Story Summary: The high-society wife of a millionaire trunk manufacturer undergoes an unspecified operation, which alters her personality (or so it is claimed). In 1907 she runs away to Chicago where she falls in love with a black man. To keep him happy, she works as a maid for a string of wealthy Chicago families. […]

  Lemuel Hawkins, Auto Theft (Federal), 1931 Lemuel Hawkins (October 2, 1895 – August 10, 1934) was an American first baseman in Negro league baseball. He played for the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago Giants and Chicago American Giants from 1921 to 1928. He was 5’10” and weighed 185 pounds. In 1931 he was arrested for […]

Bert Martin, Horse thief, 1900/01 In October 1900, ranch hand Bert Martin went on trial for stealing horses in Springview, Nebraska, the county seat of Keya Paha County. During his trial, he was supported by his wife and step-child, as well as his widowed-mother. On October 13, he was found guilty and sentenced to serve […]

Since this is the week of thanksgiving, I wanted to work in a thanksgiving type crime. The best I could do was this poultry pilferer from 1931. Credit: Nebraska State Historical Society   In 1931, during the depths of the Great Depression, Jake Vohland attempted to steal chickens from Mr. and Mrs. Dale E. Stubblefield […]

Charlie Johnson was a career criminal who was arrested in Washington D.C. on January 11, 1949, for pick-pocketing. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $200. He was born in 1895 in Kansas City, Missouri, and his criminal record dates from 1917. His record states he was living in New York City […]

Frank Shaffer In 1918, while US forces were fighting in Europe, Frank Shaffer, 42, was arrested for mailing the anti-war book, The Final Mystery, through the United States postal service. For this, he was charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917. He was first sentenced to two and one-half years in federal prison but […]

Ed Hagen was a former semi-professional boxer and hero policeman turned bootlegger. He was caught in April of 1919 trying to break into a government liquor warehouse. He was sentenced to two years in McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary. He appealed his sentence but eventually lost and began serving his sentence in March, 1921. The article […]

The following case has been a “repeater” for many years and is now in the penitentiary. She is sixty-eight years of age and has served sentences in the penitentiaries of Blackwell’s Island, Sing Sing, Jolie t, and probably elsewhere. This is her third term in Joliet. She has also served several sentences in the Cook […]

This psychological profile was written in 1897 and I do not vouch for its accuracy. Source: Crime and Criminals, John Sanderson Christison, Chicago Medical Book Co. 1898.   “The first case [George Perry] considered is that of an epileptic, and arson is the crime charged. Epilepsy has many causes and many forms. Some persons have […]

With this post, we introduce a new segment on HCD called “Mug Shot Monday,” which features a mug shot or photograph and a short bio. Today’s mug shot is a 20 year-old shoplifter circa late 1890s with an interesting bio. “Case 15 is a young woman, single, 20 years of age, and a native of […]