In a set of early records from Westchester County is an unassuming reminder of the history of witchcraft in colonial New York.  Although written in a daunting-to-read seventeenth century hand, the reminder is a statement dated September 5, 1670, acknowledging payment of fourteen pounds to a Katharine Harrison by Joseph Palmer, “fully and abessolutely” satisfying his debt….

This post was written by AHMC cataloger Miranda Schwartz. A small, bright-red trial pass from the American Historical Manuscript Collection leads us to look back at a sensational 19th-century trial—that of Charles J. Guiteau, an unstable, itinerant bill collector and lawyer who assassinated President James A. Garfield just four months after his election. For years…

This post was written by Marybeth Kavanagh, Reference Librarian On December 4, 1875, William Magear “Boss” Tweed, notorious grand sachem of New York City’s Democratic political machine Tammany Hall, escaped from the Ludlow Street jail where he was being held on charges of stealing somewhere between $20 and $300 million from the city treasury.  While awaiting trial, Tweed was granted special privileges not…

Far be it from us to dwell on the negatives of history, but there’s no denying that New York has produced its share of heels. High on anyone’s list should be Daniel Sickles. On a Sunday morning in February of 1859, the New York born and bred Sickles shot the un-armed Philip Barton Key (the son of…