No. 107
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 16, 2012

Love in a Railroad Car.

September 16, 2012
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Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
"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
Via Newspapers.comI've shared stories about ghosts.  I've shared stories about witches.  It's not often that you see the two combined.   The "Glasgow Daily Record," September 10, 1928:The "ghost" of an old woman, reputed to be a witch, who died two years ago, is said to have been seen by many people in the Cambridgeshire village of Horseheath, and, in consequence, women and
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Strange Company - 3/25/2026
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
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
Maggie Crowley(New York American, March 16, 1898)Robert Hoey, coming home from work in the early hours of March 15, 1898, literally tripped over the body of a dead woman in the courtyard of his New York City tenement. The woman had been strangled to death and dragged to the courtyard known in the neighborhood as “Hogan’s Alley.” Four days later, she was identified as Maggie Crowley, a young woman
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Murder By Gaslight - 3/21/2026
Stores come and go; office buildings gain and lose tenants. But the grief really hits when a shuttered movie theater remains empty, stripped of posters, concession signs, even the theater’s name. This is what remains of the Beekman Theater at 1271 Second Avenue, between 65th and 66th Streets. It showed its last film before abruptly […]
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Ephemeral New York - 3/23/2026
  [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 […]
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Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
"Four Aces." | A One Legged Baseball Club.

Love in a Railroad Car.

Love in railroad car

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.

 

From The National Police Gazette, October 7, 1893