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A young boy found himself lost in the pages of adventure-filled dime novels and couldn't get enough. Before too long he brought those adventures to life just to read about his own adventures in the headlines. Zollie Clement became the Boy Bandit by night, yet he was conniving and clever enough by day to get away with it under the noses of all who knew him. He was so good at hiding in plain sight that he got away with it for an entire decade! He robbed and murdered without a second thought and went to church the next day with his sweet baby-faced charm.

It's typical of the stories we cover to have been lost to our collective memories, but this story is different. We didn't just lose the story, but we also lost Zollie Clement himself. Zollie pulled off one last crime—wrote himself into one last grand adventure—and we never got to read the ending.

Where is Zollie Clement? How does the story end?


Vintage ads featured are for the Titanic's maiden voyage, C. A. Noble and Sons, and Chamberlain's Tablets. Big thanks to Christian for providing out commercial voice and quotes!

Street Fair music featured:
  •  Indiana Two Step, Columbia Band, 1902

Saloon music featured:
  •  A Banjo Song, Louise Homer, 1911
  •  They Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dawg Aroun' - Byron G. Harlan, 1912
  •  By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Ada Jones, 1912

Band outside the courthouse featured:
  •  The Policeman's Holiday, The Black Diamond's Band, 1912

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Long before candy and costumes, Halloween was a night of chaos. Young people looked forward to a night of unbridled rebellion while responsible property owners feared for their livelihood. Halloween was a night of anything-goes and, unfortunately, anything went far too often. Townsfolk and police officers simply had to brace themselves and wait for October to pass. What they'd wake up to in the morning was anyone's guess. The real question was whether or not there would be enough room in the hospitals and morgues come November 1st.

Listen in as we reveal the shocking history behind this family-friendly holiday that once terrorized North America! 

This time we were able to fit in 5 vintage ads:

• Camel's Cigarettes
• Kleenex
• Newbro's Herpicide "The Original Remedy that kills the Dandruff Germ."
• Sozodont Tooth Powder
• GORDON Hats

DISCLAIMER: We here at Forgotten Felonies do not actually want you to smoke cigarettes. Please don't. It is bad for your health. 

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This is the third and final episode in our series featuring Lane County, OR. This one takes you through the life and crimes of John Branton, older brother of Claude.

When Milly Elliott met John Branton, she thought it was a love story to last through the ages. She imagined she'd be with John for the rest of her life. She wasn't wrong—she just didn't realize her life would be so short. Neither did the next wife, nor the next, and it was only through sheer luck that young Grace didn't become wife number 4...

But would John Fletcher consider it "luck"? Is that what you'd call it?

John Branton certainly wouldn't. And... things didn't exactly turn out well for him now, did it? If you thought Claude Branton's story was wild, you will be absolutely floored by his big brother's wild antics. 

Vintage ads featured are for S. L. Long's Buggies and Dr. Scott's Electric Hairbrush.

If you want to jump on this vintage bandwagon, use our coupon code at Newspapers.com for 20% off a subscription! FORGOTTEN20

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This episode is the second in a series of three covering a wild time in the history of Lane County, Oregon. Be sure to start with the previous episode, "Claude Branton and Courtland Greene - A Murder at Isham's Corral."

Sheriff Withers was, by all accounts, the most beloved sheriff in the history of Lane County. He was known for being honest, fair, and kind. Even before executing Claude Branton, he was thanked by the condemned man for having treated him so well while he had been in the sheriff's custody.

Only two men were ever executed on the grounds of the Lane County jail; one was executed for murder by Sheriff Withers, and the other was executed for the murder of Sheriff Withers. This episode takes a brief look at some of the most exciting and gut-wrenching cases that crossed Withers's desk in his short time as sheriff and also takes a look at the criminal career of his murderer—Elliott Ellis Lyons.

Here's the website about the Bohemia Mines that was mentioned in the episode:

https://westernmininghistory.com/towns/oregon/bohemia/

Vintage ads featured were for: 

• N. T. Wilson Grocers (Their phone number was really 911—phone numbers back in 1903 were just 3 digits in length.)
• Willamette Market

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This is the first of three episodes that take place in Lane County, OR. It was a wild time...

Sheriff Withers had only been sheriff for 4 days when the biggest case of his career fell into his lap. The murder committed by Claude Branton and Courtland Greene was not just the talk of the town, but the whole state of Oregon took notice. Lane County had to, for the first time ever, build a gallows to execute a convicted murderer.

This case takes you back in time to 1898 from the Willamette Valley, across the Cascade Mountain range, through the lava beds of central Oregon, over to Eastern Oregon—and back again. 

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June 9th, 1911 brought a giant shock for the tiny community of Ardenwald, OR. A highly regarded family—William and Ruth Hill, and Ruth's children Philip and Dorothy Rintoul—who had just moved into the area were massacred in a most brutal way in their tiny cabin in the middle of the night. The detectives scrambled to find justice for this family for years but every lead fell flat.

A botched investigation saw an innocent man charged for the crime. Listen while Monica fact checks every libelous story printed about Nathan B. Harvey in the 1911 newspapers! Then we take a look at a few other suspects that were on law enforcement's radar. Finally, we look at a few other characters that probably should have been on their radar. We go deep into the life of Corwin S. Harvey to see just what he was up to for the rest of his life.

Vintage ads featured are for Electra-Vita and Sarsatabs.

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In November of 1895, John Nelson would never have guessed that the unassuming stranger standing at his front door would turn his family's life upside down for the next several months. This story goes to show just how trusting we were back in the 1890s and how we'd open our homes to just about anyone. But just when you think you know who the villain of this story is, the plot twists and turns and you find out that your friend is actually your foe.

Listen in as we pick apart this murder in a cornfield and reveal more than one secret!

This episode features vintage ads for Peffer's Nervigor and Bradfield's Female Regulator from 1895 and 1896.

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This is the 3rd and final part of the Hans Schmidt series. In this episode we:

• Explore the investigation into Dr. Muret's true identity, and then reveal his real identity!
• Discuss what may have happened to Anna Aumuller's baby, as well as her cause of death
• Reveal the outcomes of both Dr. Muret's and Hans Schmidt's trials
• Muse over some thoughts into Hans Schmidt's pathology
• ...and discuss a "true crime" book about this case that turned out to be fictional.

Historical ads featured in this episode are for Wrigley's Spearmint Gum and New York Telephone Company.

Bonus info:

Monica corrected Hans Schmidt's Wikipedia page!

The full "True Crime" eBook we found (full of incorrect information) can be fully accessed and reviewed at the website Internet Archives.

The trial transcripts—all 7 PDF scans with almost 1800 pages—can be accessed at the following website:

https://dc.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/7003

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Part 2 of our Hans Schmidt series takes us back to the 1800s in Germany for a look at Hans's childhood and the relatives that came before him. Listen in as we unpack the "clews" from the newspapers and the trial transcripts that might just give us insight into why Hans committed the murder and dismemberment of Anna Aumuller in September of 1913.

This is the episode where we expose all of the dirty secrets that he was keeping when he arrived on America's shores in the summer of 1909!

WE WOULD RATE THIS EPISODE "M" FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. 

As was mentioned in the episode, here is the article about automats and the anti-waiter movement in the late 1800s:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/automat-20th-century-waiterless-restaurants

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This is Part 1 of a very in-depth tale that is dark and twisted. (You can't say we didn't warn you!) 

When pieces of a lady washed ashore along the banks of the Hudson River in 1913, investigators had no idea just what a nightmare had been unearthed. The whole thing really began across the ocean decades earlier and now it was there at their feet in New Jersey and, ultimately, New York City.

In this episode you'll hear about the gruesome discovery of the few body parts that were recovered, the investigation that led the detectives to their man, and Hans's life after arriving in the United States in 1909. 

"Marvel Whirling Spray Douche" ad from the Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York.

"Coward Shoes" ad from The New York Times, New York, New York.