"J. W. B.", The Noisy Hens, and Dr. Tumblety

[Howard Brown]

We now know Tumblety and John Wilkes Booth were acquaintances, at minimum.
More on that in Ripperologist 167



New York Herald
May 15, 1889
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[Chris G.]

Hi Howard

The "J.W.B" might be mere coincidence. Dr. Tumblety of course didn't have a "sick and very delicate child" living with him.

If, however, Dr. T did write the note his use of the initials "J.W.B." might have been a sly way to imply that he might assassinate the offending birds if the noise continued, as also the mention of the ill child might have been a way to defray any suspicion that he wrote the letter.

Best regards

Chris

[Howard Brown]

Thanks for the responses, fellas.
He sure took a nose dive in early 1889....living in a tenement and not in one of his 5 star accomodations.

Come to think of it....why is that ? Why isn't he living at a hotel ?
Laying low after the hoopla of late 1888 ?

[Chris G.]

Thanks for the responses, fellas.
He sure took a nose dive in early 1889....living in a tenement and not in one of his 5 star accomodations.

Come to think of it....why is that ? Why isn't he living at a hotel ?
Laying low after the hoopla of late 1888 ?

I think it's true that he often lived in lodgings rather than a hotel. When he lived in Baltimore at the time of the 1900 U.S. census he lived in a lodging house at the corner of Clay and N. Liberty Streets, shown below as the location looks today, opposite Charles Center in downtown Baltimore. Incidentally, Clay Street was a notorious red light district in the 19th Century and there was a major fire on the street in 1873.

Of course it could also be that living in hotels was a characteristic of Dr. T's earlier flamboyant career and that in old age he tended to prefer lodging houses.

[Howard Brown]

You're right, CG...I know about and yet forgot about Mrs. Macnamara's house, too.

But those places seem a few steps up from the place described in the Herald article.

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Tumblety didn't seem to stay at this address (No. 23 Stuyvesant Street) for very long. Less than three weeks later he was living at 82 Clinton Place.

Wolf.

[Howard Brown]

Thanks Wolf...
Do you remember whether you put the 23 Stuyvesant Street address in any of the Ripper Notes Tumblety articles ?
I figured I'd ask because if you saw this Herald article before I posted it, I wanted to make sure you got the credit.
Thanks amigo !

[Howard Brown]

Three views of 23 Stuyvesant Street in NYC's East Village

[Howard Brown]

Tumblety's room was in the back of 23 Stuyvesant.....

[Howard Brown]