No. 338
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
December 12, 2016

Left His Digits as Souvenirs.

The Misses Franklin, of Glenn Falls, Conn., armed with pistol and axe, put a burglar to flight minus
December 12, 2016
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Tag: Burglary

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Pretty Stars for the Southern Dives. | December 1860.

Left His Digits as Souvenirs.

Left his Digits

The Misses Franklin, of Glenn Falls, Conn., armed with pistol and axe, put a burglar to flight minus two fingers. 

Two girls frustrated a burglary the other night at the home of Col. Daniel Franklin, a retired merchant of Glen Falls, a thriving village four miles north of Plainfield, Conn. Col Franklin was away. The only persons at home were Mrs. Franklin who is an invalid, and her daughters, Emma and Matilda. They were startled some time after midnight by the noise of somebody breaking in at the rear of the house.

Emma took a revolver from the bureau, Matilda got an axe, and together they stole downstairs just in time to find a big ruffian climbing into a window.

The burglar had one hand on the sill. Matilda raised the axe and quickly brought it down on the hand, while Emma fired two shots. With a cry of pain the burglar dropped out of sight.

A light was struck in a few moments, and underneath the window were found two fingers which had been cut off near the hand.

The pistol shots aroused the neighborhood and search was made fore the burglar, but no trace of him was found.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, December 10, 1892