A red wax seal with gold embossed text and design, including a large letter 'L', a star, and the text 'The Crowley Ledger Series, Est. 1865'.

The True Story Behind America’s Forgotten U.S. Marshal

The Hero

WHO WAS DAVID H. CROWLEY ?

Irish immigrant.

Civil War veteran.

United States Secret Service operative.

United States Deputy Marshal.

Metropolitan Police Sergeant Detective.

A man who helped expose political corruption in nineteenth-century New York...

...before becoming its victim.

Everything that follows is inspired by documented historical events.

A historical black and white photograph of a man in a military uniform with medals, a bowtie or necktie, and a peaked cap, standing outdoors near flags and a partially visible American flag. The background includes a banner with partially obscured text.

1846 Born in Ireland ~ 1850 Arrives New York ~ 1863 Gettysburg ~ 1865 Secret Service ~ 1866 Fenian Brotherhood

1869 Erie Railroad ~ 1871 Tammany Hall ~ 1885 Framed ~ 1892 Freedom ~ 1930 Legacy

Book cover titled "Truth Buried in the Dust: How One Man Took Down Tammany Hall" by Donald J. Zebe. The cover features a sepia-toned photograph of an older man in a suit and tie, wearing a officer's cap, with a serious expression, set against a background of blurred flags and possibly a statue.

Read the first two chapters free.

Download the opening of Truth Buried In The Dust or The Fenian Ledger. Join the Crowley Ledger reader list for updates on The Double Ledger and Blood In The Ledger.

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Book cover for 'The Fenian Ledger' by Donald I. Zebe, depicting a man in vintage clothing and cap writing at a desk with an old cityscape and bridge in the background.
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The Series

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The Series *

A promotional banner for the Crowley Ledger Series, featuring historical documents, a gun, a lamp, and a book titled 'The Crowley Ledger 1867-1885' on a desk with a cityscape outside the window. The series is about corruption and history, with a focus on U.S. Marshal Crowley.

Book One: Available Now

Truth Buried In The Dust

Years 1863-1930

Twenty Years Undercover. One fabricated charge. Eigth years at Sing Sing. The wife who never stopped Buildng the case.

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Book Two: Available Now

The Fenian Ledger

Years 1865-1866

A nineteen-year-old veteran goes undercover inside the Fenian Brotherhood. The origin story of everything that follows.

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"The most unbelievable parts of this novel are the ones that actually happened." Jeff Schein

About The Auhor

Donald I. Zebe grew up on the South Shore of Long Island and graduated in Business from Idaho State University. After careers at GE, Oracle, and twenty-four years in commercial real estate, he spent fourteen years researching the documented real life of his great-great-grandfather — David H. Crowley — Secret Service operative, NYPD detective, US Marshal, wrongful conviction, and one of the most consequential figures in Gilded Age New York that history largely forgot.

From The Record

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