No. 359
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
May 02, 2017

A Duel on Horseback.

Two rivals for the affections of an Arkansas belle fight a desperate battle with knives.
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May 2, 2017
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ALBERT CROPSEY
alias: WILLIAMS
HOTEL THIEF

This 19th century Brooklyn house faces an early turnpike road that no longer exists

On the edge of Prospect Heights at 736 Bergen Street sits a charming slate blue row house. Just two stories high with a top half-floor (based on some Zillow interior photos), the little Greek Revival-style relic features long slender windows, an ornamental front entrance, and a cornice with decorative moldings. Exactly when 736 Bergen Street […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/19/2026

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
Amen.

Countdown to the Crime

Join us on our Facebook page as we begin counting down the days to August 4th and all of the events leading up to the day. https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/7/2026

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

The Tell-Tale Skull.

(Philadelphia Inquirer, April 29, 1895.)Johanna Gahan married Jimmy Logue, a professional thief, in 1871, just as he was preparing to serve a seven-year prison sentence for burglary. She waited for him, and after his release, Jimmy bought a house for them in Philadelphia. Within a year, Jimmy was off on a “thieving expedition” to Boston. When he returned, Johanna was gone. Those who knew Jimmy
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/18/2026
On the Russians.

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
Photography's Abuse by Blackmailers. | Customs Inspections on the Canadian Frontier.

A Duel on Horseback.

Duel on Horseback

Two rivals for the affections of an Arkansas belle fight a desperate battle with knives and are horribly mangled near Bear Creek. 

Two young men, cousins, named Austin Guthrie and Franklin Meyers, near Bear Creek, Ark., rivals for the affections of a young girl, quarreled and proceeded to blows. Both were on horseback, and drawing their knives they commenced a contest which lasted several minutes, both receiving fatal wounds. Meyers's arm was almost severed from the body and he was horribly about the face and breast. Guthrie was fearfully wounded in the head and body. Both fainted and fell from their horses. They were found unconscious in a pool of blood by the roadside.

Reprinted from National Police Gazette, October 27, 1883.

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