In 1870, the New York Herald proclaimed that Ulster County was New
York's Ulcer County due to its lawlessness and crime. The columnist
supported his claim by citing that in only six months, it has been the
scene of no less than four cold blooded and brutal murders, six suicides
and four elopements. Hannah Markle--the bane of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union--ran a Kingston saloon where murder and violence were
served alongside the whiskey. John Babbitt confessed on his deathbed to
murdering Emma Brooks, and Willie Brown--reputed member of the Eastman
Gang--accidentally shot his best friend. The infamous Big Bad Bill, the
Gardiner Desperado, lashed out more than once and killed in a drunken
rage. Discover the mayhem and murder that these and others wreaked on
one of New York State's original counties.