Leake Bread Dole A Longstanding City Charity
An enduring New York charity, the Leake and Watts bread dole, nourishes 18 elderly pensioners every Saturday morning with sixpenny wheaten loaves from a bequest by John Leake. The ritual moved from Trinity to St. John’s in Varick Street decades ago, with loaves handed out by hand in a discreet, dignified manner to favored recipients including former wealthy residents now destitute.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Leake
John Watts
Trinity Church
St. John's
Varick Street
Tua Sun
New York
Sinc
Nepress
Moinin
Massa
Turan
A Traveled Check and a River of Delays
A Detroit merchant paid a debt with a First National bank of Ionia check. The check hopped through six banks over 11 days and 856 miles, looping through Chicago and Muskegon and back to Detroit before payment. The piece questions the circuitous route and the cost of transit.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ionia
Mich
Detroit
First National Bank of Ionia
Detroit Bank
Chicago
Chisago Bank
Muskegon Bank
Sonia
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids Bank
Tonia
Chicago News
A Painter Takes Up Foulplate and Sculpture
A biography of Gerome aged 60, wealthy in Paris with a summer home and a Seine chateau at Bongival. He abandons painting late in life for sculpture, seeking new worlds to conquer. At the 1878 Universal Exposition he earns a sculpture medal and the grand medal of honor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gerome
Elo
Paria
River Seine
Bongival
Geromo
Alexander
Arthur Hoober
St. Nicholas
Letters From the Confederate Roads and Oddities
A collage of anecdotes on David R. Locke known as Nasby, his wartime Letters from the Confederate Roads, and the origin of his writing method with gin, plus bee messenger tricks. It also recounts the roosters crowing, a comic railway exchange about place names, a pencil durability note, and a Meda duel restriction all in a fragmentary 19th century miscellany tone.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
David R. Locke
Petroleum V. Nasby
Confederate Roads
Locke
Bellefontaine
Findlay
Wid Loelke
Ginins
Hawks of Hadley and a Purse Bearer in London
A Hadley pioneer John Hawks outsmarts an Indian at Hatfield during 1676’s frontier fighting. The tale, recounted by a Deerfield historian, highlights Hawks drawing a shot with a sudden move to spare himself. Also included are asides on the Lord Chancellor’s purse bearer in London and quips about Paris potato cleaning methods and improvised electric heating debates.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Hawks
Hadley
Mass
Deerfield
Hatfield
Hawks
Hawke
House of Lords
House of Loirds
London Globe
Paris
Raflatoleura de Pommes de Terre
Seine
Point Louis Philippe
Hotel de Ville
Promising Bob Seeks A Career In Journalism
A short, quirky vignette features Promising Bob an eager boy over six, dreaming of becoming a journalist. The piece riffs on misread words, language errors, and a playful misquote about a peach, a father, and a curious scene with dialogue about interviewing and language origins.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bob
Rocain
Marea
Also Mentioned on This Page
Tenesssaries
Faust
New England
Mannufacturer
Philadelphia Times
Napoleon
Pius VII
Fontainebleau
Rome
St. Peter
Acta
Charles the Great
Henry IV
Otto
Henry I
Gregory VII
W. M. Sloane
Strephen
Phillis
Tye
Shea
Pye
Strephan
New York Sun
Mia
Diodate
Anita
Herbeer
Beata
Westminster Gazette
Gittmecock
Scribner’s
Union Station
Louis
Helephant
Honturio
Niag
Buffalo
Medea
Order of Malta
Dilwin
Seuro
Nuremberg
Iowa
Heinsheimer
Glenwood
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!