No. 643
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
August 02, 2022

A Transparent Rigg.

Benjamin, of that name, vainly attempts to break a bank in female disguise at Palmerston, Ontario.
August 2, 2022
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Tag: Clergy

Turning the Tables.

A Parson returns unexpectedly and detects the Deacon escaping from his apartment.

4/2/2024

Dangerous Characters.

No Tramps nor Parsons Admitted.

6/29/2021

Courtship from a Tree.

Young and Ardent Bob Toppin, a Newark, N. J., youth, does some tall climbing in order to meet his sweetheart, pretty Miss Hobbie, a parson’s daughter.

3/13/2017

The Pastor Kissed Her.

That is the allegation made against Dominie Hall of the Methodist Church at Livermore, Ky., by Miss May.

11/28/2016

Another Amorous Parson.

Westchester County is all agog over the case of the Rev. Mr. White, accused of violently assaulting the sister-in-law of a brother clergyman. We illustrate the scene.

10/6/2015

The Minister Was Coltish.

The Rev. G. W. Kling, pastor of the Crawford M. E. Church at West Marietta, O., is in a peck of trouble.

6/8/2015

A Minister’s Scrape.

7/21/2014

She Had a High Old Time.

8/13/2013

Gold from Seawater!

In 1898, the Reverend Prescott F. Jernegan founded the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company to extract gold from seawater. When the gold ran out, so did Rev. Jernegan, taking the company’s capital.

7/16/2013
 Everyone here at Strange Company HQ wishes you a happy Halloween!In which an 18th century priest meets a troll.Gunnhild, Mother of Kings.The strange case of the Crow Hill Bones.So now we know what is the oldest pub in England.The Abominable Snowman visits Massachusetts.I thought you'd like to know that someone is cataloging public restrooms.  (And, yeah, I don't want to know what this
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Strange Company - 10/30/2026
  [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
(The National Police Gazette, October 2, 1886.)A little before 3 o’clock, on the afternoon of September 9, 1886, Henry H. Meyer rushed into the police station in Memphis, Tennessee, and said, “I have just killed a man, and I want to give myself up.”Captain Hackett took down the information and had the man locked up, then hurried to the address he had given to see for himself what had happened. In
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/31/2026
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
A Hot Day in New York. | Eaten by Sharks.

A Transparent Rigg.

Transparent-Rigg

A daring attempt was made to rob Scott's bank at Palmerston, Ontario, Canada, on the morning of June 9th. By a ruse J. W. Scott, proprietor, was got rid of, and about eleven o'clock a person closely-veiled and dressed in woman's clothes went into the office and wished to deposit $2.000. Teller Bert Boomer showed his customer to a seat in the private office until he got through with other customers. When he returned to the veiled one he was asked to lock the door until the deposit was made. As the customer appeared very nervous Boomer complied with the request. and on returning to the private office the party displayed a large knife and ordered him into the washroom. Boomer refused to go and a struggle ensued, the teller getting badly cut and otherwise injured, Finally he overcame the robber, took the knife from him and on stripping the veil from his face found himself confronted by one Ben Rigg, a resident of the town. Rigg was arrested.


National Police Gazette, July 3, 1886.