Women in the War Tell of Loyalty and Escape from Virginia
A New Haven Palladium piece recounts a Unionist Virginia resident's wartime memories. She details family ties near Falls Church, the burning barn, the boy waving a flag to cheering troops, the old father captured and later died, and a perilous twilight trek to warn brothers at a bridge, ending with a dangerous return to Washington and months away from Virginia.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Haven Palladium
Virginia
Falls Church
Washington
Leesburg Turnpike
Lewinsville
Fairfax County
Bull Run
Manassas
Mutoma
Erim
Revel
Vienna
Father
Potomac
Pete
Sister
Risky ride with Blondin over Niagara carried by manager Signor Natalie
Signor Natalie, property man for Mr Abbey's opera company, recalls riding Blondin across Niagara in 1861. He weighs about 165 pounds while Blondin carried a heavy balance weight totaling about 250 pounds. The rope spanned near the bow suspension bridge, closer to the falls than the old bridge. The crowd watched in tense silence as Blondin walked slowly then stopped, while Natalie feared tripping. Blondin earned $2000 for the feat, and within years had amassed near $100,000, though he faced a bankruptcy tied to a disastrous marriage. Natalie notes Blondin later grew wealthy and continued performing across Europe.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cincinnati Times-Star
Blondin
Biohdin
Europe
Jie
Lim
England
Luckless Thief Caught After Stolen Garments Vanish
A Paris burglary ends with the thief hiding under a bed while the owner returns to find all items missing, including the thief's own clothes. The burglar is handed to police after the owner reclaims the scene and detains him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Sun
Paris
Mouce Traps and Other Sweetmeats in Fairfield Gazette Ad
An 1786 Fairfield Gazette advertisement by Isaac Factotum lists a range of services and goods. It touts barbering, periwig making, surgery, schoolmaster duties, and blacksmithing, alongside selling mouse traps, sweets, shoes, hosiery, domestic wares, stationary, gingerbread, and other items. Public dances, music, and miscellaneous trades are noted, with weekly performances and a sales pitch highlighting breadth of offerings in a single colonial-era notice.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bridgeport Standard
Fairfield Gazette
Fairfield
W. Miller
F. Fogrue
Meeting House
Issac
Lamus
Isaac Factotum
Cultured Pre amina in Arithmetics
A San Francisco letter records a public school professor recalling how many arithmetic texts exist in fifty years and his plan to publish an “intellectual arithmetic” replacing simple lettered problems with named figures. He gives a mock example about four girls solving a violet-picking task and asks the time to finish their back hair work.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Amina
San Francisco
Amanda
Bestrice
Segilia
Mike
Jack
Florence
Seraphine
Rosie
Seraphina
Types of Women in Paris and England Explored in Figaro
The Paris Figaro portrays American, English, German, Italian and Russian women with vivid sketches. It contrasts independence and purity with flirtation, duty, and social expectations, noting fashion, manners, and domestic ideals across nations and eras.
Beine a Bry and the Curious Boy Hunter
A fragment discusses Charles Dudley Warner and a boy’s comfort in avoiding work. It notes how boys often act slower on errands, sometimes stopping to stone frogs, and observes that two boys are typically slower than one.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Charles Dudley Warner
Boy and Farm Tasks Inspire Bold Locomotion Idea
A faintly humorous piece notes the boy’s constant demand in a farm setting. He does errands, goes to town, carries messages, and imagines twelve to thirteen legs like a wheel to speed chores. The child’s playful ambition blends work with amusement as he explores leapfrog ideas to move faster.
A Great Yankee Whittler From San Francisco
San Francisco’s Major F. M. Fortes, a former Seventh Ohio veteran, earns fame as the city’s premier whittler. He carves extensive chains, trees, monuments, and canes from Oregon fir and maple with hundreds of thousands of precise cuts. His works fill his Larkin Street home, earning him a national reputation as a master of wood sculpture.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
San Francisco Examiner
Rome
Greece
Arenimedes
Diogenes
Alexander
Moliere
Horace Greeley
Henry VIII
Chester A. Arthur
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah
Major F. M. Fortes
Larkin Street
Marlon Wells
Bossi
Joe Paganuuzzi
Whittler
The Only Way to Clear the Pavement in Front of Your House in Comfort
A humorous Philadelphia Press piece guides winter chores from borrowing a shovel to hiring a boy for snow duty, detailing grip, pivot, and breathing steps with playful science. It blends a practical fake how to with a final breakfast bargain motif.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia Press
How They Were Named Heroes of the Plains Recount
Buffalo Bill White Beaver and Pony Bob recount their frontier exploits for a Chicago News reporter. White Beaver explains the Sioux overcoat trophy earned via vaccination against smallpox and the origin of his name. Pony Bob recalls carrying Wells Fargo money and earning the nickname after a mule contest. Cody shares Eastward ball misadventure and dressing as General Sheridan’s guest, including his awkward ballroom debut.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ptanda
Leland Hotel
Buffalo Bill
White Beaver
Pony Bob
Plains
Rocky Mountains
General Custer
American Express Company
Chicago News
Powell
Buffalo Bil
Kansas Pacific Railroad
Wells-Fargo Company
Sierras
Cockeye
Syly
Pony
Cody
United States Senate
West
Buffalo BU
Union Pavific Railroad
Julesville
Omaha
Port Sedgwick
Senators
Missouri Bill
Missouri
Chicago
General Sheridan
Anson Stager
Union Club
James Gordon Bennett
Avear
Grand Duke Alexis
General Stager
Lihen
Tian
Mike Sheridan
Mike
Bat
Riverside
Bearded Lecturer Proclaims He Never Drank Alcohol
Louisville paper recounts Asa T. Green a towering naturist lecturer who appears chronically drunk though he insists he never touches intoxicants. He recalls lectures from memory, questions of his habit follow with police detentions and a claim that his supposed intoxication obscures his scientific talks.
Shoelogy A Philosophical Cobbler Voices Character in Shoes
In Troy Standard style a cobbler offers a comic tale linking shoe wear to character. He claims wear patterns reveal temperament, honesty, and fate, recounting clients and outcomes as cautionary vignettes about choosing partners and habits.
Fragmented Epoch Poem Fragments And Quips From An Old Newspaper
A mosaic of verse and humor from a century old page features poems and quips, including lines about a dancing bachelor, a mock debate on evolution, and light satire on hats and widows. It quotes multiple periodicals and authors, weaving playful reflections, romance, and social witticisms.
Silk Wrapped Cannons: German Inventor Proposes Silk Tubes
A German inventor proposes cannons whose steel tubes are wrapped in silk to the required diameter. Silk provides high tenacity and elasticity, with air and dampness sealed by gutta percha. The silk tube, spun helically by spools, promises lighter weight and cooler operation, possibly one third of solid steel.
Diplomacy in the Shoe Shop on Smithfield Street
A Chicago last is brought to fit a customer asking for a comfortable pair, with the shoe man negotiating size and fittings in a lively exchange. The dialogue highlights cautious negotiation and the shop’s prompt service amid a humorous misunderstanding.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
iPittsburg
Smithfield Street
Chicago
Also Mentioned on This Page
Women IN the
Culpepper Court House
Missis
Missus
Herve
Chain Bridge
Sam
Niagara
Paris “Figaro
Mary
Fannie
Jennie
India
Yankee Whittler
Waterloo Observer
Eliza
John
Secre
Ellis
Mr. E
New York Graphic
William Pole
Mr. Cody
Louisville Courier-Journal
Astor House
Asa T. Green
Stacure
Troy
Pythagoras
Cincinnati
Tuid
Troy Standard
Buffalo Express
Talmage
Heaven
Earth
Detroit Free Press
Baltimore
William B. Hayne
MacDonald
Burlington
Free Press
Aiman
Cgertrufle
Alger
Philadelphia Chronicle-Herald
Mrs. Browning
Christ
The
Charity Society
Jimpson
Marc
Alice
Mitchell
Fox
Lucy Larcom
St. Nicholas
Jun
iPeck
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!