Counterfeiters try to steal Lincoln’s body
In the 1870s a gang of counterfeiters turned grave robbers in an attempt to free one of their members by holding Abraham Lincoln’s body hostage. One of the country’s largest counterfeiting gangs ran its operation in Illinois. When Ben Boyd, a master engraver, was thrown in jail, the gang’s supply of counterfeit money dwindled. From Counterfeiting to Grave Robbing The gang’s leader, Big Jim Kennally came up with an idea to steal Abraham Lincoln’s corpse and hold it hostage for $200,000 in gold and Boyd’s freedom. However, one night one conspirator, Ben Sheridan, had too much to drink and talked too much to one hostess of a local brothel. He revealed the plot to her, and she told others of the plot. The story spread and the gang had to flee Springfield. The Second Attempt Kennally didn’t give up the idea. Read more…
Hairy Memories: Hair albums used braided hair to create memories
Charlie Chaplin wrote in his autobiography, “Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality.” It is a feeling that adults must never entirely get over, either. How many of us have scrapbooks that contain a lock of our hair from when we were a baby or when we got our first haircuts? When you look at it does it bring back memories of your childhood? Of a time of youthful energy and innocence? Ann Hull, director of the Franklin County (Pa.) Historical Society – Kittochtinny, tells a story of how she was doing genealogy research one time and among some family items, she found an envelope with a lock of Read more…
Hairy Memories: Hair albums used braided hair to create memories
Charlie Chaplin wrote in his autobiography, “Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality.” It is a feeling that adults must never entirely get over, either. How many of us have scrapbooks that contain a lock of our hair from when we were a baby or when we got our first haircuts? When you look at it does it bring back memories of your childhood? Of a time of youthful energy and innocence? Ann Hull, director of the Franklin County (Pa.) Historical Society – Kittochtinny, tells a story of how she was doing genealogy research one time and among some family items, she found an envelope with a lock of Read more…
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