No. 609
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
January 04, 2022

She Knocked Him Out.

A variety actress gives pitched battle to George Doll, at Covington, Neb., July 12--ten rounds, Queensberry rules end in a triumph for the lady.
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January 4, 2022
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EDW'D FAIRBROTHER
alias: DOCTOR ST CLAIR, DR EDW'D S WEST
HOTEL, BOARDING-HOUSE THIEF

The Plum Tree Hanging

I’ve noticed that in recent years, Halloween decorations have grown increasingly macabre.  In my neighborhood, at least, grinning Jack o’lanterns and innocuous ghosts are being replaced by ghoulish skeletons (both human and animal,) gravestones, knife-wielding devils, and various other ugly monstrosities.  Last year, a house near me put in their yard such a revolting handmade display of
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Strange Company - 10/26/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [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
Amen.

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

The Three Hangings, Lycoming County.

This week, we feature a guest post by Don Everett Smith Jr., author of The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County (History Press, 2011).   In a previous post on Murder by Gaslight, “Revisiting the Goffle Road Murders,” Don presented an excerpt from his book. This week’s post, “The Three Hangings, Lycoming County,” examines the 1880 murder of Andrew Miller in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/24/2026
On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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
Comedian Punches Drummer. | Taking a Criminal's Measure.

She Knocked Him Out.

She-Knocked-Him-Out2

A Nebraska Gauthier in a Public Glove Fight With an Actress—She Does Hint Up in Forty Minutes of Fighting.

A variety actress named Curtan, who was playing at the Fashion Theatre and gives exhibitions in boxing, walked into George Doll's gambling house at Covington, Neb., July 12, and commenced to shoot craps. Doll made some insulting remark to her, and she resented it by striking him with her fist. Doll clinched her, but they were separated by the crowd. They were not satisfied, though, and so it was agreed that they should engage in a finish fight, Marquis of Queensberry rules to govern. Light gloves were provided, and the populace of the town formed in a ring in the street. The two went at it and fought for ten rounds. The woman had the best of it, and at the end of forty minutes knocked Doll out.

 

Illustrated Police News, July 30, 1892.

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