History Press
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Authentic Chicago
The Fairway Flapper, The Lincolnwood Lone Ranger, The Wandering Church And Other Quirky History
by John R. Schmidt
Part of the History Press series
Discover the history most Chicagoans don't know---the real Chicago Way.
The Windy City is full of forgotten landmarks and unusual stories that rarely get the benefit of a guided tour. Meet the African-American congressman who paved the way for Harold Washington and Barack Obama, the South Side Jewish girl who became the president of a South American country, and the visiting Romanian queen who charmed the city. Learn when Chicagoans were paid to smile, how furniture sprouts on Windy City streets after a blizzard and why Smell-O-Vision seemed like a good idea. From an in-city ski resort to the nation's greatest train robbery, author John R. Schmidt offers a glimpse of the overlooked scenery of Chicago's past.
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Florida At Sea
A Maritime History
by Joe Knetsch
Part of the History Press series
From small ports to large ports, from rivers to creeks, from lakes to lagoons, water routes have been essential to Florida's development as a commercial, recreational, agricultural, and cultural entity. With more than 30,000 lakes and ponds and some 1,700 rivers, creeks, and streams, Florida ranks second in the list of wettest states in the USA. Native Americans used the rivers, creeks, and lakes as routes to various locales within the peninsula while harvesting fish and other aquatic edibles to sustain their daily lives. Early European settlers followed suit and supplemented their diets with the bounty from the oceans and fresh water sources. Into statehood, settlers relied on the same sources for food while using fresh water to make the land productive for food and cash crops. By the early decades of the 20th Century, water became a marketable attraction to lure millions of tourists to Florida for recreation and sports. The trend continues today. Join a trio of authors on this look at the immense impact water and maritime activities have played in the development of Florida.
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The Oregon Skyline Trail|
A History
by Glenn Voelz
Part of the History Press series
The foundation of America's greatest long-distance hiking trail. The Skyline Trail began as a network of footpaths created by Oregon's indigenous tribes. Early fur traders and explorers followed in their steps, seeking safe routes over the unmapped Cascades. Judge John Breckenridge Waldo later spent decades exploring the mountain trail between Mount Hood and Crater Lake and led the campaign for the area's preservation. During the 1920s, the Forest Service briefly considered turning the path into a scenic highway and sent one of its first recreational specialists, Frederick Cleator, to blaze a prospective route through the mountains before scrapping the ideaJoin author Glenn Voelz as he recounts the fascinating history of Oregon's Skyline Trail.
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Preserving the Pennsylvania Wilds
The Rebirth of Elk Country
by Mario Chiappelli
Part of the History Press series
A Legacy of Conservation
Every year thousands flock to the Pennsylvania Wilds to be among nature and its famous elk herd. In the past, dangerous levels of hunting and industrial development forever altered Pennsylvania's natural landscape and drove its native elk to near extinction. In response, concerned sportsmen and conservationists pushed the state legislature to create a game commission in the late 1800s to enforce game laws and protect the herd. The Pennsylvania Game Commission then sought to reintroduce the once mighty elk herd in the early twentieth century, shipping fifty elk via train from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. Conservation movements continued to enhance the state's environmental landscape that faced new threats from logging and mining industries and by the 1980s, the Wilds was on a path to full restoration.
Author Mario Chiappelli reveals the history of how the Pennsylvania Wilds and its elk herd remain as vibrant as ever today.
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The Perfect Amount of Wrong
The Rise of Alt Comedy on Chicago's North Side
by Mike Bridenstine
Part of the History Press series
In just over a decade, a tiny, do-it-yourself stand-up scene on the North Side of Chicago produced some of the most successful and influential stand-up comedians of their generation. Hannibal Buress, T.J. Miller, Kyle Kinane, Cameron Esposito, Pete Holmes, Beth Stelling, Matt Braunger and Kumail Nanjiani make up a partial list of names of comics who emerged from a scene that had very little industry attention--or even a home club.
It was also a scene that took a backseat to the city's vaunted improv institution, and if we're being completely honest, it was a scene where comics mostly performed to drunks in the backs of dingy bars on their off nights. None of it was glamorous. None of it should have worked at all. But somehow, some way, the comedians from this scene have managed to etch their own names into the Chicago comedy pantheon. The Perfect Amount of Wrong is the story of that scene, as told by its veterans.
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Making Long Island
A History Of Growth And The American Dream
by Lawrence R. Samuel
Part of the History Press series
Discover the history of the development of Long Island and its intimate relationship with New York City.
Beginning in the Roaring Twenties, Wall Street money looked eastward to Nassau and Suffolk counties looking generate wealth from a land boom. After the Great Depression and World War II, Long Island was the site of the creation of the quintessential postwar American suburb, Levittown. Levittown and its spinoff suburban communities served as a primary symbol of the American dream through affordable home ownership for the predominately White middle class and established a core attribute of the national mythology. Starting in the 1960s, the dream began to dissolve, as the postwar economic engine ran out of steam and Long Island became as much urban as suburban.
Author Lawrence R. Samuel charts how the island evolved over the decades and largely detached itself from New York City to become a self-sustaining entity with its own challenges, exclusions and triumphs.
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The Soul Of Pittsburgh
Essays On Life, Community And History
by Ed Simon
Part of the History Press series
"Europe stretches to the Alleghenies, America lies beyond." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"They are my people and this is my town and it does my heart good just to be here." - Art Rooney Sr.
What does it mean to be from Pittsburgh? Author Ed Simon explores the nature of the Yinzer and how the Steel City shapes anyone who is fortunate to call it home.
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Authentic Chicago
The Fairway Flapper, the Lincolnwood Lone Ranger, the Wandering Church and Other Quirky History
by John R. Schmidt
Part of the History Press series
Discover the history most Chicagoans don't know---the real Chicago Way.
The Windy City is full of forgotten landmarks and unusual stories that rarely get the benefit of a guided tour. Meet the African-American congressman who paved the way for Harold Washington and Barack Obama, the South Side Jewish girl who became the president of a South American country, and the visiting Romanian queen who charmed the city. Learn when Chicagoans were paid to smile, how furniture sprouts on Windy City streets after a blizzard and why Smell-O-Vision seemed like a good idea. From an in-city ski resort to the nation's greatest train robbery, author John R. Schmidt offers a glimpse of the overlooked scenery of Chicago's past.
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San Francisco's Forgotten Cemeteries
A Buried History
by Beth Winegarner
Part of the History Press series
Digging into a forgotten past - and the dead left behind.
San Francisco is famous for not having any cemeteries, but the claim isn't exactly what it seems. In the early 20th Century, the city relocated more than 150,000 graves to the nearby town of Colma to make way for a rapidly growing population. But an estimated fifty to sixty thousand burials were quietly built over and forgotten, only to resurface every time a new building project began. The dead still lie beneath some of the city's most cherished destinations, including the Legion of Honor, United Nations Plaza, the Asian Art Museum and the University of San Francisco.
Join author Beth Winegarner as she maps the city's early burial grounds and brings back to life the dead who've been erased.
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Mississippi Bear Hunter Holt Collier
Guiding Teddy Roosevelt and a Lifetime of Adventure
by Mark Neaves
Part of the History Press series
Author Mark Neaves guides readers on an incredible tale through the life of one of America's greatest adventurers.
Born into slavery in the Mississippi Delta in 1847, Holt Collier was taught to hunt at an early age, killing his first bear at age 10, the first of 3,000 bears he killed during his lifetime, more than Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone combined. The number sounds impossible, until considered in the context of a life that reads like the stuff of fiction. When war erupted in the South, he remained loyal to the Confederacy, a teenager off to war. By the turn of the century, he'd become such a legendary hunter he was tapped to lead Teddy Roosevelt on a hunt that gave birth to the "Teddy Bear." As a former slave, Confederate soldier, and professional hunting guide, Holt goes down as an American legend.
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CCNY Made
Profiles in Grit
by Ronnyjane Goldsmith
Part of the History Press series
Everyone loves an underdog who succeeds against the odds. CCNY Made. Profiles in Grit is the story of City College of New York alumni who beat the odds to reach the pinnacle of their professions and in the process transformed our world.
Here are just a few:
• Andrew Grove, hearing impaired and a survivor of Nazi occupation and Communist rule became the visionary CEO of Intel Corporation, the manufacturer of the semiconductor chip found in most personal computers today.
• Yip Harburg, the son of immigrants, wrote the lyrics to countless music standards, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," one of the most celebrated songs of all times.
• Jonas Salk, facing antisemitism and the rebuke of the scientific community, developed the Salk Vaccine that irradicated polio from the face of the earth.
• Felix Frankfurter, who came to America at 12 speaking no English, would be appointed a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and help write the unanimous opinion in Brown v. the Board of Education declaring school segregation in the United States illegal.
In "CCNY Made. Profiles In Grit," the stories of CCNY alumni are recounted who exemplify the promise of Townsend Harris, founder of CCNY and The Ephebic Oath affirmed by graduating students every year. "We will strive unceasingly to quicken the public's better, of civic duty; and thus, in all these ways we will strive to transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."
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Pirates, Raiders & Invaders of the Gulf Coast
by Ryan Starrett
Part of the History Press series
Authors Ryan Starrett and Josh Foreman chart a Gulf Coast odyssey with French adventurers, English colonists, Spanish Dons, American filibusters, Indian warriors, African Maroons, and pirate outlaws .
For centuries, the shoreline between Galveston and Tallahassee was marked by the desperate deeds of men who fought for God, gold, and glory, as well as those who simply wanted to be left alone. Regardless of motive, the Gulf Coast has seen its share of seafaring warriors and miscreants, from the Tattooed Serpent and Osceola to Iberville and Davy Crockett. It harbored privateers and pirates such as William Augustus Bowles and the Brothers Laffite .
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Cracker Horses and Cattle
A History of Florida's Heritage Breeds
by Carol Matthews
Part of the History Press series
Join author Carol Matthews on a galloping romp through the long history of Florida's cracker horses and cattle.
The first horses and cattle to set foot on the North American continent stepped onto Florida land, brought by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521 just south of present day Fort Myers. The animals were abandoned, formed wild herds and would be used by different groups for food, work, trade and transportation for the next 500 years. Cattle ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars, also known as missionaries, set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. The largest ranch was Rancho de la Chua, located on what is now Paynes Prairie in Alachua County. As a result of this increase in cattle production, Florida rancheros began to sell cattle to Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and would continue for the next three hundred years. By the 1960s there were only a handful of pure cracker cattle and horses left. But herds were established on state lands, preserving a living link to Florida's past.
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Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Albany
Governing New York
by Michael J. Burgess
Part of the History Press series
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt changed America with a government on the side of the people that put Americans back to work and inspired confidence that the nation could overcome the Great Depression.
This is the story of their progressive legacy when FDR was Governor during the era of Prohibition and the advent of radio in the Roaring Twenties, a decade that ended with the Great Depression upending life for most Americans. This is the story of how as Governor of New York he tried the programs that became the New Deal that transformed America. It was the place where his warm, easily relatable voice heard on the radio for the first time created a bond of trust with the public that inspired confidence at a time of great fear.
Author Michael J. Burgess reveals the often overlooked history of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Albany at the helm of the Empire State.
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Cougar Bay Nature Preserve
Saving Coeur d'Alene's Natural Gem
by Theresa Shaffer
Part of the History Press series
Fighting for Ecological Heritage
In 1992, a Hawaiian developer proposed a subdivision on Cougar Bay's northern shore, just two miles south of Coeur d'Alene. Dedicated, tenacious locals took on the seemingly impossible goal of stopping the "Cougar Beach" development. Unlikely allies--environmental activists and a cantankerous landowner--banded together. Private and public groups stepped up. In 1997, The Nature Conservancy purchased major shoreline areas and created a nature preserve. The sanctuary remained unaltered until more private land was gifted to the Bureau of Land Management and Kootenai County. After thirteen years of heroic perseverance, the Cougar Bay Nature Preserve became a reality. Idaho Wildlife Viewing Guide calls it one of the state's best wildlife viewing sites. Theresa Shaffer chronicles the battle to preserve this oasis for locals, visitors and wildlife alike.
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Dr. Martha Cannon of Utah
The Unexpected Victorian Life of America's First Female State Senator
by Joan Jacobson
Part of the History Press series
Prudery, Polygamy and Politics
Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon was no hands-on-the-plow pioneer. She was no stereotypical polygamous wife. Nor was she a prim lady who blushed at the word "legs." Victorian Mormons were proud to lead the way in empowering women. "Verily the world progresseth," exclaimed the Deseret Evening News on March 17, 1869, celebrating a Congressional bill to give Utah women the vote. But the federal intention to have female suffrage in Utah destroy polygamy failed. The 1882 Edmunds Act made "cohabitation" a felony. To protect her polygamous husband, she fled to England with their infant daughter. Upon her return, she reestablished her medical practice and opened Utah's first training school for nurses. Nominated by local Democrats, Mattie ran against her husband for state senate in 1896 - beating him by four thousand votes. Author Joan Jacobson chronicles an extraordinary life remarkably relevant for today.
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Colorful Characters of Pittsburgh
by Paul King
Part of the History Press series
Beyond the world famous artists, singers, actors and more from Pittsburgh are the city's celebrities known locally for their quirky style, unique mannerisms, and outlandish behavior.
From Joe Barker, the violent "street preacher" who was elected mayor in 1850--while in prison!--to Curt Wootton, the comedian whose celebrity status comes from being "Pittsburgh Dad," on Youtube, the Steel City has had a number of colorful characters throughout its history that defy category.
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Eerie Arkansas
by Heather Woodward
Part of the History Press series
The Scary Side of Arkansas
Immerse yourself in the captivating allure of Arkansas, where mysterious phenomena beckon the curious. Embark on a journey to the healing waters hidden within the lush landscape of the Ozarks. They possess extraordinary healing powers, drawing seekers of health and rejuvenation to their mystical waters. Venture into the realm of the enigmatic spook lights, where luminescent orbs dance and flicker, intriguing all who witness it. Are they the spirits of the doomed and departed or something more sinister? Join Heather Woodward on an extraordinary odyssey through the eerie corners of Arkansas, where the past intertwines with the present, revealing a tapestry of untold tales.
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Vermont Book of the Dead
Graveyard Legends and Lore
by Roxie J. Zwicker
Part of the History Press series
Vermont's hills hold the echoes of a spirited past. Haunting stories and wandering ghosts are found in numerous burial places from the Riverside Cemetery in Burlington to the Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.
The Bowman mausoleum in Cuttingsville contains some heartbreaking symbolism. Throughout the state, disturbing tales of mountain madness, murder and "vampires" can be found carved in stone. Discover the graves of humble farmers with independent spirit like Justin Morgan, Ethan Allen, and "Snowflake" Bentley who changed the course of history. The ancient gravestones in Rockingham were once removed and put on exhibit in New York City, while innovative gravestone carvers from Barre to Bennington left artistic interpretations of death to awe and inspire.
Author and tour guide Roxie Zwicker explores these historic and legendary graveyards.
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Colorful Characters of Pittsburgh
by Paul King
Part of the History Press series
Beyond the world famous artists, singers, actors and more from Pittsburgh are the city's celebrities known locally for their quirky style, unique mannerisms, and outlandish behavior.
From Joe Barker, the violent "street preacher" who was elected mayor in 1850--while in prison!--to Curt Wootton, the comedian whose celebrity status comes from being "Pittsburgh Dad," on Youtube, the Steel City has had a number of colorful characters throughout its history that defy category.
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LGBTQ+ Trailblazers of San Francisco
by William Lipsky
Part of the History Press series
Famous and forgotten, they're all our fabulous ancestors.
From Charles Warren Stoddard, the first openly gay San Franciscan, to Felicia "Flames" Elizondo, the exuberant transgender rights advocate, the LGBT community is integrally woven into the fabric of the city's history. Household names like Queen Califia, Charley Parkhurst, Elsa Gidlow, Jose Sarria and Harvey Milk are celebrated worldwide, while Bert LaRose, Mabel Edison and Clarence Lockett are now largely forgotten. Whether '49ers, bohemians, beatniks, boomers, hippies, clones or conformists, their fascinating stories contributed to the development of a vibrant community, many simply by being themselves.
Join Dr. William Lipsky as he recounts their struggles and achievements in the City by the Bay.
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Colorado Frontiersmen
Forts, Fights And Legacies
by Linda Wommack
Part of the History Press series
Early Icons and Landmarks As western migration came to the Colorado frontier, forts were established to protect the settlers. These forts were intertwined with the lives of the frontiersmen. Scout Thomas Tate Tobin oversaw the workers who built the adobe fortress known as Fort Garland. Here, Tobin delivered the heads of the murderous Espinosas gang to Colonel Sam Tappan. Fort Sedgwick, originally known as Camp Rankin, was attacked by the Cheyenne Dog soldiers, including George Bent. Fort Lyon, an expanded fortress of William Bent's third fort, became the staging point for Colonel John M. Chivington's march to Sand Creek where peaceful Cheyenne were murdered. Later, Christopher "Kit" Carson died in the fort's chapel. Legendary Jim Beckwourth was associated with both Fort Vasquez and Fort Pueblo. Author Linda Wommack revisits the glory and the mistakes of the frontiersmen who defined Colorado and the forts that dotted the wild landscape.
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The Witch of Mansfield
The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise
by Mark S. Jordan
Part of the History Press series
Meet one of Richland County's most colorful citizens.
There are those who thought Phebe Wise was a witch. More thought that the cranky old lady was "tetched," meaning crazy. And she was crazy--like a fox. An eccentric who outwitted violent robbers, a mad stalker, and a society that expected her to marry and raise children, Phebe alternated between dressing up in men's clothes and strutting to town in an antique ball gown, the trail dragging behind her in the dirt. If anyone had the gall to stare, she'd cuss them out. She was in touch with a different world, and she used it to help launch the career of a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Louis Bromfield.
Local author and historian Mark Sebastian Jordan unravels the myth and history of Phebe Wise.
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Ccny Made
Profiles In Grit
by Ronnyjane Goldsmith
Part of the History Press series
Everyone loves an underdog who succeeds against the odds. CCNY Made. Profiles in Grit is the story of City College of New York alumni who beat the odds to reach the pinnacle of their professions and in the process transformed our world.
Here are just a few:
• Andrew Grove, hearing impaired and a survivor of Nazi occupation and Communist rule became the visionary CEO of Intel Corporation, the manufacturer of the semiconductor chip found in most personal computers today.
• Yip Harburg, the son of immigrants, wrote the lyrics to countless music standards, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," one of the most celebrated songs of all times.
• Jonas Salk, facing antisemitism and the rebuke of the scientific community, developed the Salk Vaccine that irradicated polio from the face of the earth.
• Felix Frankfurter, who came to America at 12 speaking no English, would be appointed a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and help write the unanimous opinion in Brown v. the Board of Education declaring school segregation in the United States illegal.
In "CCNY Made. Profiles In Grit," the stories of CCNY alumni are recounted who exemplify the promise of Townsend Harris, founder of CCNY and The Ephebic Oath affirmed by graduating students every year. "We will strive unceasingly to quicken the public's better, of civic duty; and thus, in all these ways we will strive to transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."
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Lady Undertakers of Old Texas
by Kathy Benjamin
Part of the History Press series
Author Kathy Benjamin accompanies the pioneering women of the Lone Star State's funeral business.
The intimate task of caring for the dead had long fallen under women's sphere of responsibilities. But after the Civil War, the sudden popularity of embalming offered new financial opportunities to men who set up as undertakers, pushing women out of their traditional role. In Texas, from the 1880s to the 1930s, women slowly regained their place by the bier. Many worked while pregnant or raising children. Most shouldered the additional weight of personal tragedies and persistent sexism. All brought comfort to the bereaved in the isolation of the Texas frontier, kept its cities free of deadly disease and revolutionized an industry that was just coming into its own.
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The Appalachian Legend of the Wizard Clip
America's First Poltergeist
by Michael Kishbucher
Part of the History Press series
In the early 1790s, a Lutheran family in Appalachia fell victim to a menacing spirit that Lutheran, Methodist and Episcopal clergy as well as Folk magic practitioners failed to remove. The entity, which came to be known as the Wizard Clip, was said to cut or slice anything made of cloth or leather. Was it a ghost or a demon? After years of torment, the deeply Protestant family finally found respite from a seemingly impossible ally, a Catholic exorcist. This legend has eerie parallels to lore of ghosts and witches from the Old World as well as the early American Republic. As American religious leaders sought to find a place for their congregations in a post-Revolutionary time of enlightened secularism, tales like these helped churches define themselves, and this particular story was used to distinguish Catholic supernaturalism from later spiritualism.
Author Michael Kishbucher tells a spooky and incredibly compelling story that shines a light on the region's religious history.
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Louisiana's No Man's Land
A History Of Outlaws And Opportunity
by Scott Debose
Part of the History Press series
Join author Scott DeBose on a rugged journey through Louisiana's No Man's Land. Most Americans know the basics of the Louisiana Purchase, but few know that West Louisiana was left out of the purchase. They also don't know that in 1806, the United States and Spain almost went to war over the boundary, and it was only an agreement negotiated by the American and Spanish commanders that prevented full scale war. But it wasn't out of patriotism that James Wilkinson, commanding general of the US Army, negotiated the agreement. He was not only a Spanish Spy, but he was involved in Aaron Burr's conspiracy. America now had a 40-mile wide and roughly 500-mile-long strip of land they could not station troops or police, and outlaws soon flocked to the region. This book will tell the story of how No Man's Land was created, the conspiracy behind its creation, the outlaws, smugglers, and pirates who used the region as a base (such as Jean Lafite, Jim Bowie and John Murrell "The Reverend Devil"). But it wasn't all outlaws--those folks will get their due, as well.
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Mississippi Scoundrels
Murderers, Marauders & Downright Vile Characters
by Alan N. Brown
Part of the History Press series
Author Alan Brown shines the light on some of worst characters in Mississippi history. Mississippi's nickname--"The Magnolia State"--highlights the region's natural and architectural beauty. However, Mississippi is also home to a rogue's gallery of thieves and murderers, beginning with the nation's first serial killers--the Harpe Brothers--and continuing to the present with Glen Rogers, "The Cross Country Killer." Lurking through Mississippi Scoundrels is a wide variety of scalawags, ranging from the 19th century "hell raisers " in Natchez-under-the-Hill to racist murderers, like Byron De La Beckworth and Samuel Bowers. Readers will also find "bad men" who have morphed into folk heroes, like Rube Burrow--"The King of the Train Robbers"--and Texas Red, Franklin County's African-American outlaw. But this book isn't all about atrocious men. Here you'll encounter vile women such as Ouida Keaton and Ruth Thompson, both of whom committed matricide, and Carolee Biddy, who killed her stepdaughter.
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