Stanley Blair, Ph.D., associate professor of English at Monmouth University, will present on “The Infamous Long Branch Murder of 1860, Solved.”
According to newspaper reports, the crime was committed on the Long Branch beach, behind the Monmouth House hotel, early on August 7, 1860. Hundreds gathered around the crime scene and watched investigators, while hotels and boarding houses were searched for anyone missing. In the eastern half of the U.S., dozens of newspapers reported the murder and speculated about the victim’s identity and the perpetrator’s motives. Within days, the papers reported that a second crime, related to the first, had occurred.
Newspapers covered the developing story in stages, Blair said, as telegraphed updates as well as New York correspondents’ on-site reports rippled across the country for almost three weeks. One local paper in Freehold suggested that something like a nationwide trauma had occurred.
Despite the public’s outrage and calls to punish the perpetrator, the murder victim was never found, and the perpetrators of both crimes were never identified. Blair’s presentation examined both crimes, and offered a solution.
The local literary connection is a sketch in an 1863 book, “Sprees and Splashes,” by Henry Morford of Middletown, NJ. Morford’s sketch accounts for the 1860 events in Long Branch, but lightly disguises the names of those involved. Based on clues that Morford provides, Blair asserts that the disguised names of two key personages in Morford’s his sketch can be decoded to reveal their real identities.
The Township of Ocean Historical Museum, founded in 1984, is a member-supported, 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Its headquarters, the Eden Woolley House, is one of the few 18th-century structures still in existence in the Township. The museum serves as the ancestral home to every citizen of the Township of Ocean. PLEASE NOTE: At the present time, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Museum will only be open on all Sunday afternoons, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., or request a tour anytime by Calling 732-531-2136 or emailing OceanMuseum@yahoo.com. We will be adding days in the future and will continue to keep you advised. The Township of Ocean Historical Museum offers exhibits on the history of coastal Monmouth County and a full calendar of events. The Museum is also 100% volunteer-supported, with no paid staff. The Museum maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books, and photographs of historical and genealogical interest. For more information, please call 732-531-2136 or visit our website at http://www.OceanMuseum.org
Click [_] box on the bottom right of the video for fullscreen