Oddities and curiosities flood the era in brief items
Aghast notes recount electricity in the Big Trees Yosemite region and a Florence church music stoppage in Massachusetts. A New York suburb trio found living in a sugar hogshead for months, a nursery recital ends with a pun on bread of life, and a Nebraska couple sells a child for funds to Europe. Green tea adulteration fears, lightning rod quips, silk shirts against cholera, and a Titusville Newton Well gas story close the miscellany.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Big Rees
Yosemite
California
Oh Sextie
Florence
Mass
New York
Selow
Verde
Arizona
Nebraska
Europe
Liverpool
China
British Trade Journal
England
Whitehall
Washington
Thomas Paine
Thx Journal de Lyon
Tix Rev
Erie
Heaven
North Shore
Binghamton
Newton
Titusville
Manta Waupen
Buffalo
The Walapoosa man recalls Rentfrow’s death at court
An aged observer from Walapoosa, Alabama, recounts a fall term 1864 court scene in Dadeville. He describes Jim Rentfrow’s case, Squire Joe McDonald’s insistence on prosecution, Rentfrow’s alleged death, and a somber moment when Rentfrow’s corpse was brought in from the wars, leaving a lasting impression on all present.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Opelika
Walapoosa
Simon Suggs
Alabama
Dadeville
Bob Dougherty
Joe McDonald
Columbus
Squire
Russell
Squire McDonald
Yallapoosy
Kinder
Squar
Cap
Young’s
Stem
The Gregarious and Solitary Bachelors Compared
The essay contrasts two bachelor types the gregarious who live among many and the solitary who seeks one wife. It discusses social life, beauty, coquetry, and the idea that a wife’s mind and familiarity with the husband’s work sustain a stable marriage, with notes on American and French norms.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Glass
West
Orient
Albert Rhodes
Health and energy outrank raw intellect in success
A translated Western Bot text argues that robust health, strong circulation and digestion empower talent and achievement more than sheer intellect. It asserts that a sound body enables mental powers to flourish, while a weak body dulls even sharp minds.
Detroit Buyer Hears Bull Warned as He Seeks Horses
Mr. Steadman visits a farmer to buy a span of horses for $50 less than value. He is warned a combative bull guards the neighbor’s lot and he surveys stumps and bushes before crossing toward the horses. The scene shifts to distant thunder as the story continues.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit Free
The Fat Woman of Delancey Street Funeral
A New York Tribune account describes Josephine Jameison a 25 year old woman of extreme obesity who died of asthma and heat. Her body required a four by four foot coffin and a makeshift burial path through a torn fence to reach the nearby church. The coroner approved altered funeral logistics and the case proceeded with an open wagon for conveyance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Josephine Jameison
Maryland
New York
Delancey Street
Barnum
Attorney Street
Ifermann
Cushman
New York Tribune
Strange Indian police methods to extract confessions
The Indian Observer reports three alleged non torture techniques used by mofussil police to extract confessions. One uses an opium ball to tempt prisoners, another simulates interrogation with staged beatings and a mock confession, and the third pins a beetle under a coconut shell to induce imagined pain prompting disclosure.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mofussil
Chowkidar
Atlast
Australian nettle grows into a tree like giant
The article describes Urtica gigas in Australia as a colossal stinging nettle that can reach forty feet with a two foot diameter stem. It wounds and paralyzes upon puncture, injuring horses and leaving welts and blisters. The plant's wood is spongy, leaves resemble geraniums, and botanists question its ecological role.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Australia
Nature
Preat
Europe
America
Wales
Efficient cattle care and farming practices outlined
The passage discusses cattle feeding in Europe with molasses and oil cake to boost milk, notes overstocked lawns reduce meat yield, and warns foul water causes blood poisoning and abortion. It promotes poultry rearing for women, advocates steady farming plans for profit, and explains hay quality, clipping, and plowing methods to improve wheat yields and sowing depth.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Europe
United States
Hartford Courant
Natrix
Square Cheese Gains Ground Amid Shape Debate
The Rural New Yorker notes New York producers have found rectangular cheese profitable with better price, less waste, and easier market handling. It warns that failures arise from imperfect molds and lack of proper instruction, urging demand for suitable apparatus and training before attempting square cheese.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
New Yorker
Paris Bourgeois Breakfast Habits Reveal Social Intensities
Felia AL. Whitehurst observes Paris middle class homes where breakfast is stark and simple with bare tables and modest attire. She notes the contrast between formal dinner table manners and the plain, unornamented breakfast routines shaping daily life in Paris households.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Paris
France
Felia AL. Whitehurst
The Leaf as Life Through the Seasons
A poetic meditation likens a leaf to the cycle of human life from spring youth to autumn old age. It celebrates youth’s innocence and hopeful sunrises, manhood’s strength, and the fading autumn of decline, urging hearts to keep childhood warmth through aging days.
Morning smiles light up a wholesome girl and a hopeful boy
A Portsmouth, New Hampshire physician urges tolling bells at funerals be discontinued. The piece extols a cheerful, well mannered boy and girl as models of virtue whose bright morning presence uplifts households and softens harsh tempers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gran
Portsmouth
N. H
Golden Medical Discovery Testimonials and Claims
An advertisement extols the Golden Medical Discovery and Vinegar Burrs as cures for cholera cholera morbus and a range of ailments. It cites testimonials from diverse individuals and physicians praising rapid relief from pain and systemic benefits purging the blood and restoring energy. The copy quotes Dr. Pierce on early use preventing consumption and restoring health.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pierce
BR. Wilson Carr
Baltimore
Genehe
C. Pogn
Dabney Buch
Laltimore
Gomerence Sonus
Craver & Coy Druga
Gordonsville
Sam’s G. McFadden
Murftersbo
Faye
Matiem
Rosadali
J. R. Miller
D.ransom &Co
Miller
Ransom, Son & Co
Propr’s
Buffalo
Jd. Walker
California
Sierras Nevada Mountains
United States
Mississippi
Ohio
Missouri
Illinois
Tennessee
Cumberlland
Arkansas
Red
Colorado
Brazos
Rio Grande
Pearl
Alabama
Mobile
Savannah
Roanoke
James
J. Walken
WaAthae
Meir
Wang
Walort
KR. Il
McDonald & CO
Pranedi
America
HHL
Shupeent & CO
Chicago
Kifunvin
Also Mentioned on This Page
General Ftems
Nole
Husbands and Wives
Bovine
Steadman
Ife
Jana
Steidman
Confessions In
India
Man
Poultry and Farming
Wesert
Great West
Chilera
Perry Davies
Pevenne
Elmwood
Warwick
Johnson
Iate
Sheridan
Sayne
Salford
Curtis & Perkins
Curtis & Brown
Fulton Street
Hostetter
Gayateeer
Cincinnati
New Orleans
Lenten
Ingia
Mata Amiestonary
ST Repret
Tahomd
Charles Harding
Sholoytes
J. Tarreis & CO
ST. Louis
Willson
Wlson
Ordre
Ottis Nature
T.slawiluson
John St
Suublbut
Edsall
Wasmieny
Aso
Be. Rouse
Goodrich
Peter Parley
Nowland
Valley Pan.Co
Sr. Laws
N. Orleans
Crab Orchard
Stingon & Gon Porton
Coods
AL Young & GO
M. F. Dodge
M.D
Boair & CO
SL. Louis
Sue
Greatatlantic and Paeliie Tea Co
Fulton
Churelrat
N. Y
M.C. Lilley & Co
Wantag Tein
Ateey
ASD
St.louis
Willeurce
Clements & CO
Ald
Wan
Rey, Oy Tt
Ieee Air and Hanes
Coy
Romedy
Ube
Ana Yeady
D. Tansom
Sox & Co
Propr's
N.Y
Whittier
Charles
Cetze
Chlaree
LER & Walker
Philadelphia
Lex & Warnen
Eraro
Schenge
Rinyey Wall
Trenton
New Jersey
Ghati
Misses Hunt
Iwill Fond
Fenton
Sheffield
Vanitta Wit Stencil & Kor Cheek Hui
Samles
Fall
Partiemark
SM. Spencam
Haney
Boripp
ADI Neat Rsa
Pblishers
Jno
W. Johnson&& Co
Gopeane
Jones Commercial
St Louie
Addrege
LEWIS
Washington Ave
St. Loui
J H. Beadle
Utah
National Publising CO
St. Lows, Mo
Parkeus Worth
St. Levis
Kaxal
DR. Whittier
ST. Gaarfes Ares
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!