Whodunit ? A Poll December 11, 2021

[Howard Brown]

This is from East River Echo Number 24

[R. J. Palmer]

Thanks, Howard. I haven't read that issue yet, but Nina's Sing Sing record from 1873 is the same one I was studying--4 1/2 years for felonious assault and for discharging a pistol at a man named John Schneider.

Thompson 1873.jpg


The Sing Sing records state that Thompson was a printer living at No. 73 New Chambers Street. In the 1880s there is a John Thompson, printer, living at No. 70 New Chambers Street. Not sure if this is just a coincidence.

[Kattrup]

The Sing Sing records state that Thompson was a printer living at No. 73 New Chamber's Street. In the 1880s there is a John Thompson, printer, living at No. 70 New Chamber's Street. Not sure if this is just a coincidence.

a printer, eh?
like someone who might have worked for Damon & Peet, you mean? Like someone who might pretend to be drunk on his night off at the same hotel where the prostitute blackmailing his former boss was known to entertain?

Sounds like a great plot for an episode of Law&Order:Victorian Intent

[Howard Brown]

Thompson lived at 231 96th Street, near 2nd Avenue in 1891. 96th Street is in Yorkville, a neighborhood of Manhattan, and 9 miles from the East River Hotel.
He stated at the Coroner Inquest that he had worked for 'his current boss' ( James Jennings, Prop. of the Hotel) since 1883.

At the Coroner Inquest, Thompson also stated he was 39 years old, indicating he was born in either 1851 and hadn't reached his 40th birthday or that he was born in 1852 and had reached his birthday during the previous months of 1891.

Here's something to mull over as Thompson doesn't list any other employers after his release in 1883.

Jennings was 31 years old at the time of the murder. In 1883, he'd have been 23 years old.
James Francis Jennings, born in Ireland, in May 1859 and died on March 29th, 1937 in New York City. His wife was Annie Tierney ( data from Nina Brown).

I've added the Coroner Inquest testimony of Thompson's in a PDF below.

This is 231 96th Street near 2nd Avenue today :

[Howard Brown]

Information on when Damon & Peets moved to 44 Beekman.

[Kattrup]

Jennings was 31 years old at the time of the murder. In 1883, he'd have been 23 years old.
James Francis Jennings, born in Ireland, in May 1859 and died on March 29th, 1937 in New York City. His wife was Annie Tierney ( data from Nina Brown).

How did Jennings acquire a hotel at age 23, do you know?

[Howard Brown]

Kattrup:

The owner of the property was a man named Heinrich Stiehler.
Jennings was more or less the general manager of the property. He is named the Proprietor as in him being the owner, but he didn't own the property.

This is a short piece from 1894 concerning Henirich Stiehler.

New York Evening World
November 24, 1894
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Here's more to show that Jennings didn't own the House of All Drinks :

New York Supreme Court Case
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[Kattrup]

Thanks Howard.


My pleasure, Kattrup !
HB