Category Archives: Crime and vice

Frank Zito’s Leavenworth prison record

Posted on February 14, 2023 by editor

Most photographs of Frank Zito, Springfield’s so-called “godfather” of the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s, show him as an older man, vaguely grandfather-ish in a homburg. The mug shots taken when Zito, then about 40, entered the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Prominent figures | 2 Comments

The Lemon Jelly Cake (Madeline Babcock Smith)

Posted on November 17, 2022 by editor

Madeline Babcock Smith earned her spot in the literary limelight. But she never got to enjoy it. Smith’s first novel, The Lemon Jelly Cake, published Aug. 4, 1952, “enjoyed an immediate and astounding success,” Dan Guillory wrote in his introduction … Continue reading →

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Police officer killings, 1885

Posted on August 21, 2022 by editor

When Leonard Gardnier left his Springfield apartment the evening of Aug. 23, 1885, he told his wife to “dress up real nice, because he wanted her to make as pretty a corpse as possible.” An hour or so later, Gardnier, … Continue reading →

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Gov. Len Small arrested, 1921

Posted on August 9, 2022 by editor

The Aug. 9, 1921, arrest of Gov. Len Small for alleged corruption created a daylong drama in Springfield. It was performed on three stages: the Capitol, the governor’s mansion and the Sangamon County Courthouse. Stars included Small, county Sheriff Henry … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Illinois capital, Law enforcement, Local government, Politics, Prominent figures, Spectacles, State government, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Pawnee posse captures burglars, 1899

Posted on March 27, 2022 by editor

A posse of Pawnee citizens corralled two burglars in a remote crossroads schoolhouse on Dec. 9, 1899. The two surrendered after a tense standoff. But their criminal careers would include one last episode in Springfield. The men, identified as Frank … Continue reading →

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Sangamon County Detention Home, 1916

Posted on December 19, 2021 by editor

The Sangamon County Detention Home was created with two goals: to be both an alternative to jail for the county’s youngest delinquents and a refuge for neglected or abandoned children. It wasn’t a perfect solution to either problem, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Crime and vice, Family life, Law enforcement, Local government, Sangamon County, Social services | Leave a comment

Rooftop gunman, 1951

Posted on December 6, 2021 by editor

Updated with information on the Horn Hotel — ed. A man fired shots at random from the roof of a Springfield hotel for more than an hour the evening of July 1, 1951. Somehow, no one was injured except the … Continue reading →

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Benjamin Miller, homesick murderer

Posted on December 2, 2021 by editor

Benjamin Miller was homesick. So Miller walked into the sheriff’s office in Jena, Louisiana, in November 1915 to confess that he had shot and killed James Kirlin in Riverton 36 years earlier. “I am tired of dodging from one place … Continue reading →

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Reed ‘Kid’ Waddell, international con man

Posted on June 1, 2021 by editor

Springfield’s Reed Waddell often gets credit for inventing the gold brick fraud. He probably was innocent, for once, of originating that particular swindle. But by the time he was shot to death – by a crony in Paris, France – … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Law enforcement | 1 Comment

Wife poisonings, 1941

Posted on May 16, 2021 by editor

When authorities suspected Carl Zubr had poisoned his second wife, they started to wonder about the death of his first wife too. The bodies of both women, it turned out, were laced with strychnine. Zubr (1902-67) was a mule driver … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Law enforcement | 4 Comments