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Daily Examiner (San Francisco, CA)
Friday, 23 November 1888

DR. TUMBLETY.
The London Detectives Ask Chief Crowley About Him.
STORIES TOLD OF HIM.
He Was an Abortionist in New York and Served a Year in the Tombs.

Dr. Francis Tumblety, the suspect arrested at London in connection with the Whitechapel murders, is still held by the police of that city, and a good deal of importance seems to be attached to his apprehension. All facts in relation to the suspected "doctor" are being carefully collected, and, as Tumblety was once in this city, there has been considerable telegraphing between the Police Departments of San Francisco and London. Chief of Police Crowley has succeeded in gaining some further information about Tumblety, who came to this city in 1870 and opened an account at the Hibernia Bank.

C. F. Smythe, one of the officers of the bank, remembers the man distinctly. He first met him at Toronto, Canada, in 1858, when Tumblety was practicing medicine. In the spring of 1870 Tumblety was living at the Occidental Hotel in this city. He rented an office at 30 Montgomery street.

He then had quite a large amount of money, an deposited with the Hibernia Bank a very considerable sum. He remained in the city only a few months, and after his departure carried on a correspondence with the bank upon business matters. He never withdrew his account from the institution, and to-day there is a good sum of money to his credit ther. When the Chief of Police learned these facts, and that the bank still had several letters written by Tumblety, he telegraphed to the Superintendent of Police of London that he could, if desired, furnish specimens of Tumblety's handwriting. The dispatch was sent on the 19th instant, and yesterday this answer was received:

HIS HANDWRITING.

"P. Crowley, Chief of Police, San Francisco, Cal.: Thanks. Send handwriting and all details you can of Tumblety.

Anderson,
"Scotland Yard."

Chief Crowley will have Tumblety's letters to the bank photographed and will forward copies to London.

Talking of the affair yesterday he said: "There may be more in the arrest than (sic) was at first supposed. This man Tumblety is evidently a crank. His course with the bank here does not indicate that he was a man of good business instincts, and in New York his behavior was that of a man of (sic) who had no liking for women. However, I do not believe, as does Captain Lees, that he was a man who used to walk about the streets here, followed by a servant and two dogs. That man, I am convinced, was a Dr. Stanley. He was in the city for a considerable time, whereas Tumblety was only here a few months. There are plenty of people here who remember Stanley."

Chief Crowley will continue his investigation and promptly forward all significant facts to London.

Francis Tumblety, according to the Vallejo Chronicle, lived in Vallejo about thirteen years ago and was an uncle of the late John Hayes. Many old residents remember him and say that he answers exactly to the description given by the London papers - "about fifty-five years old, tall and rather heavy, and looks as if he painted his cheeks and dyed his hair. He has a heavy mustache and side whiskers."

"Dr." Tumblety was well off and eccentric. He made quite a little fortune out of his invention of a remedy for pimples.

HE KNEW HIM.

Fred Hart, the well-known newspaper man, also knew Tumblety.

"In 1856," said he, "I was residing in Thirteenth street, New York. A notorious character who went by the name of 'Dr. Tumblety' had an office on the next block, just east of Sixth avenue. He was a quack doctor and malpractitioner and was in the hands of the police for issuing obscene and suggestive circulars and pamphlets and for other offenses. From the description in the press dispatches of the man arrested in London I feel sure that he must be the same 'Dr. Tumblety,' but he must be quite old now. His correct name was often made public in the newspapers in their reports of his arrest, but I have forgotten it.

"I was then a young man of twenty-one, just out of school, when I made the acquaintance of Tumblety. I had a chum, the stepson of a Presbyterian minister, whose church was on 'our block,' and who has since become famous and will go down into history as the author of Blaine's ruin with his three 'R's.' Young Burchard was wild, erratic and brilliant, and wrote rhymes with great facility.

"On the corner of Sixth avenue and Thirteenth street was a drug store kept by a man named Giles, who had incurred the enmity of Tumblety, and to 'get even' on him, Tumblety proposed to my chum and myself that we write a scurrilous and obscene rhyme. He offered liberal pay for the work. My chum was 'hard up, notwithstanding that he had an income from his father's estate and would fall into a handsome legacy on attaining his majority, which would be in a few months. His father, at the time of his death, was one of the leading shipping merchants and shipowners of the city. He accepted Tumblety's offer, though I refused to work with him, and with the doctor's help ground out a string of filthy verses on Giles. Tumblety had the doggerel printed and sent a copy inclosed in an envelope to every house in the Ninth Ward. Tumblety was immediatel suspected of the outrage and promptly arrested. He at once 'squealed' on my friend as the author, but he, getting wind that a warrant was out for him, fled to Connecticut, where he had relatives, and remained there. The storm blew over. Dr. Tumblety got a year in the Tombs. I came to California the next year and never heard of 'Dr.' Tumblety from that time until I saw his name in the dispatches. He may or may not be the Whitechapel fiend, but that he was a fiend thirty odd years ago I know, and from what Mr. Pinkerton says of the fearful, indecent crimes he has committed, I know he is fully capable of committing the murders in Whitechapel."

MORE ABOUT THE DOCTOR.

Regarding the identity of Dr. Francis Tumblety, who has been arrested in London on suspicion of having committed the Whitechapel murders, the following facts have been ascertained from a gentleman, who stated that he was acquainted with him during his stay in this city:

"I first saw him," said the gentleman, "in Toronto, Canada, about the latter part of July, 1858. As usual he was then accompanied by his greyhound, and, to my judgment, was the finest specimen of physical manhood I ever looked upon. He stood about six feet two inches in height, was of faultless physique, had coal black hair and mustache, florid complexion, dressed in a semi-military style and wore a large gold medal on his breast. Twelve years later, about the last of March, 1870, he registered at the Occidental Hotel as 'Francis Tumblety, M.D.' Immediately afterward he opened an office at 20 Montgomery street, where he continued to practice medicine from April 6 to September 8, 1870, after which he departed, presumably for Rochester, N.Y., whence he came. While here he stated to me that his stay in this city would be governed by an arrangement he was trying to effect with the Bulletin about advertising.

"From my knowledge of him it appeared to be his all-absorbing ambition to attract attention in a harmless way."


Related pages:
  Francis Tumblety
       Dissertations: A Slouch Hatted Yank: A Few Thoughts on the Newly Found I... 
       Dissertations: A Theory on Francis Tumblety 
       Dissertations: The Canterbury Encore: The Further Adventures of Dr. Tumb... 
       Dissertations: Tumblety Talks 
       Message Boards: Francis Tumblety 
       Official Documents: The Littlechild Letter 
       Press Reports: Arkansas Gazette - 16 April 1891 
       Press Reports: Arkansas Gazette - 19 April 1891 
       Press Reports: Atchison Daily Globe - 15 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Atlanta Constitution - 21 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 
       Press Reports: Brandon Mail - 22 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 10 May 1864 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 10 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 18 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 19 June 1865 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 2 February 1889 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 27 April 1890 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 28 January 1889 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 4 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 6 May 1864 
       Press Reports: Brooklyn Daily Eagle - 8 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Bucks County Gazette - 13 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Bucks County Gazette - 20 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Burlington Weekly Hawkeye - 6 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Chicago Tribune - 22 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Chicago Tribune - 22 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Chicago Tribune - 6 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Courier du Canada - 4 November 1857 
       Press Reports: Courier du Canada - 6 November 1857 
       Press Reports: Daily Alta California - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Daily Examiner - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Daily Sun - 22 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Decatur Daily Herald - 26 June 1889 
       Press Reports: Decatur Review - 19 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 11 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 17 April 1862 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 19 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 2 June 1865 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 21 April 1862 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 21 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 27 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 3 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 30 June 1862 
       Press Reports: Evening Star - 4 December 1861 
       Press Reports: Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel - 18 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel - 19 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Frederick News - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Frederick News - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Frederick News - 5 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Galveston Daily News - 7 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Hamilton Evening Times - 29 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Hamilton Evening Times - 8 May 1865 
       Press Reports: Hornesville Weekly Tribune - 21 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Irish Canadian - 12 October 1875 
       Press Reports: Manitoba Daily Free Press - 29 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Manitoba Daily Free Press - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 14 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 16 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 23 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 24 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 25 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 26 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 28 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Montreal Pilot - 30 September 1857 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 10 July 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 11 August 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 13 September 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 14 August 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 16 October 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 27 September 1860 
       Press Reports: Morning Freeman - 39 September 1860 
       Press Reports: New York Herald - 19 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Herald - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Herald - 21 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Herald - 26 June 1903 
       Press Reports: New York Herald - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 10 June 1865 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 19 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 26 June 1903 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 5 May 1865 
       Press Reports: New York Times - 7 May 1865 
       Press Reports: New York Tribune - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York World - 19 November 1888 
       Press Reports: New York World - 2 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York World - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York World - 5 December 1888 
       Press Reports: New York World - 6 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Newark Daily Advocate - 30 May 1903 
       Press Reports: Oakland Daily Evening Tribune - 8 December 1890 
       Press Reports: Olean Democrat - 3 January 1889 
       Press Reports: Olean Democrat - 7 February 1889 
       Press Reports: Olean Democrat - 8 August 1889 
       Press Reports: Perth Courier - 26 November 1858 
       Press Reports: Pittsburgh Daily Chronicle and Telegraph - 27 November 18... 
       Press Reports: Reno Evening Gazette - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser - 4 April 1881 
       Press Reports: Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser - 5 April 1881 
       Press Reports: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - 23 June 1905 
       Press Reports: Rochester Democrat and Republican - 3 December 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Chronicle - 18 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Chronicle - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Chronicle - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Daily Morning Call - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Daily Report - 21 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Daily Report - 23 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Examiner - 25 November 1888 
       Press Reports: San Francisco Examiner - 27 November 1888 
       Press Reports: St. Thomas Weekly Dispatch - 20 March 1862 
       Press Reports: St. Thomas Weekly Dispatch - 28 March 1861 
       Press Reports: Syracuse Herald - 30 November 1888 
       Press Reports: The Headquarters - 12 February 1862 
       Press Reports: Times [London] - 1 December 1873 
       Press Reports: Times [London] - 17 July 1886 
       Press Reports: Trenton Times - 19 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Trenton Times - 4 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Trenton Times - 6 December 1888 
       Press Reports: Vallejo Chronicle - 20 November 1888 
       Press Reports: Vanity Fair - 3 August 1861 
       Press Reports: Washington Post - 18 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Washington Post - 19 November 1890 
       Press Reports: Washington Post - 21 March 1905 
       Press Reports: Washington Post - 22 April 1891 
       Press Reports: Williamsport Sunday Grit - 9 December 1888 
       Ripper Media: A Few Passages in the Life of Dr. Francis Tumblety 
       Ripper Media: Dr. Francis Tumblety: A Sketch of the Life of the Gifted,... 
       Ripper Media: Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide - Francis Tumblety 
       Ripper Media: Jack the Ripper: First American Serial Killer 
       Ripper Media: Narrative of Dr. Tumbletyy 
       Ripper Media: The Writings of Francis Tumblety 
       Suspects: Francis Tumblety 
       Suspects: Francis Tumblety's Grave 
       Victorian London: Batty Street