London flower merchant among grand news and oddities
A diverse collection of brief items notes a Wellington heir’s niece selling flowers in London, a massive 1000 by 100 foot barn planned for Lexington, Columbus’ discovery remains obscure, and cat Island myths debunked. It also covers a New York man’s burial wish, paper horse shoes, a Turkish and Hungarian marriage in St Louis, a Wichita voter anecdote, and various ephemeral vignettes from across the era.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Seymour
Ind
St. Louis
S. S&s
New York
Wire Island
Shortest criminal sentence on record and other oddities
A Maine court imposed a five minute sentence for a bigamy case, claimed to be the shortest in the nation. The item also reports on a French chemist plating corpses with gold and other metals, a London plant display fund, a clamspring gold ring found from New York stock, and a Tamp hotel telephony feature with an orchestrion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Maine
Tamps Fla
Grandmother and Granddaughter Through Time and Craft
A lyrical comparison of generations, tracing skill from distaff and hem-stitch to modern sewing machines. It contrasts grandmother’s prudent, steady household management with granddaughter’s bustling, cultured life across clubs, concerts, and editorial work. Hearth and Home.
Jasper Price Returns to Family in Georgia to Mining Camp Fame
Jasper Price, once idle in Georgia, builds a laundry in a Rocky Mountain camp. He prospers, then returns home reborn in finery as a welcoming stagecoach crowd chimes, “Daddy is here,” reuniting with a large, joyful black family.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jasper Price
Georgia
Jasper
Dan Tuckah
Rocky Mountain
Pardner
Trews
Hull
Japer
Africa
Uncle Jasper
Jinny
Jacky
Lotty
Happy Reunion of Jasper’s Large Southern Family
A retelling from Youth's Companion recalls Jasper and his radiant wife returning home with a crowd of nine children, each carrying a pot or pan from Georgia. Once prosperous in laundry, the family moved to a ranch in fertile valleys to raise their many children in industry, cherishing a happy day of reunion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William Henry
Moses
Chile
Jasper
Georgia
Sailor in Dockside Tale Teaches Naval Ship Wants
A rugged seaman in farmhand garb prowls the docks, inspecting pumps on vessel after vessel and whistling for dogs. A Franklin runner questions him as he seeks a ship, learning from the old sailor George Palmer that a fat dog signals a generous cook, while a rusty pump bolt means a solid, watertight craft, and a worn bolt warns of a sieve. The tale ends with Palmer offering one more lesson before drifting away.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Genoa
Cal
Bemis
Alpine County
Harrison Street
Franklin
Mebber
Neptune
George Palmer
Iris Duff
Palmer
General Shermans Memory and the Long Bearded Policeman
The tale recalls Gen. Sherman noting a bearded Philadelphia police officer and recalling their first meeting in California when Sherman was a lieutenant and the drummer was Hutchinson. After forty years, the General recognizes the drummer, now a policeman, by memory and beard, recalling old times in California and Mexico.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gen. Sherman
Philadelphia
California
Hutchinson
Mexico
The Pert Young Man and a Caution to Youth
A Chicago Herald commentary mocks the presumptuous 20 year old as a future faded critic of women religion and virtue. It contrasts his current swagger with the grizzled view he will have at fifty, then shifts to a playful exchange between Lottie and Gus about ships and yard arms.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago Herald
Lottie
Gus
Lottie Lottie
Saint Jean strongman Cyr towers above all rivals
A long profile of Louis Cyr, the French Canadian giant born near Montreal, detailing his early discovery of strength at 17, his 318 pound frame, and 5 ft 11 in height. It chronicles his record lifts without a harness, including 3,536 pounds, and notes his training, diet, abstinence from liquor and tobacco, and a recent Lewiston exhibition where he lifted a 261 pound platform with twenty men atop it.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Louis Cyr
Canada
Cyr
St. Jean
Montreal
New York City
William LB. Curtis
Berthierville
Lewiston
Man Tramp Plays Snow Shovel Gag for Crowd on Clifford Street
On a hot day a man begged food from a Clifford Street woman who challenged him to earn it. He grabbed a snow shovel, pretended to clear snow, and drew a crowd of about thirty people. He reported the street cleared, then invited inside for food.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clifford Street
Worse Before Better: A Dinner Joke From Hicks
A Boston Loanscript anecdote recounts Mr. Hicks revealing his plans to dine at a hotel after noting his wife Mrs. Hicks was once an excellent cook before she bought a cookbook. The exchange highlights a playful jab at home dining and homemaking skills.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mr. Wicks
Mr. Hicks
For the Good of Italy Article Overview
Five major cities report that seventeen of twenty Italians will return to Italy while only about three in twenty pay any taxes. The piece argues Italians here are mostly of little help to America, though some are exemplary citizens and true Americans.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Italy
As & Rhey
America
Indiana astrologist claims bones of Prof Donaldson found
An Indianapolis female astrologist says in a trance she located the bones of Prof Donaldson, claiming the balloonist vanished years ago and the skeleton lies in a Michigan swamp, a theory some believers accept despite vague specifics.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Donaldson
Indianapolis
Prof
Michigan
Atlantic Ocean
Also Mentioned on This Page
the Register
New Harmony, Indiana
Duke of Wellington
London
United States
Lexington
Wuar Island
Columbus
Cat Island
Europe
Steamship Company
Wichita
Kansas
Westtown
Chester County
Singapore
Naugatuck
Mich
Lake Michigan
Archibald Cary
Virginia
Williamsburg
United Colonies
Ermany
Sautu Bermenes
Bloxry
Centreville
Islesboro
Dle
Ocala
Fla
Reichstag
Russia
Thomas W. Enox
Capt. Kidd
Gardner’s Island
Earl of Bellomont
New England
Yakutsk
Siberia
Nares
Greely
Kentucky
Maxisoleums
Prinsexs
Paris
Eitel Tower
Congress
Cicily Corwin
Jasper Priice
J. S. Warboul
General Sherman
Strongest Man
Sampson
Lovka
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!