Convicted of Selling Prophylactics

I think this blog has finally found the gutter. I've written before about thinking newspapers were very helpful in providing critical genealogical information such as maiden names and dates, but more importantly, they also add color and personality to our ancestors. I think I found a little too much color!

A very nice lady commented on this blog post and alerted me to a wonderful resource on the City of Kearney Library website under the Research Resources button -- old Kearney Dailey Hub newspapers. For several days I entered the names of my ancestors, who lived near Kearney, Nebraska, and pored through the search results. And found this:

From the Kearney Dailey Hub 3 Dec 1937 courtesy of the City of Kearney Library.

Francis Adam Amsberry[1], what were you thinking? He was 67 years old at the time he offered to drop the appeal of his earlier conviction. In 1930 he indicated to the census enumerator that he was a "commercial trader of magazines." I'm assuming he ran a convenience store and carried all types of merchandise, including prophylatics, and simply got caught out by the new law. I mean does this dapper gentlemen look like a criminal to you?

Francis Adam (F A) Amsberry photo from a member of Ancestry.com

Seriously, from several other articles it's obvious Francis Amsberry was a fine upstanding citizen of his community. This article just touched my funny bone.

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[1] Francis Adam Amsberry was my third cousin, three times moved.