Found Drifting with the Tide

When the body of beautiful young Jennie Cramer was found on a sand bar in the ocean off West Haven Connecticut in August 1881 it was assumed that she had drowned, and possibly committed suicide. But there was no water in her lungs and a thorough examination of the body revealed that the cause of death had been arsenic poisoning. It was also revealed that she had lost her virginity within the last forty-eight hours, and not consensually—she had been violently raped. Suspicion fell immediately on Jimmy Malley, Jennie’s current beau and nephew of the richest man in New Haven. The problem for the prosecution, and everyone since, was determining what exactly happened in the last two days of Jennie Cramer’s life.

Two Murder Ballads and a Suicide Ballad

Looking through American Murder Ballads and Their Stories, by Olive Woolley Burt, I found three ballads relating to two murders already covered here: The murder of Domenico Cataldo by Maria Barbella and the murder of Capt. Joseph White by Richard Crowninshield, John Knapp and Joseph Knapp.


There is no tune to go along with these anonymous verses about Maria Barbella so it may be a poem rather than a song:

‘Tis not for me to speak aloud
        On lofty themes, I tell
As one among the lowly crowd
        How young Maria fell.

Swift as a flash a glittering blade
        Across his throat she drew,
‘By you,’ she shrieked, ‘I’ve been betrayed;
        The vengeance is my due'

Behold her new, a wounded dove:
        A native of a clime
Where hearts are melted soon with love
        And maddened soon to crime.

Emma Davis

Little Murders:

From Defenders and Offenders:

Emma Davis.

This remarkable woman has a mania for administering poison to those whom she thinks have been long enough in this world, and whose departure might benefit herself. Some time ago she was employed in the family, in Malone, N. H., which consisted of a gentleman and his niece. She attempted to poison the niece. Afterwards she was employed as a nurse in a family in Hartford, to care for the husband, and attempted to poison the wife, so she might make a more prominent place for herself.

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Defenders and offenders. New York: D. Buchner & Co., 1888.

The Bond Street Tragedy

The townhouse at 31 Bond Street was, to all appearance, a model of staid middleclass Manhattan decorum.  In 1857 it was a boardinghouse run by Mrs. Emma Cunningham with the dental office of Dr. Harvey Burdell on the second floor. But after Dr. Burdell was found in his office strangled and stabbed fifteen times, 31 Bond Street was shown for what it was—a hotbed of greed, lust, intrigue and depravity.

William Showers

Little Murders:

From Defenders and Offenders:

William Showers.

"This fiend murdered his two grandsons at his farm, at a place called Annville, in Pennsylvania.  The old man fell in love with Mrs. Sergeant, of some 45 summers, but she refused to become mistress of his farm until the two lads were put away in some orphan asylum.  Instead of doing this, he strangled the two lads, with devilish deliberation, burned their clothes and buried their bodies in a ditch near his home; but fortunately the crime was discovered a few days afterwards and his arrest followed."

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Defenders and offenders. New York: D. Buchner & Co., 1888.

Vamp of New Orleans

James Walkup, successful businessman and politician from Emporia, Kansas met Minnie Wallace on a trip to New Orleans in December 1884 and instantly fell madly in love. He was 48 years old, she was 15. A year and a half later they were married and a month after that James Walkup was dead from arsenic poisoning. During her murder trial Minnie would have help from other prominent, successful men. The same was true in 1897 when her second husband, also much older, died mysteriously.  And again in 1914 when a male companion died from cyanide after including Minnie in his will. What power did this New Orleans vamp have over middle-aged men?

Early American Crime

I was interviewed today at Early American Crime. Stop by and read what I have to say about Murder by Gaslight and my new blog, The National Night Stick.

The National Night Stick

I’m pleased to announce the launch of The National Night Stick, a blog devoted to Crime, Eccentricity and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America. Modeled after the National Police Gazette, the National Night Stick will feature stunningly illustrated stories of the dark side of American history:

Crime
We will present all facets of 19th century crime. “Rogue's Corner” features a weekly mug-shot and criminal biography of a noted ne’er-do-well from the pages of Inspector Thomas Byrnes’s Professional Criminals of America (aka Rogues’ Gallery.) And more often than not, the feature stories will include a bit of larceny.

Eccentricity
We will bring you the big ideas that came from an era in America when anything seemed possible - not the ideas that led to progress and invention, but dangerous ideas like train wrecks as entertainment, secret societies and private armies, religious movements that failed miserably and political machines that were all too successful.

The Sporting Life
We will visit those utterly disreputable but raucously joyous institutions found in every American city: saloons, vaudeville houses, dime museums, boxing rings, gambling hells, opium dens, and brothels.

The National Night Stick will also feature post summaries from Murder by Gaslight and other crime and history related blogs. It is guaranteed to be different on each visit.

As The Sunday Flash said in 1841:

"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 National Night Stick

Three Little Murders

Little Murders:

Here are three very short stories from the same edition of the Elyria Democrat, Elyria, Ohio:

The Trial of James Sawyer
The trial of James Sawyer at Warren for the murder of William Holcomb has resulted in a verdict of acquittal. Holcomb’s body was found in the woods near the centre of Vernon, on the 27th of May, 1867. He went to hunt some squirrels with a rifle, and was found lying dead with a bullet-hole through his head.
     Sawyer happened to be the person who discovered him, and he was charged with murder, the motive being a suspected improper intimacy between Sawyer and Mrs. Holcomb. This, the testimony showed, was without foundation.
 
Last week, Geo. Foreman, of Woodsfield, Ohio, confessed on his death-bed to the murder of Miss Josephine Allen, of Salem, Ohio, in 1858. He did not intend to kill her at first, but struck her during a quarrel, and finding that he had seriously hurt her, carried her home, killed her with an ax, and secreted the body where it was afterwards found.
 
Dr. G. M. Sandors of Dyersburg, Tennessee, was murdered on Friday.—
Two respectable ladies of that place called upon him the day before for medical advice. He administered chloroform and ravished them while under its effects. His assassin is supposed to be the brother of one of the ladies.

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Elyria Democrat, Elyria, Ohio, August 5, 1868

Defenders and Offenders

I found a very colorful book of lawmen and criminals published in 1888 entitled Defenders and Offenders (no author). It includes color portraits and brief but fascinating biographies of each subject.

Some of the offenders are well known— like Thomas G. Woolfolk who chopped up his family in Georgia in 1887—but most are fairly obscure. If I can find enough information I will feature some of the murderers, if not, they will probably turn up from time to time in the Little Murders series.

The defenders are all New York City police superintendents and inspectors like Thomas Byrnes who led the investigation of Carry Brown’s murder and most other major New York criminal investigations in the 1880s. Though not as interesting as the offenders, I will occasionally post their portraits as well.

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Defenders and offenders . New York: D. Buchner & Co., 1888.

The St. Louis Trunk Tragedy

On Sunday, April 12, 1885, the manager of the Southern Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, entered room 144 responding to guests’ complaints of a foul odor emanating from inside. The manager found nothing amiss on Sunday but by Tuesday the stench was unbearable.  He checked again and it appeared that the occupants had moved out, leaving behind several trunks. Inside one of the trunks was the decomposing body of a man wearing only a pair of white drawers. Apparently one of the two young Englishmen sharing the room had murdered the other.  Though the death had been made to look like a political assassination, it was in fact the tragic ending of a “peculiar relationship.”

The Murdered Wife.

A troupe of temperance players who visited the town of Berlin, New York in December 1844 had a profound effect on Henry G. Green. It was not their message of sobriety that moved Henry, but the charm and beauty of their leading lady, Mary Ann Wyatt. When the troupe left Berlin, Henry followed and was soon courting Mary Ann. On February 10 they were married. Eight days after that Mary Ann Wyatt Green was dead from arsenic poisoning.  There is little doubt Henry Green murdered his wife but his motive in doing so is an enduring mystery.

Murders and Daring Outrages

From the frontispiece  of an 1837 American book entitled Confessions, Trials And Biographical Sketches Of the Most Cold Blooded Murderers Who Have Been Executed in This Country by S. Andrus And Son.  The verse is from "The Dream of Eugene Aram" by Thomas Hood -- about a murder that was not committed in this country.  More to come from Confessions…

The Sleepwalking Defense

The morning of October 27, 1845, the body of Maria Bickford, a beautiful young prostitute, was found murdered in her room in Boston’s Beacon Hill. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear and her bed had been set on fire. The prime suspect was Albert Tirrell who had been keeping Maria and who was seen arguing with her the day before. Tirrell was represented in court by prominent attorney and former US Senator, Rufus Choate, who used a three pronged defense: Maybe Maria Bickford had cut her own throat, maybe someone else killed her, or maybe Albert Tirrell killed her while sleepwalking and was not responsible for his actions.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Here is an interesting post from Lizzie Borden: Warps & Wefts: The Story Benind Arsenic & Old Lace. It's about "Sister Amy" Archer-Gilligan, the real-life inspiration for the play and movie Arsenic and Old Lace. Proof once again that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

Little Murders

Up until now Murder by Gaslight has been documenting just the major American murders of the 19th century—stories with a beginning, a middle and an ending determined by a court of law. Sometimes, as with the murders of Captain Joseph White and Philip Barton Key they have set new legal precedent; and sometimes, as with the case of Lizzie Borden, the stories have become a part of our culture.

But the 19th century was long and bloody not every murder was so well recorded. A murder story may appear in only one newspaper article, never to be resolved. It could be the story of a murder/suicide that begins and ends in one telling, it could be a crime that remains forever unsolved, or it could be a story whose outcome has been lost to history.

Beginning today, Murder by Gaslight will occasionally feature murder stories that were complete in one newspaper article. While there are many more big murders to come, we would like to pay homage to the “Little Murders.”

This story from The Republican Compiler, Gettysburg, PA, April 20, 1846 (quoting The Cincinnati Commercial) tells the exciting but tragic story of Thomas Shannon’s murder in Yazoo, Mississippi. We can only hope that the fiend Waite got what was coming.

A Crime of Passion

In June 1831 Joel Clough moved into a boarding house in Bordentown, New Jersey and soon fell in love with his landlady’s daughter, a young widow named Mary Hamilton. He made his affections known to Mary and began giving her gifts and writing her letters. Joel thought Mary had returned his affection and at one point believed she had agreed to marry him. When it became apparent that she was seeing other men, he asked her again. She refused and he stabbed her in the chest eleven times. Joel Clough did not deny that he had murdered her, but he would contend that his passion for Mary Hamilton had driven him insane.

Christmas Murders

Just a quick post to commemorate two Christmas murders that have been immortalzied in song:

Billy Lyons shot by "Stack" Lee Shelton on Christmas Night, 1895

Delia Green shot by Moses "Cooney" Houston on Christmas Eve 1900

Lizzie Borden's Confession

In a book called Piracy, Mutiny and Murder by Edward Rowe Snow, I came across a Lizzie Borden story I had not heard before. It concerns a written confession allegedly signed by Lizzie in 1897, four years after she was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother. Though the confession was soon proven to be a hoax, in 1959, when his book was published, Mr. Snow was firmly convinced of the confession’s authenticity and tells an interesting tale of its origin.

The Manhattan Well Mystery

On January 2, 1800, the body of Gulielma Sands was found in the Manhattan Well, not far from her boardinghouse on Greenwich Street, New York City. There were two contradictory schools of thought among those who knew Gulielma Sands—those who remembered her as melancholy and suicidal, and those remembered her as happy and cheerful, especially so on the night she disappeared when she revealed that she was to marry Levi Weeks. When Levi Weeks was arrested for murder everyone in the city would take a side. The trial of Levi Weeks was the first of New York City’s sensational murder cases, the first American murder trial to be transcribed, and the first defense council “dream team.” Levi Weeks was represented in court by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.