No. 40
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
August 08, 2011

Shot Down in His Office

Ruined and Despondent Ronald Kennedy, a Philadelphia speculator, kills broker Charles H. Page, and then commits suicide.
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August 8, 2011
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JOSEPH BOND
alias: PAPER COLLAR JOE
BANCO STEERER

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Amen.

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Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
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 Welcome to the latest Link Dump!This week, we are honored to be visited by some genuine royalty.That time someone stole 80,000 pounds of butter.The complicated medieval legal term, "raptus."The Roman Woman of Spitalfields.How medieval Europeans ate before contact with the Americas.You never know what you'll find in medieval latrines.  Other than the obvious, of course.You never know
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On the Russians.

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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Why John Sloan painted this lush scene of a woman in Union Square battling the rain

John Sloan was a Village resident and something of a voyeur in the early 1900s, discreetly watching from his window or walking nearby streets in search of scenes to commit to canvas. He never lacked material, finding inspiration in the ordinary: a woman hanging laundry, men drinking in McSorley’s saloon, the elevated train snaking through […]
More...
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Shot Down in His Office

Shot down in his office

Philadelphia, PA, August 13, 1893 – Ruined and Despondent Ronald Kennedy, a Philadelphia speculator, kills broker Charles H. Page, and then commits suicide.

Charles H. Page, of the firm of E. D. Page & Brother, stockbrokers, 132 South Fourth Street, Philadelphia, Pa, was recently shot and instantly killed in his office by Ronald Kennedy, a customer, who had been dealing in margins with the firm for two years. Kennedy then placed th pistol to his own head and sent a bullet into his brain.

The murderer and suicide is said to have lost between $15,000 and $20,000 since he began dealing with the firm, and despondency over the losses is supposed to have caused the crime.

Mr. Page was shot while reading the reports of the “ticker.”

Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, August 13, 1893

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