Oddities and Finds From Nineteenth Century Notices
A survey of curious items: mammoth ivory items becoming trade goods, a petrified forest discovered near Calaveras County, a famous Connecticut daguerreotype owned by ex Governor Seymour, a Paris asylum patient’s glass-body delusion, a tree in Olympia kept alive by sap between trunks, a dog disrupting a Frederick wedding, and a summary of Queen Victoria’s longevity milestones and reign length as of June.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Siberia
Calaveras Valley
Alameda County
California
Connecticut
Colin M. Ingersoll
New Haven
Thomas H. Seymour
Boston Journal of Chemistry
Olympia
W. T
Frederick
Oine
Queen Victoria
England
Henry I
Henry II
Edward I
Edward II
Queen Elizabeth
James II
George I
George II
George Tii
George IV
William I
Henry III
Edward III
George III
A Southwestern Romance of Col. Pelton and Apache War
Col. Albert O Pelton once builder of a 20000 acre Texas ranch near Laredo becomes famed as the Hermit of Texans. After marrying a Spanish girl at Abiquin New Mexico he witnesses her death by Apache arrows and vows vengeance. He leads expeditions against Apaches, pursuing death and danger with unerring rifles and bands of diverse followers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Albert O. Pelton
Rio Grande
Laredo
Petor
Pelto
Texas
Fort Macrae
Abiquin
New Mexico
Tinally
Col. Pelton
Pelton
Hoe
Fort Maoras
Ile
Return of the Colonel and Blind Wife in Apache Encounter
Ten raiders attacked a camp as ten allies fired Henry rifles, scattering the Apaches. A white woman, Bella, emerges from a lodge, claims capture ten years prior, and reveals her husband Colonel Pelton is alive. The reunion is moving though her eyesight remains lost from earlier injuries.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Texas
Abiquin
Col. Pelton
Bella
Albert
The Date Tree in Algeria and Its Noble Traits
The article describes the date palm as a remarkable oasis plant in Algeria requiring abundant irrigation and intense sunlight. It explains gendered flowers, pollination by April, and fruiting of heavy clusters weighing 20 to 40 pounds per tree, with annual yields of 160 to 200 pounds. It notes male trees with flowers, female trees bearing fruit after pollination, and dates as the Sahara’s kingly, nutritious fruit.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
Sahara
Opium Smoking Described by London Correspondent in Persia
A London News correspondent traveling in Persia describes opium use among men in Kolat. He details the ritual including the bell and alabaster apparatus, the bodkin and pipe, and the smoky, dizzying effect on the smoker. He notes the vice is widespread among eastern Turcomans but rare among Attorek Caspian littoral Turcomans.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London News
Persia
Kolat
Attorek
Caspian Littoral
Man in Bates County Engineer Baits Trap for Thieves
James Tr. Cook of Bates County Missouri, a civil engineer and stock farm owner, pretended sleep in front of a St. Louis hotel to bait two thieves. When one opened his pocket, Cook drew a navy pistol, wounded the first as others fled, and the pair were jailed after Cook assisted by officers. The charge was indicted, and Cook did not recover his watch.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James Tr. Cook
Bates County
The
St. James
Cook
Mr. Cook
Navy
Grand
James Riley
Farrall
Conk
Four Courts
Foller
St. Louis
the Democrat
Queer subterranean worms found near Dora of Lorne Mine
A New Mexico era report describes odd subterranean worms discovered 700 feet from the Dora of Lorne Mine tunnel near Lower Gold Hill. The creatures measure about three quarters of an inch long, encased in a silvery shell, with a helmeted head and six legs. Their origin and sustenance remain a mystery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dora of Lorne
Gold Bil
Comstock
McDougal
Old Hill
New
Life's Ups and Downs Shown in Garfield Link
An 81 year old former Hiram College teacher and Garfield companion, Miss Davidson, lives as a pauper in the City Infirmary. Once a tutor to Garfield, she remains cheerful, industrious, and fond of the President while mending for other inmates. The item also notes a Georgia couple with multiple twins and triplets born to their family.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Garfield
City Infirmary
Davidson
Hiram College
United States
White Oase
Cincinnati Enquirer
Georgia
Lightning streaks and a mule in rural New York tale
A Brooklyn Eagle snippet narrates a rural polemical tale from Kings County about a streak of lightning that baffles a mule and farmers. The farmer and editor exchange humorous dialogue on the storm and the mule’s fate, ending with a quip about editors and sensational claims.
Gouldsboro tannery memory sparks phrase of rebellion
The report recalls Jay Gould’s 19th century fight over the tannery near Gouldsboro on Pocono Mountain, with a court battle led by Charley Pike from Wilkes Barre and Gould’s later remark on the unchanged landscape. It also notes other items from Boston to London, including chemistry claims about ventilating rooms and a Canadian land sale to French colonists.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jay Gould
W. R. Storrs
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad
Storrs
Gould
Gouldsboro
Charley Pike
Wilkesarre
Pocono Mountain
Sloan
Secranton
Ned Mott and the turtle tale in Our Young Folks
An illustrated fragment from Our Young Folks tells of a swamp turtle dragging its shell ashore and meeting a lame old man who suspects the tortoise is Ned Mott the boy. The talking creature insists Ned is alive, recounting a long-remembered tale of kin and memory.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ned
Epelli
Ned Mott
Earth
Kenny
Margaret Ruttage
Harprra
Towser's Patience and the Camping Test of Duty
A boy named Towser resists joining a camping trip to please his father who insists on hard work over frivolous fun. The camping party returns with tales of mosquitoes and modest fish, while Mr Kane notes the lesson that youth must stay focused on duty despite peers’ financial temptations and social pressures. Towser remains steadfast, choosing responsibility over easy amusement.
Towser Jett and the Perrin Works Dark Cloud
Towser Jett grows from boy to apprentice at Perrin Iron Works under his strict but fair father Mr Kane. A banking crisis hits the company and the town, forcing layoffs and prompting Towser and Harry Blake to struggle. Tom's resilience and hard work, aided by his guidance from Mr Perrin, lead to a successful revival of the works and a life built on perseverance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Boston
Towser
Mr. Kane
Great Perrin Iron Works
Harry Blake
Olleze
Tom
Harry
Perrin Iron Works
Perrin Company
Mr. Perrin
Mr Perrin
Aed
Com
Tlarry
Ton
Rosser
Marty
Giil
Buviness
Kane
Susan Coolidge
St Nicholas
Domestic quip and county exhibition hopes
Mrs Spangles relays a comic line about Mr Slowbox craving a cocktail at breakfast while her husband refuses one. The Norristown Herald expresses hope that future county agricultural exhibitions will avoid featuring a corn-sheller threshers bed quilt foot race soap peddler and horse trot.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Norristown Herald
Also Mentioned on This Page
Algeria
New Lots
Lallus
Acre
Kings County
Brooklyn
N. Y
Eagle
Jay Gould's Tannery
London
Canada-Pacific Railway Company
Fifth Street
V. C. Picayune
Thaiadis
Todd
Oettnes
Jon
Tim
Baby Amay
Olbin
Rauhiar
Ranowaan
Tunsir
Tong Bia
Tom White
Archie Berkley
Towner
Archie
Tim Glad
Joe Bryes
Ha Brake
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!