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Greetings all,
Captain Streeter talked about young Frank Tumblety selling indecent material on the canal. Just as Tim Riordan suggested in his book, this material quite possibly came from his employer and mentor Doctor E.J. Reynolds, a.k.a., Ezra Lispenard. Here's the 1888 article and the appropriate sections:
Rochester Democrat and Republican
3 December 1888
THE MISSING TUMBLETY, An American Quack Suspected of the Whitechapel Crimes.
HE PROBABLY SEEKS AMERICA
A braggart and Charlatan -- Circumstances Against Him -- Details of His Adventurous career -- A Rochester Boy. -- His Life in This City.
Special to the New York World.
LONDON, Dec. 1.--The last seen of Dr. Tumblety was at Havre, and it is taken for granted that he has sailed for New York. It will be remembered that the doctor, who is known in this country for his eccentricities, was arrested some time ago in London on suspicion of being concerned in the perpetration of the Whitechapel murders. The police, being unable to procure the necessary evidence against him in connection therewith, decided to hold him for trial for another offense against a statute which was passed shortly after the publication in the Pall Mall Gazette…
…Captain W.C. Streeter, an old resident of Rochester, N.Y., is quite sure that Tumblety is a native of that city. Captain Streeter is now the owner of a fine canal-boat that plies between this city and Buffalo, but in his youth lived in Rochester. A World reporter boarded his boat at pier 5, East River, yesterday, and found the Captain in his snug cabin surrounded by his wife, daughter, and son.
"The first recollection I have of him," said the Captain, "is along about 1848. I should judge he was then something like 15 years old and his name was Frank Tumblety. I don't know when he changed it to Twomblety. He was selling books and papers on the packets and was in the habit of boarding my boat a short distance from the town. The books he sold were largely of the kind Anthony Comstock surpresses (sic) now….There were two boys older than Frank and one of them worked as a steward for Dr. Fitzhugh, then a prominent physician…Frank continued to sell papers until 1850, I think, and then disappeared, and I did not see him again for ten years, when he returned to Rochester as a great physician and soon became the wonder of the city.
Just as Tumblety’s older brother was a steward for Dr. Fitzhugh, Francis seems to have been a steward for Dr. E.J. Reynolds and was attempting to sell his material on Streeter's boat. In American Publishers of Indecent Books, 1840-1890 (2005), Elizabeth Hawley comments not only upon the doctor who Tumblety worked for as a youth, R.J. Reynolds, but she also comments upon Anthony Comstock (the same person mentioned by Captain Streeter) attempting to convict Reynolds for selling indecent material,
“…Rather than being a simple side story to Anthony Comstock’s crusade against indecent publications… , several types of books came to his attention, according to the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice arrest records…Comstock pursued Ezra J. Reynolds, who published a version of W.C. Lispenard’s Practical Private Medical Guide renamed as the Pocket Companion. James Bryan of the fictitious Clinton Medical & Surgical Institute was targeted, as well. Only because of efforts by publishers to market such books as titillating rather than as medical information did American courts begin to rule them, in practice, to be obscene…Ezra J. Reynolds entry, ‘Report of Persons Arrested’ 1873, 21-22, container W.C. Lispenard, Practical Private Medical Guide: Adapted to the Use of Every Individual, (Male and Female,) Mostly Original, and Compilations from Eminent American and European Medical Authors (Rochester, N.Y.: Published for the Author, 1854), held at AAS; and Dr. Lispenard’s Pocket Companion, or Marriage Guide: Being a Popular Treatise on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Genital Organs, in Both Sexes, with their Uses and Abuses ( Published for the Author, 1854). The latter features a wrapper attributing the work to McGown and Kewin of Albany, N.Y., undoubtedly only one of a number of firms that produced the book on behalf of the Lispenard. The book was stereotyped and appears to have gone through multiple printings, which publishers often described as editions, although they actually used the same plates (or copies of them). This book is the 27th edition. James Bryan entry, Report of Persons Arrested, 1873, 25-26, container 1.
Riordan points out that Reynolds admitted the name Lispenard was his pseudonym. Elizabeth Hawley's research supports Riordan's suggestion that Tumblety was selling this material on Streeter's canal boat for his boss, especially since both Streeter and Hawley make reference to Anthony Comstock and his crusade against nineteenth century indecent publications.
What I am intrigued about is how accurate Captain Streeter’s recollections were about Tumblety selling this material. The World reporter seems to have approached Streeter with the name 'Twomblety' -the name Tumblety used in England-, and Streeter made the effort to comment about young Frank's name first being Tumblety.
Another intriguing revelation Riordan, Palmer, and others have pointed out is that Reynolds advertised to help young men out with stopping their sinful act of self love. I wonder if this is how young gay Tumblety came to meet Reynolds?
Sincerely,
Mike
Captain Streeter talked about young Frank Tumblety selling indecent material on the canal. Just as Tim Riordan suggested in his book, this material quite possibly came from his employer and mentor Doctor E.J. Reynolds, a.k.a., Ezra Lispenard. Here's the 1888 article and the appropriate sections:
Rochester Democrat and Republican
3 December 1888
THE MISSING TUMBLETY, An American Quack Suspected of the Whitechapel Crimes.
HE PROBABLY SEEKS AMERICA
A braggart and Charlatan -- Circumstances Against Him -- Details of His Adventurous career -- A Rochester Boy. -- His Life in This City.
Special to the New York World.
LONDON, Dec. 1.--The last seen of Dr. Tumblety was at Havre, and it is taken for granted that he has sailed for New York. It will be remembered that the doctor, who is known in this country for his eccentricities, was arrested some time ago in London on suspicion of being concerned in the perpetration of the Whitechapel murders. The police, being unable to procure the necessary evidence against him in connection therewith, decided to hold him for trial for another offense against a statute which was passed shortly after the publication in the Pall Mall Gazette…
…Captain W.C. Streeter, an old resident of Rochester, N.Y., is quite sure that Tumblety is a native of that city. Captain Streeter is now the owner of a fine canal-boat that plies between this city and Buffalo, but in his youth lived in Rochester. A World reporter boarded his boat at pier 5, East River, yesterday, and found the Captain in his snug cabin surrounded by his wife, daughter, and son.
"The first recollection I have of him," said the Captain, "is along about 1848. I should judge he was then something like 15 years old and his name was Frank Tumblety. I don't know when he changed it to Twomblety. He was selling books and papers on the packets and was in the habit of boarding my boat a short distance from the town. The books he sold were largely of the kind Anthony Comstock surpresses (sic) now….There were two boys older than Frank and one of them worked as a steward for Dr. Fitzhugh, then a prominent physician…Frank continued to sell papers until 1850, I think, and then disappeared, and I did not see him again for ten years, when he returned to Rochester as a great physician and soon became the wonder of the city.
Just as Tumblety’s older brother was a steward for Dr. Fitzhugh, Francis seems to have been a steward for Dr. E.J. Reynolds and was attempting to sell his material on Streeter's boat. In American Publishers of Indecent Books, 1840-1890 (2005), Elizabeth Hawley comments not only upon the doctor who Tumblety worked for as a youth, R.J. Reynolds, but she also comments upon Anthony Comstock (the same person mentioned by Captain Streeter) attempting to convict Reynolds for selling indecent material,
“…Rather than being a simple side story to Anthony Comstock’s crusade against indecent publications… , several types of books came to his attention, according to the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice arrest records…Comstock pursued Ezra J. Reynolds, who published a version of W.C. Lispenard’s Practical Private Medical Guide renamed as the Pocket Companion. James Bryan of the fictitious Clinton Medical & Surgical Institute was targeted, as well. Only because of efforts by publishers to market such books as titillating rather than as medical information did American courts begin to rule them, in practice, to be obscene…Ezra J. Reynolds entry, ‘Report of Persons Arrested’ 1873, 21-22, container W.C. Lispenard, Practical Private Medical Guide: Adapted to the Use of Every Individual, (Male and Female,) Mostly Original, and Compilations from Eminent American and European Medical Authors (Rochester, N.Y.: Published for the Author, 1854), held at AAS; and Dr. Lispenard’s Pocket Companion, or Marriage Guide: Being a Popular Treatise on the Anatomy and Physiology of the Genital Organs, in Both Sexes, with their Uses and Abuses ( Published for the Author, 1854). The latter features a wrapper attributing the work to McGown and Kewin of Albany, N.Y., undoubtedly only one of a number of firms that produced the book on behalf of the Lispenard. The book was stereotyped and appears to have gone through multiple printings, which publishers often described as editions, although they actually used the same plates (or copies of them). This book is the 27th edition. James Bryan entry, Report of Persons Arrested, 1873, 25-26, container 1.
Riordan points out that Reynolds admitted the name Lispenard was his pseudonym. Elizabeth Hawley's research supports Riordan's suggestion that Tumblety was selling this material on Streeter's canal boat for his boss, especially since both Streeter and Hawley make reference to Anthony Comstock and his crusade against nineteenth century indecent publications.
What I am intrigued about is how accurate Captain Streeter’s recollections were about Tumblety selling this material. The World reporter seems to have approached Streeter with the name 'Twomblety' -the name Tumblety used in England-, and Streeter made the effort to comment about young Frank's name first being Tumblety.
Another intriguing revelation Riordan, Palmer, and others have pointed out is that Reynolds advertised to help young men out with stopping their sinful act of self love. I wonder if this is how young gay Tumblety came to meet Reynolds?
Sincerely,
Mike
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