More Legerdemain From Tumblety

[Howard Brown]

In the scheme of things, little more than some more of the same as it applies to the self-aggrandizing charlatan.

Nevertheless, it might be worthwhile to re-examine other testimonials attributed to public figures, as the one that follows was fraudulent. Debra Arif posed a question on JTRForums as to why he wasn't taken to task for this chicanery.

Thread here :

http://www.jtrforums.com/showthread.php?t=26146

From The Forums, yesterday :
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In looking through some of the papers I've been scouring for Tumblety related articles....I saw this testimonial to his uncanny abilities to cure consumption, as well as the occasional pimple.

Evening Star
Washington
March 19, 1862
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Remember the date this article was signed....March 18, 1862

Moving right along....I looked into the list of Mayors of D.C. during the Civil War and located the actual, not just 'acting', Mayor of D.C.....Richard Wallach....Mayor from September 14, 1861 – June 8, 1868

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Wallach

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I then became curious about this 'Acting Mayor' William T. Dove, so I looked around and came up with essentially zilch. It was then I asked Nina to do some looking.

William T. Dove
Dove was born in 1813 in either D.C.. He was married to Ann Parker, June 26, 1838 in D.C.
Dove was a coal merchant in 1850 and living in D. C.
He was a slave owner in 1857
His net worth in real estate in 1850 : 1,600 dollars

In 1860, he had 5,000 in real and 1,000 in his pocket.....and is listed as a merchant...in D.C.

In 1870, he has 600 dollars in his pocket and 4,000 in real estate....and he's a farmer living in Maryland.

In 1880, he's in Maryland....all alone, occupation : Office.

He died on February 3, 1892....Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington.

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Dove was, as you will read, an Alderman....the head of the Board of Alderman and a candidate for the position of Mayor after the arrest of Mayor James Berret for sedition in August of 1861.

This article mentions Dove in his 'actual', not 'acting' role but his position as President of the Board of Aldermen.

National Republican
Washington
February 22, 1861
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Then the arrest and hoopla about Berret's arrest...and mention of three candidates for interim Mayor....Dove being one of them.

Wallach, of course, was chosen and began serving 19 days after Berret's arrest.....and served for 7 years.


National Republican
August 26, 1861
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Refer back to the original article about the wunderkind curing some fellow's consumption. On that date, March 18, 1862, Richard Wallach, not William Thomas Dove, was acting and actual Mayor of Washington.

Census work and one article located by Nina Brown.

[mklhawley]

Hi Howard,

Outstanding research by you and Nina (not unexpected). I believe I have the answer. In Washington DC when the mayor is absent, the President of the Board of Alderman is acting in his stead:

“In 1869, he was elected president of the board of aldermen, and held the position three years. As president of the board of aldermen he became ex officio the acting mayor of the duty during the absence or disability of the Mayor. It thus happened that he became repeatedly the acting mayor of the city for several weeks at a time.” (History of the Ninety-third Regiment 1861-1865 pub 1895)

It looks like he was "acting" at this time only because the mayor was either out of town or sick.

The fact that Tumblety returned to DC in February 1862 from New York, the treatment must have occurred in 1861.


By the way, your 1870 San Francisco article had an outstanding nugget of information I will be using in my next article!

Sincerely,

Mike