1876: The Stabbed Sailor

Chicago Daily Tribune cover story

Random killings of people who found themselves in an unpredictable place at an unpredictable time occur throughout this data base. Chicago’s centrality as a transportation hub attracted people from all over the country and the world.

View case details…

Chicago was a central port, and the shipping trade was a major industry.

If a person without identification was killed, the family might not hear the news for years. The population of homeless persons, and especially homeless boys, had many runaways who came to the city to seek work and had not informed their families of their destination (1000 Homeless Men).

For further reading: Information on immigration and emigration