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Tag Archives: Prisons and Jails

Early American Criminals: Thomas Mount’s Flash Songs

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

[display_podcast] Note: This post continues “Thomas Mount’s Crime Tips.” Long before Nicholas Pileggi wrote Wiseguy and revealed the inner-workings of present-day organized crime, Thomas Mount in 1791 disclosed the secrets of the Flash Company, a gang of burglars, thieves, and highwaymen. As a part of his revelations, Mount asked that the language and songs of […]

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The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: beat and its variants

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

beat – 1. to get the best of him; 2. to rob or swindle; 3. the part of a town in which a criminal or gang works; 4. to escape from prison; 5. to cheat or defraud (as in beat the hotel out of its bill). beat out of – to extort money from (a […]

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EAC Places and Events: The Old Jailhouse Tavern, Cape Cod

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

If you are vacationing on Cape Cod and want to add some early American crime to your dining experience, visit the Old Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans, MA. The current restaurant and bar is in the former house of town constable Henry Perry. Early in the nineteenth century, Perry used his spare front bedroom to hold […]

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Early American Criminals: John Dixon, the Recalcitrant Burglar

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

On August 21, 1784, a man entered the house of Capt. James Dagget of Reheboth, MA in the middle of the night and took several valuable items. He was soon caught and committed to the Taunton Gaol, where he gave his name as Abiel Brigs. The authorities knew better. They easily recognized him as John […]

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Early American Criminals: The Odd Couple of William Huggins and John Mansfield

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Even though William Huggins and John Mansfield were both born into good families, their backgrounds couldn’t have been more different. Huggins was raised in New York, served in the army, and then worked the land as a farm laborer. Mansfield was born in the Province of Maine and traveled the sea as a sailor. But […]

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