Vintage Photos, Genealogy & Crime Stories
I had been planning to write a blog post about Harris Lyons for awhile, but I hadn't gotten around to it when I received a message on Ancestry about him. My correspondent noticed that I had saved a number of newspaper articles about him and wondered if I was a relative. I told her I … Continue reading Double Trouble, Or the Case of Two Mugshots
Sneak thief, con man and husband of Sophie Lyons, Billy Burke pulled a bank heist in Sweden during the summer of 1911. He got caught while attempting to grab a stack of kronor off a bank counter, employing his favorite technique of pincers on the bottom of his walking stick. This led to his conviction … Continue reading Sophie Lyons’ Adventures in Stockholm
With a crisp straw boater sitting squarely on his head, the young man doesn’t look like a hardened criminal. His clothes are clean and neat. The American flag pin on his label showed off his support for the American troops fighting in the Spanish-American War when his mug shot photos were taken. His unflinching gaze … Continue reading Silent Phil
Captured and Exposed 