[Note: I published this story on my World of Poe blog back in 2012--13 years ago, ye gods, where does the time go?!--but I thought it had enough of a Strange Company vibe to include it here.]In October of 1845, the corpse of a prostitute named Maria (or Mary Ann) Bickford was found in her Boston boardinghouse lodgings, her throat gruesomely slashed. Her former lover, a wealthy, married man named
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.
Lenox Hill, Murray Hill, Carnegie Hill, Golden Hill—Manhattan used to have a lot of hills, and the island’s once-bumpy topography lent itself to neighborhood names still in use today. (Well, not Golden Hill, but I’m partial to bringing it back.) But one true hill that remains on the streetscape spans Lexington Avenue between 102nd and […]
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: […]
Illustrated Police News, Nov. 10, 1883.Zora Burns was a beautiful and captivating young woman with
“…abundant hair of yellow-golden tint clustered about features as perfectly
regular as those which Phidias chiseled from the marble of Greece. Her form was
grace and symmetry personified, and despite her lack of educational advantages,
her natural tact and quickness of intellect atoned in great
(Click image to enlarge)
LUBFOOT" HALL - CON MANSoapy Smith's mentor? Recently, I saw two Youtube videos on "Soapy" Smith. Both chose to use the old error filled biographies as sources. Sometimes I leave a comment, letting the author and visitors know some of the errors in the videos and letting them know that there are published true histories of Soapy if they so desire. In
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 →
Mrs. Flo Smith, a young and handsome Newport, KY., Woman, caught in a compromising position with her paramour in an empty passenger car. [more]
“If you give me away I’ll kill you!”
The speaker was a handsome Newport, Ky., woman stylishly attired, and the party addressed was the night watchman at the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad yards. The woman’s wild talk and dramatic gesticulations attracted the attention of a large crowd. Naturally the guardian of the peace was somewhat awed at the startling admonition, but contrary to her expectations, he was not cowed down even a little bit by her wild and maddened theatrics. He simply told her to close her mouth and go on about her business, lest she get in to further trouble. The cause of the woman’s threats toward the officer naturally was inquired into, and it is briefly given below:
On the previous night, about 11 o’clock, the watchman in making his rounds through the C. L. and N. yard heard a rustling sound in one of the vacant passenger cars which was standing on the side track. He proceeded to investigate and cautiously open the door of the coach. He could discover noting until the rays of his lamp were cast between two seats in the middle of the car. Here he beheld a man and a woman in a compromising position.
The woman’s companion hastily arose and jumping over the seats managed to escape from the car. The woman, however, was not so fortunate and was caught by the watchman, who recognized her as Mrs. Flo Smith of Fourth and Monmouth Streets, Newport, Ky. She pleaded pitifully to be allowed to go home, and her request was finally granted. Her companion, who got away, was recognized by the watchman was recognized as a fellow who hangs around the vicinity of the C. L. and N. depot.
The mission of Mrs. Smith to the above-named locality was to put a quietus on the tongue of the watchman.
"We follow vice and folly where a police officer dare not show his head, as the small, but intrepid weasel pursues vermin in paths which the licensed cat or dog cannot enter."
The Sunday Flash 1841