[CRIME & PUNISHMENT]. A group of 3 broadsides advertising rewards for apprehending a murderer and thieves, highlighted by $500 reward for a man charged with murder in St. Louis, MO, in 1854.

$500 Reward. William A. Jackson. Charged with the Murder of James B. Laidlaw. St. Louis, MO: N.p., 12 May 1854. Visible 7 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. printed broadside (minor toning); matted and framed to 11 x 12 in. (not examined out of frame). Signed in type by Dr. George T. Collins.

William A. Jackson, a dancer with the People's Theater, was charged with shooting scenery painter James B. Laidlaw while on a buggy ride. He was captured in August but acquitted by a jury in December. Mark Twain references the case in a 5 March 1866 letter to the Muscatine Tri-Weekly Journal: "I doubt if there are hundred people in St. Louis that do not think O'Blennis ought to be hung, and the number is still less than expect him to be punished at all. Since Jackson and Ward escaped hanging, people seem to have very little confidence in courts of justice." (Mark Twain's Letters, 1853-1866, Vol. I, pp. 55-57

[With:] $50 Reward! Escaped from the train at Franklin, Ind., on Tuesday evening last, William Lucas, a convict... Indianapolis, IN: N.p., 26 March 1863. 12 1/2 x 9 1/8 in. printed broadside (toned); framed to 18 x 15 in. (not examined out of frame). Signed in type by Charles Kern, Sherrif of Vigo County.

[Also with:] Stolen. Stolen! $50 Reward! Rochester, IN: Chronicle "Print," 20 June 1867. 11 x 8 1/8 in. printed broadside (minor offsetting); framed to 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (not examined out of frame. Signed in type by I.T Van Duzer.

Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana, and Historical Documents