No. 522
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
May 19, 2020

Pretty Female Billiardists

May 19, 2020
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If you’re curious about New York’s Gilded Age, then you’re familiar with certain recurring family names—like Astor, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Rockefeller, and Roosevelt. But what made these elite families so influential? How did they reshape and rule the city’s business and social worlds while leaving a lasting impact on the city of today? Starting July 29 […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/10/2026
"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
 Welcome to this week's Link Dump, which is so action-packed, not one, but four hosts were required!Two ships from the "dawn of naval aviation."It turns out that wild chimpanzees are pretty good drummers.If you're planning to visit the Grand Canyon, maybe think twice about that.I was in a happier frame of mind before I learned that there is a spider that can outrun humans.A really confusing
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Strange Company - 7/10/2026
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
(New Haven Independent) Taylor Ward sings "Found Drifting with the Tide" (excerpt), the tragic ballad of Jennie Cramer's murder.“Found Drifting with the Tide” was a song written by A. C. Willis, "Dedicated to the memory of Jennie Cramer," who was murdered in 1881.When the body of beautiful young Jennie Cramer was found on a sandbar
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/4/2026
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
  [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
Decoration Day and its Memories. | An Individual Band.

Pretty Female Billiardists

Pretty Female Billiardists

Philadelphia, Oct. 1888 – Miss Disston and Miss Minnie Lippincott of Philadelphia, PA., do some marvelous manipulating of the cues. Last week the Philadelphia Times gave an account of Miss Disston’s marvelous shooting at a beach gallery. It will now record the names of a brilliant party at billiards a few nights ago at the Hotel Brighton, among whom were Miss Minnie Lippincott of Philadelphia. The young lady is probably nineteen years of age and is a demi blonde. She is tall and shapely and a quick and graceful player. She can make the balls fly about the table after the manner of Sexton, and much of her time is devoted to fancy shots of finger billiards. She would astonish Yank Adams if he could get a chance to see her play his favorite game. The largest three runs made by her were 110, 89 and 56. Edward Webster, who was playing with her, ran 81, 65 and 52.


Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, October 13, 1888