Unearthed

by M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Little snippets of stories from the 19th century of gruesome and sinister finds. 

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French brothel c.1900

May 1845, Albany, New York
Workers were cleaning up debris from an old building at the corner of Dove Street and Washington Ave in Albany. Under the fireplace they found clothes, buttons and a human skeleton. The condition of the bones indicated the burial took place 40 to 50 years before, and the fact it was secreted under the hearth suggests the person met their end through foul play.

In the past the house was a resort for the teamsters who frequented that part of the city prior to the opening of the (Erie) canal. 

January 1846, Paris, France
A house was being demolished on Rue St. Nicholas d'Antil in Paris. The street was formed around 1784 on a part of a large sewer located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.

Workers found nine human skeletons. Doctors examined the remains and concluded the victims had been murdered and hidden away from 15 years to 15 months before. For many years the establishment was known as a house of ill-fame (aka brothel). The owner was arrested.

March 1853, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Workmen found two human skeletons in a sink in the cellar of a house on Market Street. They were covered by a considerable amount of pig iron. The latest occupants of the house claim they didn't know the sink was there. In 1800, the property was an iron store, but how the bodies got there is a mystery.

June 1854, Baltimore, Maryland
An old frame building was being demolished when the workers found a human skeleton stowed in between the flooring. Among the bones were a number of large, old-fashioned brass buttons and small foreign coins. Doctors who examined it could give no explanation as to the cause of death or how it ended up there.

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The fire at the Rosebud whorehouse gained notoriety because William Fowler the son of a prominent citizen died in the blaze. c.1870

February 1870, St. Joseph, Missouri

St. Joseph, Missouri, was an important city during the 19th century, serving as a jumping-off point for westward travelers and the starting point of the Pony Express.

On the night of January 22, 1870 an invitation went out through the vice grapevine of St. Joseph, of an occasional dance held by the prostitutes of the city. These parties were attended not only by a rough crowd, but by some who held respectable positions in society. The location was a row of brick buildings known as the Rosebud Block situated on Second and Antoine Streets near Blacksnake Bridge. This was the site of the Blacksnake Hills trading post established by Joseph "Indian Joe" Robidoux in 1826, which later became part of the city of St. Joseph.

Some of the local newspapers tried to diminish the notorious reputation of the building by describing it as business houses, when in truth the Eureka saloon and billiard hall, along with a brothel run by Kate Thornton could be found there.

By midnight the partygoers had disappeared to quieter entertainments. In the pre-dawn hours, a fire broke out. In one of the upstairs rooms William Fowler, son of one of the oldest citizens in the city, and a brother-in-law of Hon. Benjamin Loan was sleeping. His companion in the room tried to wake him up but couldn't. His charred bones were found in the debris.

Firemen responded, and seven men from the Rescue Hook and Ladder Company stood looking down at what was left of William Fowler Jr., then a wall next to them crumbled and buried the men underneath it.

Blasius Argus a tinner was dragged out barely clinging to life, and died soon after. Frank Hill, Jules Sidekum, Fred Maus, William Borngesser, Julius Geske and Arthur Collmer were hurt.

Wesley Fouts the keeper of the Tremont Saloon, dashed in with the firemen and was killed instantly by the falling wall.

An inquest was held two days later, due to the  death of William Fowler. The general opinion was the fire was the work of an arsonist. It started in an unoccupied building. As the fire grew most of the men who were with girls got out of the house. There were alternate stories as to why Fowler did not leave. Some said he was under the influence of liquor, and other said it was laudanum which he took to steady his nerves. Others said he was not under the influence of either, but no one could explain why he didn't wake up and leave the house like everyone else did.

Mollie Mason the girl he was with, tried to wake him, saying the house was on fire but he answered her with "go to hell". It was no secret that he frequented the saloons and brothels in the area.

In the cellar of an adjacent building which was formerly the "old Rosebud," excavations unearthed strange evidence that had lain there many years. In the southwest corner directly under the room used as a dance hall, the workmen struck a spot of earth where the dirt seemed loose and fresh. Found were boards over a cut-stone stairway. It led to a subterranean cavern out of which a bad stench poured out. Finally a man named Sylvester Clymer took a candle and started down, saying "he would find what was in the damned hole if he died for it."

He found a long, damp cave about 8 feet wide arched over with rudely placed stones, which seemed ready to fall out. Strewn on the dark stones of the floor were numerous skeletons, all of them without any flesh. Among the bones was a rotten box, which turned out to be what was left of a store-bought coffin with the name of "Gunter" on the top. Inside was discovered the bones of a human being in such a position that it was evident the  body  had been bent and crushed into it.

In another corner, about three feet below, loose bones were found on the ground. There was no wood, leading to the belief the body was placed there without a coffin. Further examination proved they were human. One seemed to be the wrist bone of a man or woman nearly grown and the other the thigh bone of a child.

The conclusion was these bones provided proof of foul play because why would anyone be buried without a shroud or coffin, but since the bones were evidently buried there many years before, any hope of identifying them, or who left the remains there was abandoned.

Was there any investigation of these crimes when they occurred? Did any question if a man, woman or child had been murdered, especially after they disappeared?  Possibly not since their remains were secreted away, and according to the law of those days: no body, no crime.

It's unknown if the Rosebud opened its doors elsewhere and continued with their well-attended "dances".

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