Slogging through the 150 or so pages of Joe’s military pension file, a curious exchange appears. In 1913, as Joe struggled to have the government grant him a pension increase, he was tasked with proving his identity to the pension authority. To do this he turned to the Belonger family bible, the same bible, I […]
Category: Breaking News
Utoy Creek
Finally put two and two together! Joe was hospitalized on August 6, 1864. On that same date, the 25th Michigan Infantry was attached to Schofield’s Army of the Ohio. A much smaller Confederate force under Hood’s command was securely ensconced in the wooded hills around Utoy Creek, and they were the only thing standing between […]
The Bélangers
Here is a photographic exercise for you. Augustin, the gentleman pictured here, never worked for the Blonger brothers, never drank with them, was never swindled by them, never took a bribe from them or investigated them. In his entire life he probably never heard their names once and he almost certainly never met any of […]
Julia Belonger Located
The six Blonger brothers also had three sisters: Elizabeth, who apparently died unmarried, Mary, the youngest and mother of five, and Julia, born second after Simon. We know that Julia had seven children by a man named Revoir, and that they disappeared from the public record when they moved east in 1892. Now we know […]
Tony Neis, Detective
Harold Gordon was kind enough to share this find of his, a business card he discovered in a collection of Victorian-era Masonic calling cards. Tony Neis was the man who recruited Sam and Lou into the Rocky Mountain Detective Association when he established an Albuquerque office in 1882. Their membership in the group appears to […]
Lou’s First Wife, Emma Loring, Located at Last?
UPDATE – The following information is incorrect. A newspaper article appeared recently with a short interview with the actual Emma Loring, expressing her condolences on Lou’s passing in 1933. The Emma detailed below died in 1903. We’ve learned a great deal about the Blonger brothers’ various wives and mistresses—Sam’s mercurial relationship with prostitute Sadie Wilson, […]
Sam’s Life Box
Hot damn, a new mystery! In June of 1902, a journalist in Buffalo, New York decided he needed to put in a good word for his old pal, Bat Masterson. Only weeks before, Masterson had left Denver under a dark cloud, and now he was making a go of it in New York City. New […]
Mysteries at the Museum, Part II
It was great to see the show. Lou has been written about many, many times over the years in non-fiction books on confidence games, famous criminals, criminal psychology and the like. He’s even made an appearance in several works of fiction, always the slimy, obese mobster. But never on the screen, big or small. So, […]
Mysteries at the Museum, Part I
Lou has finally made his television debut, and here he is: (The actor looks familiar, but I can’t seem to find a credit for the part.) A few months ago Scott and I were contacted by the staff of Mysteries at the Museum, a Travel Channel program that examines the history behind various historical objects […]
The Cabinet Saloon, Deming, NM
I’ve been sitting on this for a while. A few years ago, our colleagues down New Mexico way sent us a little gift. The husband and wife team of Bob Alexander and Jan Devereaux were engaged in their own research — in this case, regarding the husband and wife team of Frank Thurmond and Carlotta […]