Vintage Photos, Genealogy & Crime Stories
Bess was the wife of Harry A. Nelson, the Deputy Assessor of Alameda County, California. It was the Great Depression, and many people were suffering financial hardship, but the Nelsons were not among them. They lived in a comfortable home at 5314 Boyd Avenue in Oakland with their daughter Jessie and Bess’s mother, Mae Hulett. … Continue reading The Chauffeur in the Bedroom with the Lead Pipe
A young woman going by the name of Lena Duarte was sent to prison on Halloween day in 1901. Her crime? Sending an “obscene letter” via the US mail to her friend Mabel Smith when she was in Fresno. This was a felony and Lena’s conviction earned her a sentence of six months in San … Continue reading Lena’s Scarlet Letter
I was very fortunate to purchase this news photo on eBay a few years ago. It shows newly minted SFPD policewoman, Blanche Payson, being sworn in by Police Chief D.A. White. I suspect the photographer was careful to make sure the photo on the wall of famed police detective, Isaiah Lees, was also visible in … Continue reading Taking Her Oath
Can you imagine a time when stealing a horse (or two) could earn you hard time in San Quentin? Meet the men who accomplished that feat: Frank Adamson and James Carey. In October of 1912, Frank stole a horse and buggy in Turlock that belonged to Emil Johnson. He drove it to Fresno and on … Continue reading Stealing Horses
What do rattlesnakes have to do with crime? In this case the answer is nothing. Why are the two young men in the news photo holding a large, venomous snake? The explanation is on the back of the photo: Leonarde “Nard” Keeler, the young man on the left, was one of the fathers of the … Continue reading The Milkman
Ernest Perez was 21 years old and a native of Mexico. His first name fits his gaze as he looks seriously up at the camera. The photographer could not have asked for a more beautiful light in which to take Ernest’s mugshot. He was arrested on October 7, 1922, for petit larceny, details unknown. The … Continue reading Earnest Ernest
Harry Vining, alias Edward Brooks, 19 years old, of 1 Harvard ct., Brookline, was arrested last evening by Inspectors Pierce and McGarr last evening on the charge of uttering forged checks. He was held on a warrant issued by the lower court, but the police have also an indictment warrant containing two similar counts. It … Continue reading The Trouble with Harry
Helen and Howard Cassidy had a stormy marriage. The couple separated three times and also had gotten divorced and remarried. By 1926 the marriage was on the rocks again. Helen took their five-year-old daughter and moved out without leaving a forwarding address. Howard moved back to his home state of Colorado with their two sons. … Continue reading The Love Nest
His Second Term. MARYSVILLE, Oct. 22, — Antonio Ferasci was today sentenced to ten years in San Quentin for burglary. Ferasci served a term for the same crime from Sonoma County in 1899 under the name Peter Ferasha. — Los Angeles Times, October 23, 1900 Despite the report from the L. A. Times, it was … Continue reading A Man of Many Mugshots
Ernest Long was arrested on March 21, 1922, in San Francisco. The charges were dressing in “women’s garb” and carrying a concealed weapon—a revolver. At the time of his arrest Ernest worked as a marine engineer on the steamship “Rose City,” which traveled between San Francisco and Portland. When the police interviewed Ernest’s wife, Lulu, … Continue reading The Veiled Man
Leon Daniels, who has been traveling about the city for some weeks, and who claims to be a mind-reader, will appear before Judge Davis this morning. He is accused of stealing from the Central Hotel an overcoat belonging to the proprietor. — The Record-Union, Sacramento, California, February 8, 1897 He most likely got off with … Continue reading The Mind Reader
An impulsive, violent act has the potential to ruin a young man’s life. William Lincoln Parkhill committed such an act in 1896 in Sacramento, California. Parkhill, a street vendor who sold tamales, attacked a child of ten, Lillie Frank, and attempted to rape her on the morning of Monday, August 24. Lillie (or Lulu; both … Continue reading No Dainties for Him
Captured and Exposed 