Simon Wood
05-05-2009, 05:01 PM
Hi All,
Part of this article appeared in the Syracuse Evening Herald, 30th November 1888.
Here is the full version from the Albany Evening Journal, 28th November 1888—
A PRECIOUS VILLAIN
An Old Albanian Arrested as the Whitechapel Murderer
Dr. Francis Tumblety has been arrested in London, charged with the Whitechapel murders. Tumblety is an odd character, if there ever was one. His original name was Mike Sullivan. He has had a number of other names. He is an irishman, as his name indicates, and must be 50 years old at the present time.
THE ZENITH OF HIS CAREER
The period of his most eccentric and successful career was from 1856 to 1866, when he swindled scores of poor people and broke the hearts of unsuspecting girls in the United States and Canada. Sullivan got his name Tumblety from a doctor in Rochester in whose service he was and whom it is believed he murdered. He flitted from Rochester to Buffalo, to Montreal, to St John's and other places, finally winding up in Albany in September of 1863.
MONTREAL HAD ENOUGH OF HIM
While he was here he was closely watched by Elisha Mack, then an Albany detective and still a resident of this city, who received this letter from the Montreal police—
"MONTREAL, Sept. 25th 1863—Dear Mr Mack: About four years ago Dr F. Tumblety was in this city and he had an office here. He professed to be an Indian herb doctor. He was looked upon by all the medical men of the city as a quack. Notwithstanding all this, he had an immense crowd of people going to him for advice and he made money here. He was arrested for abortion and went to jail. Then he employed a good lawyer who finally got him discharged. When he was here he cut a great swell. He drove two horses and a peculiar kind of buggy, and had a large Newfoundland dog following him to attract attention, which he succeeded in doing. He left here for New Brunswick and I never heard of him until about six months ago I had seen his name mentioned in a newspaper as a veterinary surgeon in some cavalry regiment of the Union army.
Eugene Flynn, Sub-Chief of Police."
HIS NEW YORK CAMPAIGN
Tumblety's occupation, as shown by the letter, was that of an Indian herb doctor, and he worked on the herb idea with a cheek which paralyzed the people of both New York and Brooklyn, where a large part of his campaigning was done.
In 1861 he arrived in New York from Ireland, deposited $3700 in the Chemical bank, got drunk, signed checks and then tried to get the money back from the bank on the ground of forgery. He avoided a counter-suit neatly, but left New York for richer fields in more unsuspecting hamlets.
The National Police Gazette of April 13, 1861, thus describes the man who is supposed to be the author of the horrible crimes in London: "He stands 5 feet 11 inches, with jet black hair, brow broad, flat and low. The eyebrows are thick, and heavy, partly concealing a pair of catish, cunning grey eyes, the lips, so much of them as are seen, are of the thick, voluptuous order, the moustache is of the Imperial, Baby Furniss character, long and fanciful, with a twisting twirl at the ends."
IN ALBANY AND BROOKLYN
When Tumblety was in Albany he started his establishment for herb cures in the Delavan House [nb. a temperance hotel which eventually lost money, so the manager used a loophole in the lease to introduce liquor]. He had the big Newfoundland dog still and he drove about with two piebald ponies. His career in Albany was not as satisfactory as he could wish and he soon packed off to Brooklyn, where he cut a great swell, and was known everywhere both in that city and on Manhattan island as the "Nankeen swell." There were very few young ladies in that vicinity who had not felt palpitations in their hearts at the sight of this audacious lady-killer. His Newfoundland dog ran against them in the street while the irresistible drove about with his valet and hostler at his side. The fun of the whole show was that Tumblety came out with a new coat and "nankeens" every day, while the valet wore the clothes of the day before and the hostler those of the day before that. That was the end of the gradation.
THE BOOTH CONSPIRACY
This valet, however, became later the notorious Harold, the comrade of J. Wilkes Booth in the villainous murder of President Lincoln. But that was a year later when Tumblety was calling himself Blackburn, after Senator Luke Blackburn of Kentucky, and was indicted for sending clothes from Bermuda to Union soldiers infected with yellow fever virus. He got out of the Booth conspiracy arrest as he wiggled out of everything else and went to New Orleans. He had not been heard from to any great extent in this country since that time until now a man passed middle age he looms up as the notorious fiend of the century. Whether Sullivan-Tumblety-Blackburn is the real murderer future developments only can tell. He surely has a record which would lend a fitting finale to this case; yet if he be guilty it is not supposed that he is less agile than when he ran his herb doctor establishments in Albany during the war.
Regards,
Simon
Part of this article appeared in the Syracuse Evening Herald, 30th November 1888.
Here is the full version from the Albany Evening Journal, 28th November 1888—
A PRECIOUS VILLAIN
An Old Albanian Arrested as the Whitechapel Murderer
Dr. Francis Tumblety has been arrested in London, charged with the Whitechapel murders. Tumblety is an odd character, if there ever was one. His original name was Mike Sullivan. He has had a number of other names. He is an irishman, as his name indicates, and must be 50 years old at the present time.
THE ZENITH OF HIS CAREER
The period of his most eccentric and successful career was from 1856 to 1866, when he swindled scores of poor people and broke the hearts of unsuspecting girls in the United States and Canada. Sullivan got his name Tumblety from a doctor in Rochester in whose service he was and whom it is believed he murdered. He flitted from Rochester to Buffalo, to Montreal, to St John's and other places, finally winding up in Albany in September of 1863.
MONTREAL HAD ENOUGH OF HIM
While he was here he was closely watched by Elisha Mack, then an Albany detective and still a resident of this city, who received this letter from the Montreal police—
"MONTREAL, Sept. 25th 1863—Dear Mr Mack: About four years ago Dr F. Tumblety was in this city and he had an office here. He professed to be an Indian herb doctor. He was looked upon by all the medical men of the city as a quack. Notwithstanding all this, he had an immense crowd of people going to him for advice and he made money here. He was arrested for abortion and went to jail. Then he employed a good lawyer who finally got him discharged. When he was here he cut a great swell. He drove two horses and a peculiar kind of buggy, and had a large Newfoundland dog following him to attract attention, which he succeeded in doing. He left here for New Brunswick and I never heard of him until about six months ago I had seen his name mentioned in a newspaper as a veterinary surgeon in some cavalry regiment of the Union army.
Eugene Flynn, Sub-Chief of Police."
HIS NEW YORK CAMPAIGN
Tumblety's occupation, as shown by the letter, was that of an Indian herb doctor, and he worked on the herb idea with a cheek which paralyzed the people of both New York and Brooklyn, where a large part of his campaigning was done.
In 1861 he arrived in New York from Ireland, deposited $3700 in the Chemical bank, got drunk, signed checks and then tried to get the money back from the bank on the ground of forgery. He avoided a counter-suit neatly, but left New York for richer fields in more unsuspecting hamlets.
The National Police Gazette of April 13, 1861, thus describes the man who is supposed to be the author of the horrible crimes in London: "He stands 5 feet 11 inches, with jet black hair, brow broad, flat and low. The eyebrows are thick, and heavy, partly concealing a pair of catish, cunning grey eyes, the lips, so much of them as are seen, are of the thick, voluptuous order, the moustache is of the Imperial, Baby Furniss character, long and fanciful, with a twisting twirl at the ends."
IN ALBANY AND BROOKLYN
When Tumblety was in Albany he started his establishment for herb cures in the Delavan House [nb. a temperance hotel which eventually lost money, so the manager used a loophole in the lease to introduce liquor]. He had the big Newfoundland dog still and he drove about with two piebald ponies. His career in Albany was not as satisfactory as he could wish and he soon packed off to Brooklyn, where he cut a great swell, and was known everywhere both in that city and on Manhattan island as the "Nankeen swell." There were very few young ladies in that vicinity who had not felt palpitations in their hearts at the sight of this audacious lady-killer. His Newfoundland dog ran against them in the street while the irresistible drove about with his valet and hostler at his side. The fun of the whole show was that Tumblety came out with a new coat and "nankeens" every day, while the valet wore the clothes of the day before and the hostler those of the day before that. That was the end of the gradation.
THE BOOTH CONSPIRACY
This valet, however, became later the notorious Harold, the comrade of J. Wilkes Booth in the villainous murder of President Lincoln. But that was a year later when Tumblety was calling himself Blackburn, after Senator Luke Blackburn of Kentucky, and was indicted for sending clothes from Bermuda to Union soldiers infected with yellow fever virus. He got out of the Booth conspiracy arrest as he wiggled out of everything else and went to New Orleans. He had not been heard from to any great extent in this country since that time until now a man passed middle age he looms up as the notorious fiend of the century. Whether Sullivan-Tumblety-Blackburn is the real murderer future developments only can tell. He surely has a record which would lend a fitting finale to this case; yet if he be guilty it is not supposed that he is less agile than when he ran his herb doctor establishments in Albany during the war.
Regards,
Simon