Hartford Gives Aid to John Brown
In greater Connecticut history: on March 21, 1857, an impassioned editorial was printed in the Hartford Daily Courant decrying the actions of Southern Democrats for their support of the institution of slavery and encouragement of Border Ruffians encroachment into the newly established territory Kansas. Border ruffians were pro-slavery settlers who frequently clashed with Free Staters, settlers who opposed slavery. The editorial gives a heartfelt plea to abolitionists to take action in Kansas– by aiding none other than the radical abolitionist John Brown in his battles against the border ruffians. The Hartford based bank and cashier managing Brown’s funds is named.
The Assassin’s Effigy: The Curious Case of Bridgeport’s “Execution” of Guiteau
On June 30th, 1882, Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of President James A. Garfield, was hanged in Washington DC for the murder. Guiteau had been suffering from severe mental illness, and shot Garfield in retribution for what was perceived to be a failure to reward him for supporting the president’s election campaign. It took Garfield 80 days to die of his wounds Apparently some residents in Bridgeport were so incensed by Guiteau’s crime they decided to stage a hanging of their own, the curious event being reported in the Bridgeport Standard on the same day:
The Many Saints of Bridgeport: The Mafia and Mayhem in the Park City
By Jaime Pettit
The older man looked unassuming, dressed in a plaid flannel shirt and a black-and-gray tweed sport jacket as he stood at the phone booth on the corner of Main and Jewett Ave. Passing Bridgeport residents paid him no mind as they made their way about the shops and houses for their Sunday errands. It was 2:30pm, and the sun peaked out through the clouds above the quiet suburban street. No one expected that the warm September afternoon would erupt in violence.