I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I am returning to Knesseth Israel Anshe Kolk Wolyn Cemetery, one of my local favorites, to discuss the tragic fate of Oscar Goldstein. Oscar's grave can be found near the outer fence of the cemetery. When I first arrived, only his ceramic grave photo peeked through the covering vines. That photo was enough to beckon me forward. I used my bare hands to tear away the vines in order to learn his name and date of death. I couldn't resist the urge to look him up, and as a result I discovered what some people considered the price of a human life in 1933. It was twenty cents. The story also gives a taste of race relations and attitudes in Baltimore at the time.
Here's the story:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 13 March 1933, Monday:
NEGRO KILLS TAXI DRIVER OVER 20 CENTS
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Shooting Follows Passenger's Protest He Had Been Overcharged
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SLAYER AND WOMAN COMPANION ESCAPE
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Suspect Arrested -- Said To Have Been Recognized By Girl Of 10
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In protest against what he considered a 20-cent overcharge, an unidentified Negro shot and killed Oscar Goldstein, a taxicab driver, in the 1800 block Etting street about 8 A. M. yesterday.
Late last night a suspect, Mack Nevers, 34, was arrested in the 1300 block North Stockton street. He had been drinking, however, according to Northwestern district police and held overnight for further questioning this morning.
Recognized By Girl
He was arrested by Lieut. Nicholas Gatch and Sergt. Oscar Koch on information supplied by occupants of the house in front of which the cab had stopped. He was said to have visited there and to have been recognized by a 10-year-old girl who witnessed the shooting from a window.
Her story, according to the police, tallied with that supplied by two other witnesses, though most of the residents of the narrow street -- in the heart of the Negro section -- professed ignorance of the identity of the Negro and the woman who accompanied him.
Flee In Different Directions
The gunman and the woman, the police were told, ran in different directions as Goldstein, with a bullet to his brain, dropped to the pavement, clutching a crank handle he had grasped in an attempt to defend himself.
Henrietta Gore and Ida Kirby, Negroes, who live at 1828 Etting street, told Lieut. Edgar Steinacker that the taxicab drew up at the curb across the street from their home and a Negro man and a young woman, about 19, stepped out of it.
They said the driver and male passenger argued about the face, the Negro alleging he had been overcharged 20 cents. The fare, it was said, was 25 cents, plus 20 cents for waiting time.
Strikes Driver, Then Shoots
Finally, the witnesses said, the Negro, apparently about 35, struck Goldstein in the face with his fist, and the driver disappeared into his cab to emerge with a crank handle.
Then, they continued, the Negro drew a pistol from his pocket and, backing away, shot the driver. The bullet, examination disclosed, entered the head above the right eye.
As the driver fell, the Negro woman ran along Etting street and turned into Laurens, it is said, and her companion, pocketing his weapon, crossed the street and disappeared in a narrow alley leading toDruid Hill avenue.
Found By Another Cab Driver
Joseph Egan, another taxicab driver, was cruising in the 500 block Laurens street when he heard the shot. Investigating, he found Goldstein lying on the pavement beside his cab, about two blocks from the point where Egan had heard the shot. Egan, who lives at 12 North Wolfe street, did not notice anyone running from the scene, he told police.
Goldstein was pronounced dead at the Provident Hospital, and the body later was removed to the morgue under orders from Dr. Ferdinand C. Link, coroner of the Northwestern district.
Goldstein was 24 and lived at 3508 Virginia avenue.
Today, it is easy to discern the racial attitudes in the story above. African-Americans were always identified as Negroes, but the races of Goldstein and Egan were not mentioned. Also, the reporter seems to suspect that the residents of the street were not cooperating fully with the police. Was the distrust of the police in minority communities, endemic in Baltimore today, already evident at that time? I decided I had to research further, especially since the identification of the suspect seemed sketchy. The next story, however, made the identification more certain:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 14 March 1933, Tuesday:
Inquest Will Be Held Friday In Case Of Slain Taxicab Driver
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An inquest into the death of Oscar Goldstein, 24-year-old cab driver, shot to death early Sunday morning during an argument over a 20-cent fare, will be held Friday at the Northwestern Police Station by Dr. Ferdinand C. Link, Northwestern district coroner.
Mack Neville, 34, Negro, who, police say, made a full confession of the shooting to them yesterday, was ordered held for the action of the coroner when arraigned before Magistrate John M. Pohlhaus, in Northwestern Police Court.
Neville was arrested several hours after the shooting in a house in the 1300 block Stockton street by Lieut. Nicholas B. Gatch and Sergt. Oscar Koch, of the Northwestern District. His drunken condition, however, necessitated their waiting until yesterday morning to question him and obtain his confession, the police said.
Although there was no story about the initial trial, Mack Neville appears in The Evening Sun on 01 July 1938. He is listed as appearing on the docket for the Parole Commissioner for the following day. The entry reads:
Neville, it seems, was convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. I am not a lawyer, but that seems a reasonable verdict considering the fact that there was an ongoing altercation which Goldstein had escalated by using the crank handle as a weapon. Still, that was no excuse for murder, as the jury obviously found. I was unable to find out whether Neville was successful in his bid for parole. Nor could I find any further references to him in any capacity. Of one thing, however, I am certain. By now he has joined Oscar Goldstein in death.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....
Grave Tales:
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Learn more about the book, click
Here.
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An IntroductionThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The HouseThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is UsThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, ArrivalThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, MethodologyThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's TaleThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
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