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  • mklhawley
    replied
    Originally posted by caz View Post

    I am assuming nothing of the kind. Littlechild told Sims that there was no actual evidence of Tumblety having been a sadist, but he went on to say that men with 'contrary sexual instincts' (presumably a reference to him being gay) tended to be cruel. So he combines the man's expressed bitterness towards females with his homosexuality and supposed disappearance/suicide after the last murder to produce a 'very likely' suspect, who probably had tendencies to be physically cruel. I don't care what the 'evidence' does or does not support; this is what Littlechild thought.

    Love,

    Caz
    X
    Hi Caz,

    Good points, but I want to reply to one. I disagree with you on why Littlechild spoke of contrary sexual instincts. He was not saying that both his hatred of women and his love of men caused him to be a suspect, he was saying his hatred of women (and other actions as per the British primary source) caused him to be a suspect, and Littlechild then discussed his opinion about those with contrary sexual feelings. Notice that he separated the 'suspected due to hatred of women' issue and the 'lover of men' issue with an entirely different subject (the origins of the term Jack the Ripper).

    Sincerely,
    Mike
    Last edited by mklhawley; 04-19-2013, 06:00 PM.

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  • caz
    replied
    Originally posted by mklhawley View Post
    I'm sorry Caz. You are absolutely right. That was a cheap shot. I was feeling ignored and unloved, so I used a sophomoric ploy. Let me make it up to you. When I ever get to London, I will treat you to some coffee at that MacDonalds on Whitechapel Road where the Chamber of Horrors wax museum was (I can't afford too much, since I have six kids!)
    Apology unnecessary, Mike, but accepted.

    We do need to make necessary adjustments, but we have to adjust based upon corroborating evidence. If he had no other reports that he not only had an extreme hatred of women but fallen women, then we could relegate it to a case like the proprietor of the Leader, BUT the US reports, the British reports, Littlechild, and Anderson all corroborate this.
    Fair enough, but if all these reports were the result of Tumblety being outspoken and indulging in hyperbole when having a whinge about certain characters (as with the unfortunate proprietor of the Leader), I'm really not convinced that his expressed hatred of prossies, including verbal threats made against that class of woman, should have been seen as evidence that he was very likely to have engaged with any for the purposes of murdering and mutilating them.

    In order to believe Tumblety was not a significant suspect in November 1888, one must claim that ALL of the US and British reports are wrong and that the Home Secretary on down lied.
    I believe Littlechild when he told Sims in 1913 that Tumblety had been among the suspects; but how 'significant' a suspect he was considered to be within Scotland Yard is not something I feel able to judge. Certainly Anderson, Swanson and Macnaghten all eventually plumped for someone other than Tumblety as their most likely suspect. How many cops in the know were left believing that the real ripper got away in the shape of Tumblety?

    So Caz, we are in agreement on a few things. First, the Tumblety detractors who claim Littlechild was old and his memory was bad are wrong. Second, the Tumblety detractors who claim that Littlechild was not privy to the November Tumblety/Ripper investigation are wrong. I just see his mistake on the post November info as a case of no longer being involved, therefore, only post-November info later (from Macnaghten? Just as Spiro stated, he was in charge of the files). CID needed his assistance in November, because that’s when Tumblety was arrested on suspicion; therefore, they needed to know everything about him, including his Irish nationalist stuff. Sir Robert Anderson certainly would have had the pull to bring Littlechild in on it. Since it was a CID issue, once Littlechild provided the info, his part was done.
    Eh? What I am saying is that if Littlechild thought, as late as 1913, that Tumblety had vanished without trace in late November 1888 after leaving France, never to be seen again, and therefore appeared to have done away with himself, then his reasons for thinking he made a 'very likely' suspect would have included this supposed explanation for the murders ending, ie the ripper was no more, and was therefore no longer a threat to fallen women. If he had known the quack had lived on across the pond, not murdering women, might his views on the matter not have altered? There is no way of telling, but if he did know, he was misremembering when writing to Sims, or being deliberately misleading.

    You are assuming that if Tumblety was the killer, he was a sado-sexual serial killer with continued sexual desires. The evidence does not support this serial motive.
    I am assuming nothing of the kind. Littlechild told Sims that there was no actual evidence of Tumblety having been a sadist, but he went on to say that men with 'contrary sexual instincts' (presumably a reference to him being gay) tended to be cruel. So he combines the man's expressed bitterness towards females with his homosexuality and supposed disappearance/suicide after the last murder to produce a 'very likely' suspect, who probably had tendencies to be physically cruel. I don't care what the 'evidence' does or does not support; this is what Littlechild thought.

    Love,

    Caz
    X
    Last edited by caz; 04-19-2013, 03:39 PM.

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  • mklhawley
    replied
    Greetings all,

    I certainly appreciate Howard Brown starting a thread on JTR Forums about my article, Tumblety the Woman Hater, which was in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of the Whitechapel Society. It brings the discussion to the forefront. The problem is that in his attempt to debunk the article, he has inadvertently created a strawman argument. Instead of debunking the article, he has debunked his interpretation of the article. I decided to reply to his comments on this thread, since it seems his true agenda is to continue this discussion.

    Howard stated,

    “Mike's article lists 5 quotes from a newspaper reporter, an associate and police officials, which Mike contends support the contemporaneous view that since Tumblety hated women, his candidature as being the Ripper is feasible.”
    “Mike claims that these 5 are contemporary evidence that he was a woman hater.”




    Actually, I was not using these five sources as evidence that Tumblety was a woman hater or his feasibility as a Ripper suspect as Howard claims. Here’s what I actually wrote,


    If we follow contemporary evidence, the most common reason stated as to why Francis Tumblety was a Scotland Yard murder suspect is that he was a woman hater. Note just five of the many sources,
    (1)“… his feelings toward women were remarkable and bitter in the extreme, a fact on record.” (Chief Inspector Littlechild, 1913)
    (2)“He was known as a thorough woman-hater and as a man who never associated with or mixed with women of any kind.” (William Pinkerton, November 19, 1888)
    (3)“…and in New York his behavior was that of a man who had no liking for women.” (San Francisco Chief of Police Patrick Crowley, San Francisco Examiner, November 23, 1888)
    (4)When asked about Dr. Tumblety's aversion to women, McGarry said: "He always disliked women very much. He used to say to me: 'Martin, no women for me.' He could not bear to have them near him…” (New York World, Dec 5, 1888)
    (5)"You are accused of being a woman-hater. What have you to say to that?" (New York World reporter interviewing Tumblety, January 1889).



    Instead of using these sources as evidence of Tumblety being a woman hater or why he should be considered a Ripper suspect, I was using them to demonstrate why SCOTLAND YARD considered Francis Tumblety a whitechapel murder suspect in November 1888. I used Chief Inspector Littlechild’s comments because he was in Scotland Yard during the murders. I used Chief of Police Crowley’s comments, because he was in communications with Assistant Commissioner Anderson about Ripper suspect Francis Tumblety in November 1888. I used William Pinkerton’s comments, because he was at Scotland Yard weeks prior to this interview (and other reasons which will come out in a later article). I used the New York World reporter’s interview with Tumblety, because it demonstrates that readers knew about Scotland Yard’s interest in Tumblety and his hatred of women being the big issue connecting him with the Whitechapel murders. I used McGarry’s comments, because another reporter asked about Tumblety’s hatred of women, which meant that the readership knew that Tumblety being a Scotland Yard Ripper suspect was because of his hatred of women.

    My reasoning for this was to set the stage for the introduction of a different anti-Tumblety claim that Scotland Yard merely suspected Francis Tumblety because of the less than credible reason of him being gay, their claim arguing that the term ‘woman hater’ was merely a euphemism for being gay. Both sides of the Tumblety argument are actually in agreement that Tumblety was considered a woman hater, so why would I be concerned about this? My plan was to demonstrate that ‘women hater’ actually meant hatred of women in the case of Francis Tumblety by introducing corroborating NEW evidence (other than the five sources above). I then provided evidence to show why Tumblety being gay is actually irrelevant when comes to him possibly being the killer.

    Howard then goes on to say,

    I contend that they may explain a dislike for women....in a sexual way....but certainly not when it came to doing business with them. I also contend that there is still no evidence that Tumblety had any contact with fallen women, unfortunates, or prostitutes, however you want to describe them, as Mike has claimed…
    In fact, these quotes support the view that Tumblety was not known to associate with prostitutes, not the other way around as Mike claims.


    Howard then claiming that these five pieces of evidence is my evidence for Tumblety hating unfortunates is ridiculous, and to suggest that I claimed this evidence also confirms his association with them is just plain wrong. I never claimed this in the article, and actually I agree that he rarely associated with them. Howard then argues that Tumblety not associating with them for most of his life somehow confirms a minimal hatred of women not enough for a person to kill unfortunates. Tumblety not associating with women, especially unfortunates, throughout his life actually supports my later conclusions in the article. If he associated with them all of his life, that would mean he liked them. It all makes sense when we see that the Daily Telegraph cable stated,

    …who has repeatedly made threats against females of dissolute character.

    This was the product of a cable source from within London. A person, a known woman hater, was making threats to East End harlots AT THE TIME OF THE MURDERS. Consider this with the understanding that Chief Inspector Littlechild singled out Tumblety’s hatred of women as the reason for their suspicions. This is not a minimal hatred of women and it involved the East End unfortunates. I used this not only to explain why Scotland Yard took him seriously, but I then present serial killer motives which conform to both the Ripper killings and Francis Tumblety; based upon the evidence.

    Sincerely,

    Mike
    Last edited by mklhawley; 04-17-2013, 03:11 PM.

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  • mklhawley
    replied
    Originally posted by caz View Post
    As I said, Mike, I'm not psychic and had not seen this thread until now. So less of the 'I can understand why, though' nonsense please. It doesn't become you.

    I'm sorry Caz. You are absolutely right. That was a cheap shot. I was feeling ignored and unloved, so I used a sophomoric ploy. Let me make it up to you. When I ever get to London, I will treat you to some coffee at that MacDonalds on Whitechapel Road where the Chamber of Horrors wax museum was (I can't afford too much, since I have six kids!)




    You complained that I was ignoring you here, but I'm not psychic and only just saw this thread by chance. I don't have time to read many these days.

    If Tumblety 'embellished things to the extreme when complaining', then you have to take that into account when he talks negatively about prostitutes and make the necessary adjustment. In short, he doesn't just complain about prossies to the extreme. Otherwise, by the same token, you'd have to argue that his rant against the proprietor of The Leader demonstrates that he would have slit the man's throat given half a chance, ripped him up and whipped out a kidney.
    We do need to make necessary adjustments, but we have to adjust based upon corroborating evidence. If he had no other reports that he not only had an extreme hatred of women but fallen women, then we could relegate it to a case like the proprietor of the Leader, BUT the US reports, the British reports, Littlechild, and Anderson all corroborate this.


    I don't suppose you have seen anything written by old Tumblebum along the lines of:

    "The filthy Spitalfields harlot is one of the most infamous characters who ever vomited upon the earth from the basement storey of hell... She is worse than the sewer rat."

    Do you see what I'm getting at?
    But he DID single out the Spitalfield harlots and did even worse; he was in their face! Note the British report, “…who is famous for his hatred of women, and who has repeatedly made threats against females of dissolute character." This is what has corroborating evidence from primary sources. Now, one could claim the British article got its facts wrong, but that’s what Stewart Evans has been trying to explain to Tumblety detractors for years. In order to believe Tumblety was not a significant suspect in November 1888, one must claim that ALL of the US and British reports are wrong and that the Home Secretary on down lied.


    Not at all, Mike. I was merely exploring the possible reasons for Littlechild talking bollocks when writing to Sims that Tumblety was never heard of again after leaving France at the end of November 1888 and there were no more ripper murders after that (McKenzie and Coles, anyone?) so it was believed that he committed suicide.

    Plain fact is, if Littlechild knew that was a lie, why did he choose to mislead Sims? Was it because he was throwing him Tumblety as a convenient red herring to steer him away from his Dr. D for Druitt?
    So Caz, we are in agreement on a few things. First, the Tumblety detractors who claim Littlechild was old and his memory was bad are wrong. Second, the Tumblety detractors who claim that Littlechild was not privy to the November Tumblety/Ripper investigation are wrong. I just see his mistake on the post November info as a case of no longer being involved, therefore, only post-November info later (from Macnaghten? Just as Spiro stated, he was in charge of the files). CID needed his assistance in November, because that’s when Tumblety was arrested on suspicion; therefore, they needed to know everything about him, including his Irish nationalist stuff. Sir Robert Anderson certainly would have had the pull to bring Littlechild in on it. Since it was a CID issue, once Littlechild provided the info, his part was done.


    Alternatively, if Littlechild was genuinely ignorant of the fact that Tumblety had died a relatively old man in 1903, without resuming his slaughter of harlots across the pond, might that knowledge have diluted his 'very likely' suspect status?

    Not in the least. You are assuming that if Tumblety was the killer, he was a sado-sexual serial killer with continued sexual desires. The evidence does not support this serial motive.


    Of course I don't know who the ripper was. What has that to do with what I wrote? It was Macnaghten who clearly expected his ripper to be sexually insane, and Littlechild who waxed lyrical to Sims about men with 'contrary sexual instincts and degenerationes' tending to be cruel, when putting his case for Tumblety being a 'very likely' ripper suspect. Was he misleading Sims about this too?
    They did not arrest Tumblety for being gay nor did they suspect him because of this. He was suspected because of his hatred of women AND because of his treatment of these harlots on the street.

    It was Littlechild's own stated opinion ('to my mind'), when writing in 1913, that Tumblety was a 'very likely' suspect. How do you get from there to a 'very likely' one in the eyes of Scotland Yard?
    Because Sir Robert Anderson personally solicited information from US Chiefs of Police for information on Ripper suspect Francis Tumblety, AND because of the contemporary newspaper reports corroborating it.


    Sincerely,

    Mike

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  • caz
    replied
    Originally posted by mklhawley View Post
    Caz! Oh, Caz! You still have not replied to my resonse to your post. If someone is in personal contact with Caz, please let her know that I replied to her JTR Forums Littlechild comments, but she seems to be ignoring me. I can understand why, though.
    As I said, Mike, I'm not psychic and had not seen this thread until now. So less of the 'I can understand why, though' nonsense please. It doesn't become you.

    How does his Boulogne comment have anything to do with Tumblety being 'a very likely suspect' in the eyes of Scoltand Yard? His 'very likely suspect' comment was corroborated by Assistant Commissioner Anderson personally soliciting information important to the Whitechapel murder investigation specific to Francis Tumblety from Chief of Police in North America in November 1888. If he was talking through his teeth, then you are assuming Littlechild received all of the correct factual information on Tumblety's November arrest and escape from the US press. Impossible, since he would have known that Tumblety made it to the shores of the US. If you are saying that Littlechild was lying through his teeth, that is improbably, because his suspect status has been confirmed by SRA himself.
    It was Littlechild's own stated opinion ('to my mind'), when writing in 1913, that Tumblety was a 'very likely' suspect. How do you get from there to a 'very likely' one in the eyes of Scotland Yard? Also, in 1913 he was claiming that Tumblety had never been heard of again after leaving France at the end of November 1888, so clearly he was deliberately lying to Sims or misleading him if he knew different.

    So was this all about bigging up his own suspect for the ripper murders? Was it designed to steer Sims away from Druitt by dangling another supposed doctor who had supposedly killed himself? Or was it down to genuine ignorance of the facts or a poor memory?

    Just asking.

    Love,

    Caz
    X
    Last edited by caz; 04-11-2013, 08:35 AM.

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  • caz
    replied
    Originally posted by mklhawley View Post
    To Caz:

    Since these two threads are joined at the hip, I believe it’s ok for me to respond to your JTR Forum comments here. You stated to Jonathan:

    Caz: Just a quick one here if I may, Jonathan. You demonstrate with your very next words why we can all say as a fact that we are more informed about Tumblety than Littlechild claimed to be when he was writing to Sims: “On the other hand, who told the retired head of Secret Dept. that it was 'believed' the American had taken his own life ...?”

    Your convoluted logic is this; if there is one mistake, then we can now consider everything Littlechild stated as probably incorrect.
    Not at all, Mike. I was merely exploring the possible reasons for Littlechild talking bollocks when writing to Sims that Tumblety was never heard of again after leaving France at the end of November 1888 and there were no more ripper murders after that (McKenzie and Coles, anyone?) so it was believed that he committed suicide.

    Plain fact is, if Littlechild knew that was a lie, why did he choose to mislead Sims? Was it because he was throwing him Tumblety as a convenient red herring to steer him away from his Dr. D for Druitt?

    Alternatively, if Littlechild was genuinely ignorant of the fact that Tumblety had died a relatively old man in 1903, without resuming his slaughter of harlots across the pond, might that knowledge have diluted his 'very likely' suspect status?

    That's all I was asking.

    Caz: If both policemen were ideally looking for a sexually depraved man with some medical experience who couldn't go on living after the bloodbath in Miller's Court, it appears they were not fully aware that their best bet suspects had failed to meet their own ripper criteria.

    Why? Do you know who Jack the Ripper was? Sounds like you are absolutely confident he was sexually depraved, or that Scotland Yard ignored any suspect who was not sexually depraved. Sexual depravity had nothing to do with Francis Tumblety, and that’s not why he was a suspect in the eyes of Scotland Yard.
    Of course I don't know who the ripper was. What has that to do with what I wrote? It was Macnaghten who clearly expected his ripper to be sexually insane, and Littlechild who waxed lyrical to Sims about men with 'contrary sexual instincts and degenerationes' tending to be cruel, when putting his case for Tumblety being a 'very likely' ripper suspect. Was he misleading Sims about this too?

    Love,

    Caz
    X
    Last edited by caz; 04-11-2013, 08:15 AM.

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  • caz
    replied
    Originally posted by mklhawley View Post
    Hi Mike,
    Good point; it’s just that it doesn’t take Tumblety’s writing style into account. Tumblety was complaining to Caine about the Chinese, and to emphasize his point of how low they are, he compared them to something Tumblety believed to be very low. One should read Neil Story’s book and see how Tumblety embellished things to the extreme when complaining, as he did when comparing Chinese to prostitutes. For example,

    “The proprietor of that filthy sheet ‘The Leader’ is the Champion Black Mailer of England. He is on of the most infamous scoundrels ever vomited upon the earth from the basement story of hell… He is worse than the Colorado potato beetle."

    He used the prostitute like he used the Colorado potato beetle. I’d say the earlier article showed what he thought about prostitutes.

    Sincerely,
    Mike
    Hi Mike,

    You complained that I was ignoring you here, but I'm not psychic and only just saw this thread by chance. I don't have time to read many these days.

    If Tumblety 'embellished things to the extreme when complaining', then you have to take that into account when he talks negatively about prostitutes and make the necessary adjustment. In short, he doesn't just complain about prossies to the extreme. Otherwise, by the same token, you'd have to argue that his rant against the proprietor of The Leader demonstrates that he would have slit the man's throat given half a chance, ripped him up and whipped out a kidney.

    I don't suppose you have seen anything written by old Tumblebum along the lines of:

    "The filthy Spitalfields harlot is one of the most infamous characters who ever vomited upon the earth from the basement storey of hell... She is worse than the sewer rat."

    Do you see what I'm getting at?

    Love,

    Caz
    X

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  • auspirograph
    replied
    Originally posted by jmenges View Post
    And Spiro, ****off.
    Not sure what set this off, but the details provided where wrong, somewhat dated and seemed to express unsupported opinion and a slanted interpretation of the sources.

    A PM with any grievances would perhaps have been more appropriate. I have therefore reported this as a personal attack and will not engage any further in it to allow Mike's research to be aired.

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  • jmenges
    replied
    Thanks Mike.

    Please tell me what in the information in my 2007 posts I placed above was proven incorrect in the 2008 Cumming book. I would appreciate it.



    And Spiro, ****off.

    JM

    Originally posted by mklhawley View Post
    Thanks Don. Hi JM,

    Your information is slightly out of date, being a 2007 post. In 2008, Carmen Cumming, the foremost expert on Charles Dunham, had his book, Devil's Game, published. If you haven't read it and are interested, it's a great read. Roger Palmer and Tim Riordan read it, as well.

    As I'd stated earlier, Dunham used deception during the Civil War as a double agent and continued for political reasons in 1865 because of what he knew the Secretary of War, Stanton was up to. Keep in mind, Dunham received a presidential pardon.

    Between 1865 and 1888, Dunham was doing lawyer stuff in New York and raising his family. If he had a reputation of being a pathological liar, he really could not have been successful in his business.

    Check out his recollections of Tumblety. Aside from a memory error, he was quite accurate.

    I will definitely PM you.

    Sincerely,

    Mike
    Last edited by jmenges; 04-10-2013, 11:41 PM.

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  • auspirograph
    replied
    Thanks Mike, yes an excellent work, there's a lot to be said for wide reading of well researched books when it comes to the Whitechapel murders...

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  • mklhawley
    replied
    Originally posted by auspirograph View Post
    However, the question of Dunham as a reliable source is a vexed one complicated by the machinations of Civil War propaganda and misinformation.[/I]
    Hi Spiro,

    This is so true, and it's why I very much enjoyed Carmen Cummings' book. He based his research upon research of other experts, in order to glean out the chaos.

    Sincerely,

    Mike

    Leave a comment:


  • auspirograph
    replied
    Originally posted by Supe View Post
    Spiro,

    Are you familiar with Mike Hawley's article in the New Independent Review in which he did a fine job of refuting the notion that Tumblety was a "pathological liar"?
    Don,

    I subscribe to the view that there can be no direct evidence when it comes to the 'pathologies' of the Victorian period.

    Leave a comment:


  • mklhawley
    replied
    Originally posted by jmenges View Post
    Also from that jtrforums post of so long ago:

    Another, rather important, thing to be pointed out (for those who do not know), and something that will always sit in the back of my mind, is that Tumblety in his tirade against Stanton and Holt singles out Conover/Dunham twice by name as being part of the coordinated effort to destroy the lives and reputations of innocent people.
    Conover was tried for his perjured assassination testimony and the role he played in evidence and witness tampering and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
    This raises the familiar spectre of Conover the liar, in 1888, recognising Tumblety's name while reading of his flight from London, and as he recalls the insults and accusations Tumblety metted out towards him in 1866, he may have decided to tamper with Tumblety's reputation one last time.

    ****
    To me it seems that Conover was a liar when it comes to Dr. T in 1865 and 1888.

    JM
    Thanks Don. Hi JM,

    Your information is slightly out of date, being a 2007 post. In 2008, Carmen Cumming, the foremost expert on Charles Dunham, had his book, Devil's Game, published. If you haven't read it and are interested, it's a great read. Roger Palmer and Tim Riordan read it, as well.

    As I'd stated earlier, Dunham used deception during the Civil War as a double agent and continued for political reasons in 1865 because of what he knew the Secretary of War, Stanton was up to. Keep in mind, Dunham received a presidential pardon.

    Between 1865 and 1888, Dunham was doing lawyer stuff in New York and raising his family. If he had a reputation of being a pathological liar, he really could not have been successful in his business.

    Check out his recollections of Tumblety. Aside from a memory error, he was quite accurate.

    I will definitely PM you.

    Sincerely,

    Mike

    Leave a comment:


  • Supe
    replied
    Spiro,

    Are you familiar with Mike Hawley's article in the New Independent Review in which he did a fine job of refuting the notion that Tumblety was a "pathological liar"?

    Don.

    Leave a comment:


  • auspirograph
    replied
    Pathological Liars

    What detractors of Tumblety's complicity in the Whitechapel murders do not address in this Dunham affair is that the December 1888 article comes after his arrest and does not account alone for the suspicions. It adds to them and aligns with the Littlechild letter of 1913. Reports of Tumblety's 'hatred' of women come from a number of separated sources.

    However, the question of Dunham as a reliable source is a vexed one complicated by the machinations of Civil War propaganda and misinformation. This too is rarely addressed along with the question of motive for the accusations made against Tumblety. It is said that the Dunham conspiracy was directed at him to take the heat off themselves. But why target Tumblety at all? What motive to tarnish his reputation after the fact both in 1865 and 1888. Tumblety is also known as a pathological liar so it is logical to accept that it may well be one man's word against another. Dunham obviously knew the character of the man well which included his weaknesses.

    Dunham was also known as a journalist and in 1865, Tumblety publicly responded to his arrest and the accusations after his release as they became unsustainable. Though he delivers a tirade upon the Secretary of War in his 1866 and 1872 reprinted pamphlet, here he becomes most conciliatory and significantly notes the source of the accusations as "some of the Northern journals".

    He wrote this letter in his defence to the Washington Star. It was reprinted with some poetic license in The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune.

    KIRKWOOD HOUSE. WASHINGTON, D.C., June 8 1865

    To the Editor of the Washington Star:

    After three weeks’ imprisonment in the Old Capitol prison in this city, I have been unconditionally and honorably released from confinement by direction of the Secretary of War, there being no evidence whatever to connect me with the yellow fever or assassination plot, with which some of the Northern journals have charged me of having some knowledge.

    My arrest appears to have grown out of a statement made in a low, licentious sheet published in New York, to the effect that Dr. Blackburn, who has figured so unenviably in the hellish yellow fever plot, was no other than myself. In reply to this statement I would most respectfully say to an ever generous public, that I do not know this fiend in human form named Dr. Blackburn, nor have I ever seen him in my life. For the truth of this assertion I can bring hundreds of distinguished persons throughout the United States to vouch for my veracity, and, if necessary, can produce certificates from an innumerable number of gentlemen in high official positions.

    While in imprisonment I noticed in some of the New York and other Northern papers, a paragraph setting forth that the villain, Harrold[sic], who now stands charged with being one of the conspirators in the atrocious assassination plot, was at one time in my employ. This, too, is false in every particular; and I am at a loss to see how it originated, or to trace it to its origin. For the past five years I have had one man in my employment, and he is yet with me, his character being beyond reproach. I never saw Harrold to my knowledge and I have no desire to see him.

    Another paper has gone so far as to inform the public that I was an intimate acquaintance of Booth’s; but this, too, is news to me, as I never spoke to him in my life, or any of his family.

    I do hope that the papers which so industriously circulated these reports connecting me with these damnable deeds, to the very great injury of my name and reputation, will do me the justice to pub- lish my release, and the fact of my having been entirely exonerated by the authorities here, who, after a diligent investigation, could obtain no evidence that would in the least tarnish my fair reputation.

    I feel it but due to the authorities here to state that while in the Old Capitol I was treated with the utmost kindness and consideration, and was placed in the same quarters assigned to Governor Vance, Governor Brown, Hon. Lamar and others of note.

    With these few remarks in justice to myself, I will close by submitting them to the public.

    Respectfully

    Dr. F. Tumblety
    Last edited by auspirograph; 04-10-2013, 05:45 PM.

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