No. 761
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
July 30, 2024

Counterfeiters Surprised.

New York—Base Metal Coinage
July 30, 2024
...
...

 Welcome to "Weekend Link Dump:  The Musical!"The bombing of LaGuardia Airport.When dead bodies were asked to pick out their murderer.The amulet that could rewrite the history of Christianity.The world's most haunted museum.  That's the boast, at any rate.It may be time to stop insulting the dodo bird.The U.S. Navy and the Soviets compete to find a crashed F-14 jet.15th century
More...
Strange Company - 8/7/2026
  [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 […]
More...
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
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.O.P. Hull, a well-to-do farmer, lived with his wife and six children near the village of Wassonville, Iowa. Mr. Hull was a kind father and affectionate husband who was adored by his family. He especially doted on his attractive and popular 19-year-old daughter, Emma. Her comfort and happiness were foremost in his mind. He would leave nothing undone
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 8/1/2026
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
More...
Executed Today - 11/13/2020
The Convicts Returning from Dinner. | The Scandal Which Agitates St. Louis.

Counterfeiters Surprised.

counterfeiters Notwithstanding the extreme hazards involved, in these days of sharp detective service, the factitious business of manufacturing counterfeit money seems to keep a greater or less number of "crooks " at work almost continually. The latest capture in this line was accomplished in Brooklyn, upon the night of Thursday. December 27th, by Special Operative John P. Brooks, of the U. S. Secret Service force, who surprised three men in the act of turning out a rather poor imitation of the silver dollar. Some of the base coins were red hot in the molds, while the crucible, battery, milling - tools, and other paraphernalia, were in active employment in the hands of Messrs. Green, Cassidy and Kenney, the three men who constituted the gang. The two former are old offenders, both having recently completed terms in the Penitentiary for counterfeiting. The dollars turned out by their counterfeit-factory, upon the top floor of a tenement in Pearl Street, Brooklyn, where they were arrested, had been in circulation in Brooklyn for two or three months past. Mr. Brooks traced up their source, and planned the raid so successfully, that when the doors were burst in by the police the crooked alchemists were completely surprised, and surrendered without resistance.


Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, January 12, 1889.