Secret Service Adventure of a Union Officer at New Orleans
Albert De Leur recounts a Union secret service officer’s perilous February 1862 mission in New Orleans and Ship Island. Disguised as a Confederate volunteer, he gathered fortifications data near Forts Jackson and St Philip, rode river launches, and eluded pursuit to deliver vital intelligence to Admiral Farragut and Major General Butler.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Orleans
Navy
Farragut
Ship Island
Miss
Secret Service
Russell House
Key West
Fla
Johnnies
Mississippi
Mississippi Sound
B. F. Butler
George C. Strong
Atchafalaya Bay
Brashner City
St. Charles
Thorn Navy
Basil
Thomas , Pierson
Isiana
B. K. Duncan
Fort Jackson
Mississippi River
Royster
Twenty-second Louisiana Volunteers
Bilox
Admial Farragut
Mississipi
W. G. Mullen
Ing
Jefferson Davis’ Legion
Norwen
Pho
Morpheus
Legraph
Gray Coats
Malta
Union
Mos
Con
Mohiep
Carrie Severa
Fintona
Pirogue
Union Foot
Itasca
Uncle Sam
Arragut
Wth
Biloxi
The White Haired Woman at the Dime Museum
In a dime museum a white haired woman leads a boy through scenes as he toys with questions about fat bodies beards and rides at home. A tense exchange erupts over silence and discipline, with the boy’s quick questions contrasting the woman’s stern warnings and the performers’ chatter.
Stage Tricks and Props for Realistic Stage Effects
A stage carpenter explains methods for moonlight rain wind and snow effects using silk scraps tin drums and spinning wheels. notes fire explosions with acids potash sugar and gunpowder. describes ship sinking raft motions and steering tricks. discusses lifting elevators and aerials with counterweights and back supports. recalls modelling diverse set pieces and illusion painting with magnesium for dramatic scenes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bufalo
London
Washington
Delaware
Villian
Paris
Hermann
A Sociable Rural Virginian The Railroader
A wartime train encounter at Brandy Station features a rural Virginian who rode to Washington aboard a busy car. The man, in a home made hat, greeted many passengers and later became a successful Washington merchant valued at over $200,000.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brandy Station
Washington
Greenhorn
Tid-Bits Misses Theater Lobby Gossip
In a theatre lobby scene after a performance, several ladies exchange remarks about the show and its stars. Observers note flustered chatter on eyes, a striking man, an ugly hat, and a desire to cry or dine together, interrupted by scattered snippets about envy and a spouse.
Fragmentary exchange ends with escape after vivid death scene
A fragmented dialogue shows a deeply emotional plea of love followed by a sudden, vivid death scene. The text shifts to a character named Tid-Bits escaping, with a focus on the dramatic, realistic moment and attire descriptions like blue silk and lace.
The Lime Kiln Club Excerpt Shows a Philosopher in Paradise Hall
A Detroit Free Press piece quotes Brother Gardner in Paradise Hall musing on life lessons from infancy to old age. The dialogue shifts to a Montgomery Alabama visitor, humor, and a Halifax branch debate over Limited Johnson’s expulsion for beliefs about a flat world. The episode ends with the Halifax decision upheld and the club’s stance clear.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit
Brother Gardner
Paradise Hall
Just Married Quarrel Sparks Silly Tidbits
In Tid Bits a newlywed couple of three weeks households briefly quarrel over a note and a trivial dispute. The wife frets about anger and the husband jokes about never quarrelling. The scene ends with a playful forecast that couples will claim a long, perfect marriage after many such tiny spats.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clarence
Seruery
weWell
Sissy
Mabel
Curious 18: Wagner’s life linked by the number 13
A compact profile tracing Richard Wagner’s life through dates and numbers 13 throughout. It notes birth in 1813, key events on the 13th, 1822 first performance in Dresden, Bayreuth era, and death on Feb 13 1883, amid German reunification.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richard Wagner
Wagner
Weber
Wilhelmine Schroeder
Leipsic University
Riga
Paris
Bayreuth
Venice
Liszt
VenceJan
Mamies First Attempt at a Gift Paper-Weight Confusion
In a playful exchange Mamie presents a gift to an affectionate partner who questions why it sits untouched. He misreads the item as a paper-weight and vows to keep it in view, while she probes the meaning behind his hesitation and response.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scott
The Dupes Directory and the Mail Swindle Network
An investigation explains how swindlers flood the country with circulars by compiling dupes directories. Names are harvested from mortgages tax rolls and listings of doctors, dentists, and other trades, then sold to criminals who promise counterfeit money or cheap goods. The piece details methods, costs, and the fate of many lists, noting dead or unreachable targets still circulating.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hl. H. H
New York Star
New York
Post Office
United States
Kincely
Ake
Custa
Stewart
Robinson
England
Mark Mapleson
Academy
The Lurella Tale in Tid Bits Reveals a Writer’s Dream
Christine Anderson preserves a fragment from Tid Bits about Lurella a Vassar graduate who sought literary notice through a printed piece. A cautious editor prints her sketch framing HER BRAVE DEED a comic romantic tale with convoluted spellings and a dramatic ending read by a cautious proof-reader and finished by the editor.
Childish Grater and Tiny Preacher Laughs at Sundays
A collage of comic child vignettes from various papers shows youngsters defying or reframing church and family rules. Tales include Roy the bad boy angry at heaven, a bald head joke from a youngster, and a girl at the photographer who shouts Let her go Gallagher. Other bits feature a boy who loves church less for the ritual than the simple act of giving to the Lord, a girl who wants to boss the job herself, and a child who shoots a bean through gods house. The reel ends with a camera run and a plate of thunder fear from Isabel and Ralph, with a final pun about Uncle Benny Hopkins.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Providence Journal
Detroit Free Press
Gallagher
Harper's
Isabel H
Ralph
Adelaide
Philadelphia
Benny
Sincere suitor seeks daughter in comic Chicago tale
A New York newspaper proprietor questions a nervous young man as he pursues his daughter. The suitor pledges six weeks of abstinence to prove his devotion and asks the father to confirm the seriousness of the courtship for the sake of the paper’s circulation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lincoln Journal
Lincoln
Bobby
New York Sun
Chicago Tribune
New York
George
Lone husband regrets late office work at opera
In a dialogue, a wife notes two theatre stubs reveal her husband had an extra seat. He admits feeling lonely after missing her due to staying late at the office, reflecting on attending the opera alone and the comfort of shared seating.
Fragmentary Verse Snippets From A Victorian Page
Scattered lines feature brief dramatic vignettes and poems about romance and fate. The snippets mention Munich, fame, sweethearts, future worries, and sudden spring showers, with decorative imagery of chrysanthemums and curtains.
Autumn Comforts. Disjointed verse from the Buffalo News
A moody poetic reflection describes midnight rain and a west wind as they drift through branches. The speaker laments sleeplessness and gloom, imagining visions in a silent room and musing on discomfort, even suggesting mismatched attire like flannel underwear.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Buffalo News
Ethel and the Garden of Love in 19th Century Verse
The verse recalls Ethel with crimson plush and snow white shoulders as sunlight, then shifts to a Wagnerite hush. A second scene in New York Home Journal describes Roberta White with a corsage, a garden of flowers, and a summer love from June to September that ends in parting and heartbreak.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
W. J. Henderson
Harper's Bazar
Ethel
Wren
Roberta White
New York Home Journal
Opera Singer And Tid Bits Fragments
Aristine Anderson presents a Tid Bits segment with playful singing lines and stray lyrics. The piece showcases exaggerated vowels and a supposed love lyric about a character named Fred, ending with memory gaps and scribbled phrases from a casual, humorous monologue.
Dobbin, Sally, and a Village Betrothal Tale
Florence E Pratt narrates a rustic courtship and a village tale where a man swaps his old white horse for a red haired gal named Sally. After gossip and teasing, Sally and Jededier Hawkins wed, and the speaker refuses to take back the horse despite Jed’s plea. The piece blends humor with rural courtship tensions and social pressure.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Florence E. Pratt
Sally
Jededier
Hiram
Also Mentioned on This Page
the Dime Museum
Arkansaw Traveler
Leo
Attyr
Beavens
Jacob
Essum
Miis
the Lime-Kiln Club
Lion
Gigbavk ‘Taylor
Montgomery
Ala
Picklesmmth
Gineral
Halifax
Limited Johnson
Committee On Astronomy
Pusson
Fiat
Braudder Johnson
Ohnson
de Ackshun
de Rolls
Mamie
THE
Dupes
Christine Anderson
Lurella
Vassar
Rapacious
Lurella Eudora Ellington
Franginella
Ludovico
Ottos
Don Quixote
Bingen
Rhine
H. Slotty
Childish Grater
Elisha
Roy
Hartford Post
Cincinnati Times-Star
Ed. Stevens
Jesus
Temple
Burlington Free Press
Emma
Middleboro News
Rocklander
J. H. Woodard
Oakland
Cal
Mr. W
Horace
Papa
Mamma
Georgie
Philadelphia Bulletin
Methodist Episcopal Church
Tyrone
Penn
Tommy
Dad
Hopkins
Lake Superior
Duluth
Little Clara
Clara
Femina Fuit
Munich
Charles
Henry Tyrrell
Elsa
CA. W.A
Harper’s Weekly
Soto
Aristine Anderson
Fred
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!