No. 809
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
April 15, 2025

She Was a Child of Nature.

Sensation created at Boonville, Ind., by the capture of an alleged wild woman.
April 15, 2025
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Tag: Theft

A Man in a Black Mask.

Disguised as the Devil.

7/1/2025

Caught Helping Themselves.

Boston detectives arrest two stylishly-dressed women while in the act of the shoplifting game.

1/9/2017

The Women Screamed.

A gang of pickpockets go through an excursion train near Wabash, Ind.

11/15/2016

A Man under Her Bed.

Had Miss Baker looked under the bed before making her toilet she would have postponed it.

9/26/2016

She Had a High Old Time.

8/13/2013

A Slippery and Subtle Knave – The Bank Sneak.

7/31/2012
 Welcome to this week's Link Dump!It's a family affair!How Napoleon took Malta.Is consciousness everything?Tesla's key to the universe.The mystery of the Great Sheep Panic.A whole lot of info about the Bayeux Tapestry.Some popular medieval swear words.A 108 year old female soldier.If your laboratory is haunted, consider bringing a sword to work.An ancient cosmic massacre.A shipwreck that was
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Strange Company - 5/29/2026
"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
Looking to buy fresh flowers, plants, or other greenery in the New York City of 1880? Various flower markets existed across the city, and one small market sat at the foot of Canal Street and the Hudson River. Here, flower and plant dealers hauled their wares every day and set them out from horse-drawn carts […]
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Ephemeral New York - 5/25/2026
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
Kate Scharn.(New York American, August 20, 1900.)It had been more than two years since a murder was reported in New York City’s Tenderloin district, but on August 20, 1900, the pattern was all too familiar. A young woman was found murdered in her room after 1:00 a.m. No one heard a sound. Her jewelry was stolen. A variety of men were suspected, but with very little evidence against any of them.
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Murder By Gaslight - 5/23/2026
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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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
  [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
Dogographs. | A Terrible Axe Duel.

She Was a Child of Nature.

Child-of-Nature

Some young men, while hunting near Booneville, Ind., a few days ago, came upon a beautiful young woman, who had apparently been roaming for several days through the swamps and woods in an almost nude condition. When she discovered them she darted away like a frightened deer. They pursued her to a cave. catching her just as she was about entering the same. She is about thirty years of age. Her face and body have been terribly lacerated by brambles and bushes. In her temporary hiding place were found a quantity of nuts and herbs and a piece of an old broken earthenware pitcher. She was carried to a neighboring farmer's house, where she has become more docile. Her name has not been discovered, and she refuses to reveal it.


National Police Gazette, December 29, 1888.