No. 652
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
May 15, 2024

The Pastor Kissed Her.

That is the allegation made against Dominie Hall of the Methodist Church at Livermore, Ky., by Miss
November 28, 2016
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Via Newspapers.comIt’s Mystery Fires time!  The “Reno Gazette-Journal,” August 14, 1985:JAMESTOWN, Calif. (UPI) - A historic hotel with a colorful Gold Rush past keeps bursting into flames. Its owners blame an arsonist--one that's been dead 100 years or so. Ghost experts say it could be the work of a grudge-bearing, bald-headed, pajama-clad spirit who may have caused the great Jamestown
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Strange Company - 5/15/2024
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.
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 2/12/2024
What kind of block was East 63rd Street between Second and Third Avenues in the first half of the 20th century? Like so many other streets hemmed in by elevated trains and relatively close to the riverfront, it was a modest stretch of walk-up residences, stores, and stables—anchored on the Second Avenue end by the […]
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Ephemeral New York - 5/13/2024
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: […]
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Early American Crime - 12/17/2021
 4-year-old Rosa Lochner witnessed her mother’s murder, but Rosa had been deaf since birth, so no one believed she could provide any information. However, after she regained composure, she gave a detailed account in pantomime: mamma rocked the baby to sleep, then Papa woke her up, pointed a revolver at her head, and fired; mamma fell dead on the floor, papa took off her rings, then fled.Read
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Murder By Gaslight - 5/11/2024
CHIEF OF CONSThe Morning Times(Cripple Creek, Colorado)February 15, 1896Courtesy of Mitch Morrissey ig Ed Burns robs a dying man?      Mitch Morrissey, a Facebook friend and historian for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, found and published an interesting newspaper piece on "Big Ed" Burns, one of the most notorious characters in the West. Burns was a confidence man and
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 4/2/2024
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
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
December 1860. | Mrs. Snyder Pays Her Bet.

The Pastor Kissed Her.

The Pastor Kissed Her

That is the allegation made against Dominie Hall of the Methodist Church at Livermore, Ky., by Miss May. [more]

Society in Livermore, Ky., especially in church circles, has been in a high state of excitement for several days over a sensation in which Rev. Charles W. Hall, a minister of the Methodist Chruch and a Miss May, a young member of the same congregation figure as the principal parties. The cause of the affair was a charge made by Miss May to the effect that Rev. Chas. Hall forcibly hugged and kissed her. The feeling was heightened by the fact that the friends of the young lady were not content to let the minster off without the exposure consequent upon hearing of the matter before he District Conference, which met there recently. Miss May’s story is straightforward, modest and frank. She says that on a certain occasion they happened alone together, with nobody near or looking. He seized the delightful opportunity and gathered her in his arms, at the same time popping a burning kiss squarely down upon her lips. Being incensed beyond measure, she spurned him from her, at the same instant letting fly her dainty fist upon his nose with all the force in her. He recovered himself and left, beseeching her before he left her to say nothing of the matter, as he meant no harm by it.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, October 6, 1888.