No. 429
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
June 18, 2018

Spoiled the Chappies’ Fun.

Policemen of Aurora Ill. Break into a famous resort during an orgy and capture some well-known young
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June 18, 2018
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JOHN CLARE
alias: GILMORE
BANK BURGLAR

Weekend Link Dump

 Welcome to this week's Link Dump, where our host is this very personable cat from around 1900.  Alas, I have no other information about this photo.A handy reminder that the 19th century seaborne trade wasn't always much fun.10th century priests go to court.The mysterious death of George Proctor.In which an Australian tree just wants to be left alone.The sad life of Marilyn Monroe's
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Strange Company - 9/18/2026

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

Song of the St. George Murder.

 A Song Written in Memory ofThe St. George Murder.(excerpt) In St. George, Me., as you shall hear,It proves to be the fatal year -That Mrs. Meservey, in the prime of life.By a murderer's hand has lost her life....Nathan Hart is the murderer's name,Father and husband think of the shame,Did he forget all woman kind,Seek like a beast some prey to find?...God in His written book doth say, 
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Murder By Gaslight - 9/19/2026
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
Broadway Omnibus Racing Season. | Caught Wifie Dead to Rights.

Spoiled the Chappies’ Fun.

Spoiled the Chappies'

Policemen of Aurora Ill. Break into a famous resort during an orgy and capture some well-known young men of the town. 

The little city of Aurora, Ill. Is famed for its schools and its society, and it is also famed for having one of the fastest resorts of the demi-monde in the country. The other morning about 4 o’clock, a crowd of very well-known young sports of the town were having a high old time with the girlies, when the police made a raid on the place. They captured a fine crowd. Four of the prisoners will be compelled by the city to do a little time.

Reprinted from National Police Gazette, January 16, 1896.

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