No. 169
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 24, 2013

Her Last Ascent.

Gertie Carmo, a Female Aeronaut and Trapeze Performer, Hurled to the Ground and Instantly Killed in Detroit, Mich.
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September 24, 2013
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Tag: Football

A Great Game of Football.

Fair college students engage in a rough-and-tumble chase after the pigskin.

11/7/2023

Fierce Football.

The great game recently played between teams representing the colleges of Princeton and Yale, on the former's grounds, Thanksgiving Day.

11/23/2015

She Went into the Scrimmage.

Mrs. Miller Forcibly Removes Her Two Sons form a Football Game at Bridgeport, Conn.

12/8/2014

Collegians at Football.

12/10/2013
ALBERT CROPSEY
alias: WILLIAMS
HOTEL THIEF

The mystery of the First Avenue tenement that had its top four floors sheared off

The first things I noticed about 2029 First Avenue were the decorative lintels above the second floor windows. Attractively styled for window lintels on upper First Avenue, I figured this stubby holdout wedged beside two brick buildings between East 104th and 105th Streets must have been a former stable. I imagined that those roll-down window […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/13/2026

The Confession of Mary Cole.

The Confession of Mary Cole, 1813.Cornelius and Mary Cole lived in a farmhouse in Sussex County, New Jersey, with their two children and Mary’s widowed mother, Agnes Teaurs. Cornelius bought the property from Agnes in exchange for an annuity of $50 per year for the rest of her life. Mary and her husband did not live happily with Agnes. According to Mary, her mother was always very hard on her,
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/11/2026

Countdown to the Crime

Join us on our Facebook page as we begin counting down the days to August 4th and all of the events leading up to the day. https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/7/2026
Amen.

Countdown to the Crime

Join us on our Facebook page as we begin counting down the days to August 4th and all of the events leading up to the day. https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/7/2026

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comA ghost that was, you might say, all things to all people was reported in the “Moncton Transcript,” February 1, 1922:London, Jan. 30-Eastbourne is being troubled, or entertained, by a "ghost" mystery.A strange apparition has been seen several times gliding along the Crumbles, near the fishermen's huts, and across Fishermen's Green. As the place is within 800 yards of the spot on
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Strange Company - 7/15/2026

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

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comA ghost that was, you might say, all things to all people was reported in the “Moncton Transcript,” February 1, 1922:London, Jan. 30-Eastbourne is being troubled, or entertained, by a "ghost" mystery.A strange apparition has been seen several times gliding along the Crumbles, near the fishermen's huts, and across Fishermen's Green. As the place is within 800 yards of the spot on
More...
Strange Company - 7/15/2026
On the Russians.

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

The mystery of the First Avenue tenement that had its top four floors sheared off

The first things I noticed about 2029 First Avenue were the decorative lintels above the second floor windows. Attractively styled for window lintels on upper First Avenue, I figured this stubby holdout wedged beside two brick buildings between East 104th and 105th Streets must have been a former stable. I imagined that those roll-down window […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 7/13/2026
Fall Styles. | The “Prisoners’ March.”

Her Last Ascent.

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

Gertie Carmo, the daring female aeronaut, was recently killed at Detroit, Mich. It was almost dark and a strong wind was blowing when the balloon arose with Miss Carmo hanging to the trapeze bar. Before the immense bag could clear the Exposition building it struck a projection in the high tower and hurled Miss Carmo to the ground. Falling a distance of 30 feet, her death was instantaneous. Very few people saw the aeronaut fall, as the Exposition builing was between them and the object of their view.

Examinations showed that the woman’s skull, right thigh and left arm were fractured. Her skull at the base was broken completely from one side to the other.

The National Police Gazette, September 17, 1892.

 

 

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