Hollins Market

Between 1890 and 1900, Hollins Market in Baltimore City seemed to be a place not only to shop but to commit crimes according to the Baltimore Sun Newspaper. Whether it was a petty crime or a major one it looked like the newspaper didn't really have anything good to say about the market. From my research I have discovered three different crimes that stood out the most to me.

1. Purse Stolen (1899) 
A young man by the name of Harman Carl stole a woman's purse that had $2.50 in it on a Saturday evening in 1899. It is not said if Mrs. Annie Dahl ever got her purse back.

2. The Dispute Over A Stalltax (1898) 
Edward Biden, a seller at Hollins Market had two stalls. One of which he claimed he was never required to pay stall taxes on after he was arrested for not paying its 10 cent stall fee. Eventually Biden was released from custody after a court case in which he claimed exemption to the tax. This exemption was under the ordinance that, "...no charge shall be levied upon any person or the property of any person who sell attend the markets with any articles or produce from the country of his own growth or manufacture or as the age go the grower, to vend in the markets."

3. The Kemper Case (1893) 
At the age of sixty, Kemper was charged with luring young girls into his home between that ages of ten and thirteen. His home was at Boyd St and Rolling Alley but he would use his stand at the market to entice the children by giving them apples and money. Suspicious people reported to the police what was going and they began to trail Kemper eventually catching him in the act. The police saw a chid go in Kemper's house and leave 40 minutes later. At his court case five young girls testified against Kemper with the backing of a physician. One of the witnesses in the court claimed that Kemper had enticed 18 girls.