No. 243
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
March 02, 2015

Was Her Story a Fake?

Miss Alice Jackman, a St. Louis heiress, claims to have been abducted a second time.
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March 2, 2015
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JAMES McMAHON
alias:
BURGLAR, RIVER THIEF

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comCalvin is among the literary cats who have been immortalized in prose.  Originally part of the household of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Calvin eventually made his home with author Charles Dudley Warner.  After the cat died, Warner wrote the following biographical essay, which was often republished in various late 19th century newspapers and periodicals.  This
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Strange Company - 9/9/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [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
Amen.

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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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025

Sadie and Clarence.

Sadie and Clarence.In April 1894, the murder of Montgomery Gibbs, a successful attorney, caused great excitement in Buffalo, New York. He was found shot to death in a driveway on Delaware Avenue with no clues to the killer’s identity. The police and newspapers investigated the crime, but they had no solid leads, and it remained unsolved. Then, in October, they received a tip that Clarence
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Murder By Gaslight - 9/5/2026
On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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
Comedian Punches Drummer. | A Monkey and Dog Time.

Was Her Story a Fake?

Was her story fake?

Miss Alice Jackman, a St. Louis heiress, claims to have been abducted a second time. 

Another sensation was created in St. Louis a ew days ago, when Alice Jackman, the heiress who was recently abducted in broad daylight, disappeared from the home of her guardian, Mr. Charles Spink. Later the young lady turned up at the house of Mr. Al Spink. She claimed that she had been kidnapped by three men, who hurried her into a coach and took her to the residence of Mr. Brouthers. It now comes to light that Alice has been monkeying with the truth in regard to the second attempt at abduction. The question now arises: Where did she spend the four had a half hours from the time she left Charles Spink’s house until she arrived at the home of his brother? It is the general impression that Alice has been looking for notoriety.

National Police Gazette, January 25, 1890.

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