Advertisement
Advertisement

Crime and Punishment in the 19th - 20th Centuries

Created on Jul 12, 2017 by Kathy Pinna

Discover photos of U.S. citizens who committed crimes in the 1800's and early 1900's.

Most of the crimes for which they were arrested are very different from current offenses - selling liquor (for which you could be imprisoned for life), anarchy, fighting for women's rights, pickpocketing, train robbing - and at least one is still rampant today: murder.

There's even a photo of the first documented serial murderer in the United States. Click on any of the photos to read more about these notorious people and their crimes.

Continue Reading Below
Share and discover the people and places from your past

Photos of our notorious ancestors

Loading...one moment please loading spinner

Arrested for selling liquor for the 4th time

[ Click image for details ]
Photo of Mary Bedell Mary Bedell
5 favorites
shared on 04/23/2012

She could have gotten life - but she was acquitted.

A suffragette in prison

[ Click image for details ]

Another suffragette

[ Click image for details ]

Sent to Occoquan prison for 60 days

Advertisement

Capote's "In Cold Blood" was based on these men

[ Click image for details ]

An anarchist

[ Click image for details ]

She was sent to jail for inducing men to not register for the draft in WW 1

Charles Buffano

[ Click image for details ]
Teresa Alejo
4 favorites
shared on 11/13/2009

He escaped from jail in 1935, was returned and released in 1941. His family is still looking for him!

Edward McCarthy

[ Click image for details ]

A pickpocket, he was also known as Hair Lip Kelly.

Advertisement

Before DNA, law agencies used "death masks" for ID

[ Click image for details ]

Isma Martin

[ Click image for details ]

Poor lady was really beaten!

Washington DC conspiracy

[ Click image for details ]

Click on the photo to read about this 1938 scandal.

Georgia prisoners

[ Click image for details ]

Working on a roadbed.

William Glyndon, cleared of murder after 31 years

[ Click image for details ]
Photo of Patty Anderson Patty Anderson
11 favorites
shared on 03/27/2013

In 1915 Sing Sing, prisoners learned knitting

[ Click image for details ]
Advertisement
Note: Some of these mug shots may seem to be of the dead. They aren't - they had been beaten while or after being arrested. We've identified the two photos taken of actually dead outlaws. It was common practice in earlier times to take photos of dead outlaws.

Have photos that you'd like to see included? Share your photos or see photos of women who were arrested while trying to obtain voting rights on the next page.

Blog posts

Back to Top