No. 645
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
March 18, 2024

Foundering of the Titania.

One of the most thrilling disasters at sea that has happened for many years.
February 26, 2018
...
...

Encountering a ghost may be a strange, possibly terrifying experience, but fortunately they are rarely harmful.  However, every now and then there is an account of a spirit that is not just malevolent, but physically dangerous.  One such story was told by folklorist Mary L. Lewes in the December 1912 issue of “Occult Review.”  It concerns a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Caxton. 
More...
Strange Company - 3/18/2024
`
HE DUEL IN ELLEN'S HONOR. Soapy Smith’s grandmotherOn Wednesday, August 9, 1820, an argument between 17-year-old, James Bowe Boisseau (1802-1820) and Robert C. Adams (unknown-1820) vying for the attention of 18-year-old Ellen Stimpson Peniston (1802-1860), took a terrible turn. The happy party in her honor took a tragic turn when the competition for Ellen’s affections ended in a deadly duel,
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 1/10/2024
Going to the theater has always been a beloved New York City pastime. But theater became even more thrilling with the advent of open-air rooftop gardens—which hit the scene in the late 1880s with the opening of the rooftop theater at the Casino on Broadway and 39th Street. It wasn’t just the cool breezes that […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 3/18/2024
An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,” is about British convict transportation to America, which took place between the years 1718 and 1775, and is the subject of my book, Bound with an Iron Chain: […]
More...
Early American Crime - 12/17/2021
Dr. John W. Hughes. Dr. John W. Hughes was a restless, intemperate man whose life never ran smoothly. When his home life turned sour, he found love with a woman half his age. Then, he lost her through an act of deception, and in a fit of drunken rage, Dr. Hughes killed his one true love.Date:  August 9, 1865Location:   Bedford, OhioVictim:  Tamzen ParsonsCause of Death:&
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 3/16/2024
Included in yesterday’s trip to Fall River was a stop at Miss Lizzie’s Coffee shop and a visit to the cellar to see the scene of the tragic demise of the second Mrs. Lawdwick Borden and two of the three little children in 1848. I have been writing about this sad tale since 2010 and had made a previous trip to the cellar some years ago but was unable to get to the spot where the incident occured to get a clear photograph.  The tale of Eliza Borden is a very sad, but not uncommon story of post partum depression with a heartrending end. You feel this as you stand in the dark space behind the chimney where Eliza ended her life with a straight razor after dropping 6 month old Holder and his 3 year old sister Eliza Ann into the cellar cistern. Over the years I have found other similar cases, often involving wells and cisterns, and drownings of children followed by suicides of the mothers. These photos show the chimney, cistern pipe, back wall, dirt and brick floor, original floorboards forming the cellar ceiling and what appears to be an original door. To be in the place where this happened is a sobering experience. My thanks to Joe Pereira for allowing us to see and record the place where this sad occurrence unfolded in 1848. R.I.P. Holder, Eliza and Eliza Ann Borden. Visit our Articles section above for more on this story. The coffee shop has won its suit to retain its name and has plans to expand into the shop next door and extend its menu in the near future.
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 2/12/2024
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
More...
Executed Today - 11/13/2020
March Winds. | A Jealous Husband’s Mistake.

Foundering of the Titania.

Foundering of the Titania

One of the most thrilling disasters at sea that has happened for many years. [more]

From a sketch by an officer of the gunboat Florida, we give an engraving of one of the most thrilling disasters at sea that has happened for many years, the wreck of the brig Titania which left Philadelphia on the 9th day of Oct., bound for Mobile, with a cargo of coal and hay. On the 13th she encountered a heavy gale which cause her to spring a leak. Both her pumps were manned, but in spite of every effort the water rapidly gained, even though all her deck load was thrown overboard. All hands worked with desperate energy to keep her afloat, but after two days of almost superhuman labor the water was found to be 11 feet in her hold and all hope of saving the vessel was dismissed.

A raft was rapidly constructed of about 10 feet square, and on the 16th the passengers and crew, 10 in all, embarked. There was one woman in the party. Two hours after leaving the ship down she went, and the luckless people upon the raft were tossing about at the mercy of the winds and waves. The weight upon the raft sunk it one foot below the waves, and what was not washed away was saturated thoroughly. For 24 hours they tossed about thus until, in latitude 32 degrees 20 minutes, longitude 74 degrees, they were found by the U. S. gunboat Florida, Lieut. Maies commanding, who took the starving party on board, helpless and almost lifeless form exposure.

Sailor-like, no sooner were the shipwrecked on board that a subscription was raised for them, which amounted to $361, of which one-third was awarded to the female passenger, and the balance divided among the crew.


Reprinted from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, November 11, 1869.