No. 635
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
December 2, 2023

Kidnapped in Broad Daylight.

Miss Alice Jackson, of St. Louis, seized by three men who hurry her into a coach and drive away.
October 16, 2017
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 "The Witches' Cove," Follower of Jan MandijnWelcome to the first Link Dump of December!The Strange Company HQ staffers are already starting on the Christmas parties.The "Shankhill Butchers."The history of Christmas puddings.In which we learn that Napoleon had planned to spend his retirement in New Orleans.  Oops.Vintage Christmas gift ideas.The adventures of a Victorian sailor boy.A
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Strange Company - 12/1/2023
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Soapy Smith in Leadville, ColoradoJuly 21, 1880Soapy and partner, rear, between carriagesCourtesy Kyle Rosene collection(Click image to enlarge) Soapy Smith's stereo-view photographLeadville, Colorado, July 21, 1880Where was it taken?WHERE IN LEADVILLE WAS THIS TAKEN?(Click image to enlarge)     Those who have read Alias Soapy Smith: The Life and Death of a Scoundrel may
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 9/14/2023
On a busy day in 1951, a hot dog vendor found himself captive to a hawker of cheap jewelry who set up shop across from his rickety food cart decorated with American flags. Horses still worked the side streets of the city. Stray dogs waited for food scraps to fall to the pavement. TV antennas […]
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Ephemeral New York - 11/27/2023
An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,” is about British convict transportation to America, which took place between the years 1718 and 1775, and is the subject of my book, Bound with an Iron Chain: […]
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Early American Crime - 12/17/2021
The morning of February 5, 1895, Dr. John E Rader was found murdered in the house of Mrs. Catherine McQuinn in Jackson, Kentucky. Catherine told police they were drinking whiskey with her paramour Tom Smith and when Tom passed out, Dr. Rader assaulted her. She shot him in self-defense. Catherine could have committed the murder; she was a rough, course woman with a bad reputation. But the
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Murder By Gaslight - 12/2/2023
On October 16, 1900, the Fall River Daily Herald reported an incident at Maplecroft. Lizzie took a tumble from a step ladder while adjusting a picture on the wall. Dr. Stephen Masury Gordon set the broken wrist. Dr. Gordon lived at 165 Rock St. and was a Harvard graduate. One has to wonder why Lizzie did not have one of the servants or her handy man doing the chore. Dr. Gordon
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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 engaged as a carrier of wine, because he and his brother, with the help of […]
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
A Train of Cars Rushing Through Fire. | Too Mild a Description.

Kidnapped in Broad Daylight.

Kidnapped in Broad Daylight.

Miss Alice Jackson, of St. Louis, seized by three men who hurry her into a coach and drive away. [more]

Miss Alice Jackson, a St. Louis heiress, was abducted by three men in broad daylight a few days ago. Miss Jackson was about to enter carriage with her aunt, Mrs. Brouthers, when she was seized by three men and hurried into a close carriage and rapidly driven away. Miss Jackson is the niece of John G. Taylor, of the Richardson-Taylor Drug Company, and heiress to a large amount. She left the home of her guardian, Mr. Taylor, about three months ago and went to Mrs. Brouthers’ to live. Mr. Taylor denies having had anything to do with the kidnapping. Alice was afterwards found in the Convent of the Good Shepherd, but before her friends could reach her she again disappeared.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, December 7, 1889.