Historic Crimes Of Long Island

This true crime collection reveals centuries of rogues, murderers, spurned lovers and accused witches who called Long Island home. Author and historian Kerriann Flanagan Brosky uncovers some of the most ghastly and fascinating historical crimes committed on Long Island. Hidden just beneath the idyllic countryside and picturesque towns, there is a long and murky history of murder and mayhem. A Victorian romance went awry in Huntington when wealthy farmer Charles Kelsey was tarred, feathered and murdered in 1872. Thirty-five years before the famous witch trials of Salem, East Hampton had its own Puritan hysteria among charges of witchcraft. The 1937 kidnapping of wealthy heiress Alice Parsons shook the quiet town of Stony Brook and remains a mystery to this day. These and other tales are revealed in chilling volume.

A meticulously researched account of one of the North Fork’s most infamous crimes: the Wickham Axe Murders of 1854. In the mid-nineteenth century, James Wickham was a wealthy farmer with a large estate in Cutchogue, Long Island. His extensive property included a mansion and eighty acres of farmland that were maintained by a staff of servants. In 1854, Wickham got into an argument with one of his workers, Nicholas Behan, after Behan harassed another employee who refused to marry him. Several days after Behan’s dismissal, he crept back into the house in the dead of night. With an axe, he butchered Wickham and his wife, Frances, and fled to a nearby swamp. Behan was captured, tried, convicted and, on December 15, became one of the last people to be hanged in Suffolk County. Local historians Geoffrey Fleming and Amy Folk uncover this gruesome story of revenge and murder. Includes photos! “Mr. Fleming and Ms. Folk graphically recreate the crime itself and Behan’s attempts to escape. They describe in detail his capture, incarceration, trial, and conviction ending in his execution.” —The East Hampton Star

Long Island's history extends beyond the physical reality surrounding us and into the great unknown of the spiritual realm. Deceased patrons and other visitors from the past linger at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, one of the oldest continually operating restaurants in America. Victims of the Louis V. Place shipwreck aren't resting so peacefully at the Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue. Spirits move furniture, knock on doors and pace throughout the exhibits at the Long Island Maritime Museum. Award-winning author and historian Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, alongside medium and paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto, use extensive interviews, research and investigations to unveil a new collection of Long Island's ghostly past.

A scorned woman, an incensed deli owner, a drunken cop, and an antisocial son. These were the most memorable murder defendants to appear before Long Island judge Thomas M. Stark during his thirty-seven years on the bench. None was more notorious than Ronald DeFeo Jr., who in 1975 was convicted of shooting six members of his family, a crime that sparked tales of hauntings later recounted in the best-selling book The Amityville Horror: A True Story. Drawing from his personal files, Stark gives readers an inside look at the brutal murders, the frenzy over the alleged psychic events that followed, and DeFeo’s decades of shifting stories about what really happened that fateful night. The book’s other tales of true crime include long-forgotten cases that mesmerized Long Islanders from the 1960s to the 1980s: the murder-for-hire of an unfaithful paramour, a fire that took the lives of a mother and three children, a Southampton society melee, and more. A noted expert on criminal law, Stark delves into the legal issues raised by each murder and shares the thinking behind his rulings. These real-life cases are sure to fascinate fans of both true crime and courtroom drama as Stark brings to life tragic stories of love and betrayal, a feud turned deadly, partying gone awry, and a family killed in cold blood.

The largest island in the continental United States, Long Island comprises Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. With a rich history that has included American Indian tribes such as the Massapequa, Shinnecock, and Quogue, among others; colonists from England and the Netherlands; and immigrants who arrived by way of Ellis Island; Long Island thrives today on its wealth of industry, agriculture, natural beauty, and the contributions of its nearly eight million residents. Those very attributes are showcased in this volume, Historic Photos of Long Island. From the lighthouse at Montauk, to the growth of the Long Island Rail Road, to the factories of Long Island City, the breadth, contrasts, and vitality of the Island through a century of its life shine forth in the black-and-white images collected here. Windmills and tide mills, potatoes and oysters, aviators and fishermen—all are a part of the Island’s history, and all are represented vividly among the nearly 200 images seen in Historic Photos of Long Island.

Long Island's history extends beyond the physical reality surrounding us and into the great unknown of the spiritual realm. Deceased patrons and other visitors from the past linger at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, one of the oldest continually operating restaurants in America. Victims of the Louis V. Place shipwreck aren't resting so peacefully at the Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue. Spirits move furniture, knock on doors and pace throughout the exhibits at the Long Island Maritime Museum. Award-winning author and historian Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, alongside medium and paranormal investigator Joe Giaquinto, use extensive interviews, research and investigations to unveil a new collection of Long Island's ghostly past.

Annual edition of New York History Review

"Long Island's history is filled with fascinating firsts, magnificent mansions and fascinating characters. From Glenn Curtiss, the first pilot to fly a plane on the island, to Earle Ovington, who carried the country's first airmail, the area has been known as the cradle of aviation. Millionaire William K. Vanderbilt's Long Island Motor Parkway, remnants of which still remain, was the nation's first highway. The desolate ruins of an exiled Albanian king's estate lie in the midst of the woods of the Muttontown Preserve. Captain William Kidd, pirate chaser turned pirate, is rumored to have buried treasure on the island. Richard Panchyk reveals the rapidly vanishing traces of Long Island's intriguing history"--Publisher description.