No. 242
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
March 02, 2015

Was Her Story a Fake?

Miss Alice Jackman, a St. Louis heiress, claims to have been abducted a second time.
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March 2, 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

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comThis is for all of us who tend to think most small children are a bit demonic.  The “New York Herald,” December 2, 1888:To the north and west of this city, about fifteen miles away, dividing this county from Cumberland and Franklin counties, is a ridge of mountains. In some of the mountain valleys the people are in a state of deep ignorance, seeing little of the outer world
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Strange Company - 11/4/2026

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
Comedian Punches Drummer. | A Monkey and Dog Time.

Was Her Story a Fake?

Was her story fake?

Miss Alice Jackman, a St. Louis heiress, claims to have been abducted a second time. 

Another sensation was created in St. Louis a ew days ago, when Alice Jackman, the heiress who was recently abducted in broad daylight, disappeared from the home of her guardian, Mr. Charles Spink. Later the young lady turned up at the house of Mr. Al Spink. She claimed that she had been kidnapped by three men, who hurried her into a coach and took her to the residence of Mr. Brouthers. It now comes to light that Alice has been monkeying with the truth in regard to the second attempt at abduction. The question now arises: Where did she spend the four had a half hours from the time she left Charles Spink’s house until she arrived at the home of his brother? It is the general impression that Alice has been looking for notoriety.

National Police Gazette, January 25, 1890.

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