Alexander Keith, Jr. was a notorious nineteenth century criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was born in 1827 in Caithness, Scotland, immigrating to Halifax when he was a small boy. His uncle was Alexander Keith, owner of Alexander Keith's Brewery in that city. Nicknamed "Sandy" for his reddish hair, Alexander Keith, Jr. worked for a time as a clerk in his uncle's brewery. He became a secret agent for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War, acting mostly as a blockade runner and courier. He was involved with Luke Blackburn in an infamous plot to send clothes infected with yellow fever to Northern cities in the United States. In 1865, he swindled his blockade running associates and fled to St. Louis, Missouri, settling finally on the prairie. There, he married Cecelia Paris, a milliner's daughter from St. Louis. Hunted down by one of his victims, he fled again with Cecelia to Germany, where they lived the high life in Dresden and Leipzig, hobnobbing with wealthy socialites and Saxon generals. When the couple began to run out of money, Sandy Keith concocted a plot to blow up passenger ships and collect the insurance money. This led to a major catastrophe in Bremerhaven, in December 1875 when one of his bombs accidentally went off on a dock, killing eighty people. At the time, the deed was known as the "crime of the century." Alexander Keith Alexander Keith (October 5, 1795 – December 14, 1873) Born in Halkirk, Scotland, he immigrated to Canada in 1817 and founded the Alexander Keiths brewing company in 1820. ... Alexander Keiths is a Canadian brewery founded in 1820 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by Alexander Keith, who emigrated from Scotland in 1817, where it is still the only location of an Alexander Keiths brewery. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Danville, Virginia April 3–April 10, 1865 Largest city New Orleans February 4... Jump to: navigation, search The American Civil War (1861–1865) was fought in North America within the United States of America, between twenty-three mostly northern states of the Union and the Confederate States of America, a coalition of eleven southern states that declared their independence and claimed the right... A blockade runner is a ship designed to provide vital supplies to countries or areas blockaded by enemy forces during wartime. ... Jump to: navigation, search Luke P. Blackburn Luke P. Blackburn (July 16, 1816 - September 14, 1887) was Governor of Kentucky from 1879 to 1883. ... The Gateway Arch, shown here behind the Old Courthouse, is the most recognizable part of the St. ... Brühls Terrace Brühlsche Terrasse and the Frauenkirche Dresden ( ♫) IPA: (Polish: Drezno) is the capital city of the German federal state of Saxony, is situated in a valley on the river Elbe. ... Jump to: navigation, search Map of Germany showing Leipzig Leipzig [▶] [ˈlaiptsɪç] (Polish; Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the federal state (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Bremerhaven Watershed of the River Weser Bremerhaven is a city in the federal state of Bremen, Germany. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Bibliography: Ann Larabee, The Dynamite Fiend: The Chilling Tale of a Confederate Spy, Con Artist, and Mass Murderer (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2005).