Item Info

Historic Street Address: 12th & Moore Streets
Historic Street Address: Jones Lane, South Philadelphia farm
Media Type: Scrapbooks
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:

Item 1, top:  Image of the Deering farm, on Jones Lane in South Philadelphia, which was the scene of the mass murder of seven family members and a young fieldhand, on April 7, 1866.  Pictured are some curious onlookers and/or investigating officials, four days after the murders. Antoine Probst was a disgruntled former farmhand of the Deerings, who confessed to murdering the family for revenge and money; he was convicted in May and hanged in June 1866.  Engraving from a sketch by C. Baum, for an unidentified publication, 24 x 16 cm, April 1866. 

Items 2 and 3, bottom:  Illustration (left) and accompanying text (right), concerning the burial tomb of the Deering family and one of their fieldhands, victims of a mass murder on April 7, 1866, in Philadelphia.  The tomb was located in South Philadelphia in St. Mary's Cemetery, on Moore Street, between 11th and 12th Streets.  The drawing is a facsimile of the tomb monument, providing details of the eight victims and their murder by Antoine Probst.  Probst was a disgruntled former farmhand of the Deerings, who confessed to murdering the family for revenge and money; he was convicted in May and hanged in June 1866.  The text credits the tomb being erected by a Mr. William Duffy, and laments the possible development in the area that could ultimately disturb the graves.  In fact, the family's remains were relocated in the 1950s to the Holy Cross Cemetery in the suburb of Yeadon, PA.  The illustration measures 11 x 17 cm, and the text measures 11 x 4 cm, both for an unidentified publication, undated. 

Creation Year: 1845
Geocode Latitude: Geocode Longitude:-75.165222
Geocode Latitude:39.927560

Call Number: A917.481 P536 v.19
Creator Name: Castner, Samuel, Jr., 1843-1929 - Compiler
C. Baum - Artist