The Murder Next Door
Thanks for visiting…
This page is an overflow from my initial research on the building I live in @ 3328 24th Street.
It holds ongoing research about the neighbors and events leading to July 4, 1872. There are visual timelines of the folks involved, PDFs of the collection of transcribed newspaper articles about the event, catalogs of same, photographs of a San Francisco orphanage and documents unearthed at the SFPL History Center… and a musical AI component to help tell the fascinating story.
Research & Findings
The Murder Next Door • PDF
All transcribed documents gathered & linked to their sources.
aka The Carr Murder Suicide
Update Coming Soon
Newspaper Clippings • PDF
Murder Next Door checklist spreadsheet with links to newspaper sources.
Orphan Asylum
Scans of Documents & Photos of the San Francisco Orphan Asylum • [Edgewood Records SFH 29] SFPL History Center
Timeline • Key Events
…
Lizzie Haley • Lifetime Timeline • in Progress
Work in Progress: More recent contributions (2.26.26) of Kathy L’s intrepid follow-thru have been added to the timeline to reflect Lizzie’s unknown committal to a sanitarium. Recent {5.5.25} finds from records at SFPL’s History Center have revealed original indenture document with signatures of all parties, subsequent inconsistent birthdate, a larger family and sister, born in Illinois. Any influx of research from Kathy L has filled in details of her sale of 3330 24th Street home, husband,residence on Fair Oaks, sons, & life as a widow. More to come…
San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum • Photographs from Edgewood Records SFH29
SFPL History Center photographs include 2 postcard drawings of the Haight Street locations, a classroom of young children, girls in sewing class, girls and boys exercising, a group of children ready for a car ride in front of Haight Street building.
Inscription on reverse of large postcard : “Protestant Orphan Asylum.” Formally organized in 1851. In 1853 the two city blocks bounded by Haight, Herman, Laguna and Buchanan Streets were bought at public sale. In March 1854 the first building on this site was occupied. In 1863, with money donated by the Sansome Hook and Ladder Co. and the proceeds from the sale of a lot of ground given by Mr. James Lick, the addition was built known as the Sansome Wing. The building was raised in 1919. {5.5.25}
Lizzie & Sarah Haley • SF Protestant Orphan Asylum • Timeline
Work in Progress: Recent {6.27.25} finds from Edgewood records at SFPL’s History Center have revealed a verification of birthplace in Louisiana (upon arrival?), an earlier birthdate, variants of her first [Francis, ELizabeth, Eliza, Lizzie], and surname [Haley, Healey], England-born siblings and sister Sarah, born in Illinois, Sarah’s many Indentures(s) before her own adoption/indenture from SFPOA. More to come…
The San Francisco Orphan Asylum Society • Elizabeth Haley Indenture Contract
Transcription
Elizabeth Haley's Indenture paperwork and signatures from the San Francisco [Protestant] Orphan Asylum.
Photographs, Documents, and transcription reproduced from the Edgewood Records SFH29:
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY
Creative Writing & AI Art Explorations
Lizzie Haley @ San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum • 1864-1869
The Inquest into the Trials of True Life Characters • 1872
Portraits Imagined with Midjourney • 2025
Listen
The Tailor Who Murdered His Wife & Her Reputation
• Deep Dive ‘podcast’ • 17 minutes •
This webpage is a repository for my ongoing research. It also serves as the source for this NotebookLM generated conversation.
NotebookLM also generated the various slide shows to help visually summarize this convoluted story from long ago. Playlist in Progress
In progress exploration of a musical component to tell the San Francisco story of the Carr family that lived next door until 1872.
Well documented in newspaper stories of the time, there is mayhem, murder(s) and an inevitable tragic ending. Just one of the many stories in the the wild and wooly city of San Francisco.
I happened to move next door to the home almost 100 years after it transpired back in the 19th century.
• * •
Images imagined by Midjourney. Lyrics and music created by Suno, massaged and coerced by Junior Hansen Jr.
Lyrics
Transcripts & Depictions of Testimony at the Inquest •
Red border or text indicates a verbatim transcription from the original newspaper account.
July 5, 1872
After being fetched by Lizzie and Mrs. Eagar, the first responders gain access to the house on 24th Street to find Nicholas Carr in an odd state of calm, considering he has taken a fatal dose of of Laudanum, is bleeding from several self-inflicted wounds, and has spent the night in the house with the wife he murdered.
Later that Day
Believing he is on the verge of dying, Nicholas holds court at the hospital, with his lawyer present, to tell his version of the events. There is no mention of his previous acquittal for murder, and his account does little to honor Ann, his dead wife that he admits to killing from the jump.
July 10, 1872
Indentured Lizzie Haley testifies on the 1st day of the Inquest. Her past 3 year residency in the home has been without incident until the last 6 months. She is well-spoken, painting a vivid picture of the mayhem in the days leading up to the murder. Though she claims to be fifteen years old, records show her to be 3 years older.
July 11, 1872
The neighbors who knew Ann best were still reeling from shock and grief, yet their testimony at an Inquest brought them into the public eye less than a week later. Their testimony the next day, along with the other Carr employee, a grocer, and butcher conflicts with Nicholas Carr's depiction of Ann.
• • • He Said, She Said • • •
Nicholas Carr took his side of the story to the court of public opinion by elaborating on the life he and his wife, Ann Carr, nee Boucher made for themselves in California from 1860 to 1872. San Francisco is the backdrop for the last 3 years of their matrimonial challenges. The newspapers were only too happy to give his version plenty of coverage that was subsequently syndicated throughout the country. Unfortunately, Ann was definitively silenced by a single stab that pierced her heart, along with 22 others that mangled her body, despite her best efforts and pre-emptive planning to fend off the attack, she believed was inevitable. She had no choice but to take her side of the story to her grave.
• Silent clip •
Animated with Midjourney
Worst of all my wife was intemperate, drinking heavily for weeks at a time, which transformed her into a wild woman, often trying to kill me.
~ her husband, Nicholas Carr
• Lower your volume •
Created with Veo
• • • Extenuating Circumstances of the Times • • •
The Deceased Woman's
Side of the Story
A Different Story from Ann • Creative Writing •
Coverture
Ann Boucher Claims
She was a Widow
Why Wives Faked Their Widowhood
Deep Dive 'podcast' • 25 minutes
Temperance • • In Progress
Hot Button Issue
The Battle With the Bottle
Deep Dive 'podcast' • X minutes
Colophon
Prompt:Discussion about the legal rights of single and married women in 1800s San Francisco as compared to the world at large, The conventional wisdom of the time that put restrictions on their existence, the workarounds employed to outwit the system, if any, The reasons for the long-standing Coverture Doctrine and the stark contrast of women’s liberty and agency today, if any.
Prompt: Create detailed intricate woodcut illustrations as described in the source material of “The Tailor’s Shears: The 24th Street Tragedy”. Each panel should be a slide in the deck and follow the narrative in the document. Additional slides can be added if the story demands it for clarity. Use the images designated for use in the Source files. The setting is 1872 San Francisco.
Prompt: Focus on the temperance movement and effect it had on San Francisco’s residents from 1845 through 1875. If there was a polarization among the population on teetotalers and heavy drinking. address the reasoning for and against alcohol and abstinence. Use a style of detailed intricate woodcut illustrations to reflect the time period
Tools
Midjourney: Imagined Portraits, & Silent Animation 10.20.2024
NotebookLM: Slideshows & Infographics 2.20.2026
Suno: Musical Playlist in Progress 10.27.2024
Veo: Video with Audio clip 1.25.2026
Creative Writing: Red border or text indicates a verbatim transcription from the original newspaper account. 12.22.2025
PDFs/Keynote: Original gathering place of assets: clippings, screen grabs, images, transcriptions, found clip art. Creation of timelines and databases. 8.1.2022 -ongoing