No. 685
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
January 13, 2025

Killed and Eaten by Hogs.

September 15, 2014
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Accounts of UFO encounters, like poltergeist reports, tend to all sound alike after a while, so I was pleased to come across one such story which has that little something special.On the night of October 17, 1973, Jeff Greenhaw, the Police Chief of Falkville, Alabama, received an anonymous--and slightly hysterical--call informing him that a “spaceship” had just landed in a field outside of
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Strange Company - 1/13/2025
Included in yesterday’s trip to Fall River was a stop at Miss Lizzie’s Coffee shop and a visit to the cellar to see the scene of the tragic demise of the second Mrs. Lawdwick Borden and two of the three little children in 1848. I have been writing about this sad tale since 2010 and had made a previous trip to the cellar some years ago but was unable to get to the spot where the incident occured to get a clear photograph.  The tale of Eliza Borden is a very sad, but not uncommon story of post partum depression with a heartrending end. You feel this as you stand in the dark space behind the chimney where Eliza ended her life with a straight razor after dropping 6 month old Holder and his 3 year old sister Eliza Ann into the cellar cistern. Over the years I have found other similar cases, often involving wells and cisterns, and drownings of children followed by suicides of the mothers. These photos show the chimney, cistern pipe, back wall, dirt and brick floor, original floorboards forming the cellar ceiling and what appears to be an original door. To be in the place where this happened is a sobering experience. My thanks to Joe Pereira for allowing us to see and record the place where this sad occurrence unfolded in 1848. R.I.P. Holder, Eliza and Eliza Ann Borden. Visit our Articles section above for more on this story. The coffee shop has won its suit to retain its name and has plans to expand into the shop next door and extend its menu in the near future.
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 2/12/2024
The most famous architect of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright designed 1,114 houses, offices, and other structures during a prominent professional life that spanned seven decades. Of these, 532 architectural works were actually completed, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. New York State has several Wright-designed dwellings. The Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue […]
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Ephemeral New York - 1/13/2025
An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,” is about British convict transportation to America, which took place between the years 1718 and 1775, and is the subject of my book, Bound with an Iron Chain: […]
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Early American Crime - 12/17/2021
Charley McGill and Mary Kelly.In 1874, Charley McGill saw Mary Kelly on the street in Columbus, Ohio. He struck up an acquaintance with Mary that soon turned into “desperate infatuated love.” They traveled together throughout Ohio, and although not married, they lived together as man and wife. Mary was a virtuous girl before meeting Charley, but reportedly, in Cleveland, they lived off Mary’s
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Murder By Gaslight - 1/11/2025
A Busted HoneymoonSoapy Smith is arrested in Leadville, ColoradoCarbonate ChronicleMay 17, 1886Courtesy of Colorado Historic Newspapers (Click image to enlarge) ew information regarding Soapy Smith in Leadville, Colorado.  A friend, Don Hendershot, found the above newspaper article. Following is the text of that article.Carbonate ChronicleLeadville, ColoradoMay 17, 1886A Busted
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 1/12/2025
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
Set Fire to the Bed. | Take a Chance?

Killed and Eaten by Hogs.

Eaten by Hogs

A woman is murdered, then thrown into the streets, where she is partially devoured by hogs; Hunter’s Point, N. Y.

While playing near the public school in East Fourth street, Hunter’s Point, last week, a party of children noticed a number of hogs rooting at what appeared to be a bundle of old clothes. The boys drove the animals away and found that the hogs had been eating the dead body of a woman. The police were notified and the body was removed to the Morgue. Pieces of flesh had been torn from the arms face and legs of the body.

The corpse was identified as that of Jane Irwin, a woman of forty years of age and the mother of six children. Her husband, James Irwin, is a mason, and the two lived at 1432 Second avenue, New York. On Thursday afternoon the deceased left her home to visit some friends in Hunter’s Point. She called on her friends and aided in consuming a large quanity of beer.

It is believed that on her return home she was outraged by a pack of roughs, who had murdered her for fear she would divulge their names. An investigation has so far failed to reveal anything in connection with her death.


The National Police Gazette, December 4, 1880.