Dawes Recounts Morrissey and Sullivan Prize Fight Incident
Henry L. Dawes of Pittsfield Massachusetts recalls a Pittsfield judge tale about John Morrissey and Yankee Sullivan fighting a prize bout near Boston Corners. Sullivan paid a $1000 fine, Morrissey was fined the same, and a sheriff demanded cash. Morrissey later paid via a New York check after some delay, leaving Dawes with a lasting grudge before meeting Morrissey again in Washington years later.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Peth Mortianey
Henry L. Dawes
Pittsfield
Maas
Charles Sumner
Morrissey
Yankee Sullivan
Boston
Sullivan
John Morrissey
New York
Washington
Madonna of the Tubs inspires Gloucester tale and clash
Visitors to East Gloucester recall Mrs. Eliza Beth Ward writing Madonna of the Tubs. A local woman known as Madonna of the Tubs recounts meeting Ward after the story, denying its accuracy and recalling confronting the author for fictionalizing her.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gloucester
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
Phelps Ward
East
New
New York Sun
Grotesque Spelling Noted In Boston Restaurant Window
A Boston paper highlights a woeful spelling example from a doorway bulletin board selling meals with odd spellings like BILL OF PAIR. The piece recalls a Broadway saloon sign misprint A roster with every Drink. The Cleveland Plain Dealer cites another chalked note about Frelange 11 2 2, joking that late arrivals miss the free lunch.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Boston
Oalga
Broadway
St. Clair Street
Frelange
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Needed an Explanation Sir John Adye anecdote
A garbled old column shares quirky vignettes about Sir John Adye and others. One tale recalls Adye questioning a late worker about duty hours, a dock visitor, and a joke about a child and mustard. The text includes slang snippets and humorous exchanges from a historical newspaper page.
Old Memphis cook defies gas stove with wood fire
A Memphis family officer employs a Black cook who repeats her plan to ignore the gas oven. A workman installs a gas range and leaves jets lit inside the oven. The cook keeps using her old wood stove, and a $21 gas bill follows when the jets burn for 16 days. The incident ends with the cook’s stubborn vow to persist with her wood stove.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Memphis
Memphis Scimitar
Backing Up the Horse and Other Oddities
A fragmented column compiles a set of sharp vignettes on driving skills backing up safely near curbs and excavations, church expense rhetoric on a carpet fund, burglary tricks using sponge and water to enter homes, and quick quips about a London uncle, a boastful Timkins, and a Toledo blade reference. The tone mirrors a late 19th or early 20th century newspaper miscellany with brief, punchy anecdotes.
Colorado Elevation and Siberian Pont Horses Tales
A fragment from Alnstee's extols Colorado's altitude and pioneer spirit as a vast, elevating landscape. It contrasts Colorado towns with Cripple Creek and Leadville and notes the robust American vigor found at high altitudes. The piece shifts to Siberian Pont horses, detailing their hard use, freezing conditions, and drivers who dampen their frostbound bodies before each stage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Altirade
Colorado
Alnstee
Missouri
Denver
Cripple Creek
Leadville
Siberian
Steppes
Blackwood
Family dinner turns grim sugar tale into mountain of alum
A Philadelphia Inquirer excerpt describes a boy Willie at a dinner taunting his family with a grim joke about sugar and death, followed by a long feature on a vast alum mountain in Ching. The alum mountain, ten miles around its base and rising 1940 feet, yields wealth as blocks are heated and dissolved to crystallize alum.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gott
Willie
Philadelphia Inquirer
Ching
Tiou-Chek
Pathon
Jean Francois Raffeeu
Daudet
Lise Ten
Orat
Jess
Néw
Lippincott
Fearless Donkey and Gentle Monkeys Ride History
Donkeys fearlessly challenge animals as long as they meet the gaze, while trained monkeys show gentleness when not whipped. The famous Eagle sign, once on the yacht America that won the America's Cup, now marks the Royal Eagle hotel in Ryde, Isle of Wight, linking a historic vessel triumph to a hotel emblem. In 1851.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Royal Eagle
Ryde
Isle of Wight
Warlike Boys in Malagasy School Parade
A fragmentary report notes that Malagasy boys in a school are enrolled after meeting a standard and are adept with a weapon, feared at close quarters more than rifle troops. The piece mentions an English memory of a willow tree and a Pope planted involves literature. The Pilgrim's Progress is translated into 208 languages and dialects.
Craving For Stimulants and Blood Health Theory
An article discusses stimulants in blood and their influence on well being. It links health level to craving for alcohol tea or coffee and argues a well constituted blood reduces extraneous desires. It includes a quotation from Lancet and a humorous anecdote from New Lippincott about empathy in a crowded omnibus.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lancet
The Philadelphia Negro and a Gray Area of Race Bias
A passage discusses W. E. B. Du Bois in The Philadelphia Negro noting many cases of discrimination against Black graduates in Philadelphia. It cites a University of Pennsylvania engineering graduate who was repeatedly fired for having dark skin despite good grades and strong references, illustrating persistent racial barriers in early 20th century industry.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Walter
Ki. B. du Bois
Philadelphia
du Bois
University of Pennsylvania
Fhwalter
University Club
Also Mentioned on This Page
John Adye
Gibraltar
Sir John
Jobo
Janet
Henry
Scott
Fannie
Chicago Tribune
Martha
Fgg
Lipeelf
Curbstone
Chicago
Barranca
London Telegraph
Timkins
Chicago News
Toledo
Saracens
Philadelphigh Times
England
Alex
Ander Pope
Dr. Paresis
D. B. Cargile
Waahita
J.T
Pander
Fae Simle
Niv
cSae
Whaprer
Bears
Astoria
Svervsovys
the Hodern Remedy CO
Kewanee, Ill
E. C. Dewitt & CO
J. M.nex
Louisville & Nashville Railroad
Tmore
Louisville
Infante
Wift Specific Company
Atlanta, GA
Mra.f.w. Lee
Montgomery
Ala
Awith Sev
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!