No. 879
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
August 11, 2026

A Serenading Lover Comes to Grief

in Lafayette, Indiana.
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August 11, 2026
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Tag: Steamship

Too Fond of Kissing.

A Steamship Steward Who Has Been Kissing Fourteen Years and Hasn’t Got Sick of It.

5/22/2018

Progress of Naval Architecture.

6/2/2014

The Grand Saloon.

Of The Palace Steamer Drew.

11/27/2012
JOHN RILEY
alias: JOHN MURPHY
SNEAK, PICKPOCKET, SHOPLIFTER

Arne Gandy's Final Phone Call

"Hackensack Record," May 24, 1934, via Newspapers.com20-year-old Arne Gandy of Teaneck, New Jersey, was a restless, adventurous young man who, like so many restless, adventurous sorts throughout history, felt the call of the high seas.  After several voyages to South America, in December 1933 he signed on to serve as “messboy” on the “President Harrison.”  Gandy carried with him a
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Strange Company - 11/2/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [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
Amen.

Artifact #93: Soapy's son, hires attorney to stop the slurring of his father's name.

"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

Caught in the Act.

(The National Police Gazette, October 2, 1886.)A little before 3 o’clock, on the afternoon of September 9, 1886, Henry H. Meyer rushed into the police station in Memphis, Tennessee, and said, “I have just killed a man, and I want to give myself up.”Captain Hackett took down the information and had the man locked up, then hurried to the address he had given to see for himself what had happened. In
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/31/2026
On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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
Properly Attired Horse Woman. | His Peep Ends Disastrously.

A Serenading Lover Comes to Grief

Seranading

A few nights since, a fond lover in Lafayette, Indiana, seated himself on a barrel turned on its side, while serenading his heart's mistress. In his ecstasy, he rolled the barrel over, slammed his guitar against a shutter in his effort to regain his balance, and disappeared in the cistern. 

The bubbling cry of the strong swimmer in his abony brought out the entire family, including the bull-dog, in various brief and picturesque costumes, ranging all the way from an elaborate robe de nuit and curl papers worn by the innocent cause if it all, to a simple yet serviceable collar, ornamented with spikes, worn by the bull-dog.  P.S. - He was fished out.

Illustrated Police News, March 14, 1872.

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