No. 816
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
June 10, 2025

What Led to a Divorce.

What a Husband Discovered, and How a couple were separated.
June 10, 2025
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Tag: Disaster

Another Steamboat Disaster.

The Steamboat "Riverdale" Blown Up in the Hudson.

11/14/2023

The Modern Builder.

7/6/2021

A Woman Rescued from the Jaws of a Catamount.

Davy Crockett's Almanack, 1838.

2/18/2020

Burning of Steamers at Cincinnati.

Burning of Steamers on the Ohio River at Cincinnati May 17, 1869.

9/17/2018

Foundering of the Titania.

One of the most thrilling disasters at sea that has happened for many years.

2/26/2018

Afloat on a Cake of Ice.

Perilous Situation of a Skating Party on the Ohio River Near Zanesville, Ohio.

1/1/2018

Thrilling Railroad Accident.

Startling accident at the draw bridge of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, Federal Street, Troy, N. Y., Saturday, Sept 23.

11/6/2017

Another Steamboat Disaster.

New York City, -- The Steamboat Riverdale blown up, August 28th – Rescuing the passengers.

10/3/2016

Eaten by Sharks.

In the Jaw of the Man-Eaters. James E. Hamilton of Lake Worth, Florida, is Devoured by Sharks.

7/6/2015

The Southern Pacific Railway Disaster.

2/11/2014

Her Last Ascent.

Gertie Carmo, a Female Aeronaut and Trapeze Performer, Hurled to the Ground and Instantly Killed in Detroit, Mich.

9/24/2013

A Plucky Elberon, N. J., Girl

1/31/2012

Caroline Burned!

9/19/2011

The Astor Place Riot

8/15/2011

Terrible Struggle with Flame and Flood

The burning of the steamer John H. Hanna near Plaquemine, Louisiana, by which thirty lives were lost

6/20/2011

Chorus Girls in a Panic.

An unruly horse causes great excitement in the Metropolitan Opera House, this city.

3/14/2011
 Welcome to the Link Dump, where this week, our Strange Company HQ staffers give a shout-out to Clarence, Iowa!Well, why not.  I'm sure it's a charming place.Where the hell is the Pedro Mountain Mummy?The tomb of King Midas' father.Graham Greene in Mexico.A look at supernatural smells.A German liner goes to war.A woman accused of murdering her sister.A mysterious object named Phoebe is
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Strange Company - 8/21/2026
  [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, April 3, 1886.)Agnes Anastasia Long moved out of her parents’ home in East Attleboro, Massachusetts, in April 1882. With her many male suiters, she was considered the black sheep of the family. Her father had enough of her bad behavior and, according to the Boston Herald, “refused to permit her to darken the threshold of his humble home.”She took a job at Streeter
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Murder By Gaslight - 8/22/2026
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
The New City of Leadville. | The Western Drama.

What Led to a Divorce.

What led to a divorce.

A newly made benedict discovers the name of a former lover of his wife’s on her ankle, and makes it the basis of a suit or divorce; Galveston Tex. 

What a Husband Discovered, and How a couple were separated.

The pretext which a man naturally jealous will find to keep the fire of family discord up to a white heat is forcibly illustrated in the case of a man who shortly after his marriage made a discovery in the morning on arising which ruined his domestic peace forever. Previous to her marriage his wife had another suitor, who was ‘the only man on earth” to her. While the tattooing mania was at its height, she testified her love for her lover by having his name pricked on her ankle. Subsequently, the engagement was broken off, and they parted forever. She solaced herself, however, a short time after by giving her affections to another, and was rewarded by obtaining a husband. The latter was of a very jealous nature and construed every act into inconstancy on her part. But the worst of all was when he discovered the name of the former lover where it had been printed. After that, nothing could prove to him that she was true. He harped continually on the subject. A divorce is wanted to end the misery.


National Police Gazette, October 30, 1880.