No. 265
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
July 27, 2015

They Are a Bad Lot.

The frightful picture of crime and debauchery which has given notoriety to Mary Jane Cawley’s backwo
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July 27, 2015
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Tag: Theft

A Man in a Black Mask.

Disguised as the Devil.

7/1/2025

Caught Helping Themselves.

Boston detectives arrest two stylishly-dressed women while in the act of the shoplifting game.

1/9/2017

The Women Screamed.

A gang of pickpockets go through an excursion train near Wabash, Ind.

11/15/2016

A Man under Her Bed.

Had Miss Baker looked under the bed before making her toilet she would have postponed it.

9/26/2016

She Had a High Old Time.

8/13/2013

A Slippery and Subtle Knave – The Bank Sneak.

7/31/2012
JOHN LOVE
alias: JAMES D WELLS
SNEAK, BANK BURGLAR

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comThis tale of strange goings-on in a seemingly unremarkable apartment was told in the “Western Mail,” March 10, 1927:An extraordinary story of queer happenings in an unoccupied Fulham (England) flat was told recently by a foreman and two workmen who have been decorating it (declares the "London Daily News").One of the men mentioned to the foreman some days ago that when working
More...
Strange Company - 6/10/2026

Lizzie causes a sensation

As Mr. Moody for the Prosecution dramatically expounds on hatchets and grisly details, and a glimpse of two skulls in a leather case, Lizzie slumps over in her chair. Was it the heat or the ghastly descriptions?
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 6/7/2026

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
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
Amen.

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comThis tale of strange goings-on in a seemingly unremarkable apartment was told in the “Western Mail,” March 10, 1927:An extraordinary story of queer happenings in an unoccupied Fulham (England) flat was told recently by a foreman and two workmen who have been decorating it (declares the "London Daily News").One of the men mentioned to the foreman some days ago that when working
More...
Strange Company - 6/10/2026

The story of the 19th century factory building hidden within modern Bronx high-rise towers

You can see it peeking out from the Harlem River Drive or through the chain-link fence of the Third Avenue Bridge: a five-story red brick building almost buried behind glass and steel apartment towers. The towers are newish luxury rental residences built on the Bronx side of the Harlem River. Shiny and modern, they bring […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 6/8/2026

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
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025

The Conspirators and their Hitman.

In 1830, Joseph Knapp conspired with his brother, John Francis Knapp, to hire a local criminal, Richard Crowninshield, to murder their great uncle, Captain Joseph White, in Salem, Massachusetts. They believed that if the captain died without a will, they stood to inherit a sizable fortune.Read the full story here: "A Most Extraordinary Case"
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 6/6/2026
On the Russians.

The story of the 19th century factory building hidden within modern Bronx high-rise towers

You can see it peeking out from the Harlem River Drive or through the chain-link fence of the Third Avenue Bridge: a five-story red brick building almost buried behind glass and steel apartment towers. The towers are newish luxury rental residences built on the Bronx side of the Harlem River. Shiny and modern, they bring […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 6/8/2026

Lizzie causes a sensation

As Mr. Moody for the Prosecution dramatically expounds on hatchets and grisly details, and a glimpse of two skulls in a leather case, Lizzie slumps over in her chair. Was it the heat or the ghastly descriptions?
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 6/7/2026
Yachting. | A Hot Day in New York.

They Are a Bad Lot.

A Bad Lot

The frightful picture of crime and debauchery which has given notoriety to Mary Jane Cawley’s backwoods dive at Cookstown, N. J.

A picture of Mary Jane Cawley’s backwoods dive at Cookstown, N. J., which has recently been brought to public attention by the disappearance of its white mistress under circumstances that give the appearance of foul play. The patrons of the Cawley dive were both whites and blacks, and the picture presented may be said to be fairly representative of the scenes of debauchery which have been common in this rendezvous of sin.

Reprinted from the National Police Gazette, January 19, 1889.

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