No. 649
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 06, 2022

A Miners' Racket.

Cold lead for cocktails.
September 6, 2022
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Via Newspapers.comSome people could be said to create an “electric atmosphere.”This is not always a good thing.  The “Wells Journal,” December 9, 1993:A physicist claimed this week to have come up with evidence which completely exonerates pensioner Frank Pattemore for any involvement in the weird goings on with the electrical system at his home. For more than 11 years, Mr Pattemore's
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Strange Company - 4/1/2026
"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
New York didn’t invent April Fools Day; this holiday might date back all the way to ancient Rome. But starting in the 19th century, April 1 in Gotham has been a day to celebrate with stupid pranks, outrageous hoaxes, the mocking of politicians and business leaders, and since 1986, a parade down Fifth Avenue. This […]
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Ephemeral New York - 3/30/2026
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
National Police Gazette, January 28, 1882Mrs. J.W. Gibbons was away from her home in Ashland, Kentucky, on December 23, 1881. She left behind her 18-year-old son Robert, her 14-year-old daughter Fannie, and 17-year-old Emma Thomas (aka Carico), who was staying with them. Mrs. Gibbons returned the following day to find her home burned to the ground and all three inhabitants dead.Read the full
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Murder By Gaslight - 3/28/2026
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
Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame. | Cowboys Lassoing the Ballet.

A Miners' Racket.

Cold-lead Pay-day at the mines in the vicinity of Robinson, Col., is always followed by a night of boisterous merriment. Last Saturday was no Exception to the rule, and a gang of the "boys," headed by Ed. Dolin, Jimmy Higgins, John Tye, Jerry Ryan and others got hold of a Jack mule or burro. Ed Dolan mounted the beast, and with his feet touching the ground, headed the procession. The others urged the animal along by pounding its buttocks with boards and cudgels. The gang made for a dance hall kept by two women named Jennie Stone and Nellie Williams alias "Buffalo Nell." Dolan rode astride the ass, made a charge on the bar, and presenting two cocked poppers, persuaded Buffalo Nell to set up San Juan cock tails for the crowd. About the time the gang were soaked, policeman Andy Purvin appeared on the scene, and a general stampede was made for the door. Boss Dolan and the ass went over a high side walk into a bank of snow, and it was only after a good deal of tumbling and much hard talk praying that they were placed on a solid footing again.


The National Police Gazette, December 3, 1881.