Terrible Tragedy in New Jersey

Little Murders

Murder of a Husband and Wife.—We learn from the Patterson (N. J.) Guardian, extra, that that community has been thrown into great excitement in consequence of the murder, on Monday week of two persons, residing three miles from Paterson. The victims are John S. Van Winkle and his wife, an aged couple, and long residents of the county. The atrocious deed was accomplished, as there appears no doubt, by one John Johnson, a laboring farmer. The Guardian says:

Van B. Baker

Little Murders:

From Defenders and Offenders:

Van B. Baker.

Mrs. McWha and her daughter, Mrs. Eliza Baker, lived at Holliday Cove, W. Va. At about half-past three on a Monday afternoon, two female friends called upon hem. They rang the door-bell; it not being answered, one of the women went around to the back door and pushed it in, but it was immediately slammed in her face and bolted. The blinds were all down. The next day, not receiving any replies to repeated calls at the house, it was broken into and the two women vere found murdered. They had been stabbed, then washed and put to bed in their night clothes. Trunks were broken open and rifled. Baker was arrested for the crime.

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

Another Unsolved Axe Murder

From Lizzie Borden: Warps & Wefts:
Another Unsolved Axe Murder

The Thayer Brothers

The year 1825 was a momentous one for Buffalo, New York. The Erie Canal opened, connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River, a celebration honoring the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the American Revolution was held in Buffalo, and the city held its first and only public hanging. At least 20,000 witnesses gathered in Niagara Square to watch thee brothers—Nelson, Israel, and Isaac Thayer—hang from the same gallows.

The Confession of Manuel P. Garcia

In January 2011, I posted a story on the 1821 murder of Peter Lagaordette by Manual Phillip Garcia from the Torch Light and Public Advertiser, Hagerstown, Maryland. At the time I doubted that I could find any additional information, but I have since found a picture and summary of a pamphlet on the murder printed and sold in 1821. Here is the summary from The Annals of Murder by Thomas M. McDade:

In an empty house in Portsmouth, Virginia, the police found the butchered body, the head, hands and feet partially burned in the fireplace. In an early use of laundry marks, the initials “P.L.” and “M.P.G” helped identify the people involved. Lagoardette had been courting a girl in Baltimore; Castillano was himself interested in her. The three men all were criminal characters.

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Kerri Mahon of Scandalous Women

Murder by Gaslight is pleased to welcome guest blogger Elizabeth Kerri Mahon of Scandalous Women She will be sharing the story of Mary Ellen Pleasant, one of several dozen brazen ladies— famous and infamous—profiled in her fascinating new book Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women

Mary Ellen Pleasant and the ‘House of Mystery’

Mary Ellen Pleasant’s (1814-1904) is one of the most enigmatic women of the 19th century American West and that’s exactly the way she wanted it. During her long life, she was an entrepreneur, abolitionist, Mother of the Civil Rights Movement in California, confidante of the rich and crazy, but was she also a murderer? What actually happened that rainy night in October 1892 at 1661 Octavia Street when Thomas Bell died? Did he fall, did he jump or was pushed down stair? A coroner’s inquest ruled that his death was accidental, and he was buried in a grave in a plot owned by Mary Ellen. At the time of Bell’s death, neither his widow, nor his children, nor the San Francisco police raised questions about foul play. So how did the myth begin that Mary Ellen Pleasant was somehow responsible for his death?

The Graham Tragedy.

Evangelist, temperance leader, author and publisher Emma Molloy opened her home to the lost and lonely the way others took in stray cats. She had an adopted daughter and two foster daughters and she found a job on her newspaper for George Graham an ex-convict she had met while preaching at a prison. But when George Graham and Emma Molloy’s foster daughter, Cora Lee, decided to marry, the result would be a murder, a lynching, and scandal for the entire family.

The Druse Butchery

December 1884, William Druse of Herkimer County, New York, was brutally murdered, dismembered, and burned, his ashes and bones dumped in a swamp. Evidence strongly pointed to his wife Mrs. Roxalana Druze murdering William; finally breaking after twenty years of physical abuse. She was sentenced to die and her hanging was protested many who opposed hanging women. Women’s rights groups called the trial unfair because Roxy did not have the same rights as her jury. More to the point though, there is a good chance she was not guilty of a hanging offense

"Handsome Harry" Carlton

Little Murders:

From Defenders and Offenders:

Henry Carlton.

On the morning of Oct. 29, 1888 Policeman James Brennan was shot dead in New York City by the above named individual, who also went by the nick-name of Handsome Harry. He and a companion met a waiter in a saloon on Third Ave. The waiter was under the influence of liquor. When leaving the saloon. Handsome Harry followed him and when in a secluded spot in a side street, attempted to rob him. His call brought the Policeman to his assistance, and in his attempt to arrest the rascal, he was shot dead. Carlton enjoyed a bad reputation as a crook and desperate character.

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

Murder in the Vale of Tempe

George Abbott was a young child when he began his career as a thief and by his thirtieth birthday he had spent a third of his life in jail. When he left prison he changed his name and tried to change his evil ways, traveling and taking honest employment. While working as a farmhand in Hanover, New Hampshire he fell in love with the farmer’s daughter, Christie Warden. When Christie did not return his love Abbot went back to his old ways and took it at gunpoint in the shady hollow known as the Vale of Tempe.

The Meeks Family Murder

Nellie Meeks

The morning of May 11, 1894, 6-year-old Nellie Meeks knocked on the door of Mrs. John Carter in Linn County, Missouri. Mrs. Carter was shocked by the little girl’s appearance; her clothes were torn, her face was covered with dirt and blood and she had a deep gash in her forehead. Her speech was barely coherent as she told Mrs. Carter that her parents and younger sisters had been murdered the night before. She had managed to escape because the killers thought she was dead.  When her story was verified it became one of the most sensational crimes in Missouri history.

Shocking Tragedy in Gratiot County

Little Murders

Shocking Tragedy in Gratiot County
Democratic Expounder, Marshall, MI, March 28, 1861

One of the most frightful and inhuman transactions which it has ever been our lot to record was enacted last week in the village of Ithaca, Gratiot county about twenty miles north of this place. The result of the horrible transaction—which was the murder of three persons, a man, aged about forty-five and two girls of about seventeen years—was discovered on Friday of last week, and in consequence of which that village was thrown into the highest state of excitement.

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