No. 661
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
November 08, 2022

Female Wrestling Match in Nevada.

Two female athletes at Virginia city Nevada, indulge in a wrestling match for the championship.
November 8, 2022
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Tag: Holiday

St. Valentine's Day.

St Valentine's Day.

2/12/2018

Turkey Shooting.

About the beginning of October, turkeys, young and old, move from their breeding districts towards the rich bottom lands near the Ohio and the Mississippi.

11/20/2017

July 4.

So this is your birthday again. Well, bless my soul! Columbia, you will be as tall as your father soon.

7/3/2017

The Valentine.

The subjoined engraving, the design of which is from the graceful pencil of Rowse, is more eloquent than words.

2/12/2017

New Years in the Wings.

The fairy of the enchanted realm entertains her subjects in an earthly way.

12/29/2014

Merry Christmas!

12/22/2014

Independence Day in the Country.

6/28/2014

Decoration Day and its Memories.

5/19/2014

Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner.

11/26/2013

The St. Patrick's Day Parade.

3/5/2013

Happy New Year!

1/1/2013
Via Newspapers.comTenants have been evicted by their landlords for many reasons, but I’m guessing “Your dead relative is lowering my property values” doesn’t crop up very often.  The “Detroit Free Press,” December 29, 1929:Berlin, Dec. 28.(U. P.)--There is a landlord in Berlin who absolutely refuses to let tenants bring ghosts with them into his apartments. He has gone to court to ask for
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Strange Company - 4/8/2026
"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge) oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name. At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
I wonder what the proprietor of the Speedway Livery & Boarding Stables would have thought about his handsome brick building transforming from a home for pricey horses to a pricey home for people? This four-story, Romanesque-style stable at 457 West 150th Street was no ordinary boarding place for teams of working drays. The name of […]
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Ephemeral New York - 4/6/2026
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
New York Journal, March 18, 1898. When the news of London’s 1888 Whitechapel Murders, attributed to “Jack the Ripper,” crossed the Atlantic, Americans were instantly fascinated. The vision of a dark, elusive killer, mutilating women without motive, was morbidly titillating, and the name Jack the Ripper fired the popular imagination. In the nascent age of yellow journalism, no one was more
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Murder By Gaslight - 4/4/2026
Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
  [Editor’s note: Guest writer, Peter Dickson, lives in West Sussex, England and has been working with microfilm copies of The Duncan Campbell Papers from the State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia. The following are some of his analyses of what he has discovered from reading these papers. Dickson has contributed many transcriptions to the Jamaica […]
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Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
Stabbed for not Buying Drinks. | Rat Pit.

Female Wrestling Match in Nevada.

Female-wrestlers

The sports of Virginia City are a gay lot, and as money is plenty out there, they enjoy life hugely. They wile the heavy hours away with horse racing, cock fighting, bucking the tiger, and other amusements characteristic of their class. The latest novelty gotten up by them was a female Graeco-Roman wrestling match The contestants were Miss Lillie and Miss Maud, two of the most beautifully formed ballet girls known to the local stage. Their backers were two well-known gamblers of the city, each enamored of the charms and believing in the skill of his favorite beauty. Tickets were only issued to the insiders, but the lucky ones saw rare sport. The girls were both in excellent condition, having been training three weeks. The match was for $1000, best two in three falls. After a spirited struggle of forty-five minutes Miss Lillie was declared the victor, having won two straight falls. There was a good deal of excitement, and a large amount of money changed bands on the result.


Illustrated Police News, April 18, 1876