THE BLOODY CENTURY:
True
Tales of Murder in 19th Century America
A murderous atmosphere pervaded nineteenth century America unlike anything seen before or since. Lurid murder stories dominated newspaper headlines, and as if responding to the need for sensational copy, Americans everywhere began to see murder as a solution to their problems. The Bloody Century retells their stories; some still famous, some long buried, all endlessly fascinating. The Bloody Century is a collection of true stories of ordinary Americans, driven by desperation, greed, jealousy or an irrational bloodlust, to take the life of someone around them. The book includes facts, motives, circumstances and outcomes, narrating fifty of the most intriguing murder cases of nineteenth century America. Richly illustrated with scenes and portraits originally published at the time of the murders, and including songs and poems written to commemorate the crimes, The Bloody Century invokes a fitting atmosphere for Victorian homicide.
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A Bloody Bit From THE BLOODY CENTURY Book...
THE BOND STREET TRAGEDY
Emma Cunningham, a
33-year-old widow coming upon hard times, seduced and had an affair with a wealthy
dentist, Dr. Harvey Burdell (who, in spite of his successful banking and real
estate investments, was also known to
service the dental needs of prostitutes working in his Bond Street neighborhood
and to take his fee in trade). Soon
enough he was found dead in his office and generally a bloody mess. His corpse was examined and it was determined
that the doctor had been strangled with a garrote and stabbed fifteen times
with a long slender knife.
After the murder Emma
promptly produced a letter stating that she had been married to Dr. Burdell, and
that his estate was therefore entirely hers.
Witnesses and a trail of clues led the police to quickly arrest Emma for
Burdell's murder. She was put on trial,
which was a sensation that lasted only 3 days –– and thanks to her attorney
bashing Burdell's reputation with prostitutes, among other unsavory practices,
Emma was acquitted of his murder.
She then had the gal
to insist she was pregnant with Burdell's child, to regain her upper hand on
claiming his estate. She even went as
far as to secure a living baby and fake labor and giving birth to the child. This is where everything went straight to
hell for her –– the police were already suspect and were waiting to pounce on
the fraudulent Emma and her accomplice physician when the doctor appeared with
the new (and illegally procured) infant.
Greed, jealousy, revenge, obsession – the motives of America’s gas-lit murders are universal and timeless. Yet their stories are tightly bound to a particular place and time; uniquely American, uniquely 19th Century.
The goal of Murder by Gaslight is to bring them all together, the great and the small, to retell their tales, to point the way for those seeking more detail, and most importantly, to provide a forum to share facts and opinions. So here they are, America’s Victorian murders – sometimes gruesome, often shocking, always fascinating. Welcome to Murder by Gaslight.
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About THE BLOODY CENTURY Author...
ROBERT WILHELM:
Robert Wilhelm is the author of Wicked Victorian Boston (History Press, 2017), The Bloody Century: True Tales of Murder in 19th Century America (Night Stick Press, 2014) and Murder and Mayhem in Essex County (History Press, 2011), a history of capital crimes in Essex County, Massachusetts from the 1600s to the turn of the twentieth century. He blogs about historical true crime at Murder by Gaslight (www.MurderByGaslight.com) and The National Night Stick (nightstick.azurewebsites.net). Robert lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.
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