No. 689
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
February 5, 2025

Clubbed by a Wronged Wife.

April 22, 2014
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Robert Kever and William Lowman were walking together on Mississippi Street in Indianapolis around 10:00 the night of January 15, 1880. Without warning, a man jumped from behind a tree and plunged a butcher knife into Kever’s throat. The perpetrator was a butcher named Louis Antenat.“Aha, God damn you, I’ve got you now!” Shouted Antenat, and with one slash of the knife, he severed Kever’s carotid
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 2/1/2025
Without La Delice Pastry Shop’s swinging 1960s store sign—a visual feast of blue and red, curlycue cursive, and capital letters—the southwest corner of Third Avenue and 27th Street would be just another stretch of Kips Bay. Though the sign looks very midcentury, La Delice (which translates from French as “the delight”) has actually been around […]
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Ephemeral New York - 2/3/2025
Soapy STAR notebookPage 15 - Original copy1883Courtesy of Geri Murphy(Click image to enlarge) OAPY SMITH IN DENVER, WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA.This is page 15, dated July-September 1883, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.     These notebook pages
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 1/29/2025
Fort McPherson, circa 1900Ghost lore is full of tales of spirits who are unhappy with the way their mortal remains were treated, so they make (generally unwelcome) appearances with the intention of setting things right.  One of the more famous examples of such stories had an appropriate setting: the wild, desolate land of 19th century North-West Canada.Augustus Peers was a fur-trader who
More...
Strange Company - 2/3/2025
Without La Delice Pastry Shop’s swinging 1960s store sign—a visual feast of blue and red, curlycue cursive, and capital letters—the southwest corner of Third Avenue and 27th Street would be just another stretch of Kips Bay. Though the sign looks very midcentury, La Delice (which translates from French as “the delight”) has actually been around […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 2/3/2025
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
Robert Kever and William Lowman were walking together on Mississippi Street in Indianapolis around 10:00 the night of January 15, 1880. Without warning, a man jumped from behind a tree and plunged a butcher knife into Kever’s throat. The perpetrator was a butcher named Louis Antenat.“Aha, God damn you, I’ve got you now!” Shouted Antenat, and with one slash of the knife, he severed Kever’s carotid
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 2/1/2025
Fort McPherson, circa 1900Ghost lore is full of tales of spirits who are unhappy with the way their mortal remains were treated, so they make (generally unwelcome) appearances with the intention of setting things right.  One of the more famous examples of such stories had an appropriate setting: the wild, desolate land of 19th century North-West Canada.Augustus Peers was a fur-trader who
More...
Strange Company - 2/3/2025
Soapy STAR notebookPage 15 - Original copy1883Courtesy of Geri Murphy(Click image to enlarge) OAPY SMITH IN DENVER, WISCONSIN AND MINNESOTA.This is page 15, dated July-September 1883, the continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook from the Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.     These notebook pages
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 1/29/2025
A Human Vampire. | Sights and Sounds of Spring.

Clubbed by a Wronged Wife.

Clubbed by Wronged Wife

A Kentucky Wife Administers a Very Severe Punishment to her Husband and his Paramour. [more]

For some time the wife of Mr. Clay Henry, a well-known resident of Corinth , Ky., has suspected him of infidelity, and has several times been informed of his frequenting Madame Bricey’s resort. This, however, Mrs. Henry refused to believe untie the other day, when she went out on a still hunt, and proved to her own satisfaction that the rumors were true. Immediately after his Sunday dinner Henry arose from the table, saying he was going into the country for a drive with a friend. Mrs. Henry tried to persuade her husband to spend his Sunday at home, but he was obstinate and left the house. Mrs. Henry suspected that he had gone to some resort, and along toward evening started out to find him.

Proceeding to Madame Bricey’s house she saw a girl inmate hanging out of a window. Mrs. Henry asked the girl if Mr. Henry was in the house, and the soiled dove replied that he was not. This did not satisfy Mrs. Henry. She slipped around the house and coming to a side entrance peeped in. There she saw her husband and Mrs. Bricey occupying the same bed. Mrs. Henry rushed in and seizing a stout stick of wood began to rain blows upon her wayward husband and his companion in sin. With the fury of a tigress the wronged wife beat both offenders until they sprang from the bed and rushed from the house.

Mrs. Henry gave pursuit to her husband, but he could run faster and soon escaped. He has not been seen since, and has fled for parts unknown. Mrs. Bricey returned to her resort as soon as the coast was clear. She was considerably bruised up about the face and arms, and will show signs of the clubbing she received. As Mrs. Henry and her club devoted more time to Mr. Henry than Mrs. Bricey, it is certain that he is pretty badly damaged. It is thought Henry went to Cincinnati, and will remained there until the excitement blows over.


Reprinted from the National Police Gazette, October 14, 1893