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Greetings all,
I plan on posting a number of threads in the next few months and this is the first. The following are excerpts taken from the New York World's interview with Charles A. Dunham about JTR suspect Francis Tumblety. It appeared on Dec 2, 1888.
Col. C. S. Dunham, a well known lawyer who lives near Fairview, N.J., was intimately connected with Twomblety for many years and, in his own mind, had long connected him with the Whitechapel horrors…
(Dunham): "He is not a doctor. A more arrant charlatan and quack never fattened on the hopes and fears of afflicted humanity. I first made the fellow's acquaintance a few days after the first battle of Bull Run. Although a very young man at the time I held a colonel's commission in the army, and was at the Capitol on official business. The city was full of strangers, ninety per cent of them military men. All the first class hotels resembled bee hives. Among them were many fine looking and many peculiar looking men, but of the thousands there was not one that attracted half as much attention as Tumblety…”
"At length it was whispered about that he was an adventurer. One day my Lieutenant-Colonel and myself accepted the 'doctor's' invitation to a late dinner…"
"Then he invited us into his office where he illustrated his lecture, so to speak. One side of this room was entirely occupied with doors, outwardly resembling wardrobes. When the doors were opened quite a museum was revealed - tiers of shelves with glass jars and cases, some round and others square, filled with all sorts of anatomical specimens. The 'doctor' placed on a table a dozen or more jars containing, he said, the matrices of every class of woman. Nearly a half of one of these cases was occupied exclusively with these specimens.”
The interview damaged the case for Tumblety's innocence because Dunham commented not only upon Tumblety’s hatred of women but also upon his collection of anatomical specimens from women. The Prince of Quacks book argued that Dunham got his facts wrong, thus, anything he commented on should be rejected. On this thread, I will challenge some of these supposed incorrect facts and oppose the assertion that Tumblety was not in Washington at the same time as Dunham.
The major argument against Dunham’s claim that he met Tumblety in Washington a few days after the first battle of Bull Run is there is indirect evidence showing Tumblety to have been in NYC at the time. From the Prince of Quacks, page 91:
The colonel claims to have met Tumblety in Washington a few days after the Battle of Bull Run. As the battle took place on July 21, 1861, there is a problem. At the time and probably until September, Tumblety was in New York, not Washington. He had just started a major advertising campaign in Harper’s Weekly.
And from page 76:
In July 1861, Tumblety started to peddle his medicine in the pages of Harper's Weekly, a periodical based in New York but with national circulation. The earliest ad appears on July 13...versions of this ad ran until October 19, 1861.
The book's author, Tim Riordan, also reminded us that Carman Cumming reported Dunham "was in Washington for brief periods in July, August, and November 1861."
Riordan acknowledged Dunham was in Washington during July 1861, but rejected the idea Tumblety was also there because it would have been ridiculous for Tumblety to start a major advertising campaign in NYC and then leave. This argument sounds convincing, but… If this ‘major advertising campaign’ argument is correct, then how does one explain Tumblety’s September 14, 1861, advertisement campaign in the Baltimore Sun? The Harper’s Weekly ‘major campaign’ included the month of September 1861, yet the ad in the Baltimore Sun occurred simultaneously. The following is the September 14, 1861, Baltimore Sun advertisement:
THE INDIAN HERB DOCTOR.
F. TUMBLETY, M. D.,
From Canada, will describe diseases and tell his patients the nature of their complaints or illness, without receiving any information from them.
OUR MOTO.
We use such Balms as have no strife
With nature or the laws of life;
With blood our hands we never stain
Our Father-whom all goodness fills,
Provides the means to cure all ills;
The simple Herbs beneath our feet,
Well used relieve our pain complete,
A simple Herb, a simple Flower,
Cull’d from the dewy Lea-
These, these shall speak with touching power,
F. TUMBLETY, M. D.
-No Charge for Consultation or Advice.
OFFICE: 220 BALTIMORE ST.
S 14-6t
Tumblety ran Baltimore ads on September 16th and 23rd 1861, as well, which sounds like another 'major advertisement campaign.' This occurred during the SAME TIME as the New York campaign. By extension of the ‘major ad campaign’ argument’, Tumblety was not in Washington DC, he was in Baltimore, or was it New York? Was he in three places at once? OR maybe he did what he often did and commuted by train.
Notice what it says in the St. Thomas Weekly Dispatch dated March 20, 1862:
DR. TUMBLETY IN TROUBLE AGAIN
Dr. Tumblety, who has been cutting large figures about Washington for the past six or eight months, and who was reported at one time to holding the position of Senior Surgeon on the staff of General McClellan - an idea that was probably created by the superb air of distinguished importance that the fellow knows how to wear - has come to grief, it appears, and is having his pretentious charlatanry exposed.
The ‘past six or eight months’ comment placed Tumblety in Washington during September 1861. This was when two of his ‘major ad campaigns’ were going on in two different cities, New York and Baltimore.
So why was Tumblety in Washington during the latter part of 1861? Well first of all, he wasn't the only one who went there. On July 21, 1861, the Union was defeated at Bull Run and two days later Congress approved the funding of a 500,000 man volunteer army. General McClellan was ‘assigned’ to reorganize the Army of the Potomac on July 26, 1861, after its defeat at Bull Run. Regiments from the North immediately began to organize and then travel to Washington DC. Notice what Francis Tumblety himself stated in his autobiography,
"When General McClellan was ‘appointed’ command of the Army of the Potomac, I partially made up my mind to tender my professional services as surgeon in one of the regiments, and I had the assurance from headquarters that they… and then he states, “…At this time, I was furnished by General McClellan with passes to go and come where and when I pleased. I mixed with the officers of his staff…”
The main reason why some people reject the idea that Dunham was with Tumblety in Washington soon after Bull Run is because it reinforces the veracity of Dunham's claim of this Ripper suspect having possessed jars of anatomical specimens. Yet if it is shown that Dunham got some facts correct, this will be met with opposition, chiefly because it points toward the possiblility that Dunham was telling the truth about Tumblety.
While in Washington prior to December 1861, there were no signs of Tumblety having placed ads in the local DC newspapers, nor was it shown that he took up residence in the Willard Hotel. But that is not enough to declare he never resided in the Washington area during that time period.
Sincerely,
Mike
I plan on posting a number of threads in the next few months and this is the first. The following are excerpts taken from the New York World's interview with Charles A. Dunham about JTR suspect Francis Tumblety. It appeared on Dec 2, 1888.
Col. C. S. Dunham, a well known lawyer who lives near Fairview, N.J., was intimately connected with Twomblety for many years and, in his own mind, had long connected him with the Whitechapel horrors…
(Dunham): "He is not a doctor. A more arrant charlatan and quack never fattened on the hopes and fears of afflicted humanity. I first made the fellow's acquaintance a few days after the first battle of Bull Run. Although a very young man at the time I held a colonel's commission in the army, and was at the Capitol on official business. The city was full of strangers, ninety per cent of them military men. All the first class hotels resembled bee hives. Among them were many fine looking and many peculiar looking men, but of the thousands there was not one that attracted half as much attention as Tumblety…”
"At length it was whispered about that he was an adventurer. One day my Lieutenant-Colonel and myself accepted the 'doctor's' invitation to a late dinner…"
"Then he invited us into his office where he illustrated his lecture, so to speak. One side of this room was entirely occupied with doors, outwardly resembling wardrobes. When the doors were opened quite a museum was revealed - tiers of shelves with glass jars and cases, some round and others square, filled with all sorts of anatomical specimens. The 'doctor' placed on a table a dozen or more jars containing, he said, the matrices of every class of woman. Nearly a half of one of these cases was occupied exclusively with these specimens.”
The interview damaged the case for Tumblety's innocence because Dunham commented not only upon Tumblety’s hatred of women but also upon his collection of anatomical specimens from women. The Prince of Quacks book argued that Dunham got his facts wrong, thus, anything he commented on should be rejected. On this thread, I will challenge some of these supposed incorrect facts and oppose the assertion that Tumblety was not in Washington at the same time as Dunham.
The major argument against Dunham’s claim that he met Tumblety in Washington a few days after the first battle of Bull Run is there is indirect evidence showing Tumblety to have been in NYC at the time. From the Prince of Quacks, page 91:
The colonel claims to have met Tumblety in Washington a few days after the Battle of Bull Run. As the battle took place on July 21, 1861, there is a problem. At the time and probably until September, Tumblety was in New York, not Washington. He had just started a major advertising campaign in Harper’s Weekly.
And from page 76:
In July 1861, Tumblety started to peddle his medicine in the pages of Harper's Weekly, a periodical based in New York but with national circulation. The earliest ad appears on July 13...versions of this ad ran until October 19, 1861.
The book's author, Tim Riordan, also reminded us that Carman Cumming reported Dunham "was in Washington for brief periods in July, August, and November 1861."
Riordan acknowledged Dunham was in Washington during July 1861, but rejected the idea Tumblety was also there because it would have been ridiculous for Tumblety to start a major advertising campaign in NYC and then leave. This argument sounds convincing, but… If this ‘major advertising campaign’ argument is correct, then how does one explain Tumblety’s September 14, 1861, advertisement campaign in the Baltimore Sun? The Harper’s Weekly ‘major campaign’ included the month of September 1861, yet the ad in the Baltimore Sun occurred simultaneously. The following is the September 14, 1861, Baltimore Sun advertisement:
THE INDIAN HERB DOCTOR.
F. TUMBLETY, M. D.,
From Canada, will describe diseases and tell his patients the nature of their complaints or illness, without receiving any information from them.
OUR MOTO.
We use such Balms as have no strife
With nature or the laws of life;
With blood our hands we never stain
Our Father-whom all goodness fills,
Provides the means to cure all ills;
The simple Herbs beneath our feet,
Well used relieve our pain complete,
A simple Herb, a simple Flower,
Cull’d from the dewy Lea-
These, these shall speak with touching power,
F. TUMBLETY, M. D.
-No Charge for Consultation or Advice.
OFFICE: 220 BALTIMORE ST.
S 14-6t
Tumblety ran Baltimore ads on September 16th and 23rd 1861, as well, which sounds like another 'major advertisement campaign.' This occurred during the SAME TIME as the New York campaign. By extension of the ‘major ad campaign’ argument’, Tumblety was not in Washington DC, he was in Baltimore, or was it New York? Was he in three places at once? OR maybe he did what he often did and commuted by train.
Notice what it says in the St. Thomas Weekly Dispatch dated March 20, 1862:
DR. TUMBLETY IN TROUBLE AGAIN
Dr. Tumblety, who has been cutting large figures about Washington for the past six or eight months, and who was reported at one time to holding the position of Senior Surgeon on the staff of General McClellan - an idea that was probably created by the superb air of distinguished importance that the fellow knows how to wear - has come to grief, it appears, and is having his pretentious charlatanry exposed.
The ‘past six or eight months’ comment placed Tumblety in Washington during September 1861. This was when two of his ‘major ad campaigns’ were going on in two different cities, New York and Baltimore.
So why was Tumblety in Washington during the latter part of 1861? Well first of all, he wasn't the only one who went there. On July 21, 1861, the Union was defeated at Bull Run and two days later Congress approved the funding of a 500,000 man volunteer army. General McClellan was ‘assigned’ to reorganize the Army of the Potomac on July 26, 1861, after its defeat at Bull Run. Regiments from the North immediately began to organize and then travel to Washington DC. Notice what Francis Tumblety himself stated in his autobiography,
"When General McClellan was ‘appointed’ command of the Army of the Potomac, I partially made up my mind to tender my professional services as surgeon in one of the regiments, and I had the assurance from headquarters that they… and then he states, “…At this time, I was furnished by General McClellan with passes to go and come where and when I pleased. I mixed with the officers of his staff…”
The main reason why some people reject the idea that Dunham was with Tumblety in Washington soon after Bull Run is because it reinforces the veracity of Dunham's claim of this Ripper suspect having possessed jars of anatomical specimens. Yet if it is shown that Dunham got some facts correct, this will be met with opposition, chiefly because it points toward the possiblility that Dunham was telling the truth about Tumblety.
While in Washington prior to December 1861, there were no signs of Tumblety having placed ads in the local DC newspapers, nor was it shown that he took up residence in the Willard Hotel. But that is not enough to declare he never resided in the Washington area during that time period.
Sincerely,
Mike
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