Tumblety In Bar Harbor ,Maine

[Nina Brown]

From The Evening Telegram (NY)..Friday,September 4th,1891


http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac287/HowieNina/tumblety.jpg

[Howard Brown]

It may not have been that way in 1891, but Bar Harbor, Maine is a 'hotspot" for homosexuals on the East Coast....not on the level of Provincetown,Mass...or Fire Island,N.Y perhaps but just recently I was talking with our plant's electrical engineer on Friday the 15th and he told me of his trips to Maine with his family and that Bar Harbor was a hangout for those of the tender gender. As soon as he mentioned Bar Harbor, I thought of Tumblety....and Stan Russo's hairy back.:kiss:..

So...I asked Nina to check into Tumblety and the possibility that Bar Harbor in 1891 was already an LVP "hotspot" for homosexuals to go and do their thing. So far, no good...but you never know.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Nina and Howard,

First off, a belated Happy Anniversary. May it be the first of many.

Second, ain't it interesting that in the 1880s Joseph Pulitzer [owner of the New York World] built a house in Bar Harbor?

No wonder Dr T got such great newspaper coverage.

Regards,

Simon

[Simon Wood]

Hi Howard,

I couldn't resist this headline from the New York Times, 21st August 1898—

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac287/HowieNina/NYT202120AUG201898.jpg

Regards,

Simon

[SirRobertAnderson]

From The Evening Telegram (NY)..Friday,September 4th,1891

"A good friend of all boys"

Yegads.

[Chris G.]

Hi Nina, Howard, and Simon

Yes one way to approach this is to seek to find out about the homosexual culture in Bar Harbor and to see Tumblety's contribution as promotion of gay culture. Another approach though is to realise that the 1890's constituted an important period for bath house construction as an outgrowth of the Sanitary Movement, particularly in poor and needy neighborhoods.

We can suspect, with some validity, that Tumblety might have had an ulterior motive, but he could have also been just showing his "enlightened side." Right?

See the following Google searches on 1890's bath houses and the "Sanitary Movement":

Public Bath Houses and 1891 (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4SUNA_enUS307US213&q=%22public+bath+houses%22+1891)

"Sanitary Movement" and bath houses (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4SUNA_enUS307US213&q=%22sanitary+movement%22+bath+houses)

Chris

[Joe Chetcuti]

Just a few weeks ago, I went to the Doe Library on the campus of Cal-Berkeley, and I read the 1891 New York Herald news reports about these free baths that Tumblety had sponsored.

A "cleanliness is next to Godliness" theme was presented in the newspaper. I'm sure that theme was met with Tumblety's smiling approval.

[A.P. Wolf]

The good Doc Tumbleweed also handed out free bags of flour to the needy folk of New York, that don't mean he was a baker though.

[Chris G.]

The good Doc Tumbleweed also handed out free bags of flour to the needy folk of New York, that don't mean he was a baker though.


Not even a gay baker? :tape: Doc Tumbleweed. . . good name for the ubiquitous old fruit, AP.

Chris

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Sorry guys and gals, I gave you duff information on Pulitzer. Seems he didn't move to Bar Harbor until around the mid-1890s—

North American [Philadelphia], 13th August 1895—

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac287/HowieNina/NORTH20AMERICAN201320AUG201895.jpg

Regards,

Simon

[Howard Brown]

Simon:

Thanks for the congrats.:kiss:

Nina has found some more newspaper articles on Tumblety and she's going to put them up this evening.

Some well known people who frequented Bar Harbor over the years (Notable to me is Atwater Kent....who was a huge benefactor to one of Philadelphia's many museums)

Jane Addams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams)
James G. Blaine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._Blaine), statesman
Judge Charles Bolster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Charles_Bolster) ---
Charles William Eliot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_William_Eliot)
John J. Emery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._Emery)
Beatrix Farrand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Farrand)
Baron Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladislaus_Hengelm%C3%BCller_von_Hengerv%C3%A1r), Imperial Austro-Hungarian ambassador ----There goes the neighborhood,when they let Hungarians in...
Katharine Hepburn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Hepburn)
John Stewart Kennedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_Kennedy)
A. Atwater Kent (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Atwater_Kent)
Evalyn Walsh McLean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evalyn_Walsh_McLean)
S. Weir Mitchell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Weir_Mitchell)
Sir Harry Oakes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Oakes), gold-mine owner and philanthropist
Joseph Pulitzer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pulitzer), publisher
Edward T. Stotesbury (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_T._Stotesbury)
Vanderbilt family (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanderbilt_family)
Frederick Vanderbilt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Vanderbilt)
George Vanderbilt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Vanderbilt)
William C. Whitney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_C._Whitney)

[Tim Riordan]

Hi all,

While I have no doubt about why Tumblety was generally involved with bath houses, I think it is important to put the free bath tickets in perspective. The City of New York had been providing free bath houses to the poor since 1873, using river water. They were on both the East River and on the Hudson on the west side of Manhattan. In 1891, as a result of increasing pollution in the East River and the fear of a typhoid epidemic, the Board of Health shut down the bath houses on the East River. They told the poor they could hike across the island to use those on the Hudson or go to the commercial baths. Generally they were not willing to do this and so went without baths. Tumblety’s contribution was to provide free bath tickets for these people. It was a relatively cheap way to both get his name in the paper and restore some respectability, something he was trying to do in the early 1890s.

Best,

Tim

[Howard Brown]

Thanks for the information on the typhoid issues in New York,Senor Riordan.

One thing that Nina just said in reading your post with me...in relation to the newspaper article she placed here and your response:

"But only for boys?":playball:

You're probably/definitely dead center perfect on the publicity angle Tim.

There was, however, a newspaper article which did not distinguish between the sexes,was there not,Tim? I believe I have seen one of that sort as well.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Howard and Nina,

Let me add one more name to your list of luminaries who visited Bar Harbor.

His descriptive piece appeared in the New York Times, 18th August 1887—

Harry Jackson Wells Dam.

Regards,

Simon

[A.P. Wolf]

'Not even a gay baker? :tape: Doc Tumbleweed. . . good name for the ubiquitous old fruit, AP.'

Well, I'm sorry, Chris, but I won't accept that Tumbleweed was gay until Andrew Cook writes a book about it, and throws up a cover with a naked Tumbleweed about his business with a young bath boy, and then calls his book 'Little Child - Closet Closed'.

[Joe Chetcuti]

Knowing Tumblety's history, I can see why we would question the line "A good friend of all boys." But I think in this particular case, the 'doctor' was just speaking about the kids who peddle newspapers.

New York Herald
Sept 5, 1891
Page 5

FOUR THOUSAND FREE BATHS.

An Army of Newsboys Take Advantage of Dr. Tumblety's Generosity.

If the boys who sell Evening Telegrams in Park row to-night have shining clean faces and lilywhite hands it will tend to show that they have taken advantage of the kindness of Dr. Francis Tumblety and the Herald, and enjoyed a real soap and hot water bath.

It certainly seemed at the offices yesterday as though every newsboy from this and the adjacent states had applied for a bath ticket, for the four thousand squares of pasteboard secured by the Herald through Dr. Tumblety's generosity faded away like snowflakes in April...The newsgirls who asked for the bath tickets were sent upstairs out of the crush. They were accommodated at the superintendent's window...Nearly fifty men who bore the marks of enrollment in the great brigade of the unemployed applied for and received the tickets also.

[Tim Riordan]

Hi Joe,

That was exactly the article I was thinking about. As to the idea of "only boys," I believe Tumblety's offer was made after the Herald published thier article about the poor newsboys that worked for them. In that context, Tumblety is responding to the Herald's article, not his personal preference.

[Howard Brown]

Joe and Tim:

Thanks very much for the clarification of the two articles and their specific references to newsboys and not "boys" per se..

[SirRobertAnderson]

Tumblety’s contribution was to provide free bath tickets for these people. It was a relatively cheap way to both get his name in the paper and restore some respectability, something he was trying to do in the early 1890s.

Thanks for the clarification, Tim.

Do you find it odd that Dr. T would be mentioned in a New York paper without some - however brief - mention that he had been entangled in the Whitechapel
Murders ?

We're talking only 3 years since the Terror....I'd argue that wasn't sufficient time for a newspaper man to have forgotten it.

[Joe Chetcuti]

Tumblety not only worked in unison with the Herald by purchasing bath tickets for the needy, but he also gave money to the Herald's charity (The Ice Fund.) Tumblety's name was prominently shown in the Herald for his annual contribution to this fund.

That NY newspaper also trumpeted the cause of the teenage stowaway, Sherman, who landed in New York. Tumblety publicly sided with the Herald's cause.

Sir Robert, after looking at the financial aid and letters of support that were coming from Tumblety, I doubt that the Herald would have been inclined to put an end to it all by reminding its readers of the Whitechapel accusations.

[SirRobertAnderson]

Sir Robert, after looking at the financial aid and letters of support that were coming from Tumblety, I doubt that the Herald would have been inclined to put an end to it all by reminding its readers of the Whitechapel accusations.

That makes sense to me ! Thanks, Joe.

[Chris G.]

Hi Howard and Nina,

Let me add one more name to your list of luminaries who visited Bar Harbor.

His descriptive piece appeared in the New York Times, 18th August 1887—

Harry Jackson Wells Dam.

Regards,

Simon

DAM! :rapture:

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

There are Tumblety connections all over the place.

We can connect Dr T with Bar Harbor and [tenuously] Joseph Pulitzer.

We can connect Joseph Pulitzer with the New York World.

And we can connect Joseph Pulitzer and the New York World with Dr T's banker, Henry Clews.

Milwaukee Sentinel, 1st January 1892—

5159

Did Dr T make all of the $138,000 he left in his will from peddling Pimple Cream?

Regards,

Simon

[Joe Chetcuti]

According to the Los Angeles Times, much of that $138,000 was made in the stock market. Check out Post 2 on the web link below:

http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=4352

In Tumblety's 1893 book, Henry Clews sternly defended the Littlechild Suspect. Of course Clews would have had 138,000 reasons to do so.

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

In 1888 the aggregated transactions of Henry Clews Banking House amounted to $1000,000,000.

One thousand million dollars.

Dr T was in good company.

Regards,

Simon

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

My apologies if this has been posted previously, but it made me smile.

Nobody was sacred in Dr T's book.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 24th June 1889—

5160

Regards,

Simon

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

And the very next day . . .

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 25th June 1889—

5161

Regards,

Simon

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Here's a possible indication of Tumblety's political leanings. There's no mistaking on which side of the Irish/English divide his New York banker Henry Clews stood.

An ardent admirer of Gladstone, Clews discussed natural nobility in his book "Twenty Eight Years in Wall Street" [1889]—

"If the Irish wish to assist nature in purging Great Britain of her bilious incubus of nobility, they should recognize the fact that ridicule is a good medicine. The Irish are proverbially prolific. Let them make a point of christening the rising generation with titled names. Then there would be myriads bearing the name Duke O'Reilly, Earl McCarty, Marquis O'Brien, Baron Sullivan, Sir Timothy Finnegan, Lord McSwynny, and so on. The objection to this plan, however, is that it would brand thousands of innocent and helpless children of worthy parents with titles which have become contemptible to all right-thinking persons as badges of imbecility, mediocrity, or dishonour . . ."

". . . her bilious incubus of nobility . . ." Wow!

Regards,

Simon

[Howard Brown]

Harry Jackson Wells Dam.

Simon...for the benefit for those who may not be aware of Dam, please at your leisure....briefly mention his connection to our studies,if you would be so kind.

Thanks old friend...

[Joe Chetcuti]

Page 108 of Tumblety's 1893 book:


A FEW PERTINENT NOTES

The subjoined paragraph appeared in the Evening Sun of January 17, 1891.

I have known the Doctor for a great many years and have good reason to know that the attacks cruelly made upon him are without cause, excepting inspired for sinister purposes, as the Doctor is fortunately possessed of a fair share of this world's goods which evidently many are anxious to share with him through foul means. Yours very truly,

Henry Clews.


The attacks that were made against Tumblety in 1888 came from the English authorities. Clews claimed to "have a good reason to know" that these attacks were for financial purposes. (Extortion, perhaps.)

Yes, it was in Clews' monetary interest to protect his client, but was there any truth to what he was saying? Did the English authorities apply any form of pressure on Tumblety's assets? That seemed to be what Clews was driving at.

[Simon Wood]

Hi Howard,

Harry Jackson Wells Dam was a fugitive from Californian justice [selling pardons to convicted murderers on Death Row]. A journalist with The Star and New York Times during the Whitechapel Murders, some say he wrote the Dear Boss letter, but my investigations show this is unlikely to have been the case. [BTW—nor was Best the author].

But there's a good chance Harry Dam whipped up the Leather Apron scare. He went on to write a hit musical, married actress Dorothy Dorr, and died peacefully in Cuba in 1906.

Harry Dam deserves a thread to himself, but I believe Christopher George is putting an article together and I don't want to steal his thunder.

Regards,

Simon

[Simon Wood]

Hi Joe,

Whilst I don't disagree with you, given Dr T's predilection for outrageously fictitious self-publicity [an audience with two popes, best pals with the Kaiser, presented with the Legion d'honneur by Louis Napoleon, need I go on?], it's impossible to be certain who wrote the Henry Clews testimonial.

Regards,

Simon

[Joe Chetcuti]

Clews words appeared in the Evening Sun.

Simon, are you implying that Tumblety wrote those words; attached Clews' name to them; and then tricked the Evening Sun into believing that it was a quote from Clews?

And then the Evening Sun printed it without any sort of a verification from Clews?

[Simon Wood]

Hi Joe,

Can we check if Clews' words actually did appear in the Evening Sun on 17th January 1891?

Dr T's pamphlet came out two years later. Who'd have been interested enough at the time to dig through a cuttings library to check for authenticity?

Regards,

Simon

[Joe Chetcuti]

Simon, we think the same when it comes to that.

Earlier this month, I jotted down all of the dates in Tumblety's 1893 book that was in reference to newspaper articles. Then I went to Cal Berkeley a few weeks ago and dug into the newspaper microfilms.

All of the news stories that Tumblety attributed to the NY Herald in his 1893 book were accurate. I found every article he made reference to, and I personally verified that the dates matched with what he wrote in his book.

The Evening Sun, however, was not in Cal Berkeley's microfilm collection. So Simon, it looks like you've got a brief reprieve for now! I hope somebody out there can verify that Clews' words appeared in the January 17, 1891 Evening Sun. I expect Tumblety to have been consistent with this, and we should find Clews' words in that newspaper.