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Finding the Story
Sex, Murder, and Genealogy? The Broadway musical and Hollywood movie CHICAGO was based on the stories of two real-life women by the name of Belva and Beulah. Just as in the show and movie these women killed their lovers. By collecting standard genealogical documents Mike Karsen piece together their lives as well as put their tales into context relating to Chicago history. Frank Frost a.k.a. Frank Foster was a real Chicago gangster who first worked for the northside gang under Bugs Moran and moved up to south siders under the infamous, Al Capone. While starting with family lore, the facts need to be verified through outside sources. In this case, the problem was not too little information but too much. How to you sort through the scads of information in newspapers, books, and websites and determine which is the truth and which is "speculation and guesswork" Famous Murderesses and Mysteries from Chicago's Past (2 hour seminar) Chicago had many infamous characters in its turbulent past. This seminar discusses three women who murdered their lovers and includes their background leading up to the murders. It also includes some of the mystery that enveloped the cases and their lives. The first case involves Dora Feldman McDonald who was married to political boss Michael McDonald and was being blackmailed her lover in 1907. The other two cases involve Belva Gaertner and Buelah Annan in 1924 and upon whose actions the musical "Chicago" is based. Mike uses his genealogist's toolbox to set the record straight in these cases. |
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