In September 1766, Richard Hodges and John Newingham Clark were convicted by the Superior Court in Boston of breaking into a shop and stealing fifty pounds worth of goods. As punishment, they were each fined twenty pounds, ordered to pay triple damages, imprisoned for six months, and bound for good behavior for twelve months. After [...]
The lush worker is headed to the annals of early American crime. The New York Times recently reported that, according to the New York Police Department, a specific breed of pickpocket, the lush worker, will soon be extinct. The lush worker rides the New York City subways late at night looking for a drunken reveler [...]
Joseph Lightly relates in his Last Words and Dying Speech that when his mother learned he had enlisted in the British army, “she told me she hoped she should hear of my being hanged, for my Cruelty of going to leave her against her Will.” Lightly’s mother may simply have been reacting to the moment, [...]
bone – 1. to take, steal, as in the way a dog runs off with a bone; 2. to be arrested, carried off, taken into custody; 3. to beg, to ask for. Sources London Antiquary, A [Hotten, John Camden]. A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words. 2nd ed. London: John Camden Hotten, 1860. [...]
bludgeoner – a bully, pimp, ponce. “A fellow who passes off some well-dressed woman as his wife. She goes out in search of a gallant, and entices her victim into some unfrequented place. The bludgeoner waits outside until she gives him a signal that the man is robbed, when he rushes in with a knife, [...]
blowen – 1. a woman; 2. a thief’s mistress; 3. a prostitute; 4. a strange woman. blowen, a fine – lady. blowen of the ken – mistress of the house. blowen spenie or blowen mush – a thief’s girl. blowen, to do him of his – to rob him of his wife. Sources Barnes, Daniel [...]
Note: This post follows “Henry Tufts’s Thanksgiving.” Henry Tufts returned to his family in Lee, NH after slipping away from Mr. Pickard, who in good faith had released him from the Old York jail. When Tufts arrived in his home town, though, he discovered that his reputation was as bad as ever, especially when [...]
bit – 1. the old Spanish “real” coin and then a dime; 2. money of any kind; 3. a share of the booty; 4. outwitted; 5. a prison sentence. Sources Barrère, Albert and Charles G. Leland. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Cant. [London]: The Ballantyne Press, 1889. Matsell, George W. Vocabulum: Or, the Rogue’s [...]
Note: This post follows “Early American Criminals: Henry Tufts’s Bill of Goods, a Preamble.” Over the last year or so, Early American Crime has focused on burglars in early America, and Henry Tufts was one of the most prolific. He committed burglaries throughout New England for a good part of his life before retiring [...]
The main source of information about the burglar and thief Henry Tufts differs from many of the previous sources that document the lives of early American criminals. The most obvious difference is the length of A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels, and Sufferings of Henry Tufts, which was published in 1807. Up until [...]
Anthony Vaver has broad expertise in the social and cultural history of crime and punishment. He holds a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an M.L.S. from Rutgers University. Vaver has been profiled and interviewed by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, D.C. Public Safety Radio, and other media outlets. He is also the author of the Amazon.com bestselling book, Bound with an Iron Chain. Contact Me.
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