Episode #76: The Cigar Girl Murder & the 1841 Zodiac Back

9/4/2025: On the Season 2 finale episode, Valerie tells the woeful tale of the murder of the beautiful Tobacco Emporium clerk, Mary Rogers. After her second disappearance her body was found near Hoboken, and with so many admirers, who could say who was the culprit? Her story became one of the first works of fiction based on a real crime. Despite the popularity of Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt, the crime remains unsolved. Next, in the 1841 Zodiac Back Amy Jo outlines the highlights of the 1841 astrology, we discuss the Jupiter Saturn conjunction, and James Braid - the father of hypnotism - and his discovery of mesmerism (animal magnetism). We briefly touch on Insane Clown Posse and their ways, and round it off with Eclipse Season in the Moon Moment. Woop, woop!

Mary Ceceila Rogers - The cigar girl New York Public Library

John Anderson

Sybil’s Cave, New Jersey Wikimedia Commons

1853 illustration for "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", a story inspired by the death of Mary Rogers

Madame Restell - the Abortionist

Edgar Allen Poe - author of The Mystery of Marie Rogêt

Pictures of Saturn and Jupiter, taken July 21, 2020, are placed closer together than they appeared in the sky. Nielander/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

James Braid - Manchester’s Father of Hypnosis

Charles Lafontaine - Public Magnetic Demonstrator

ICP Limited Edition Picture Disc CD Collectible Music Display

Composite image of the April 2014 total lunar eclipse from Charleston, West Virginia, United States

Sources/Photo Sources

Intro Sources:

NA

The Cigar Girl Murder Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rogers

https://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/ccca/the-mysterious-murder-of-cigar-girl-mary-rogers-1841/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edgar-allan-poe-tried-and-failed-to-crack-the-mysterious-murder-case-of-mary-rogers-7493607/

https://www.fox5ny.com/news/a-179-year-old-murder-edgar-allen-poe-and-the-birth-of-true-crime-the-tape-room

https://www.raisedbynewyork.com/blog/2018/1/9/the-shocking-cigar-girl-murder

The Cigar Girl Murder Photo Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rogers#/media/File:Mystery_of_Marie_Roget.jpg

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edgar-allan-poe-tried-and-failed-to-crack-the-mysterious-murder-case-of-mary-rogers-7493607/

https://www.raisedbynewyork.com/blog/2018/1/9/the-shocking-cigar-girl-murder

1841 Zodiac Back Sources:

https://mysticmedusa.com/jupiter-saturn-conjunction-dates/

https://astroaz.com/events/neptune-in-signs-movement-through-the-zodiac-for-1800-2100/ 

https://horoscopes.astro-seek.com/retrograde-planets-astrology-calendar-1841 

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/events-in-the-year-1841 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1841 

https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1841 

https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1841 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Braid_(surgeon)  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_magnetism 

1841 Zodiac Back Photo Sources:

https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2020/12/14/uis-host-star-party-conjunction-jupiter-and-saturn/6541328002/

https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/james-braid-manchesters-father-of-hypnosis/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lafontaine#/media/File:Charles_Lafontaine.jpg

https://goldrecordoutlet.com/shop/insane-clown-posse-icp-limited-edition-picture-disc-cd-collectible-music-display/?srsltid=AfmBOops009h7wXpDX8SM8_4-lc7t3JxTJxYOTAsrXrs9WJaZcguyje6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_eclipse#/media/File:Lunar_eclipse_04-15-2014_by_R_Jay_GaBany.jpg