No. 419
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
April 16, 2018

Mabel Punched the Swell.

How Miss Livingston, the well-known singer, resented an insult at Macon, Ga.
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April 16, 2018
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EDW'D FAIRBROTHER
alias: DOCTOR ST CLAIR, DR EDW'D S WEST
HOTEL, BOARDING-HOUSE THIEF

The Plum Tree Hanging

I’ve noticed that in recent years, Halloween decorations have grown increasingly macabre.  In my neighborhood, at least, grinning Jack o’lanterns and innocuous ghosts are being replaced by ghoulish skeletons (both human and animal,) gravestones, knife-wielding devils, and various other ugly monstrosities.  Last year, a house near me put in their yard such a revolting handmade display of
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Strange Company - 10/26/2026

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

The Three Hangings, Lycoming County.

This week, we feature a guest post by Don Everett Smith Jr., author of The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County (History Press, 2011).   In a previous post on Murder by Gaslight, “Revisiting the Goffle Road Murders,” Don presented an excerpt from his book. This week’s post, “The Three Hangings, Lycoming County,” examines the 1880 murder of Andrew Miller in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/24/2026
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
Great Base Ball Match. | In Consequence of the New Liquor Law.

Mabel Punched the Swell.

Mabel Punches the Swell

How Miss Livingston, the well-known singer, resented an insult at Macon, Ga. 

Miss Mabel Livingston, the well-known female baritone singer, who is at present filling an engagement at Macon, Ga., had a little experience the other night with three heavy swells, which ended in her punching the face off one of them. The men bought front seats at the theatre. They smiled at the little beauty and applauded her freely. After she had finished her songs, they sent in their cards and asked if they could see her in the green room. She said yes. So they went in and ordered half a dozen bottles of wine, after which one of them told Miss Livingston he would like to kiss her. Then she left them. They sent for her again, and she, thinking they intended to apologize, returned. As soon as she entered the room, the offending man caught hold of her hands. She pulled away from him and landed a right-hand swing on his jaw, sending him over a table.

National Police Gazette, November 14, 1896.

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