Author: Tom Smith
Publisher: Globe Pequot
ISBN: 9781592289011
Category : Hennessy, David C.
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
In 1890, a group of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans were accused of gunning down New Orleans police chief David Hennessy, who had come between two rival waterfront gangs. Nineteen men were indicted; nine stood trial. After six of the nine accused were acquitted and the remaining three awarded mistrials, a vigilante mob of 8,000 people fought their way into the Parish Prison and killed eleven of the defendants. The incident drew anti- American ire from across the world, and even brought the U.S. to the brink of war with Italy until formal reparations were made. Tom Smith presents an in-depth and nuanced account of the episode that was the greatest mass lynching in our nation's history, and which popularized the term Mafia in the American lexicon.
The Crescent City Lynchings
Author: Tom Smith
Publisher: Globe Pequot
ISBN: 9781592289011
Category : Hennessy, David C.
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
In 1890, a group of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans were accused of gunning down New Orleans police chief David Hennessy, who had come between two rival waterfront gangs. Nineteen men were indicted; nine stood trial. After six of the nine accused were acquitted and the remaining three awarded mistrials, a vigilante mob of 8,000 people fought their way into the Parish Prison and killed eleven of the defendants. The incident drew anti- American ire from across the world, and even brought the U.S. to the brink of war with Italy until formal reparations were made. Tom Smith presents an in-depth and nuanced account of the episode that was the greatest mass lynching in our nation's history, and which popularized the term Mafia in the American lexicon.
Publisher: Globe Pequot
ISBN: 9781592289011
Category : Hennessy, David C.
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
In 1890, a group of Italian immigrants and Italian Americans were accused of gunning down New Orleans police chief David Hennessy, who had come between two rival waterfront gangs. Nineteen men were indicted; nine stood trial. After six of the nine accused were acquitted and the remaining three awarded mistrials, a vigilante mob of 8,000 people fought their way into the Parish Prison and killed eleven of the defendants. The incident drew anti- American ire from across the world, and even brought the U.S. to the brink of war with Italy until formal reparations were made. Tom Smith presents an in-depth and nuanced account of the episode that was the greatest mass lynching in our nation's history, and which popularized the term Mafia in the American lexicon.
Sergeant Stone, Sentinel of the Crescent City
Author: Daniel Barker
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491766786
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
The inimitable Sergeant Stone returns with fifteen new short stories in this exciting follow up to Sergeant Stone, NOPD! He still guards the Crescent City against threats both ordinary and otherworldly, but that is not his only beat. Journey with him from the wars of ancient India to a dystopian future where a one-world state wields irresistible weapons against a rebellious populace. Along the way he will lay down the law in the Old West, join the French Foreign Legion in a desperate stand, explore the seas in a Viking longship, fly a fighter plane over war-torn Europe, battle the Mafia, train with Shaolin monks, duel Nazi commandos, and witness the tragic final hours of the Byzantine Empire. There are adventures within New Orleans as well, a place so colorful that it is a microcosm of the world. It is there that he will meet the daunting challenge of marriage! And it is there that he will face the fight of his life when his deadly enemies finally find him
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491766786
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
The inimitable Sergeant Stone returns with fifteen new short stories in this exciting follow up to Sergeant Stone, NOPD! He still guards the Crescent City against threats both ordinary and otherworldly, but that is not his only beat. Journey with him from the wars of ancient India to a dystopian future where a one-world state wields irresistible weapons against a rebellious populace. Along the way he will lay down the law in the Old West, join the French Foreign Legion in a desperate stand, explore the seas in a Viking longship, fly a fighter plane over war-torn Europe, battle the Mafia, train with Shaolin monks, duel Nazi commandos, and witness the tragic final hours of the Byzantine Empire. There are adventures within New Orleans as well, a place so colorful that it is a microcosm of the world. It is there that he will meet the daunting challenge of marriage! And it is there that he will face the fight of his life when his deadly enemies finally find him
The First Family
Author: Mike Dash
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0307372308
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Hundreds of books have been written about the American Mafia, but none has told how it came into existence. This one does. Mafia books are notoriously unreliable, too often filled with the recycled errors of earlier authors. This one has been painstakingly researched from primary sources, including interviews with surviving family members and a vast, previously unexamined Secret Service archive. The result is an extraordinary work of history that grips, astonishes and chills the blood like a thriller. It tells the little-known story of the Morello family, pioneers of protection rackets, bizarre rituals and Mafia wars. Before the Five Families who dominated US organized crime for a bloody half-century, there was the surpassingly cunning Giuseppe Morello and his murderous coterie of brothers. Born into a life of poverty in rural Sicily, Morello became an American nightmare. Mike Dash follows the birth of the Mafia in America from the 1890s to the 1920s, from the wharves of New Orleans to the streets of Little Italy. He brings to life the remarkable villains and unusual heroes of the Mafia’s early years, and does so without ever resorting to fiction or “imagined” history. The First Family is more than just a pulse-quickening Mafia narrative. This is how it really happened.
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0307372308
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Hundreds of books have been written about the American Mafia, but none has told how it came into existence. This one does. Mafia books are notoriously unreliable, too often filled with the recycled errors of earlier authors. This one has been painstakingly researched from primary sources, including interviews with surviving family members and a vast, previously unexamined Secret Service archive. The result is an extraordinary work of history that grips, astonishes and chills the blood like a thriller. It tells the little-known story of the Morello family, pioneers of protection rackets, bizarre rituals and Mafia wars. Before the Five Families who dominated US organized crime for a bloody half-century, there was the surpassingly cunning Giuseppe Morello and his murderous coterie of brothers. Born into a life of poverty in rural Sicily, Morello became an American nightmare. Mike Dash follows the birth of the Mafia in America from the 1890s to the 1920s, from the wharves of New Orleans to the streets of Little Italy. He brings to life the remarkable villains and unusual heroes of the Mafia’s early years, and does so without ever resorting to fiction or “imagined” history. The First Family is more than just a pulse-quickening Mafia narrative. This is how it really happened.
Sicily to New Orleans and Beyond
Author: Frank J. III Palisi
Publisher: Frank Palisi
ISBN: 1432744534
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 694
Book Description
The incidents described in this book include the 1890 assassination of the New Orleans Chief of Police David Hennessey, the resulting Italian lynchings, and the 1906 murder of the seven-year-old child Walter Lamana. The first two incidents were the impetus for the 1999 HBO movie "Vendetta" and the book The Crescent City Lynchings by Tom Smith. The third incident had the most impact on many of the families documented in this book. The Walter Lamana child-killing story has not resurfaced for over a hundred years, until now.The high profile crimes of the late 1800s and early 1900s typically do not mention the places of origin of the families involved. The majority of those involved came from a small town in Sicily named Chiusa Sclafani, which is near Corleone, situated in the province of Palermo. Chiusa Sclafani is not mentioned in the movie Vendetta, nor the books covering the incidents and families involved.Fifteen years and roughly 60,000 hours of research are included in this book. This is one of most uniquely written books seen in centuries, and embodies a far-reaching and massive amount of documentation.For the most part this book is a reference material. Included are details of ancestor voyages, accounts of major incidents, the impacts those incidents had on these families, and more. There are steamer ship voyages documented for 27 families and for 795 individuals. There are 32 family trees presented. The Index includes 731 unique surnames and 2948 individuals documented in the family trees presented.The early chapters of this book describe the experience of the voyage and American citizenship process for our Sicilian immigrant ancestors, the "incidents" which occurred in New Orleans which caused the massive family dispersions, as well as a short description of Chiusa Sclafani and New Orleans.The middle chapters contain the steamer ship voyages for many of those who left the island of Sicily and entered America. This is the main artery of this book, which connects the present to the past and vice-versa. This chapter will help many people in their research by "jumping the ocean", a peculiar and meaningful genealogy term.The latter chapters of this book include the family descendant trees, which span from the earliest ancestors researched in Sicily, to the present. The first page (sometimes more than one page) of most of the family chapters includes a short dialogue explaining the familys entrance to America, detailing who migrated from Sicily to America, migrations from New Orleans to other places, many surname spelling changes, and more.Because the original research focused on the authors own family, the Palisi family documentation includes 400 years and 12 complete generations. Further, the Palisi chapter contains a heraldry entry found in a document dated from the 1500s, placenames around the globe where the name Palisi is used, and genetic DNA testing results of the Palisi line. Frank Palisi chose to include his own familys genetic DNA testing and results in this book since he was inspired by National Geographics (and their partner IBM) efforts to genetically test the DNA of a sampling of the worlds population to determine how the earth was repopulated after the last Ice Age.As a result of this book, first, second, and third cousins can now find out who and where their relatives are, after being separated over a hundred years ago.This book has attracted and will continue to attract historians, genealogists, mafia enthusiasts, university professors & students, and more!
Publisher: Frank Palisi
ISBN: 1432744534
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 694
Book Description
The incidents described in this book include the 1890 assassination of the New Orleans Chief of Police David Hennessey, the resulting Italian lynchings, and the 1906 murder of the seven-year-old child Walter Lamana. The first two incidents were the impetus for the 1999 HBO movie "Vendetta" and the book The Crescent City Lynchings by Tom Smith. The third incident had the most impact on many of the families documented in this book. The Walter Lamana child-killing story has not resurfaced for over a hundred years, until now.The high profile crimes of the late 1800s and early 1900s typically do not mention the places of origin of the families involved. The majority of those involved came from a small town in Sicily named Chiusa Sclafani, which is near Corleone, situated in the province of Palermo. Chiusa Sclafani is not mentioned in the movie Vendetta, nor the books covering the incidents and families involved.Fifteen years and roughly 60,000 hours of research are included in this book. This is one of most uniquely written books seen in centuries, and embodies a far-reaching and massive amount of documentation.For the most part this book is a reference material. Included are details of ancestor voyages, accounts of major incidents, the impacts those incidents had on these families, and more. There are steamer ship voyages documented for 27 families and for 795 individuals. There are 32 family trees presented. The Index includes 731 unique surnames and 2948 individuals documented in the family trees presented.The early chapters of this book describe the experience of the voyage and American citizenship process for our Sicilian immigrant ancestors, the "incidents" which occurred in New Orleans which caused the massive family dispersions, as well as a short description of Chiusa Sclafani and New Orleans.The middle chapters contain the steamer ship voyages for many of those who left the island of Sicily and entered America. This is the main artery of this book, which connects the present to the past and vice-versa. This chapter will help many people in their research by "jumping the ocean", a peculiar and meaningful genealogy term.The latter chapters of this book include the family descendant trees, which span from the earliest ancestors researched in Sicily, to the present. The first page (sometimes more than one page) of most of the family chapters includes a short dialogue explaining the familys entrance to America, detailing who migrated from Sicily to America, migrations from New Orleans to other places, many surname spelling changes, and more.Because the original research focused on the authors own family, the Palisi family documentation includes 400 years and 12 complete generations. Further, the Palisi chapter contains a heraldry entry found in a document dated from the 1500s, placenames around the globe where the name Palisi is used, and genetic DNA testing results of the Palisi line. Frank Palisi chose to include his own familys genetic DNA testing and results in this book since he was inspired by National Geographics (and their partner IBM) efforts to genetically test the DNA of a sampling of the worlds population to determine how the earth was repopulated after the last Ice Age.As a result of this book, first, second, and third cousins can now find out who and where their relatives are, after being separated over a hundred years ago.This book has attracted and will continue to attract historians, genealogists, mafia enthusiasts, university professors & students, and more!
Dixie’s Italians
Author: Jessica Barbata Jackson
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807173754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tens of thousands of Southern Italians and Sicilians immigrated to the American Gulf South. Arriving during the Jim Crow era at a time when races were being rigidly categorized, these immigrants occupied a racially ambiguous place in society: they were not considered to be of mixed race, nor were they “people of color” or “white.” In Dixie’s Italians: Sicilians, Race, and Citizenship in the Jim Crow Gulf South, Jessica Barbata Jackson shows that these Italian and Sicilian newcomers used their undefined status to become racially transient, moving among and between racial groups as both “white southerners” and “people of color” across communal and state-monitored color lines. Dixie’s Italians is the first book-length study of Sicilians and other Italians in the Jim Crow Gulf South. Through case studies involving lynchings, disenfranchisement efforts, attempts to segregate Sicilian schoolchildren, and turn-of-the-century miscegenation disputes, Jackson explores the racial mobility that Italians and Sicilians experienced. Depending on the location and circumstance, Italians in the Gulf South were sometimes viewed as white and sometimes not, occasionally offered access to informal citizenship and in other moments denied it. Jackson expands scholarship on the immigrant experience in the American South and explorations of the gray area within the traditionally black/white narrative. Bridging the previously disconnected fields of immigration history, southern history, and modern Italian history, this groundbreaking study shows how Sicilians and other Italians helped to both disrupt and consolidate the region’s racially binary discourse and profoundly alter the legal and ideological landscape of the Gulf South at the turn of the century.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807173754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, tens of thousands of Southern Italians and Sicilians immigrated to the American Gulf South. Arriving during the Jim Crow era at a time when races were being rigidly categorized, these immigrants occupied a racially ambiguous place in society: they were not considered to be of mixed race, nor were they “people of color” or “white.” In Dixie’s Italians: Sicilians, Race, and Citizenship in the Jim Crow Gulf South, Jessica Barbata Jackson shows that these Italian and Sicilian newcomers used their undefined status to become racially transient, moving among and between racial groups as both “white southerners” and “people of color” across communal and state-monitored color lines. Dixie’s Italians is the first book-length study of Sicilians and other Italians in the Jim Crow Gulf South. Through case studies involving lynchings, disenfranchisement efforts, attempts to segregate Sicilian schoolchildren, and turn-of-the-century miscegenation disputes, Jackson explores the racial mobility that Italians and Sicilians experienced. Depending on the location and circumstance, Italians in the Gulf South were sometimes viewed as white and sometimes not, occasionally offered access to informal citizenship and in other moments denied it. Jackson expands scholarship on the immigrant experience in the American South and explorations of the gray area within the traditionally black/white narrative. Bridging the previously disconnected fields of immigration history, southern history, and modern Italian history, this groundbreaking study shows how Sicilians and other Italians helped to both disrupt and consolidate the region’s racially binary discourse and profoundly alter the legal and ideological landscape of the Gulf South at the turn of the century.
Deep Water
Author: Thomas Hunt
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781453732694
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Second Edition: Set in the Gilded Age of New Orleans, this historical biography conveys J.P. Macheca's epic life story, as it finally sets the record straight on the 1890 assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the 1891 Crescent City lynchings. A longtime street warrior for the corrupt and ruthless New Orleans Democratic machine, Macheca was also the patron of the fledgling American Mafia in southern Louisiana. His underworld connections brought him into conflict with Hennessy and ultimately cost him his life. Macheca and ten other men implicated in Hennessy's assassination were killed while held within Orleans Parish Prison. The incident is remembered as the largest lynching in American history. However, the authors argue that Macheca's life was ended not through the spontaneous rage of a lynch mob but through a calculated act of betrayal by Macheca's former friends and allies. As Macheca's life story unfolds, Deep Water examines the many momentous events of his time and place, including Civil War, federal occupation, Reconstruction, violent political and racial division. The authors illustrate the deliberate influence of the Democratic "Ring" on the growth of the Mafia criminal society, and they underline the inextricability of organized politics and organized crime in the period. Comments on the book's First Edition: "Deep Water is a worthy addition to the organized crime canon and the greater body of books on Civil War-era America." - Scott M. Deitche, author and Blogcritics reviewer. "Deep Water is a memorable reading experience... This book will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime." - Dr. Peter Dale Scott, author. SILVER MEDAL winner, regional nonfiction category, 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781453732694
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 412
Book Description
Second Edition: Set in the Gilded Age of New Orleans, this historical biography conveys J.P. Macheca's epic life story, as it finally sets the record straight on the 1890 assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the 1891 Crescent City lynchings. A longtime street warrior for the corrupt and ruthless New Orleans Democratic machine, Macheca was also the patron of the fledgling American Mafia in southern Louisiana. His underworld connections brought him into conflict with Hennessy and ultimately cost him his life. Macheca and ten other men implicated in Hennessy's assassination were killed while held within Orleans Parish Prison. The incident is remembered as the largest lynching in American history. However, the authors argue that Macheca's life was ended not through the spontaneous rage of a lynch mob but through a calculated act of betrayal by Macheca's former friends and allies. As Macheca's life story unfolds, Deep Water examines the many momentous events of his time and place, including Civil War, federal occupation, Reconstruction, violent political and racial division. The authors illustrate the deliberate influence of the Democratic "Ring" on the growth of the Mafia criminal society, and they underline the inextricability of organized politics and organized crime in the period. Comments on the book's First Edition: "Deep Water is a worthy addition to the organized crime canon and the greater body of books on Civil War-era America." - Scott M. Deitche, author and Blogcritics reviewer. "Deep Water is a memorable reading experience... This book will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime." - Dr. Peter Dale Scott, author. SILVER MEDAL winner, regional nonfiction category, 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards.
Partners in Gatekeeping
Author: Lauren Braun-Strumfels
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820365424
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Partners in Gatekeeping illuminates a complex, distinctly transnational story that recasts the development of U.S. immigration policies and institutions. Lauren Braun-Strumfels challenges existing ideas about the origins of remote control by paying particular attention to two programs supported by the Italian government in the 1890s: a government outpost on Ellis Island called the Office of Labor Information and Protection for Italians, and rural immigrant colonization in the American South—namely a plantation in Arkansas called Sunnyside. Through her examination of these distinct locations, Braun-Strumfels argues that we must consider Italian migration as an essential piece in the history of how the United States became a gatekeeping nation. In particular, she details how an asymmetric partnership emerged between the United States and Italy to manage that migration. In so doing, Partners in Gatekeeping reveals that the last ten years of the nineteenth century were critical to the establishment of the modern gatekeeping system. By showing the roles of Italian programs in this migration system, Braun-Strumfels establishes antecedents for remote control beyond the well-studied Chinese and Mexican cases.
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 0820365424
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Partners in Gatekeeping illuminates a complex, distinctly transnational story that recasts the development of U.S. immigration policies and institutions. Lauren Braun-Strumfels challenges existing ideas about the origins of remote control by paying particular attention to two programs supported by the Italian government in the 1890s: a government outpost on Ellis Island called the Office of Labor Information and Protection for Italians, and rural immigrant colonization in the American South—namely a plantation in Arkansas called Sunnyside. Through her examination of these distinct locations, Braun-Strumfels argues that we must consider Italian migration as an essential piece in the history of how the United States became a gatekeeping nation. In particular, she details how an asymmetric partnership emerged between the United States and Italy to manage that migration. In so doing, Partners in Gatekeeping reveals that the last ten years of the nineteenth century were critical to the establishment of the modern gatekeeping system. By showing the roles of Italian programs in this migration system, Braun-Strumfels establishes antecedents for remote control beyond the well-studied Chinese and Mexican cases.
The Ballad of Robert Charles
Author: K. Stephen Prince
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469661837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
For a brief moment in the summer of 1900, Robert Charles was arguably the most infamous black man in the United States. After an altercation with police on a New Orleans street, Charles killed two police officers and fled. During a manhunt that extended for days, violent white mobs roamed the city, assaulting African Americans and killing at least half a dozen. When authorities located Charles, he held off a crowd of thousands for hours before being shot to death. The notorious episode was reported nationwide; years later, fabled jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton recalled memorializing Charles in song. Yet today, Charles is almost entirely invisible in the traditional historical record. So who was Robert Charles, really? An outlaw? A black freedom fighter? And how can we reconstruct his story? In this fascinating work, K. Stephen Prince sheds fresh light on both the history of the Robert Charles riots and the practice of history-writing itself. He reveals evidence of intentional erasures, both in the ways the riot and its aftermath were chronicled and in the ways stories were silenced or purposefully obscured. But Prince also excavates long-hidden facts from the narratives passed down by white and black New Orleanians over more than a century. In so doing, he probes the possibilities and limitations of the historical imagination.
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469661837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
For a brief moment in the summer of 1900, Robert Charles was arguably the most infamous black man in the United States. After an altercation with police on a New Orleans street, Charles killed two police officers and fled. During a manhunt that extended for days, violent white mobs roamed the city, assaulting African Americans and killing at least half a dozen. When authorities located Charles, he held off a crowd of thousands for hours before being shot to death. The notorious episode was reported nationwide; years later, fabled jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton recalled memorializing Charles in song. Yet today, Charles is almost entirely invisible in the traditional historical record. So who was Robert Charles, really? An outlaw? A black freedom fighter? And how can we reconstruct his story? In this fascinating work, K. Stephen Prince sheds fresh light on both the history of the Robert Charles riots and the practice of history-writing itself. He reveals evidence of intentional erasures, both in the ways the riot and its aftermath were chronicled and in the ways stories were silenced or purposefully obscured. But Prince also excavates long-hidden facts from the narratives passed down by white and black New Orleanians over more than a century. In so doing, he probes the possibilities and limitations of the historical imagination.
Empire of Sin
Author: Gary Krist
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
ISBN: 0770437060
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Book Description
Describes the internal struggle in early-twentieth-century New Orleans between the city's upper crust and the underworld, focusing on the head of the red light district, who fought to keep his vice business at the top in a wicked city.
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
ISBN: 0770437060
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Book Description
Describes the internal struggle in early-twentieth-century New Orleans between the city's upper crust and the underworld, focusing on the head of the red light district, who fought to keep his vice business at the top in a wicked city.
The Axeman of New Orleans
Author: Miriam C. Davis
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 161374871X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
From 1910 to 1919, New Orleans suffered at the hands of its very own Jack the Ripper–style killer. The story has been the subject of websites, short stories, novels, a graphic novel, and most recently the FX television series American Horror Story. But the full story of gruesome murders, sympathetic victims, accused innocents, public panic, the New Orleans Mafia, and a mysterious killer has never been written. Until now. The Axeman repeatedly broke into the homes of Italian grocers in the dead of night, leaving his victims in a pool of blood. Iorlando Jordano, an innocent Italian grocer, and his teenaged son Frank were wrongly accused of one of those murders; corrupt officials convicted them with coerced testimony. Miriam C. Davis here expertly tells the story of the search for the Axeman and of the eventual exoneration of the innocent Jordanos. She proves that the person mostly widely suspected of being the Axeman was not the killer. She also shows what few have suspected—that the Axeman continued killing after leaving New Orleans in 1919. Only thirty years after Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel, the Axeman of New Orleans held an American city hostage. This book tells that story.
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 161374871X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
From 1910 to 1919, New Orleans suffered at the hands of its very own Jack the Ripper–style killer. The story has been the subject of websites, short stories, novels, a graphic novel, and most recently the FX television series American Horror Story. But the full story of gruesome murders, sympathetic victims, accused innocents, public panic, the New Orleans Mafia, and a mysterious killer has never been written. Until now. The Axeman repeatedly broke into the homes of Italian grocers in the dead of night, leaving his victims in a pool of blood. Iorlando Jordano, an innocent Italian grocer, and his teenaged son Frank were wrongly accused of one of those murders; corrupt officials convicted them with coerced testimony. Miriam C. Davis here expertly tells the story of the search for the Axeman and of the eventual exoneration of the innocent Jordanos. She proves that the person mostly widely suspected of being the Axeman was not the killer. She also shows what few have suspected—that the Axeman continued killing after leaving New Orleans in 1919. Only thirty years after Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel, the Axeman of New Orleans held an American city hostage. This book tells that story.