Ep. 60 - Scenes at the Haunts of the Haunted

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: My Victorian Nightmare
Host: Genevieve Manion
Episode: Ep. 60 – Scenes at the Haunts of the Haunted
Release Date: September 15, 2025

In this milestone 60th episode, Genevieve explores the bizarre, tragic, and often darkly comedic tales found in Victorian-era tabloids, focusing especially on stories from the notorious Illustrated Police News. The episode features ghostly accounts, true-crime vignettes, tales of spiritualist séances gone awry, tragic accounts of addiction and suicide, and late-19th-century tabloid absurdities. The overarching theme is the Victorian fascination with the macabre and sensational—a culture of public haunting, moral panic, lurid journalism, and communal curiosity about death and the supernatural.

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Key Discussion Points & Notable Stories

1. Haunted House Frenzy in Victorian Cambridge (04:00–16:15)

• Segment: “With Their Own Eyes”
• Genevieve dives into the true story of a "haunted" house on Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, circa 1878. Crowds flock to glimpse supposed ghostly phenomena, reminiscent of the excitement surrounding public events like Gilmore’s Peace Jubilees.
• Quoting the contemporary press:

  "From early morning until late last night, thousands of persons who had got the exact locality and name of the tenant of the house from the Sunday Globe gathered in the vicinity of the haunted premises." (06:33)

• She discusses the house’s reputation, including alleged poltergeist activity—loud crashes, phantom carriages, and spectral struggles—drawing from reports in the Boston Globe and Kansas City Journal.

The Séance and the Mystery of Bertha Stoughton (11:02–14:42)

• Mrs. Marsh, the house’s resident, is at the center of a séance in which she becomes possessed, relaying the supposed murder and burial of a girl named Bertha Stoughton.
• Ghostly visitation includes spectral pleas:

  "Herbert, Herbert. Oh, Herbert. Herbert, give me back my ring." (13:13)

• Subsequent digging yields human bones (likely from medical students), but no evidence of the supposed murdered girl.

Reflection on Haunted Experiences

• Genevieve relates similar “ghostly crash” experiences from her own life, adding a personal touch (15:05–15:22).
• "I do in a way hope that this was a hoax, though. That sounds absolutely terrible to have happened to a woman in that house..." (15:22)

2. Illustrated Police News: Victorian True Crime & Absurdities (16:48–41:27)

Negligence and Death: A Frozen Victim and Police Apathy (16:48–20:09)

• The story of Henry Planell, a man who died of exposure on Long Island after authorities allegedly failed to respond to his wife’s pleas for help.
• Remarkable legal moment:

  "We the jury therefore hold the police commissioners guilty of a most grave neglect of duty that they are indirectly the cause of this man's death..." (18:49)

• Genevieve expresses surprise at the coroner’s willingness to assign blame to police officials at this time.

String of Grisly Western Murders (20:00–22:39)

• A litany of grotesque killings in Kansas and Mississippi in 1872, including bodies devoured by animals and violent vigilante justice.
• Genevieve reacts to the inappropriate editorial sarcasm and lack of resolution:

  "Did that horrifying article really need to include that witty sarcasm in the end? My dude reporter. Christ." (22:12)

The Downfall of a Victorian Soldier: Addiction and Black Friday (22:48–29:35)

• The tragic life and suicide of George C. Van Eyck, former British army captain, undone by financial scandal (the 1869 Black Friday gold crash) and alcoholism.
• Detailed backstory explores British military culture, Wall Street speculation, and the context of the notorious 19th-century market collapse.
• Connecting past to present:

  "It sure is a good thing rich people, including our own lawmakers, aren't able to manipulate markets for their benefit and ruin people's lives anymore." (28:48 — with sarcastic tone)

• Encourages listeners to support contemporary legislation against stock trading by lawmakers.

Brief Macabre: The Deadly Drinking Wager (29:35–31:27)

• A one-paragraph blurb about a liquor-drinking wager that ends in multiple unnatural deaths.
• Genevieve laughs at the dark absurdity of such filler content:

  "Oh God, I feel terrible for laughing. I'm not laughing at what is written. I'm laughing that it was written and printed in a newspaper." (30:40)

Probable Infanticide Discovered by a Dog (31:40–34:36)

• Shocking story from Charleston: a dog discovers a dead infant buried in the cellar; the suspected mother ultimately fined, not convicted of murder.
• Genevieve’s research: Updates and outcomes of the investigation (34:05–34:36).
• "A lot of bodies in basements today." (34:36)

Outrageous Assault Over Shoes & Tabloid Hyperbole (34:39–36:55)

• Dora Walsh is physically assaulted by shoe shop owner Bernard Streme for refusing to purchase shoes.
• The Illustrated Police News ends its article with a call for the shoemaker’s death.
• Genevieve observes:

  "You can always count on the Illustrated Police News to make extraordinary light of murder." (36:16)

Fake News: The Teacher with Her Tongue Cut Out (36:56–39:53)

• Sensational, allegedly true story: A female teacher attacked, tongue cut out, yet she writes the names of her killers in blood before dying.
• Genevieve debunks it as a long-circulated urban legend:

  "The story was absolutely false. But it was a good story to telegraph to the sensational newspapers. And it went a flying." (38:58, quoting Pontiac Sentinel, 1878)

Light Relief: The Case of the Traveling Wig (40:25–41:01)

• A man’s wig clings to a lady’s dress at church, causing mild confusion and ultimately a polite resolution.
• Genevieve delights in the nonviolent, anti-climactic ending after a barrage of grim tales.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Victorian Morbid Curiosity:

  "Should we do brunch first or a haunted house? Let's do the haunted house and try to beat the crowds first, then brunch." (06:15)

• On the Spectacle of Victorian Hauntings:

  "One evening a tremendous smash was heard... as if all the shelves had given way... The gentlemen of the house rushed out and going to the dining room closet, found everything in its place. Not a cup or plate disturbed." (08:04)

• On Social Change & Law Enforcement Accountability:

  "I have never seen a coroner's jury hold police responsible for the death of someone due to negligence. In all of the articles I have read from this era..." (18:49)

• On Victorian Sensationalism:

  "You can always count on the Illustrated Police News to make extraordinary light of murder." (36:16) "That article has an illustration and that was the first, first thing that I checked to see about the names of these supposed men. They're just scribbles in the illustration that right away tipped me off that something was fishy about all this." (39:45)

• Self-Deprecating Humor Amid Horror:

  "Give me a break. My neck is broken." (20:27) "After everything we've been through with this episode, I'm really happy she was like, oh, here's your hair. And that was the end of that." (41:19)

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Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Event | |----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 04:00 | Introduction to today's tales: mysterious murders, frozen men, and weird justice | | 05:10 | Beginning of haunted house story, Cambridge, 1878 | | 11:02 | Spiritualist séance held at the Marsh residence | | 13:13 | Bertha’s ghost allegedly appears and pleads for her ring | | 16:48 | Begins Illustrated Police News segment: true crime and tabloid absurdities | | 18:49 | Coroner’s jury holds police responsible for man’s death | | 20:00 | Series of violent murders in the Southwest | | 22:48 | The tragic story of George C. Van Eyck and Black Friday collapse | | 29:35 | The deadly liquor-drinking wager blurb | | 31:50 | Dog discovers the corpse of an infant in a cellar | | 34:39 | Dora Walsh gets her nose pulled; shoe store violence | | 36:56 | Fake news: Teacher’s tongue cut out urban legend | | 40:25 | The lost wig at church incident |

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Tone & Style

Genevieve’s delivery is wry, morbidly fascinated, historically detailed, and frequently peppered with dark humor and present-day parallels. She balances academic curiosity with skepticism of Victorian tabloid sensationalism and a kind of gothic affection for the era's macabre excesses.

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Summary

Episode 60 of My Victorian Nightmare offers a flavorful, deeply-researched, and darkly comedic survey of both real-life and questionably true Victorian stories—ranging from haunted houses and spiritualist séances to grisly murders, social scandals, and the occasional journalistic hoax. Genevieve frames each account with context, ethical reflection, and modern resonance, demonstrating the Victorians’ enduring love for the strange, the tragic, and the sensational.

Transcript

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[Genevieve Manion]

It is the future.

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It's.

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[Genevieve Manion]

Hello and welcome to My Victorian Nightmare. I'm your host, Genevieve Manion, and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories, and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era. Because to me, there's just something especially.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Intriguing, creepy, and oddly comforting about horror.

[Genevieve Manion]

And mayhem from the 19th century. So listener discretion is adv. Hello friends, and welcome to this, my 60th episode. I am 60 episodes young.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

You wouldn't know it though, because I threw my neck out. So I'm Batman today. I can't turn my head. I was in excruciating pain all night. Every morning Toby waits till he hears my alarm go off. Then he jumps up on the bed and runs onto my chest and he gives me furious kisses for about 10 seconds. And then he starts backwards sneezing for like three minutes because he's so excited that I'm awake. And it's a very cute way to wake up, but having a 10 pound Pomeranian sneezing on your chest with like a broken neck, it was a hell of a way to start the day. I've seen better days is what I'm trying to say. Apologies if I am sounding a little bit stiff today. I am icing it, cursing it, and pretending I'm a goth superhero bat to.

[Genevieve Manion]

Make myself feel better. I'll live. And now, a little Haunted Housekeeping. As always, thank you for rating the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. Thank you for your ever so beloved comments that you leave for me on Instagram, on Apple and Spotify and that you email [e-mail] and thank you witchy poos who have joined the fan [e-mail] who received the show ad free and a day early. Apart from witchy content and extras, extra awful murdery stories from the Victorian era with ever so deep dives, you guys who have joined the fan coven are directly ensuring most of all that I can continue making this show. So thank you so much and thank you everyone who simply listens wherever you get your spooky podcasts. Every listen enables me to continue doing.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

This weird and disturbing thing that I decided to do with my life.

[Genevieve Manion]

Love so very much so. As always, thank you darlings.

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Learn [e-mail] okay for you today, dear Listener, I have a series of mysterious and tragic murders in the Southwest.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Men frozen to death, dogs playing with dead bodies in basements, nose pullers lost wigs, highly inappropriate sarcasm regarding incredibly violent vigilante justice, and casual calls for the assassination of dudes who are just kind of jerks.

[Genevieve Manion]

All courtesy of the Illustrated Police News, Law Courts and Record, our favorite blood soaked bonkers tabloid from the 1800s. But first, it is time for our weekly segment With Their Own Eyes where I share with you the personal haunting accounts of petrified Victorians.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I found a fabulous story in the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Boston Globe of 1878 that includes a.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Segue directly into our sale Seance Room segment.

[Genevieve Manion]

It tells the tale of an action packed haunted house that the good folks of Cambridge, Massachusetts crawled over themselves to see with their own eyes.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

The article is called that Spook Roots.

[Genevieve Manion]

Scenes at the Haunts of the Haunted Yesterday's Sensation Crowds of Sunday visitors to the spot. And it reads that haunted house on Kirkland street near the Cambridge and street Somerville line has now become as locally.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Famous as were ever Gilmour's Peace Jubilees.

[Genevieve Manion]

Or even the later and more memorable events of the centennials of Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill. The comparison of a ghostly apparition with such distinguished gatherings as these may not at first seem exactly fitting. Hence it is in order to explain that they are only mentioned in the.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Same breath simply to show how natural it is for human mortals to become worked up and enthusiastic over any important.

[Genevieve Manion]

Current affair of the day.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Quick note. The Gilmore's Peace Jubilees were two massive music festivals organized by an Irish born.

[Genevieve Manion]

Bandleader named Patrick S. Gilmore in Boston to celebrate the end of the Civil War in 1869.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

So that's what the reporter who sounds a little judgmental of the folks flocking to this haunted house was referring to. I'd absolutely be one of those people though. After 1800s church on a Sunday. Should we do brunch first or a haunted house? Let's do the haunted house and try to be the crowds first, then brunch.

[Genevieve Manion]

Marvelous idea. The article continues. From early morning until late last night, thousands of persons who had got the exact locality and name of the tenant of the house from the Sunday Globe gathered in the vicinity of the haunted premises. They were there not only from Cambridge, Cambridge and Somerville, but from Boston, Charleston, and even from points as remote as 20 and 30 miles. The story in the Globe was on the lips of everyone. At about 8 o' clock a rumor got abroad that Mr. Marsh was preparing to dig in the small cellar for the remains of the supposed murdered Bertha. The report rapidly gained credence and throngs of men, women and children hurried to the house. The neighborhood neighbors upon the street were surprised beyond description at the excitement that was rife and came out upon their doorsteps and gazed upon the scene in amazement. Several policemen were present to prevent any desecration of the sacred day. And altogether the scene was quite animated. The house with its curtained windows and closed blinds presented a most sombre appearance and served to heighten the already fired imagination of the constantly increasing crowd.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Okay, I had to dig deeper into this situation and I found one of.

[Genevieve Manion]

The articles that sparked this whole pandemonium in the Kansas city journal of 1878.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It's called a Ghost Story.

[Genevieve Manion]

Perturbed Spirits near the Shades of Harvard. A regular blood curdler.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I wanted to know who this Bertha.

[Genevieve Manion]

Was and why Mrs. And Mr. Marsh wanted to dig up that cellar to find her. The article reads, for past two days the residents of Cambridge and Somerville have been in a state of excitement over the discovery of a haunted house where spirits nightly gambol and where unearthly sounds disturbed the usual serenity of a quiet family. One night last summer, while Mrs. Marsh was attending a sick patient in a room on the second floor, the latter called her attention to a figure moving across the room. She investigated the matter and found that nobody had entered by the door. And going downstairs, she examined the premises, but discovered nobody and made up her mind it was a hallucination of the Sick woman. A few nights after this, while the lady was dozing, the patient suddenly said. You are called to see someone. A carriage has just stopped at the door. This was a little after midnight. The ladies started up and went to the window. Which commands a full view of the front of the house and the road on each side of it, but saw nothing. But immediately after was heard the crack of a whip, the thud of horses hoofs upon the ground. And the rolling of carriage wheels. As the viewless vehicle and steeds left the door and went away at a gallop up the road. Following this incident, the nocturnal noises became more frequent. Struggles were heard going on upstairs when the family was below. These struggles, beginning in the room specified and continuing onto the landing. And followed by the sounds of a body or bodies falling and rolling downstairs. Other noises, no less peculiar and as difficult to be accounted for, were common. One evening a tremendous smash was heard the dining room closet. As if all the shelves had given way. And the entire collection of crockery ware had fallen to the floor. The gentlemen of the house rushed out and going to the dining room closet, found everything in its place. Not a cup or plate disturbed. The chairs and tables in the servants room were frequently moved around by invisible hands. Shrieks were heard in certain parts of the house as some person in terrible agony. The windows were pulled up and let down with a crash. People ran up and down stairs. Scuffles and struggles were heard in the hallways and in the particular room where the manifestations occurred. And a regular pandemonium at times. End quote. The article continues to discuss who Bertha was and why they wanted to dig up the basement. But first, won't you follow me me into the seance room where I usually discuss the goings on in the spiritualist society of the 1800s by reading articles from the spiritualist newspaper of the time.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

But today I am going to discuss.

[Genevieve Manion]

The very creepy seance the marshes had to get to the bottom of what was happening in their home. The article continues. A seance was convened at the residence of Mr. Marsh, at which a prominent businessman of Somervill, Mr. Alexander Wood, a member of a leading church, a justice of the peace and a man generally respected in the community, was present. Mr. Wood has given the Herald correspondent a detailed statement of the developments made at that assemblage. Which he pronounces the most extraordinary in his experience. He says that a circle was formed of which he was one. Mr. And Mrs. Marsh were induced to join in, although both. Both were confirmed skeptics. And after all, was Ready. The little group awaited the arrival of the spirit. The first person influenced was Mrs. Marsh, who went into a trance at once. She writhed fearfully and seemed in terrible agony for about five minutes. Then she described to him an interview with his wife who was in the spirit land, detailed minutely the scenes at her deathbed and told him things which transpired there of which he was the sole witness, with such precision that he was thunderstruck. Then she became possessed by the spirit of Bertha Stoughton, a young girl who told her that she was murdered in the same house, in a room upstairs where all the manifestations had occurred, that she had been brought there by a man whose first name was Herbert. Outraged, murdered brutally, and her body buried near the rear wall of the house. The number of blows struck, the agonizing cries of the poor victim, the burial and the flight of the perpetrator were described with a minuteness that struck the beholders with awe and fear. Several seances have since been held with more or less success. At the meeting Saturday night, Mrs. Marsh was again influenced by birth Martha's spirit, and she detailed again and even more minutely the circumstances of the murder. At another time, she was taken by the spirit. Just as the family was about to sit down to supper, suddenly, gazing to one part of the room, he saw the apparition of a young girl, about 22 years of age, not very prepossessing and dressed in a brown dress with white waist. The apparition made an appointment appeal to her in the following language. Herbert. Herbert. Oh, Herbert. Herbert, give me back my ring. Mrs. Marsh, throwing herself into the arms of her husband, said while looking at the figure with strained eyes and fear, blanched face, in the name of the Holy Trinity, who are you? The reply was, I am Bertha. Bertha Stoughton. Oh, Herbert. Herbert, give me back my ring.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

The article continues to say that they did indeed dig up the basement of the house and they did find some human bones, but they didn't think they.

[Genevieve Manion]

Belonged to a young girl.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

They assumed that the bones were left.

[Genevieve Manion]

There by college students studying anatomy in the area many years earlier. The house was apparently built on what used to be part of Harvard.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And. And you better believe I looked for the name Bertha Stoughton in every newspaper.

[Genevieve Manion]

From 1850 to 1878 and found no.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Articles about a missing girl of that.

[Genevieve Manion]

Name or anyone by that name for the previous 22 years.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I love that. They were like, okay, the good news is there's a skeleton in your basement. The bad news is it's some other skeleton. We have no idea who this guy is. Oh, I find it so fascinating, the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Very particular and specific kind of haunting experience of hearing loud crashes, folks thinking their shelves have collapsed but finding nothing wrong.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I've mentioned that my spooky mom has had this exact experience a number of.

[Genevieve Manion]

Times in a house that we lived in in the 80s. She'd hear like the sound of this.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Gigantic hutch that we had filled with crockery. Smash to the ground.

[Genevieve Manion]

She'd run downstairs and nothing would have happened.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I do in a way hope that this was a hoax, though. That sounds absolutely terrible to have happened to a woman in that house. And I hate the idea of a murdered ghost actually being able to tell you where their body is, but you just can't find it and find some other skeleton instead. That would just be insult to injury for me as a ghost. Maybe she just should have been more specific. Like, ignore the dead guy in the northeast corner. He's not haunting anything. Meanwhile, he's the guy running up and down the stairs at night and smashing spectral crockery. Oh, and next week I will have the accounts of two daring young gentlemen who decided to break into the house once the marshes left. They eventually got the heck out of there and these two guys did some Victorian ghost hunting.

[Genevieve Manion]

And it's rather spooky.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I love these stories so much. I hope you do too.

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[Genevieve Manion]

Cementmobile.com Our first illustrated police news article.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Is intriguing, very sad, but also intriguing.

[Genevieve Manion]

Because it includes an accusation of murder that I've never heard before in this era. It is called a fearful verdict. A coroner's jury arraigns the police commissioners of Long Island City for murder. A man frozen to death. And it reads, on the 15th, the body of Henry Planell, a German resident of Long Island City, was found frozen to death on the corner of 4th and Pierce Avenues. The man had been laboring under a fit of delirium tremens and application was made early in the preceding evening to the police commissioners by his wife for his arrest, for she feared he would either injure her or himself. Answer was made that a warrant must be obtained which was promptly secured from the recorder. The wife of the unfortunate man then returned to the station and one of the commissioners said that a policeman should be immediately sent to make the arrest. The wife returned home and after a fearful night the maniac escaped into the street. Nothing further was seen of him until his body was discovered in the morning. No policeman came to the house as promised. An inquest was held by coroner Tewkesbury and the above facts elicited the following verdict was rendered deceased was frozen to death while laboring under a temporary fit of delirium tremens. And the jury are of the opinion that had the police authorities taken measures to have deceased arrested, he would not have met with such a death. Death. We the jury therefore hold the police commissioners guilty of a most grave neglect of duty that they are indirectly the cause of this man's death and are incompetent to fill such position. End quote. I have never seen a coroner's jury hold police responsible for the death of someone due to negligence. In all of the articles I have.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Read from this era, I read in.

[Genevieve Manion]

Later articles that the police police denied that it was their fault that the.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Man died and were calling upon the coroner to reconsider the verdict, to which the coroner refused.

[Genevieve Manion]

I didn't find any stories about a trial for this case or if there was any disciplinary action held against the police, but this is just a very interesting one to me. Incidentally, if you're unaware, delirium tremens is a severe form of alcohol withdrawal that involves sudden onset of symptoms including confusion, tremors, visual hallucinations, fever, increased heart rate and blood pressure, agitation, and profuse sweating. It can actually lead to life threatening complications like seizures, heart attack and respiratory issues. It is falsely believed that this killed Amy Winehouse.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It was falsely reported that she was.

[Genevieve Manion]

Attempting sobriety which led to a fatal seizure or heart attack. But her official cause of death was acute alcohol toxicity. After a brief period of attempting sobriety, she binge drank and died of alcohol poisoning. Ugh. So terribly sad.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And the article is so terribly sad. Okay, let's have a quick succession of truly awful murders that took place in.

[Genevieve Manion]

1872 in the Southwest, why don't we? This article is called Bloody Crimes at the Southwest and it reads not only the fatal potion, but the equally fatal bullet seems to be peculiarly, peculiarly.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Give me a break. My neck is broken. Active in the west just at present.

[Genevieve Manion]

And three tragic murders have taken place in quick succession in Kansas and Mississippi. The first is that of a fisherman named Kid who recently went to Memphis and drew from the bank several hundred dollars, after which nothing was heard of him until a few days ago when his body was found. Found in a slough half a mile from his house, partly eaten by his hogs, his pockets turned inside out in a bullet hole in his skull told the story of his murder. The second is the story of the murder of Mr. Henry Acheson, a planter who lived near Grenada, Mississippi. He also went to Memphis, bought some 30 head of cattle and employed two men to assist in driving them. A day or two afterward his body was found in the woods near Horn Lake with a bullet through the head. The robbers, who were doubtless the men who he employed, took his mule saddle bridle and the stock and have not since been heard from. The little village of Abraham, Kansas was recently thrown into a great state of excitement by a terrible affair which occurred on the Saline river near that place. It appears that Haley Cook and Hubbard Raftsman had a quarrel in which Hubbard.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Became very much enraged and Haley so.

[Genevieve Manion]

That he might shoot him. This was accordingly done and Haley received a ball through the heart. The citizens of Abraham, hearing the news.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Upon the arrival of the lumbering party, took the law into their own hands, shot Hubbard, rendered life extinct by beating his brains out with clubs and then dragged his body up and down the.

[Genevieve Manion]

Streets for an hour or so.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Placated by this calming episode, the vengeful citizens then retired leisurely to their respective homes. End quote. Did that horrifying article really need to include that witty sarcasm in the end? My dude reporter. Christ. The only full name in that article was Henry Acheson. I tried to find if his killers.

[Genevieve Manion]

Were ever caught, but sadly I did.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Not find that they were. God, what a blood soaked little article. Okay, let's pivot to a simply heartbreaking one.

[Genevieve Manion]

This one is called Driven to Despair and History of a Misspent Life. And it reads, an ex captain of the British army committed suicide at the Hoffman House, New York on the 6th. He had been a man of fast habits and epicurean tastes. A soldier victim of the Black Friday bubble. He found life not worth enduring suffering and ended it by opium. Of one of the first families of the south of England. George C. Van Eyck was reared in luxury. He was habituated to the greatest ease and comfort and contracted those expensive habits which became a part and parcel of his daily life. In after years he was educated in Cambridge University, and during this time was noted as one of the most fashionable freshmen in the family famed alma mater. Leaving the college, a commission as Captain in the 47th Infantry, British was purchased for him, and it being what it is known as a crack regiment, his mode of life became even more dissipated than when at Cambridge the regiment was officered by young men of high birth and large means, and the expenses of the mess were enormous. This course of life, so expensive, was almost too much for van ex van family to afford, and it was almost deemed a happy dispensation of Providence when his regiment was ordered to Canada and he left England and his mother and sister behind him forever. In due course of time, after months of garrison life in Quebec and Montreal, Vaneck grew tired of soldiering and sold out. He came to New York, where an uncle was doing business in Wall street as a broker. Bankrupt and broken down, he entered into into the busy, whirling life of Wall street and got along very well until the golden bubble of Black Friday burst with it. He burst, as did hundreds of others. Vaneck lost all he had, $40,000, and became despondent and dissipated. The only thing that seemed to give him rest was drink. Brandy was the sovereign remedy for all his ills, and he used it to excess. He was drunk nearly all the time. His uncle gave him money to live on, and he spent lavishly when he had it, and wanting food afterwards, drowned sorrow and killed hunger by drink. His personal appearance deteriorated and became inflamed. To supply himself with money, he procured himself a situation as reporter for a morning journal, but was dismissed owing to his intemperate habits. He had been in the habit of stopping at the Hoffman house when in the city, but when his means gave out, instead of a nice suite of rooms which he had occupied, he traveled up higher and higher until he reached the degraded altitude of the uppermost floor. He used to leave the hotel at times and be absent for weeks, and on reappearing, say that he had been in Canada seeing his old comrades. He returned from one of these nomadic wanderings wanderings on 29 January, and was reassigned. Room number 187, the top floor bedroom. In this he was found dead Tuesday morning. His passion for drink had not left him, for his first action upon returning was to order brandy. From the night until the time he was last seen alive, he was intoxicated. On Monday, Dr. John Bradley, residing in the hotel at VA, advised Vanek to stop drinking, as it would inevitably kill him. The servant rapped at the door of his room to call Van Eck to breakfast at 8 o' clock Tuesday morning the 6th, and receiving no answer, became alarmed. The door was forced and he was found dead in bed. Coroner Keenan was notified and held an inquest. The vial purchased by Montgomery and another bottle labelled Laudanum were found completely, completely empty on the bureau, leaving scarcely a doubt that he committed suicide. A post mortem examination made by Deputy Coroner Worcester beach disclosed the stomach, kidneys and intestines in a diseased state caused by alcoholic inflammation. A bunch of keys, $2 and a few cents, was all that was found in the possession of vanek. He was 31 years of age, of fine appearance and genial ways. End quote. So sad. I wonder where the reporter got all of that information about his life. There are no resources mentioned. Perhaps the man, Dr. John Bradley, gave him all of that information. Oh, so tragic. I want to talk briefly about what the Black Friday bubble was. This was an event that happened in 1869.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

This was a financial crisis caused by rich dudes who intended to manipulate the gold market.

[Genevieve Manion]

Jay Gould and Jim Fisk bought massive amounts of gold in an attempt to raise the price of gold.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

They were trying to corner the gold market. The goal was to buy as much gold as possible, driving up its price, and then sell their holdings for a massive profit. But when President Grant got wind that they were trying to manipulate the market like this, this.

[Genevieve Manion]

He ordered the treasury to sell $4.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Million in gold, which caused the price of gold to plummet and trigger a.

[Genevieve Manion]

Panic in the economy.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It took a few weeks to recover. It didn't crash the entire economy, but.

[Genevieve Manion]

Folks who had a lot of money, specifically in gold, did lose a lot of money. That must have been what happened to George C. Van Eck.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

James Fisk, by the way, was murdered in broad daylight by a man named.

[Genevieve Manion]

Edward Howard Stokes, who shot him at the Grand Central Hotel in 1872, by the way. And it wasn't because of the gold scheme.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It was because of a love triangle between Stokes, Fisk and their mistresses.

[Genevieve Manion]

All rather scandalous.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It sure is a good thing rich people, including our own lawmakers, aren't able to manipulate markets for their benefit and.

[Genevieve Manion]

Ruin people's lives anymore.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

I'm joking, obviously. Please do call your representatives and demand that they vote for Representative John Riley's Stock act to prevent lawmakers from trading individual stocks.

[Genevieve Manion]

If you would be so kind.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Funny enough, the reason Grant jumped at ordering the treasury to make this very bold move and cause a good amount of damage to some folks portfolios was because his own cousin was also involved.

[Genevieve Manion]

In the scheme and he didn't want to be tied to it.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Imagine that, a politician actually caring if people consider them corrupt by association because of stock manipulation.

[Genevieve Manion]

Those were the days.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

This isn't a right wing left wing thing here too, by the way. All of the bums do this. Okay, it has been a while since I have dove diven, since I dived, since I dove. None of those sound right to me. Into the oh my God folder. I organize all of the articles that.

[Genevieve Manion]

I clip into folders and the oh my God folder contains very specific kinds of tales.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Ones that start entirely benign, maybe a little off, and take a quick whiplash inducing turn into the depths of hell.

[Genevieve Manion]

And this one does not disappoint.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

It doesn't have a title. It is just a blurb at the bottom of a page and it reads A wager was made between two Orange.

[Genevieve Manion]

New Jersey men a year ago as to the quantity of liquor a certain party could drink within the year. The man who made the wager and the keeper of the saloon in which the liquor was drunk have died suddenly.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And the boy who carried the liquor has committed suicide. End quote. That's all there is to it. The article says nothing. It wasn't really about anything thing. I've mentioned that these articles were sometimes written for no other purpose than just to fill out the bottom of the page. And this sounds like a quote unquote reporter started trying to do that and then just gave up and wrote something horrible to end it with a bang. Oh God, I feel terrible for laughing. I'm not laughing at what is written. I'm laughing that it was written and printed in a newspaper. This godforsaken fabulous newspaper packages by Expedia.

[Car Seller]

You were made to occasionally take the hard route to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We were made to easily bundle your trip expedia made to travel flight inclusive packages are atoll protected.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Okay, let's have a simply horrifying one with absolutely stomach turning details. What do you say this one is called?

[Genevieve Manion]

Probable infanticide in Charleston.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

The dead body of a child disinterred by a dog.

[Genevieve Manion]

Arrest of a man and woman on suspicion. And it reads, Mr. Frank W. Slasson of Charleston visited Chief Swift's office last week and made the following statement. He said he confined a large new foundation woodland dog in the cellar of his residence, number 22 Cross street and when he went into the cellar he found the dog playing with the dead body of an infant. On looking about the cellar, he found that the dog had dug a hole about three inches deep and doubtless thus discovered the dead body. He further said that George Thurston and Olive Pillsbury resided in the upper part of his residence. Residence. In September last, he noticed that Ms. Pillsbury had a rotundity of form which she had not possessed several months previous. About the middle of September, Mr. Slassin went to Maine and remained there for about two months. And on coming to Charleston, he noticed that Ms. Pillsbury looked very pale. On inquiry, he was informed that she had been sick. Although there was the appearance which might indicate the commission of a murder, the chief did not feel warranted in arresting the parties on that ground, but he caused a warrant to be issued against Mr. Thurston and Ms. Pillsbury for secreting the body of a dead infant. The warrant was served by Chief Swift, Detective Knox, and Officer Faunce, who visited the house in Cross street with Coroner Weston and Dr. Foster. The parties having been arrested, the coroner and doctor visited the cellar and examined the body of the infant which had been somewhat disfigured by the dog. The infant was full grown and evidently born alive, but as it is disfigured, it cannot be told whether it was killed or not. Thurston and the Pillsbury woman have been living together as man and wife for some time past, although she was arrested a short time since for cohabitating with a married man in Somerville. The parties are each about 35 years old. Whew.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

All right, I found a little more information.

[Genevieve Manion]

Information here. They were both arrested, held without bail until March. One month later, George the man, pled not guilty and he was discharged, while Olive Pillsbury pled guilty to burying the infant in the basement. But she was not found guilty for murder. Perhaps she pled guilty of the lesser charge to avoid a murder case that likely would have been difficult to prove. It appears that she wasn't incarcerated, but fined for disposing of the body improperly.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

A lot of bodies in basements today.

[Car Seller]

Oh, how awful.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Okay, now let's have an article about a complete jerk. By all accounts, this one is called Dora Walsh Gets Her Nose Pulled by a Shoe Dealer in New York, and it has a fabulous illustration on the Instagram. I put illustrations that were done of today's articles, but I thought I'd also add. Add some other illustrations of the articles from the same paper that didn't quite make the cut, but are hilarious and horrifying. And I put a link to the episode post in the show notes so that you can find it more easily. My favorite is the drunken oyster illustration. I read an article about a drunken oyster about 20 episodes ago and that illustration was in this same volume as most of the articles in this episode. It is fabulous. Okay, this is. This article reads, Dora Walsh, a very.

[Genevieve Manion]

Respectable woman, went into the shoe store at 408 Third Avenue, New York, owned by Bernard Streme. She wanted to purchase a pair of shoes, several of which she tried on but not fitting her. She declined, of course, to purchase this.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Roused Strym's anger and he slapped Dora's face. Not content with this, he caught hold of her nose nose and wrung it so severely that it was bleeding. When she met Officers of the 21st Precinct to whom she complained of her ill treatment, Strym was arrested and held in bail of $500.

[Genevieve Manion]

Even in the courtroom, the complainant's nose.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Bore evidence of rough handling.

[Genevieve Manion]

Strym's conduct has been the subject of numerous complaints heretofore on the part of.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Women ill treated by him.

[Genevieve Manion]

And he seems to to be an.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Infernal brute who needs killing. End quote. Jesus. I mean, yes, he sounds like a woman hating creep that needs to be taken off the streets, but you can always count on the Illustrated Police News to make extraordinary light of murder. I did take a look to see if this man was ever killed, just to make sure that the newspaper publicly calling for his assassination didn't actually come to pass. I couldn't find anything about this guy at all in the news going forward. Good news all around. Hopefully he learned his lesson and simply faded into obscurity.

[Genevieve Manion]

Poor Mrs. Walsh.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Okay, onto an absolutely horrifying and God awful article. But don't worry, I'll read it and then explain why not to worry. It is called A Woman's Tongue Cut the Victim.

[Genevieve Manion]

A Teacher writes the names of her murderers and dies.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And it reads.

[Genevieve Manion]

The Citizen newspaper of last evening says that two young men entered a schoolhouse in Ramsay after the pupils had been dismissed for the day and without any explanation seized the mistress. She attempted to scream when they gagged and outraged her. Knowing both the men she threw threatened to bring them to justice and they seized her again and cut her tongue out. She fell to the floor unconscious and the ruffians escaped. Some time afterward, the woman recovered her senses and crawled toward the blackboard here. After much struggling, she managed to write on the board the names of her murderers and a brief account of the affair. At last, weakened from the loss of blood, she fell to the floor and died. End quote.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Okay, as soon as I read this one, I quickly Started searching for the outcome. Did they catch the guys?

[Genevieve Manion]

What were their names?

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And I found this article in The.

[Genevieve Manion]

Pontiac Sentinel, November 6, 1878, called an old story and it reads, there seems to be a desire on the part of some persons to make a tremor of fear run through the nerves of every, every female school teacher in the land periodically by spreading abroad that old and fraudulent story about the young lady teacher who was said to have been assaulted by tramps and then her tongue cut out to prevent her telling the names of her assailants.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

The article then goes on to word for word print the same exact story.

[Genevieve Manion]

Written in the Illustrated Police News and.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Continues, quote, the story was absolutely false.

[Genevieve Manion]

But it was a good story to telegraph to the sensational newspapers. And it went a flying. The Chicago Times had it a few weeks after from Tazewell County. In three months it had moved up.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

To Belleville, Ontario and then suddenly appeared in Iowa.

[Genevieve Manion]

Now it has broken out in Pennsylvania.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

And next we may look for it in Virginia. Let some friend of the human family.

[Genevieve Manion]

Families squelch the frauds who periodically telegraph this story around the country.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

End quote. Thank God. As always, the Illustrated Police News fabulous at not fact checking virtually any of their stories calling for people to be assassinated and printing whatever.

[Genevieve Manion]

God almighty.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

That article has an illustration and that was the first, first thing that I.

[Genevieve Manion]

Checked to see about the names of these supposed men.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

They're just scribbles in the illustration that right away tipped me off that something was fishy about all this. Especially also that her name wasn't even mentioned. And now mind you, murder victims that were women, often their names were not mentioned in articles. But this one specifically missing her name, her location, it was to me obvious that there was something else going on. Well, that was awful. Let's have one more bombshell from this very irresponsible publication that has a great illustration.

[Genevieve Manion]

It is called How a Kokomoo Church.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Member Lost his Wig during Service.

[Genevieve Manion]

And it reads, a regular attendant at.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

One of the churches at Kokomoo, Iowa, wears a wig.

[Genevieve Manion]

Recently, while sitting in his pew, his wig disappeared. His wife noticed, noticed the fact, and.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Both began to look after it.

[Genevieve Manion]

But it was quite a while before it was found when it was discovered swinging from a button of a lady's dress.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

The lady had passed into the pew behind him and had unknowingly taken the wig with her. She surrendered it without complaint.

[Genevieve Manion]

End quote.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Oh, good. Even though I do love when these articles go off the rails, I was expecting maybe the woman would have like thrown a fit when they went to grab the wig off her behind and someone would have ended up with their eyes gouged out. After everything we've been through with this episode, I'm really happy she was like, oh, here's your hair. And that was the end of that.

[Genevieve Manion]

If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please rate the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please leave me comments because I love them so much and join the fan coven to receive it ad free a.

[Genevieve Manion's Co-host or Alternate Voice]

Day early, receive even more creepy content.

[Genevieve Manion]

And to directly support my show. Be kind to yourselves and I will see you in your nightmares.