
In the election, Lincoln beat the competition and became the official honorary mayor of Fairhaven in 2019.

00:04:39.552 --> 00:04:42.725
He even got to wear a special sash that said mayor.

00:04:42.725 --> 00:04:45.172
Could you see a goat wearing a sash that said mayor on it?

00:04:45.172 --> 00:04:47.103
Would you even know how to read that?

00:04:47.103 --> 00:04:48.608
Yes, sir.

00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:51.588
All right, you still need to stop yelling into the microphone.

00:04:51.968 --> 00:04:52.110
Okay.

00:04:52.110 --> 00:04:55.165
I'm trying not to.

00:04:55.807 --> 00:04:56.911
That's all right, that's fine.

00:04:56.911 --> 00:05:07.110
Let's see, Mayor Lincoln didn't actually make laws, obviously because he's a goat or tell people what to do.

00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:10.122
His job was to represent the town in fun ways Fun ways.

00:05:10.122 --> 00:05:16.483
So he was the leader of the Memorial Day Parade, for example.

00:05:16.483 --> 00:05:18.509
Okay, Do you like parades?

00:05:18.509 --> 00:05:21.362
Have we ever taken you to a parade?

00:05:21.362 --> 00:05:22.560
I think Mom has right.

00:05:23.476 --> 00:05:24.079
I don't know.

00:05:24.355 --> 00:05:25.300
Do you know what a parade is?

00:05:26.175 --> 00:05:29.646
Where people stand in a line and they walk.

00:05:30.995 --> 00:05:31.817
More or less yeah.

00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:33.041
Okay.

00:05:33.805 --> 00:05:40.202
All right, he greeted people at events, so he'd sit there and go.

00:05:40.202 --> 00:05:42.500
Ah Wait, that's a sheep.

00:05:43.355 --> 00:05:44.500
What does a goat sound like?

00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:49.163
I don't know Close to what.

00:05:49.163 --> 00:05:51.338
Close to a goat.

00:05:51.841 --> 00:05:53.504
Yes, he bleats.

00:05:53.504 --> 00:06:05.910
I don't know how to do that, but anyways, he also helped bring attention to that playground fundraiser that they did this for so they could make money to make this new playground.

00:06:05.910 --> 00:06:09.903
Okay, anyways, he served for one year.

00:06:09.903 --> 00:06:15.935
He was replaced by a dog named Murphy Pat.

00:06:16.358 --> 00:06:16.839
Murphy.

00:06:17.422 --> 00:06:21.504
Pat Murphy, did you get that from where we were just watching the Brewers game?

00:06:22.314 --> 00:06:22.536
Pat Murphy.

00:06:22.536 --> 00:06:22.817
That's funny.

00:06:22.817 --> 00:06:24.163
I'm glad you know who were just watching the Brewers game.

00:06:24.242 --> 00:06:24.504
Pat Murphy.

00:06:24.504 --> 00:06:25.086
That's funny.

00:06:25.086 --> 00:06:27.923
I'm glad you know who the manager of the Brewers is.

00:06:27.923 --> 00:06:38.406
Murphy was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, but Lincoln was still remembered as one of the most famous mayors the town ever had.

00:06:38.406 --> 00:06:42.404
So would you like a goat or a dog as your mayor?

00:06:42.404 --> 00:06:43.396
What would you prefer?

00:06:43.396 --> 00:06:44.815
Goat or a dog as your mayor?

00:06:44.815 --> 00:06:44.634
What would you prefer?

00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:51.206
goat goat, would it go be more fun as the mayor?

00:06:51.206 --> 00:06:58.016
All right, apparently this town isn't the only place where animals get elected.

00:06:58.016 --> 00:07:01.482
Uh, here are some other ones that might that have been in the past.

00:07:01.482 --> 00:07:07.630
Rabbit Hash, kentucky had a small town electing dogs, kentucky Fries.

00:07:07.630 --> 00:07:09.420
Kentucky Fried Chicken.

00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:18.709
They've been electing dogs as mayor since 1998, when the current mayor is a French bulldog named Wilbur Beast.

00:07:20.497 --> 00:07:20.579
Mr.

00:07:20.718 --> 00:07:21.242
Beast.

00:07:21.242 --> 00:07:23.360
Oh, you like, Mr Beast right.

00:07:23.701 --> 00:07:23.923
Yeah.

00:07:24.574 --> 00:07:25.677
In La Jeta's, Texas.

00:07:25.677 --> 00:07:28.687
This town had a goat named Clay Henry as mayor.

00:07:28.687 --> 00:07:31.644
He was famous for drinking beer from a bottle.

00:07:31.644 --> 00:07:35.262
That's another goat likes to drink beer.

00:07:35.262 --> 00:07:35.964
That's funny.

00:07:35.964 --> 00:07:37.862
Could you see a beer drinking goat?

00:07:37.862 --> 00:07:40.694
How does he hold it with his he?

00:07:41.875 --> 00:07:41.956
goes.

00:07:41.956 --> 00:07:43.437
Oh, my word, this might have been a bad idea.

00:07:43.437 --> 00:07:44.338
How does he hold it with his?

00:07:44.338 --> 00:07:44.819
He goes, man man.

00:07:44.838 --> 00:07:47.221
Oh my word, this might have been a bad idea.

00:07:47.221 --> 00:07:50.165
What Are you having fun?

00:07:50.165 --> 00:07:52.608
This is your first time on the podcast.

00:07:52.608 --> 00:07:53.908
I asked you if you wanted to be on it.

00:07:53.908 --> 00:07:56.492
You said yes, I didn't expect it to be this way.

00:07:56.492 --> 00:08:00.423
All right, this is the time for words, not for not speaking.

00:08:01.386 --> 00:08:04.723
Anyways, Mayor Ruffles.

00:08:04.783 --> 00:08:05.887
What is up with this mayor?

00:08:05.887 --> 00:08:07.011
What is mayor ruffles?

00:08:07.011 --> 00:08:14.600
What do you keep doing that for all right?

00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:25.531
In cormont village, minnesota, a dog named duke that's a good dog name, right Duke was elected mayor and served for four terms.

00:08:25.531 --> 00:08:27.718
That's a long time for a dog to be mayor.

00:08:28.098 --> 00:08:29.081
Count Dooku.

00:08:29.701 --> 00:08:30.603
Yeah, where's he from?

00:08:32.145 --> 00:08:32.667
Star Wars.

00:08:32.846 --> 00:08:34.188
Yeah, do you like Star Wars?

00:08:34.188 --> 00:08:39.865
Yes, are we going to paint your room in a Star Wars theme soon, apparently.

00:08:40.407 --> 00:08:40.748
Black.

00:08:41.154 --> 00:08:54.605
You want black walls like the pod loft here, yeah, yeah, black walls like the pod loft here, yeah yeah, I like the black walls too, anyways uh, let's see here do you know much about goats?

00:08:55.645 --> 00:09:00.916
uh, they go crazy well, let's, let's, let's.

00:09:00.956 --> 00:09:02.259
Teach you some things about goats.

00:09:02.259 --> 00:09:13.682
Okay, in case you didn't know these it's a mare well, that's part of the story is he's a mare, but, um, do, have you ever looked at a goat's eye and how it's kind of got a rectangular pupil?

00:09:13.682 --> 00:09:18.855
Uh, so it helps them see almost all the way around their head.

00:09:18.855 --> 00:09:20.721
That's pretty impressive.

00:09:20.721 --> 00:09:23.447
We can only see forward and a little bit side to side.

00:09:23.447 --> 00:09:25.620
They can see almost all the way around their head with their eyeballs.

00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:28.975
Did you know that some goats can climb trees?

00:09:30.538 --> 00:09:30.840
No.

00:09:31.059 --> 00:09:32.744
Wouldn't that be funny to see a goat in a tree.

00:09:33.645 --> 00:09:33.946
Yeah.

00:09:34.106 --> 00:09:35.596
Would you climb up and try and save them?

00:09:35.596 --> 00:09:38.902
You like to climb trees, right.

00:09:39.261 --> 00:09:39.923
Yeah.

00:09:40.104 --> 00:09:56.456
All right, do you know what a male goat is called mayor ruffles?

00:09:56.456 --> 00:09:57.979
Yeah, or, or a buck, or a billy and billy buck, a female.

00:09:57.979 --> 00:09:59.081
A female one is called, uh, a doe or a nanny.

00:09:59.081 --> 00:10:02.366
I've never actually heard that before do you know what a baby goat's called?

00:10:02.366 --> 00:10:08.940
Maybe who no, it would be called a kid.

00:10:09.822 --> 00:10:18.321
Just like you, you're a kid I'm a goat and goats are really good at uh, being like a escape artist.

00:10:18.321 --> 00:10:22.677
They can open latches and climb fences and squeeze through small spaces, which is kind of funny.

00:10:22.677 --> 00:10:29.197
So I mean, he probably could have broken into the town hall, since he was a goat, right, but he didn't have to because he was the mayor.

00:10:29.197 --> 00:10:31.080
So they should just let him in, don't you think?

00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:43.804
Don't shake your head, say yes yes, sure oh, my word all right mayor so what's the point of electing a goat or a dog as mayor?

00:10:45.772 --> 00:10:56.484
well, it's not the dog would be the uh, the best fighter in the world.

00:10:56.624 --> 00:10:57.245
You think so?

00:10:57.245 --> 00:10:58.506
Yeah, all right.

00:10:58.506 --> 00:11:01.870
Well, it's not about them making rules, it's about bringing people together.

00:11:01.870 --> 00:11:12.721
So they did this as kind of a thing to kind of bring people together so they could do the fundraiser for the playground that they were doing and have a little, have a little fun within the community.

00:11:12.721 --> 00:11:16.447
So harry potter you like harry potter?

00:11:16.768 --> 00:11:19.692
yes okay, what did that have to do with what we're talking about?

00:11:19.692 --> 00:11:25.618
Weirdo, so yeah.

00:11:25.618 --> 00:11:28.822
So so there was a town that elected a goat.

00:11:28.822 --> 00:11:33.145
What do you think we should elect for our mayor?

00:11:33.145 --> 00:11:36.076
Should we elect one of our kitty cats?

00:11:36.076 --> 00:11:39.134
Which one of our cats do you think could be mayor?

00:11:41.037 --> 00:11:41.376
Mo.

00:11:41.998 --> 00:11:43.500
I don't know, he's a little psycho.

00:11:44.381 --> 00:11:44.743
No.

00:11:45.123 --> 00:11:45.644
You don't think so?

00:11:45.644 --> 00:11:46.245
A parrot.

00:11:46.245 --> 00:11:47.996
We should elect a parrot.

00:11:47.996 --> 00:11:50.114
What would the parrot's name be?

00:11:51.336 --> 00:11:52.278
Nut Crusher.

00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:53.322
Nut Crasher.

00:11:53.830 --> 00:11:55.316
No Nut Crusher.

00:11:55.636 --> 00:11:56.339
Nut Crusher?

00:11:56.339 --> 00:11:58.758
That sounds really weird.

00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:01.216
Nut Crusher, but they can break nuts.

00:12:02.774 --> 00:12:03.985
So like a walnut?

00:12:03.985 --> 00:12:06.254
Yeah, they would crack walnuts and whatnot.

00:12:06.657 --> 00:12:07.057
Yeah.

00:12:07.580 --> 00:12:07.880
Okay.

00:12:07.880 --> 00:12:10.097
What if it wasn't a parrot?

00:12:10.097 --> 00:12:11.952
What else would you pick for your mare?

00:12:11.952 --> 00:12:17.383
You don't know Me.

00:12:17.383 --> 00:12:18.524
You want to be mare.

00:12:19.530 --> 00:12:21.139
I'm Mare Ruffles.

00:12:22.532 --> 00:12:23.937
Where did you hear Mare Ruffles?

00:12:24.389 --> 00:12:27.631
I don't know oh my word, I made it up.

00:12:27.652 --> 00:12:28.572
Okay, Well, fair enough.

00:12:28.572 --> 00:12:32.395
So is it kind of weird that they had Lincoln the goat as their mayor?

00:12:33.177 --> 00:12:33.576
Yes.

00:12:34.096 --> 00:12:38.701
Yes, well, thanks for being a special little guest.

00:12:38.701 --> 00:12:44.924
Wow, I'm glad you kept the burping on the podcast alive, because Kate does that all the time.

00:12:44.924 --> 00:12:48.227
But anyways, thank you for that.

00:12:48.227 --> 00:12:50.394
That was a great burp, burp, burp.

00:12:50.394 --> 00:12:51.918
Well, and then you're saying it.

00:12:52.049 --> 00:12:55.879
So, anyways, my ruffles, my ruffles, my ruffles.

00:12:55.899 --> 00:13:05.399
All right with with that being said, uh, I'm gonna end this little weird origin of weird because, okay, that's enough buddy.

00:13:05.399 --> 00:13:10.306
Well, I suppose.

00:13:10.306 --> 00:13:11.352
All right, buffoons.

00:13:11.352 --> 00:13:12.778
That's it for today's episode.

00:13:13.409 --> 00:13:16.620
Buckle up, because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you.

00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:24.570
Next time Feeling hungry for more buffoonery, or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore.

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Hit us up on social media.

00:13:26.216 --> 00:13:30.830
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