- Bargain Brides Before online dating websites like Tinder or Match.com, how did our lonely ancestors find love? They placed advertisements in Matrimonial Journals, in newspapers and sometimes even wrote away to officials in far away places looking for bargain brides. Matrimonial Journals Published in Toronto, the Anglo-American Matrimonial Journal took advertisements from lonely men and women looking for […]
- Murderer Weds Victim’s Daughter On the afternoon of Sunday, November 24, 1895, in a jealous rage, William Royce shot his former lover, Nellie Patton, killing her with two shots. Nellie, a divorcee who had recently left Royce for a bartender by the name of Walsh, was living in a house of assignation in Sioux City run by Billy Nead. […]
- CSI – The Prologue Journey back only a short time in history, when esteemed judges and assembled juries had only the testimony of witnesses and sometimes the coerced confessions of the accused to rely on, and there can be little doubt that every now and then innocent parties were executed, and the guilty went free. These were the days […]
- 10 Examples of Fake News from History This month, Facebook began prompting users in fourteen countries to read a guide on the fake news phenomenon, with a list of tips that included being sceptical about headlines and checking the source of the story. ‘False news is harmful to our community, it makes the world less informed, and it erodes trust,’ Facebook’s Adam Mosseri […]
- Sears Roebuck Mail Order Catalogue Long before the internet and online ordering, mail order catalogues were one of the only ways that the American rural population had to buy a variety of merchandise for themselves and their homes. Before the advent of mail order catalogues, people in isolated communities throughout the United States purchased from general stores, often from a […]
- Mishap on the Underground Railroad April in 1860 began with a cold snap in Nashville, Tennessee and there were fears that the peach crop would be ruined but by mid-April, the weather had finally warmed and it appeared that the peaches were saved. The first pony express rider reached Sacramento, California and the Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina found itself […]
- Women’s Occupations Women’s Occupations in the Early Twentieth Century The logical starting place to learn about what occupational opportunities were available for women in the early twentieth century is by referring to the data collected during the 1900, 1910 and 1920 Federal Census. For that reason, I turned to the report, Women in Gainful Occupations, 1870-1920: A […]
- Part Three: 129 Claimants Battle for Thomas Henry Blythe’s Estate The death of Thomas Henry Blythe in his sixtieth year sparked a battle in the probate courts that would last for many years. The trial itself would take 206 days and there would be 129 claimants to the estate with many more having been rejected prior to the trial. Two women would claim to be […]
- Part Two: 129 Claimants Battle for Thomas Henry Blythe’s Estate When Thomas Henry Blythe, a millionaire real estate tycoon from San Francisco died in 1883, no will was found among his possessions. His past was shrouded in mystery and within days of his death, many supposed relatives began coming forward to assert their claims on his estate. In part one of this story, we learned of three women who said […]
- Part One: 129 Claimants Battle for Thomas Henry Blythe’s Estate At half past 5 o’clock on April 4, 1883, real estate tycoon Thomas Henry Blythe died suddenly at his home at 27 Geary Street in San Francisco. That Wednesday had been a partly cloudy day and light rains threatened the Pacific Coast region. Thomas Blythe had met with Mr. M S Jeffers, his agent, at his office […]