The Fall of Memphis and River Battle Clash
Detroit Free Press recounts the Confederate defense under Commodore Montgomery at Memphis as Federal gunboats and rams attack. The Little Rebel, Benton, Beauregard, and Monarch clash with the Cairo Carondelet and Queen of the West, ending in Memphis’s fall with heavy combat losses and a swift Confederate withdrawal.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit Free Press
Fort Pillow
Memphis
Montgomery
Jeff Thompson
Cairo
Lovell
Carondelet
Benton
Beauregard
Mies
Monarch
Luis
Loas
Blue Grass Beauties in Kentucky Scribbler's Gush
A Kentucky writer extols the state's charms amid poetic praise of Blue Grass scenery and generous natural bounty. The fragment hints at lush landscapes and regional pride without detailing specific events or dates.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kentucky
Describing a Maiden of the Blue Grass
The passage extols a young woman described with luminous beauty and ethereal charm. It blends mythic imagery with natural praise, invoking figures like Puck, Oberon, Venus, Juno, Hebe, and nymphs to frame her allure and grace.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wotan
Puck
Oberon
Paris
Venus
Juno
Hebe
Memorial artist in Bowery runs a lively obituary business
A New York woman, Mrs Kintzer, operates a Bowery memorial artist factory turning death notices into decorative frames with wax flowers. She employs over a dozen workers, sells memorials from $3 to $20, and offers installment plans while canvassing bereaved families across New York, Cincinnati, and beyond.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Kintzer
Houston Street
Bowery
Eenery
Cincinnati
St. Louis
New Orleans
Chicago
Reese
Exaimiia
Mammoth Aggregations of Knowledge Cast Aside by a Frivolous Race
Bill Nye argues that society ignores scientific knowledge while wasting wealth on trivial amusements. He laments readers who shrug at entomology, agriculture and public science, then discards costly information in glossy books and lithographs.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bill Nye
Foumis
Broad
Republic
Ano
Curious yarn of early mail carriers on snowshoes
A Brooklyn Eagle reader recalls California mail carriers in 1849 using snowshoes to descend mountains at incredible speeds. He notes some would be blown up by friction as steam from the snow. The tale explains how momentum carried them to higher slopes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brooklyn Eagle
Feather River
California
Mme. de Pompajour
Marie Antoinette
Princess de Lamballe
Duchesse de Berri
Marie Louise
Bonaparte
Star of Bethlehem
Burdette
Stiaa
Bayari Taylor
Sean
A Reporter with Money in Texas Sistings
A cheeky note on a New York reporter paying the first fare over the Brooklyn Bridge. The writer questions professionalism and underpayment rumors, suggests the cent may be counterfeit or a setup, and laments perceived journalism differences between New York and Texas.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Texas
Brooklyn Bridge
New York
Perhays
American Mosquitoes in London Stir Public Fear
The Times reports Londoners fear American mosquitoes entering the city. Women and children suffer from bites causing swelling and almost blindness. Insects are said to be transported with corn and observed near a flour mill during grain transfers, raising alarm over importation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
the Times
America
Old Maids In Modern Times A Busy Independent Class
The article redefines the old maid from comic valentine stereotypes to a modern, practical, public-spirited woman. It portrays spinsters as active workers in church and charity, readers and travelers, who balance self-reliance with compassion, while rejecting sentimentalism and male-bating myths.
The Shoes of Some Beautiful Women in History
An examination of historical footwear from the seventeenth century notes high heels and cumbersome boots worn by nobility and courtiers. Catherine de Medicis is highlighted for active garden and riding life, while Moliere’s square toes and lace lusters reflect fashion that limited movement in Louis Quinze era and Versailles.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Catherine de Medicis
Moliere
Paris
France
Louis Quinze
Versailles
Travelling to polish the mind in own country
Two young Brooklyn women discuss a traveler’s tale of visiting the United States and Mexico and Utah to study the nation. The blonde boasts three months abroad to learn American life, from Grant and Lee to Tabernacle, California, and Salt Lake City, ending with plans for Europe next spring.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Europe
Fulton Street
Brooklyn Eagle
Central Park
Coney Bland
Grant
Lee
Mexico
The Summer Girl A Peculiar American Product
A satirical piece labels the summer girl as a peculiarly American product. It portrays her as convenient, sentimental, and inexpensive, appearing only in warm months with breezy attire and flirtatious social rituals. It notes her scarcity of year round devotion and likens her to a seasonal fruit that is sweet while it lasts.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Trenton Times
Copenhagen
Age and motive in marriage guidance from Rev McKendree
The speaker argues for age parity with women around 20 to 22 and men five years older, condemns marriage brokerage and material bargaining, and urges matches formed from pure motive and deep love. He warns against artificial unions driven by wealth, cosmetic deceit, or third party interference, and stresses practical domestic competence for wives.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dr. McKendree
Rouge Pot
Milthner
France
Photographers Claim Shop Girls Make Best Pictures
A New York gallery debate shows shop girls produce the finest portraits due to natural style and ease, while society ladies often overdo appearances with costly attire. Photographers discuss capturing babies, pets, and wedding subjects, and discourage photographing the dead as morbid.
Radish King Fantasy Ended By Insanity's Fall
A first person tale of delusion and recovery. A veteran recounts months of grand schemes including becoming the “radish king,” quarrels, jail, and eventual sanity after twelve years in an asylum. The narrator, his wife, father in law, and friends appear as key figures in a troubled arc ending in return home.
The Millionaire Who Brushes Off Riches For Fishing
iBill Nye argues that wealth becomes a burden when accumulated after competence. He claims a man with a million or more gains no real joy and that even a multi millionaire who can fish peacefully at a pond has found true ease. He urges quitters to abandon greed and go fishing.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
iBill Nye
Where Men Kiss Each Other In Germany And America
An excerpt contrasts social kissing practices, noting widespread effusiveness in Germany where men greet each other with kisses at stations, while in America kissing among men is rare and largely reserved for women, with brief observations of affectionate male greetings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Germany
America
Farewell at the Station Before a Long Journey
Two friends share a rapid, emotional goodbye at the platform as a six hour journey looms. They kiss, hug, and wave farewell while the conductor calls all aboard. One boards the car window side, the other remains on the platform watching intently.
The Love of the Garden and the Universal Longing
A lyrical meditation on urban and rural gardeners and their yearning for a personal patch of land. It contrasts city dwellers with country lovers, celebrates blossoms like larkspur and bluebell, and notes women’s gardening fervor despite hardships from pests and limited space.
Shadows at the market reveal hard choices of poverty
In Cincinnati last week a well dressed woman greets a market vendor and learns her child has died. The vendor explains she must work to feed other children, a stark scene of poverty where the old refrain is pressed by necessity. The account ends with a quiet reflection that the poor remain poor even in words.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cincinnati
Spencer and Uarlyle
North American Review
Maine
Florida
California
Sue
Mother
Chad
Hotographers
Sam
Aberdeen
Wishley
Culture and the Eye in a London Globe column
A London oculist says culture reduces eye size but enhances expression. The piece argues the educated gaze has greater beauty than mere eye size and notes the era of Commencement as a vivid, flirtatious scene of young women in lace and ribbons, with playful, lingering remarks from a Kentucky correspondent.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London Globe
London
BRIC A BRAC and The Sea in a Locust-Like Chorus
A collage of whimsical verse and humor notes features bric a brac, songs about the sea, and light satire on life in New York. It mocks fundraising for the Statue of Liberty gift, childhood memories, and everyday curiosities with playful, era-tinged witticisms.
Piety and a Fan Shape a Masked Meeting Scene
A vivid scene unfolds with Anot Piety a noted fan of Watteau, described with carved ebony sticks and a playful yet strategic mask. A second figure stands as the power behind the throne, with dark eyes and brown hair, while a third recalls a bewitching glance that nearly betrayed him. A bank run and a horse purchase interject, humorously delaying the men at a post office and in an alley as they weigh a $30 horse and other small fates.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pysche
Mae
To a Daisy and Advice in Prose and Verse
A fragmented excerpt combines a poem about a daisy and a humorous admonition on preaching and editing. It mentions Frank Dempter Sherman in Century and Burdette’s satirical line about ministers, urging starving preachers to avoid the pulpit and noting editors’ peculiar skill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Frank Dempter Sherman
Century
Road to temperance and poverty in Verses and Street Scenes
A humorous verse and satirical street vignette recounts guidance on temperance versus vice. The cast includes personified tools and medicines like Quinine Pill and Ice-Pick moving through a town toward wealth, corruption, and ethical choices, ending with a caution on conscience as a road sign. The piece mixes rhymed quips and cartoonish street dialogue about reform, commerce, and poetry.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Secretary of the Navy
Arkansas
Thompson
Fort Henry
Fort Donelson
Island No. 10
Shiloh
Fort Randolph
Corinth
Brooklyn
Staten Island
Jersey City
Hoboken
PUB
Hester Stuart
Springfield Republican
Elinger
Tal Food
Kitty
Soma
Utah
Salt Late City
San Francisco
St. Paul
Falls of
Millie
Whittier
Lord Byron
Tom
Harry
Aman
Old Country
Esmeralda
Burlington Hawkeye
Congress
Washington
Amy
Anne Esmeralda
Eve Rything
Lunatra
Colonel Weekley
Attie
Julia
Riend
Enourth’s
Enourth
Ali Gewir
Mice Dry
A. C. Swinburne
Father Stern
Rayghd
Persia
House of Mortar & Pestle
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!