No. 394
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
November 13, 2017

Packed Away in a Trunk.

James Lavender of Irwinton, Georgia, tries to elude his bondsmen but is found and dragged out.
November 13, 2017
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 Welcome to "Weekend Link Dump:  The Musical!"The bombing of LaGuardia Airport.When dead bodies were asked to pick out their murderer.The amulet that could rewrite the history of Christianity.The world's most haunted museum.  That's the boast, at any rate.It may be time to stop insulting the dodo bird.The U.S. Navy and the Soviets compete to find a crashed F-14 jet.15th century
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Strange Company - 8/7/2026
  [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
"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
Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.O.P. Hull, a well-to-do farmer, lived with his wife and six children near the village of Wassonville, Iowa. Mr. Hull was a kind father and affectionate husband who was adored by his family. He especially doted on his attractive and popular 19-year-old daughter, Emma. Her comfort and happiness were foremost in his mind. He would leave nothing undone
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Murder By Gaslight - 8/1/2026
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
Turkey Shooting. | Thrilling Railroad Accident.

Packed Away in a Trunk.

Liked her Lager Beer

A Murray Hill belle, with a fondness for the Teutonic beverage, sets up a keg in her boudoir.

A recent inquiry into the sanity of a young society lady of Murray Hill brought about by the application of some of her relatives to take the control of her fortune out of her hands on the grounds that she is a lunatic, developed some strange doings on the part of the eccentric heiress. One point made by the applicants for the appointment of a guardian was that the young lady turned her boudoir into a bar room. It appears that the lady in question has acquired a taste for lager beer from frequent visits to Koster & Bail’s, Theiss’ and other noted resorts, after coming from the opera or a play with a make escort. She liked it drawn from the wood, no bottled medicine for her. Therefore she had a veritable bear horse placed in her boudoir, and got her favorite beverage by the keg, not forgetting the proper accompaniments of glasses with handles and pretzels. When thus provided it was her custom to invites a choice set of her male friends to her room, and hold high revel in real beer saloon style. The committee to whom the case was referred failed to see that this evidence showed any case of insanity they rather thought it was a level headed idea.


National Police Gazette, December 22, 1883.