Comments for Small Town Noir

Comment on Stanley Balin, “Dis Cond”, 26 Jan 1941 by Ruby Lee

Ruby Lee — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:04:25 +0000

My favorite thing about your blog is how you give some historical context for every mug shot. Great job!

Comment on Julius Roth, “Intox Driver”, 24 May 1941 by Diarmid

Diarmid — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:19:34 +0000

Hi Jack – thanks for dropping by; it’s an honour. And thanks for fleshing out the story, too. I became very impressed with your grandfather while reading about his exploits in the old newspapers. I’m glad that his line appears to be doing well!

I suppose you’ve probably seen your grandfather’s old house in New Castle – the one that was bombed – but just in case you haven’t, here’s a link to a photograph I took of it last summer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/angusmcdiarmid/5979534198/

Thanks again for writing. I really appreciate it — Diarmid

Comment on Julius Roth, “Intox Driver”, 24 May 1941 by Jack

Jack — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:14:48 +0000

I just happened upon this site by chance. How surprised I was to see it was a story about my grandfather Jack Dunlap. I remember my dad telling me years ago when I was a boy, the story of how some unknown criminals set off some dynamite underneath the porch of their house. He was 3 1/2 yrs old at the time. Both my dad and I were named after my grandfather. My earliest memories of him are when he was the superintendent of the boys home in Oakdale. I remember at a young age going there on Christmas and other holidays. My grandmother died in ’66 while my dad was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War. My grandfather was living in Chicora when he died in 1982. He is buried in New Castle at the Oak Park Cemetery.

My father continued the law enforcement tradition in my family. After college (1942) he joined the Army Air Corp and flew B-24 Liberators out of Cerignola, Italy. He was in the 15th AF, 461st BG(H), 765th Sqdn. After the war he joined the FBI and became a special agent. He did that for about 7 yrs. In 1953 during the Korean War he returned to the Air Force to fly again. After the war ended he transferred to Air Force Intelligence for the remainder of his career. He retired in OCT/1970 as a Major. For a couple years after that he worked as an investigator for the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, while waiting for a civil service job opening. In ’72 he began working for the U.S. Army Provost Marshal Office both state side and overseas. He returned to the U.S. around ’79 and transferred to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (King of Prussia, PA) where he stayed till his retirement sometime in the mid ’90′s. Not one to just sit around he got a part time position with the Chester County Sheriffs Dept, as a deputy sheriff. There he stayed till around 2000 when at that time he resigned. He then moved from Exton to a retirement community in Willow Street and lived there several years. On Feb. 06, 2007 my father passed away at the age of 86. He was buried at Arlington Cemetery with full military honors. Another from the greatest generation laid to rest.

I thought I would include a little more to the time line. It seems the people that visit this site are genuinely interested in the history surrounding New Castle.

Comment on William Brest, “Larceny”, 10 June 1960 by Mike

Mike — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:42:21 +0000

Well, in these days of minimum sentencing and ‘zero tolerance’ even the second theory is out of bounds today. No cop would be allowed to say ‘he’s a good kid at heart’ these days – not that police ‘discretion’ is a solid base for infallible justice.

Children’s Panels are wonderful, of course, but William was eighteen….

Comment on William Brest, “Larceny”, 10 June 1960 by Diarmid

Diarmid — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:34:03 +0000

The lives of the people I’ve researched suggest that, if you send a young boy to jail, he’ll reoffend and reoffend, and that, if you give him a break, he’s likely to go on to live a crime-free life. I think that’s probably true, for obvious reasons. However, it could be that the young men who were not sent to jail were let off precisely because the cops and the judges rightly perceived that they were the kind of person who was generally law-abiding and had made a mistake, and that the kids who were jailed were bad ‘uns from the start and were going to reoffend no matter if you gave them a break or not. I find that harder to agree with, but it’s certainly a possibility…

Comment on William Brest, “Larceny”, 10 June 1960 by Mike

Mike — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:45:42 +0000

Keeping kids out of the criminal justice system works, most of the time. Alice Johnson knew that – perhaps because she had grown up in more unforgiving times?

Comment on About by Diarmid

Diarmid — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:50:30 +0000

Hi Matt. Sounds good! I checked out your work and I love it. I’ll send you an e-mail…

Comment on Frank Heckathorn, “Indecent Exposure”, 11 July 1943 by Diarmid

Diarmid — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:43:50 +0000

And thanks for dropping by, Ruby!

Comment on Frank Heckathorn, “Indecent Exposure”, 11 July 1943 by Ruby Lee

Ruby Lee — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:16:25 +0000

your blog is fascinating! thank you so much for posting

Comment on About by matt wood

matt wood — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:10:50 +0000

Diarmid – what a unique and mesmerizing blog! I stumbled across it just today. The images and stories are like parting a veil and entering into another world. It’s hard stop reading! I’m a professional editorial illustrator. I also collect vintage photographs (including a small collection of mug shots) and I occasionally including them in my work. I am currently working with an animator, we are combining talents to create moving illustrations. Would you be willing to grant us permission to use some of your posted images in the experimental work we are doing? You can see some of my work at my site http://www.mattwood.net – I am based in Colorado. Every face tells a story… what a great place to come for creative inspiration!