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Carrie Brown : Murder In The East River Hotel
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#Post#: 7204--------------------------------------------------
Arrested On Suspicion of Being Frenchy #2- John Holahan
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 24, 2026, 7:43 am
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New York Sun
September 7, 1891
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JOTTINGS ABOUT TOWN.
John Holahan, 42 years old, of 115 Bowery, who was arrested by
Inspector Byrnes's men
on suspicion of being Frenchy No. 2, the reputed murderer of
"Old Shakespeare," in April last,
was arraigned for disorderly conduct in the Jefferson Market
Court yesterday and fined $10.
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There are three ways of spelling the surname ( Irish)
Houlihan...Houlahan...Holahan
I can't locate a John by any of the surnames at 115 Bowery in
the NY City Directories.
I got a jolt when I saw the '15' in 115...thinking it was 15
Bowery, Barney Wintermeyer's saloon.
115 was a 7-minute walk from 15 Bowery.
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The building is still there ( in the link)
HTML https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7179604,-73.9950482,3a,75y,105.34h,110.55t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sHCeS4fTd6NFR52vmuwWbxQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-20.549999999999997%26panoid%3DHCeS4fTd6NFR52vmuwWbxQ%26yaw%3D105.34!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDgxOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
#Post#: 7205--------------------------------------------------
Re: Arrested On Suspicion of Being Frenchy #2- John Holahan
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 24, 2026, 9:44 am
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The photo is of Steve Brodie, bartender and bridge jumper ( some
say bullshit artist, too), who claimed to have leapt from the
Brooklyn Bridge in July 1886.....but probably didn't.
This is Brodie at his 114 Bowery taproom in 1890, across the
street from Holahan's residence....Annie Campbell, aka
Shakespeare, bent her elbows here.
HTML https://i.imgur.com/jTuuUK7.jpg
List of threads with posts about Brodie:
HTML https://carriebrown.createaforum.com/index.php?action=search2
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Brodie_(bridge_jumper)
#Post#: 7207--------------------------------------------------
Re: Arrested On Suspicion of Being Frenchy #2- John Holahan
DIR By: Kattrup
Date: August 24, 2026, 11:33 am
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Very nice find, Howard
Initially I thought John Holahan - could it be a distortion of
Charles Holland? but it doesn´t seem likely
#Post#: 7208--------------------------------------------------
Re: Arrested On Suspicion of Being Frenchy #2- John Holahan
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 24, 2026, 12:14 pm
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Pete:
I also doubt it, but Holland said he had been at the New England
Hotel located at 30 Bowery on the night of the murder.
HTML https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-lost-new-england-hotel-no-30-bowery.html
New York Evening World
May 2, 1891
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The police authorities at Jamaica, L. I., announced to-day that
they had a man in custody supposed to be the missing "C.
Knicko," who went to the East River Hotel, Thursday night, April
23, with Carrie Brown, the woman afterwards found brutally
murdered.
The man was arrested in Jamaica last night by Detective Benjamin
Ashmead, of the Jamaica police.
The prisoner is reported to be about thirty-two years of age,
with light hair and mustache, and otherwise agrees with Mary
Miniter's description of the man who went to the hotel with the
Ripper's victim.
He was arraigned before Justice Henderson this morning on a
charge of vagrancy, and was held to await the arrival of
Inspector Byrnes's detectives.
The prisoner gave his name as Charles Holland, and said his
business was that of an organ tuner.
When searched by Detective Ashmead, two bloody handkerchiefs
were found upon him.
Holland said he had spent the night of April 23, which was the
night of the murder, with a woman in the New England Hotel, on
the Bowery, in New York City.
He accounted for the blood stains on his handkerchiefs by saying
that he had been assaulted on Staten Island the previous night
by two men and had his head cut, using the handkerchiefs to
stanch the flow of blood.
The prisoner was told that he would be taken to New York, there
to be confronted with Mary Miniter, who let "C. Knicko" into the
barroom of the East River Hotel and to whom he gave ten cents to
buy beer for himself and his companion.
The Jamaica authorities feel sure that Holland is the man
wanted. He denies that he was ever in the East River Hotel.
At Police Headquarters this afternoon Inspector McLaughlin said
he knew nothing whatever of the arrest at Jamaica, or of the
circumstances stated above.
Chief Inspector Byrnes was not in his office.
At the New England Hotel, corner of Bayard Street and the
Bowery, where the new suspect says he took lodgings the night of
April 23, a reporter of THE EVENING WORLD found everything in
confusion.
Repairs are being made in the building, he was told, and no
lodgers have been received there since Sunday, April 19.
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Brooklyn Citizen
May 2, 1891
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CAUGHT IN JAMAICA.
THE FELLOW LODGER OF THE MURDERED "SHAKESPEARE" WOMAN.
At Least, the Police Believe They Have the Man, and He Answers
Mary Miniter's Description in Full—Says He Can Prove an Alibi.
Detective Benjamin Ashmead arrested a man in Jamaica last night
who, it is thought, will prove to be the much sought for lodger
who occupied a room with the murdered Shakespeare woman in the
East River Hotel, New York. The prisoner's appearance agrees
with Mary Miniter's description of the man who went to the room
with the ripper's victim.
He was arraigned before Justice Hendrickson this morning on a
charge of vagrancy and held for Inspector Byrnes. He gave the
name of Charles Holland and his business as an organ tuner. When
searched by Detective Ashmead, two bloody handkerchiefs were
found upon him.
Holland was seen this morning by a CITIZEN reporter and said he
had spent the night of Thursday, April 23, which was the night
of the murder, with a woman in the New England Hotel in New York
City. He accounted for the bloody handkerchiefs by saying he had
been assaulted at Staten Island the night before by two men and
had his head cut, using the handkerchiefs to stop the flow of
blood.
The prisoner will be handed over to Inspector Byrnes' detectives
this afternoon and will be taken to New York, there to undergo a
rigid examination. He will be confronted with Mary Miniter, the
housekeeper of the den where the murder was committed, to see if
she can recognize him as the man whom she let in with the
murdered woman and who gave the money with which to purchase
beer for his companion. Mary Miniter claims to have taken a good
look at her lodger on that occasion and says she will know if
she sees him again.
The Jamaica authorities look upon the arrest as a very important
one. Should the prisoner prove to be the man wanted, whatever
mystery still surrounds the murder will be in a fair way to be
cleared up, and Detective Ashmead will have established his
reputation.
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