No. 328
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
June 12, 2017

Jack the Garter Stealer.

A bold and eccentric individual, who is alarming the girls and puzzling the authorities of Exeter, M
June 12, 2017
...
...

 Welcome to this week's Link Dump, where it's up, up, and away!Try to sell a house that features art stolen by the Nazis, and watch the fun begin!A brief history of pomegranates.Some remote viewers took a gander at 31/Atlas, and I can't say they came up with cheery stuff.A serial poisoner in Ohio.The princess who chose painting over palaces.The horrors of 19th century merchant service.The (
More...
Strange Company - 9/5/2025
Stop by this week as we explore what happened the week before the murders, Emma and Lizzie’s getaway to Fairhaven and New Bedford, and new imagery which will help to tell the story. The pears are almost ripe, August 4th is coming fast, and thoughts begin to turn to that house on Second Street once again. Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts/ !
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/26/2025
The East Midtown blocks in the shadow of Grand Central Terminal hold some fascinating relics of old New York City. Case in point is the phone number on this street-facing sign for an elevator emergency alarm at 7 East 43rd Street. “Call ST 6-4300” it reads. “ST” is another long-obsolete phone exchange, dating back to […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 9/1/2025
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
Daniel Van Fossen and his wife hosted a dinner party for their extended family on January 8, 1885, at their home in East Liverpool, Ohio. Fourteen people were in attendance, including members of the Van Fossen, McBane, and Collins families. Coffee and Tea were served after the meal, and almost immediately, the coffee drinkers complained of a burning, bitter sensation in their throats. Soon, they
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 8/30/2025
Soapy Smith STAR NotebookPage 22 - Original copy 1884Courtesy of Geri Murphy(Click image to enlarge) oapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1883-84, St. Louis, San Francisco, Soapy arrested: Pages #22-23      This post is on page 22 and 23 of the "STAR" notebook. I am combining these two pages as they only account for a total of seven lines. They are not appearing to be a continuation of
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 8/27/2025
  [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 […]
More...
Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
Retribution. | Tennis.

Jack the Garter Stealer.

Jack the Garter Stealer

A bold and eccentric individual, who is alarming the girls and puzzling the authorities of Exeter, Mass.[more]

The terror which Exeter’s (Mass.) mysterious “waterproof” man has aroused among the weaker sex of the town shows no sign of abatement. The best description which has been given of the man comes from one of Exeter’s prettiest society belles. She describes the fellow as tall and slim with a slouch hat pulled down over his eyes. He wore a long black coat which came nearly down to his heels. She was going to her home, which is in almost the very centre of the town, between the hours of 7 and 8, when suddenly she was grasped around the waist with one hand, the other being placed over her mouth so she could not cry out. She was thrown on her back to the ground and her garters forcibly removed. The girl’s cries frightened the man away.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, November4, 1893.