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Hi All,
In an oft-quoted extract from the San Francisco Chronicle, 20th November 1888, Clement R. Bennett told of remembering Tumblety from the 1870s—
"About 1871 he roomed at the Northern Hotel, on Cortlandt Street. Here he had a magnificent suite of rooms, the floors of which were covered with well-worn leather trunks, valises and bags. He cordially invited any young men whom he fancied, wherever he met them, in the parks, squares or stores, to call upon him at this hotel, where he was wont to say he would show them 'an easy road to fortune.' By his suavity he was successful beyond comprehension in enlisting and securing the attendance, at certain hours of the day and evening, of good-looking young men and boys, greenhorns, to 'walk into my parlor.' He pretended to be a 'specialist' and to have a cure for some of the ills which flesh is heir to."
I don't know what Clement R. Bennet classed as magnificent, but it is interesting to note that the Northern Hotel was a notorious boarding house in one of New York's waterfront districts, at the corner of Cortlandt Street and West Street, directly by the Hudson River piers.
In 1871 the Northern Hotel was managed by the newly-arrived Irish Nationalist and Fenian sympathiser Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa who, in 1872, took over the lease for a few years before selling up to run the Chatham Hotel near New York's notorious Five Points district.
From the Northern Hotel Rossa also ran an unlicensed discount travel and ticket agency which by 1877 he had moved to offices at 263 Broadway.
All in all, the Northern Hotel, New York, was an interesting choice of accommodation for Dr. Francis Tumblety.
Regards,
Simon
In an oft-quoted extract from the San Francisco Chronicle, 20th November 1888, Clement R. Bennett told of remembering Tumblety from the 1870s—
"About 1871 he roomed at the Northern Hotel, on Cortlandt Street. Here he had a magnificent suite of rooms, the floors of which were covered with well-worn leather trunks, valises and bags. He cordially invited any young men whom he fancied, wherever he met them, in the parks, squares or stores, to call upon him at this hotel, where he was wont to say he would show them 'an easy road to fortune.' By his suavity he was successful beyond comprehension in enlisting and securing the attendance, at certain hours of the day and evening, of good-looking young men and boys, greenhorns, to 'walk into my parlor.' He pretended to be a 'specialist' and to have a cure for some of the ills which flesh is heir to."
I don't know what Clement R. Bennet classed as magnificent, but it is interesting to note that the Northern Hotel was a notorious boarding house in one of New York's waterfront districts, at the corner of Cortlandt Street and West Street, directly by the Hudson River piers.
In 1871 the Northern Hotel was managed by the newly-arrived Irish Nationalist and Fenian sympathiser Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa who, in 1872, took over the lease for a few years before selling up to run the Chatham Hotel near New York's notorious Five Points district.
From the Northern Hotel Rossa also ran an unlicensed discount travel and ticket agency which by 1877 he had moved to offices at 263 Broadway.
All in all, the Northern Hotel, New York, was an interesting choice of accommodation for Dr. Francis Tumblety.
Regards,
Simon
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