Criminal Broadsides of America collection

Finding Aid

Prepared by Cara Gilgenbach, 2002; Last updated October 2023

Inclusive Dates: 1820-1997
Extent: .5 cubic foot (1 oversize box)
Physical Location: 11th floor
Language of Materials: English

Scope and Content: This small collection contains criminal broadsides related to crime in the United States, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Statement of Arrangement: The broadsides are arranged alphabetically by the first line of text.

Related Material: See also the British Criminal Broadsides collection.

Alternative Form Available: This collection has been digitized and is available online. The inventory below includes links to the digital content.

Box 1
Folder -- Contents

1. Broadside: $15,900.00 Reward in Gold, Train Hold-up and Murder, 1926
   Scope and Content: A 10-page, fold-out wanted flyer that includes photographs regarding a train holdup and murder. Includes photographs of the mail car after the holdup and the three wanted men: Roy A. A. DeAutremont, Ray Charles DeAutremont and Hugh DeAutremont. Also includes an account of the crime and appeal to various potential employers and service providers that may have come in contact with the men (e.g. logging camps, jewelers, librarians, opticians, and dentists).
2. Broadside: $20,000 Reward, Kidnapping of Charlie Brewster Ross, September 1, 1874
   Scope and Content: Broadside offering a reward for the recovery of Charlie Brewster Ross, and for the arrest and conviction of his abductors. He was stolen from his parents in Germantown, Pa., on July 1st, 1874.
   Author: Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, Philadelphia
   Publisher: Wm. F. Murphy's Sons, Stationers, Printers, 509 Chestnut St., Philada.
3. Broadside: The Death of Sarah M. Cornell, circa 1833
   Scope and Content: Poem in twelve stanzas about the murder of Sarah Cornell. Methodist minister Ephraim Avery was tried and acquitted for her murder.
4. Broadside: Durrant Hangs!!, circa 1820
   Scope and Content: Notice that William Henry Theodore Durrant, known as the "Demon of the Belfry," is convicted of the murder of Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams, and is sentenced to die by hanging on November 12.
5. Broadside: The Murder at Fall River, August, circa 1893
   Author: Beard, Alexander B.
   Scope and Content: This is a broadside poem about the Borden murders by Alexander Beard, a New Hampshire poet. Possibly published in August, 1893 after Lizzie Borden's acquittal.
6. Broadside: Soliloquy Of Prof. John W. Webster, 1850
   Author: Doe, Mary G.
   Scope and Content: Soliloquy of Professor John W. Webster, after the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman up to the time of his execution, written by Mary G. Doe.
7. Broadside: Wanted: William Francis Sutton, April 27, 1951
   Publisher: Federal Bureau of Investigations
8. Broadside: Wanted by FBI: Andrew Phillip Cunanan, June 20, 1997
   Publisher: Federal Bureau of Investigations
9. Broadside: Wanted by the FBI: Leroy Eldridge Cleaver, December 13, 1968
   Publisher: omega publications
10. Broadside: Wanted for Murder: Wilber Jones, May 20, 1910