No. 256
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
May 24, 2015

Chloroformed While She Slept.

The attempted abduction of Miss Hildreth, a Chesterfield, N.H., girl, by her lover, Fayette Haskins.
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May 24, 2015
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Tag: Buffalo

Pugilists in Petticoats.

Alleged bout between Annie Russell and Elizabeth Sullivan, two pretty clerks in a Buffalo, N. Y.

4/10/2017

A Successful Trip.

William Leland, of Buffalo, N. Y., takes a pleasurable dive over the Horseshoe Falls and still lives to be written up.

6/5/2016

The Advent of Spiritualism.

A simple schoolgirl prank spawned a new belief with millions of followers.

9/4/2012

Ararat: City of Refuge.

7/3/2012

Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

Buffalo, New York, May 1893.

5/8/2012

Another Voice for Cleveland.

12/13/2011

Trixie Got the Best of It.

Two Little Gem Theatre, Buffalo, N. Y., Soubrettes have a scrap on account of a man.

10/8/2011
JOHN RILEY
alias: JOHN MURPHY
SNEAK, PICKPOCKET, SHOPLIFTER

Weekend Link Dump

 Everyone here at Strange Company HQ wishes you a happy Halloween!In which an 18th century priest meets a troll.Gunnhild, Mother of Kings.The strange case of the Crow Hill Bones.So now we know what is the oldest pub in England.The Abominable Snowman visits Massachusetts.I thought you'd like to know that someone is cataloging public restrooms.  (And, yeah, I don't want to know what this
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Strange Company - 10/30/2026

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
Concerning Sensational Methods. | Chorus Girls Fight.

Chloroformed While She Slept.

Chloroformed while she slept

The attempted abduction of Miss Hildreth, a Chesterfield, N.H., girl, by her lover, Fayette Haskins. 

Fayette Haskins, a young man who came from Jamaica, has been paying attention to the daughter of John Hildreth, of Chesterfield, N. N., but the young woman did not reciprocate his affections. The other night, while she was asleep in her room, Haskins placed a ladder to the window and climbed in. He attempted to chloroform her, but when he tried to lifter her from the bed she was partially aroused and screamed for help. Members of the family came to her help and Haskins fled. He was captured in Brattleboro, Vt. and sent back to Chesterfield.

National Police Gazette, October 1, 1892.

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