Via Newspapers.comThis odd little maybe-it-was-a-poltergeist-maybe-it-wasn't story appeared in the "Greenville (South Carolina) News," May 15, 1960:GAFFNEY (AP) - It's a little spooky when a milk-filled glass suddenly shatters in the hand. Or when the best glass ash tray cracks with a loud noise. Equally ghostly is the noticeable break in a sea shell that adorns a living room end table.
Included in yesterday’s trip to Fall River was a stop at Miss Lizzie’s Coffee shop and a visit to the cellar to see the scene of the tragic demise of the second Mrs. Lawdwick Borden and two of the three little children in 1848. I have been writing about this sad tale since 2010 and had made a previous trip to the cellar some years ago but was unable to get to the spot where the incident occured to get a clear photograph. The tale of Eliza Borden is a very sad, but not uncommon story of post partum depression with a heartrending end. You feel this as you stand in the dark space behind the chimney where Eliza ended her life with a straight razor after dropping 6 month old Holder and his 3 year old sister Eliza Ann into the cellar cistern. Over the years I have found other similar cases, often involving wells and cisterns, and drownings of children followed by suicides of the mothers. These photos show the chimney, cistern pipe, back wall, dirt and brick floor, original floorboards forming the cellar ceiling and what appears to be an original door. To be in the place where this happened is a sobering experience. My thanks to Joe Pereira for allowing us to see and record the place where this sad occurrence unfolded in 1848. R.I.P. Holder, Eliza and Eliza Ann Borden. Visit our Articles section above for more on this story. The coffee shop has won its suit to retain its name and has plans to expand into the shop next door and extend its menu in the near future.
It’s a stunning and surprising sight in the Melrose section of the South Bronx: a Second Empire-Italianate building that resembles a gingerbread house with icing decorating the mansard roof. This delightful confection has stood at 614 Courtlandt Avenue since 1871. It was out of place back then, a spectacular beauty with design similarities to many […]
An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,†is about British convict transportation to America, which took place between the years 1718 and 1775, and is the subject of my book, Bound with an Iron Chain: […]
On the
evening of Saturday, November 9, 1878, Mrs. Amy Best left her home to visit her
grandchildren, just a short walk away from her home in Port Washington, Ohio.
She never reached her destination. The next day, friends and family made a
diligent search of the area and found the body of Mrs. Best at the edge of the
woods, near a fence. Her neck was broken, and her skull was crushed.
Soapy Smith's "star" notebookPage 9 - original copy1882-1883Courtesy of Geri Murphy(Click image to enlarge)
OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK
Part #9 - page 9
This is part #9 - page 9, the
continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri
Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be
seen on page 1. The notebook(s) are in
Youth With Executioner by Nuremberg native Albrecht Dürer … although it’s dated to 1493, which was during a period of several years when Dürer worked abroad. November 13 [1617]. Burnt alive here a miller of Manberna, who however was lately … Continue reading →
"We follow vice and folly where a police officer dare not show his head, as the small, but intrepid weasel pursues vermin in paths which the licensed cat or dog cannot enter."
The Sunday Flash 1841