5 Shocking Crimes From 19th Century NYC That'll Surprise You Today

\<br\>\<B\>BOND STREET BOMBSHELL: DIVORCED DENTIST FOUND DEAD, MISTRESS ACCUSED AS MURDERESS\<\/B\>\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\nThe \<a href=\"http://murderbygasslight.blogspot.com/2011/03/bond-street-tragedy.html\"\>lurid murder of a Bond Street dentist\<\/a\> captivated New Yorkers in 1857: A violent death, a disreputable victim, a scheming mistress, a fake marriage, and even a fake pregnancy. Harvey Burdell was a successful dentist and also did well in banking and real estate speculation. He partook in pleasures like gambling and prostitutes (he allegedly offered them free dental work in exchange for sex), too. But in 1854, he became involved with a young widow and mother-of-five Emma Cunningham, who eventually moved into Burdell\'s four-story 31 Bond Street residence, acting as a landlady for boarders, while Burdell kept rooms on the second floor.\r\n\<br\>\<br\>It\'s believed that early in their relationship, Cunningham became pregnant but Burdell didn\'t want the baby, and she had an abortion (\<a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/nyregion/19headstones.html?_r=1\"\>he may have performed it\<\/a\>). She also tried to get him to marry her repeatedly. On January 31, 1857, Burdell\'s dead body was found (strangled and stabbed 15 times). During a sensational two-week inquest, Cunningham claimed she was married to him just a few months earlier, while maids testified that Burdell had been sleeping with his 24-year-old female cousin—upsetting Cunningham—and that Cunningham had been sleeping with one of the boarders. Coroners said that based on stab wounds, the murderer was left-handed…which Cunningham was.\<br\>\<br\>Cunningham was tried for Burdell\'s murder, but she was acquitted (her lawyer used, in part, the \"weaker sex\" defense during the three-day trial). But her story wasn\'t over: In order for her to inherit more of Burdell\'s estate, Cunningham claimed she was pregnant with Burdell\'s child but instead contacted a doctor to ask for a baby for her charade. The doctor cooperated with authorities and when Cunningham insisted that the baby was hers, she was charged with fraud. The case was dropped, but her claim of marriage to Burdell was invalidated (she actually married a man disguised as Burdell). She died 30 years later, as a pauper, and is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, not too far from Burdell. \r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<em\>Like what you read here? Tune in to \<a href=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v2|3F65|0|0|%2a|h;258415016;0-0;0;82485660;31-1|1;48718935|48716268|1;;;pc=[TPAS_ID]%3fhttp://www.bbcamerica.com/copper\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes1\'])\"\>BBC America\'s Copper\<\/a\>, a gripping new crime-drama series set in 1860s New York City from Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana. Watch the series premiere of Copper \<strong\>Sunday, August 19\<\/strong\> only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to \<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CopperTV\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>like Copper on Facebook\<\/a\> and \<a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/coppertv\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>Copper on Twitter\<\/a\>.\<\/em\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/9wUOZ0pXv4k?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>

\<br\>\<b\>NAKED WOMAN\'S BODY FOUND IN TRUNK, ABORTION SCANDAL UNCOVERED\<\/b\>\<br/\>\<br/\>\r\nThe city was rocked by a shocking discovery on August 26, 1871: After a foul smell concerned a Hudson River Deport porter, a trunk bound for Chicago was opened and the naked body of a woman was found. Police determined it was foul play and, since it took six hours for the coroners to respond, hundreds of people saw the young woman\'s body. Finally, coroners at Bellevue Hospital performed an autopsy, and they found the she died from a botched abortion. The newspapers called the story, \"The Trunk Case\" and the public was riveted. Hundreds more headed to the morgue, claiming they were checking if a loved one was there, but actually they just wanted to catch a glimpse of the body. \<br/\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>On August 28, 1871, the cartman who delivered the trunk to the station (but hadn\'t been reading the papers) led the police to the address where he made the pick-up: 687 Second Avenue, home of Dr. Jacob Rosenzweig, who advertised his services under the name Ascher: \"Ladies in trouble guaranteed immediate relief, sure and safe; no fees required until perfectly satisfied; elegant rooms and nursing provided. Dr. Ascher.\" Rosenzweig was arrested and a Times article on August 29, 1871 described him as a \"fat, coarse and sensual-looking fellow, without any traces of refinement in person or manners, and does not bear the faintest appearance of the educated physician\" and noted that he received his diploma for just $40. The victim was ultimately identified as Alice Bowlsby, a 25-year-old NJ resident; though her body was decomposed, her doctors were able to identify her by a vaccination scar and a scar on her face.\<br/\>\r\n\<br/\>\r\nWith evidence such as bloodied female undergarments buried under the cellar, Rosenzweig was ultimately convicted, though his defense lawyers, \<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howe_and_Hummel\"\>William Howe and Abraham Hummel\<\/a\>, suggested Bowlsby\'s lover could have killed her (the lover ended up killing himself upon hearing she was dead) and that a hankerchief with the name \"A.A. Bowlsby\" found in Rosenzweig\'s house belonged to a Brooklyn woman named Alice Bowlsby. \<br/\> \<br/\>\r\n\r\n\r\nThe death, along with three other abortion-related deaths between August 30 and September 4 of that year, also spurred a movement against abortion. Abortion was legal at the time, but the next year, New York outlawed abortions. When Rosenzweig was released from Sing Sing prison in 1872, he was re-arrested for performing abortions—Howe managed to have charges dropped because the trunk case occurred before the law went into effect.\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<em\>Like what you read here? Tune in to \<a href=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v2|3F65|0|0|%2a|h;258415016;0-0;0;82485660;31-1|1;48718935|48716268|1;;;pc=[TPAS_ID]%3fhttp://www.bbcamerica.com/copper\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes1\'])\"\>BBC America\'s Copper\<\/a\>, a gripping new crime-drama series set in 1860s New York City from Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana. Watch the series premiere of Copper \<strong\>Sunday, August 19\<\/strong\> only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to \<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CopperTV\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>like Copper on Facebook\<\/a\> and \<a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/coppertv\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>Copper on Twitter\<\/a\>.\<\/em\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/9wUOZ0pXv4k?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>

\<br\>\<B\>LOVE TRIANGLE TURNS FATAL: STAR REPORTER SHOT AT NEWSPAPER OFFICES BY JEALOUS, ABUSIVE HUSBAND\<\/B\>\r\n\<br\>\<br\>In 1869, the city was rocked by the violent shooting of notable Civil War reporter and New York Daily Tribune editor Albert Richardson. Richardson was shot in the Daily Tribune\'s offices by Daniel McFarland, a Deputy Assessor with Tammany Hall connections, who was upset by Richardson\'s relationship with his ex-wife. McFarland had shot Richardson in the leg two years earlier, but this time, Richardson ended up dying from his injuries. \<br/\>\<br/\>Abby Sage McFarland was a popular stage actress and also did some writing, resulting in friends like Daily Tribune editor Horace Greeley. She was also \<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Love-Passion-Murder-Justice/dp/0679433988\"\>physical abused\<\/a\> by her alcoholic husband; the couple lived in a boarding house at 86 Amity Street, where Richardson leased a room as an office. McFarland was \<a href=\"http://murderbygasslight.blogspot.com/2010/07/richardson-mcfarland-tragedy.html\"\>apparently driven to a jealous rage\<\/a\> when he once saw his wife discussing a manus\cript with Richardson\<\/a\>. Abby McFarland eventually moved out, and her friendship with Richardson developed. On March 15, 1867, she and Richardson were walking on Amity Street when McFarland shot Richardson in the leg; McFarland blamed Richardson for wrecking his marriage while Richardson said McFarland had committed \"gross cruelty\" towards his wife and failed to support her and their children, \"squandering her hard-won earnings.\" McFarland never went to prison.\<br/\>\<br/\>\r\nThe next year, Daniel McFarland attempted to gain custody of their children. That prompted Abby McFarland to seek divorce, which she did in Indiana, since New York only allowed divorce on the grounds of adultery. After living in Indiana for 16 months, by October 1869 she was divorced, calling herself Abby Sage. Then the events of November 25, 1869 occurred.\<br/\>\<br/\>According to Richardson, \"At five o\'clock… I stepped into the Tribune office and asked for my letters; at that moment I first saw Daniel McFarland behind the counter, pointing a pistol at me; he seemed to me to have come from behind somewhere; he fired instantly and simultaneously with the first glance I got of him; the muzzle of the pistol in McFarland\'s hands was, I think, about four feet from me; the ball entered my stomach, (abdominal region;) I came out of one of the north Park-row doors and went up stairs into the editorial rooms, where I laid down on a lounge, and asked that a surgeon be sent for.\"\<br/\>\<br/\>On November 30, 1869, the ailing Richardson married Abby Sage in a bedside ceremony. He died days later on December 2. McFarland was tried in April 1870 and was acquitted, \<a href=\"http://www.ulib.niu.edu/badndp/richardson_albert.html\"\>on grounds of insanity\<\/a\> (Mark Twain wrote about the trial and acquittal in an article called, \<a href=\"http://www.online-literature.com/donne/3298/\"\>\"My Precious Lunatic\"\<\/a\> for the Buffalo Express) and recommended to be placed into an asylum. \<br\>\<br\>Abby Sage Richardson gathered Richardson\'s writings into a book, called, \<a href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=ts8rAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false\"\>Garnered Sheaves\<\/a\>.\<br/\>\<br/\>\<span class=\"photo_caption\"\>Image, depicting the 1867 shooting, from \<a href=\"http://books.google.com/books?id=44v9DqDdAxkC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=86+amity+street+richardson&source=bl&ots=QY3gz0uRTc&sig=zi6w0B8j7AQtRAe5pBH5lgs62Ak&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FwPVT4H9F4TY6gHd0eGEAw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=86%20amity%20street%20richardson&f=false\"\>the Richardson-McFarland Tragedy\<\/a\>\<\/span\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<em\>Like what you read here? Tune in to \<a href=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v2|3F65|0|0|%2a|h;258415016;0-0;0;82485660;31-1|1;48718935|48716268|1;;;pc=[TPAS_ID]%3fhttp://www.bbcamerica.com/copper\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes1\'])\"\>BBC America\'s Copper\<\/a\>, a gripping new crime-drama series set in 1860s New York City from Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana. Watch the series premiere of Copper \<strong\>Sunday, August 19\<\/strong\> only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to \<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CopperTV\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>like Copper on Facebook\<\/a\> and \<a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/coppertv\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>Copper on Twitter\<\/a\>.\<\/em\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/9wUOZ0pXv4k?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>

\<br\>\r\n\<b\>WHEN NYC HAD TWO POLICE FORCES AND ONE ARRESTED THE MAYOR\<\/b\>\<br\>\<br/\>\r\n\r\nYou may have strong opinions about Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, David Dinkins and Ed Koch, but they are nothing compared to Fernando Wood, a Democrat who was elected to be Mayor of New York City in 1854. Under Mayor Wood, the Municipal Police (formed in 1845) became incredibly corrupt and the Republican-controlled State Legislature abolished it in 1857 and created the competing Metropolitan Police. Wood refused to remove the Municipals, which meant NYC had two different police organizations, one controlled by the mayor, the other by Albany, operating at the same time. Which meant the two sides were squabbling and the gangs ran wild, most notably during the \<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Rabbits_Riot\"\>Dead Rabbits Riot\<\/a\> because cops couldn\'t decide who was supposed to enforce the law.\<br\>\<br\>\r\nOn June 16, 1857, after Wood apparently took $50,000 to change the successor for Street Commissioner (who was in charge of determining where \<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners\'_Plan_of_1811\"\>streets, public squares, etc.\<\/a\> were), the original pick, Daniel Conover, was removed from City Hall. In turn, Conover got arrest warrants to apprehend Wood, one for inciting a riot and a second for \"violence against Conover\'s person\". Captain George Walling, a former Municipal police officer who moved over to the Metropolitan force, went to arrest Wood, but was stopped by the 300 Municipal police officers and thrown out of City Hall. Walling came back with dozens of Metropolitan police officers and a fight ensued inside City Hall and on its steps. The Metropolitans, outnumbered, ultimately retreated and over 50 men were injured. \<br/\>\<br/\>\r\nConover went to Sheriff Jacob Westervelt, in hopes he would be able to remove Wood, but Wood would not budge. It took Major-General Charles W. Sandford, who was heading to Boston with the Seventh Regiment, for Wood to surrender. \<br/\>\<br/\>\r\nAfter all that, Wood was released on bail and never brought to trial (the Governor, who was unhappy with Wood, apparently didn\'t have the right to decide on appointments). As for the two separate police forces, the state\'s highest court ultimately determined the Metropolitans were the city\'s police and the Municipals were disbanded.\<br/\>\<br/\>\<span class=\"Photo_caption\"\>Illustration of the fight at City Hall from the New York Public Library\<\/span\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\<em\>Like what you read here? Tune in to \<a href=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v2|3F65|0|0|%2a|h;258415016;0-0;0;82485660;31-1|1;48718935|48716268|1;;;pc=[TPAS_ID]%3fhttp://www.bbcamerica.com/copper\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes1\'])\"\>BBC America\'s Copper\<\/a\>, a gripping new crime-drama series set in 1860s New York City from Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana. Watch the series premiere of Copper \<strong\>Sunday, August 19\<\/strong\> only on BBC America. For more updates on the series, be sure to \<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CopperTV\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>like Copper on Facebook\<\/a\> and \<a href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/coppertv\" rel=\"nofollow\" onClick=\"_gaq.push([\'_trackPageview\', \'/outgoing/Copper_CHI_Crimes2\'])\"\>Copper on Twitter\<\/a\>.\<\/em\>\r\n\r\n\<br\>\<br\>\r\n\r\n\<iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/embed/9wUOZ0pXv4k?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen\>\<\/iframe\>