Nero, thank you so much for the ginger, the ice cream money for my grandson and most of all Hanging Henry Gambrill: The Violent Career of Baltimore's Plug Uglies, 1854-1860 by Tracy Matthew Melton. What a great looking book. I'm thrilled to get a look at the Baltimore crime scene of 150 years ago, as my only previous reading on it was focused on prize-fighting.
The package had been held up due to it being damaged, though the contents were fine.
May your exile beyond the shadow of this evil town remain serene.
I always liked the Locofocos and the American Nativists, myself.
The Nativists (I pray for their revival) would respond to questioning about what they were up to by saying "I don't know nothing." So, they called them "Know Nothings" Great cover, though perhaps they were really sincere.
Both were political factions, though when Balmer was known as Mobtown, politics was a contact sport, with firearms, blunt instruments, brickbats and other implements that would put a hurt on you. Getting out the vote Edger A. Poe style.
The Nativists were agin furriners, mostly my Fathers folk, the Oirish, and them Catlicks, so a twofer. Like the Klan, only you didn't have to invest in a sheet.