by Brad Ricca
“playing for delay” (p. 314): “Italian Court,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 1919, 4.
letter from Lynch (pp. 314–16): Criminal Trial Transcripts of the County of New York, 1883–1927, trial 2766, February 13, 1920; microfilm reel 338. Lynch’s full letter lists names of people he considers part of the slave trade. They include doctors, candy store owners, and, unfortunately, his daughter’s mother, Celia, whom J. J. calls a “friend of Slavers.” He particularly lays the blame on a woman named “Black Nellie,” whom he accuses of treating girls for abortions.
“ridiculous and preposterous” (pp. 315–17): “Story of Murder,” Wichita Daily Eagle, June 26, 1919, 1.
“shift the blame” (p. 317): “Court Suspends,” New York Evening World, June 26, 1919, 12.
trial to resume (p. 317): A note from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs dated August 29, 1919, to Peter A. Jay said that although “there was no evidence of any description tending to connect this woman with the murder,” the judge “considered further investigation advisable.”
ice plant on Atlantic Avenue (p. 317): “Held on Girl’s Charge,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 24, 1917, 11.
appear in the papers (p. 317): On his own, Kron still attracted sensational cases, even when he wasn’t trying to. When Reverend Edward Wheeler Hall of New Jersey was killed—along with his forbidden mistress, a married woman and choir singer named Eleanor Mills—Kron did some side work on the case by finding and corroborating the story of a confidante. Paul F. B. Hamborszky said that Reverend Hall had confessed to him that he was in love with Mrs. Mills and that he had been threatened by her husband. The suspects who went to trial were the reverend’s wife, Frances Stevens, and her two brothers. But even with Kron’s confession and semi-eyewitness testimony from a woman named Jane Gibson, the suspects were cleared of all charges. Kron also dabbled in real estate; he was the director of the Ricoro Realty Company for the Bronx in 1923.
Ralph Woods (p. 318): “Found Wife in Apartment,” Milwaukee Sentinel, August 28, 1930, 1.
Gargan busts the Be Kind Club (p. 318): “Captain Turns on Mrs. Humiston,” New York Times, June 26, 1919, 15. Grace was arraigned on June 25.
Gargan’s precinct (p. 319): “Clears Mrs. Humiston,” New York Times, July 16, 1919, 13. The charges were dismissed in First District Court on July 16, 1919, by the magistrate, George W. Simpson.
“Police Headquarters to stop it” (p. 319): Richard Spillane, “Another Police Scandal,” Commerce and Finance, July 23, 1919, 970.
the Castle (p. 319): “No Working Girls,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 26, 1917, 53.
22: THE WITNESSES’ REVENGE
All the dialogue in this chapter, unless otherwise noted, is taken directly from Criminal Trial Transcripts of the County of New York, 1883–1927, trial 2766, February 13, 1920; microfilm reel 338.
“something about that ancient crime” (p. 322): Salina Evening Journal, October 29, 1920, 10.
“administration of justice” (p. 322): Edward Swann, “Crime of Perjury,” New York Evening News, July 18, 1916, 12.
Georgette, was dead (p. 331): death certificate for Georgette Cocchi, December 6, 1918, file no. 41436, Department of Health of the City of New York. Georgette was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital very early on December 6; the physician, Dr. Scott, saw her alive, but she died at 6:15 that morning. The diagnosis during her last illness was acute bronchial obstructive syndrome (“ABOS”) pneumonia lasting three days. She was buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery on December 9. The Cocchis were living at 37 Old Broadway at the time of her death.
conviction (p. 331): “Alfredo Cocchi,” Convictions Register, Court of Appeals, Bologna, Italy, 1920. There is a gap in the Archivio di Stato records in Bologna from 1917 to 1920, but the Convictions Register detailing Cocchi’s sentencing survives. The most important fact in these pages was Cocchi’s eventual fate, but in the background information, we learn that Cocchi was kept out of the Italian army because of “shortcomings,” though there are no specifics. A heartfelt thanks to Cesarina Casanova, professor at the Università di Bologna, for her kind help. Thanks also to Dr. Barbara Burgess-Van Aken for her skilled translation of these findings.
Athos was doing well (p. 331): “Weakens Cocchi’s Defense,” New York Times, October 27, 1920, 13.
Cocchi’s sentence (p. 332): “Alfredo Cocchi,” Convictions Register, Court of Appeals, Bologna, Italy, 1920.
hunger strike (p. 332): “Murderer Cocchi on Hunger Strike,” New York Evening World, Nov. 1, 1920, 26.
23: HER DARK SHEPHERD
New Justice magazine (p. 333): “New Justice,” Catalog of Copyright Entries, Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1920, 153. Advertised as 32 pages for $1.50 a year. Volume 1 was dated January 1, 1919.
“incidental verbal explanation” (p. 334): Humiston v. Universal Manufacturing Co. 189 N.Y.S. App. Div. 467, at 470–71.
Smiling and bowing (p. 334): “Universal to Fight Humiston Suit,” Motography, July 14, 1917, 64.
as popular as she had been (p. 334): Goldsmith believes that Grace’s popularity was a direct result of her political usefulness for others and that that reservoir had been simply used up by the Upton affair. Larry Goldsmith, “Gender, Politics, and ‘White Slavery’ in New York City: Grace Humiston and the Ruth Cruger Mystery of 1917,” unpublished article, 42.
sent her packing (p. 334): “Bittle Refuses Woman Lawyer’s Aid,” Buffalo Courier, June 10, 1926, 11.
“best of both men and women” (p. 335): “Should Women Smoke?” Syracuse Herald, January 16, 1921, 10. “I do not think that smoking lowers the morals of a woman for nothing,” Grace said, “but I believe that in the eyes of men, women who smoke are considered to be of weaker morale—in fact, I am sure that this is so. Of course, if a woman wants to smoke she has a perfect right to do so.”
sixteen years old (p. 336): “Mystery of Our Missing Girls,” Charlotte News, November 5, 1922, 25.
“Who is the girl” (p. 336): “What Becomes of Our Missing Girls?” Detroit Free Press, January 1, 1922, 56.
“blackout parties” (p. 336): “Mystery of Our Missing Girls,” Charlotte News, November 19, 1922, 28.
“is an endless search” (p. 336): “The Real Reasons Why Girls Leave Home,” Atlanta Constitution, January 29, 1922, 24.
Church in America (p. 337): Author, interview with Day grandson. In the 1930s, Jessie and two lady friends traveled by auto across the country with her chauffeur in a Packard limousine. The entire trip took almost four weeks.
Moor, who had come (p. 337): “Baptist Temple to Welcome,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 14, 1914, 12; “Hits Rockefeller at Flag Service,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 17, 1917, 5. He was also unafraid of controversy. When John D. Rockefeller began to assume the Baptists were behind him, Moor said that “If John D. Rockefeller knew as much about the Bible as he does about the Standard Oil Company, he might talk more intelligently in front of new servicemen.”
destroyed by fire (p. 337): “Dr. Moor Stops Sermon,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 19, 1917, 3; “Dr. Moor Returns,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 4, 1917, 7.
“Throne of God” (p. 338): “Dr. Moor Stirs Audience,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 13, 1916, 26.
doors were locked shut (p. 338): “Madison Av. Church,” New York Times, February 16, 1922, 1; “Church Ousts Third,” New York Times, February 28, 1922, 3.
“Feeling Gray” (p. 339): “Sift Moor Charges,” New York Times, February 19, 1922, 14. After Jessie Day was expelled, she turned the incriminating evidence over to the chairman and the board of trustees.
“to embarrass her” (p. 339): “Dr. Straton to Lay,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 21, 1922, 3.
“its present administration” (p. 339): “Minister Expelled,” New York Times, February 21, 1922, 5. Dr. John Roach Straton of Calvary Baptist was called in to help mediate.
ordered to reinstate (p. 340): “Baptists Reinstate,” New York Times, June 11, 1922, 21.
“Had
es freezes over” (p. 340): “Minister Expelled,” New York Times, February 21, 1922, 5.
“heard her cries” (p. 341): “Grace Humiston Run Over,” New York Times, March 15, 1923, 21.
flu epidemic (p. 341): John M. Barry, The Great Influenza, New York: Penguin, 2005.
telegram to Amelia Earhart (p. 342): Telegram, May 23, 1932, New York, to Amelia Earhart, London, George Palmer Putnam Collection, Purdue University Archives and Special Collections.
Cocchi’s release (p. 342): “Alfredo Cocchi,” Convictions Register, Court of Appeals, Bologna, Italy, 1920; Author, personal interview with Renato Cocchi. Velotopica Cocchi is a bicycle store in Switzerland run by Renato Cocchi, who built and sold his own, very successful, “Cocchi” brand of cycle in 1997. His father was born in Piumazzo, Italy. That is “about 50 kilometers distant from Bologna,” Renato said, “so who knows?”
Grace’s death (p. 342): Death Certificate for Grace Humiston, July 16, 1948, file no. 16210, Department of Health of the City of New York.
Sunny Side report (p. 342): Mary Grace Quackenbos, Report on Sunnyside Plantation, Arkansas, Department of Justice Straight Numerical Files, Record Group 60, 100937, September 28, 1907.
intangible (p. 343): Grace would know that it was most likely not the same person. Or that it might be a common enough name. Or that the numbers didn’t fit. But she couldn’t know for sure. She might have wondered if it was a relative, or just the same name, or just a reminder that for all the people she had saved, there were many more who were lost, in one way or another.
“the same circumstances” (p. 344): Grace Humiston with Isabel Stephen, “Won’t You Help Me Find My Girl?” Actual Detective, May 4, 1938.
EPILOGUE
“Estate for $32,000” (p. 345): “Matter of Alfred M. Brown,” Surrogates Court, New York County, September, 1921, vol. 116, 485.
“reporting the accident” (p. 345): “Delays Report of Accident,” Pelham Sun, August 27, 1936.
Kron (p. 346): passport application, Julius J. Kron, U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925, Ancestry.com.
Hungary (p. 346): Thomas Sakmyster, Miklos Horthy: Hungary’s Admiral on Horseback, New York: Columbia UP, 2000; Bela Bodo, “Paramilitary Violence in Hungary After the First World War,” East European Quarterly, June 22, 2004.
Daily Worker (p. 347): A digital archive of issues is available at onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu. The Worker was founded in Cleveland in 1924.
“present Hungarian Government” (p. 349): “Admits Shadowing the Karolyis,” New York Times, February 27, 1926, 7. The Károlyis would apply to be let into the United States numerous times, but except for a few lecture visits by the count, they would be rejected for any long-term stay. The countess admitted to wanting to retire in America for good, but the State Department refused. “Dangerous,” they said.
occupation read “Detective” (p. 349): death certificate for Julius J. Kron, November 24, 1934, file no. 25497, Department of Health of the City of New York. The doctor notes that bronchial pneumonia also contributed to his death. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Roselle Park, New Jersey.
McGee’s salary (p. 350): “Detective M’Gee Retired,” New York Evening World, September 18, 1919, 18.
hunt down German spies (p. 350): “Francis B. M’Gee, 67,” New York Times, July 20, 1939, 25.
death of Mitchel (p. 350): “Belt Unfastened,” New York Times, July 7, 1918.
death of J. J. Lynch (p. 351): “J. J. Lynch Dead in Yonkers,” November 25, 1931, 17.
death of Percy (p. 351): Bertram Wyatt-Brown, The House of Percy, New York, Oxford UP, 1994, 3. Five years later, during the great Mississippi flood of 1927, Percy sent his son, William Alexander Percy, to direct the work of thousands of black laborers on the levees near Greenville. He prevented them from being evacuated when the levee was breached. They were forced to work without pay to unload Red Cross relief supplies, which required the work of volunteers. Both father and son were criticized for these actions.
death of Stielow (p. 351): “Charles Stielow,” Medina Daily Journal, August 10, 1942, 1.
Lupo and Morello (p. 351): Thomas Reppetto, American Mafia, New York: Henry Holt, 2004.
death of Woods (p. 352): “Arthur Woods,” New York Times, May 13, 1942, 19.
“office of the District Attorney” (p. 352): “Police Department Orders,” New York Sun, January 23, 1920, 10.
John Lagarenne (p. 352): “J.L. Lagarenne, Ex-Deputy,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 19, 1949, 19.
“burned into me” (p. 353): Stephen Braun, “Clemency for Hanged Man,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2001; Susan Sontag, On Photography, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1977. “All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”
“fought for her life” (p. 353): Ibid.
“so indifferently lost” (p. 354): Gertrude Klein, “But the State Said She Must Hang,” Actual Detective, March 23, 1938, 52.
death of Dent (p. 354): “Dr. Dent,” Charities and the Commons: A Weekly Journal of Philanthropy, vol. 15, October 1905–March 1906, 513.
death of Sophie Loeb (p. 355): “Sophie Irene Loeb,” Democrat and Chronicle, January 19, 1929, 2.
“crime is imitation” (p. 355): Edward Swann, “What Do District Attorneys Say,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 26, 1921, 64.
Pierini’s mousetrap (p. 355): “Still Another Mouse-Trap,” Popular Science, October, 1919, 76; Brodie Crump, “Tidbits from the Phone Book,” Delta Democrat-Times, November 22, 1972, 4.
Churchill, De Gaulle and Adenauer (p. 356): Richard Roy, “Joe Grigg’s WWII Experiences,” downhold.org/lowry/griggs.html.
death of Dooling (p. 356): “J.T. Dooling Dies,” New York Times, November 16, 1949, 29.
monies he had given to Sulzer (p. 356): Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, 136th Session, Albany: J.B. Lyon, 1913, 129.
death of Herbert Roemmele (p. 356): “Herbert Roemmele,” New York Times, August 16, 1983. At the time of his death, he had one great-grandchild.
“and other classes” (p. 357): “Suffrage Not a Natural Right,” New York Times, May 24, 1915, 10.
death of Stimson (p. 357): “Henry L. Stimson,” New York Times, October 21, 1950.
“admitted the crime in a dream” (p. 357): “Dead Girl’s Spouse,” Washington Times, April 9, 1919, 1.
national convention in 1927 (p. 358): “Past Supreme Commanders,” Military Order of the Cootie, Program Book 2011–2012, 22.
Solan (p. 358): “Grand Central Terminal Says Farewell,” New York Times, July 1, 1948, 25.
Maria Cocchi (p. 358): “Maria Cocchi,” National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C.; Index to Naturalization Petitions of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 1865–1957; microfilm serial M1164; microfilm roll 44.
Grace’s background (p. 359): “Mrs. Grace Humiston Tells,” Eau Claire Sunday Leader, July 8, 1917.
“sought companionship elsewhere” (p. 360): “I Hear—,” Tatler, November, 1921, 6.
excessive drinking (p. 360): Author’s personal conversation with Randall Boehm.
Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston (p. 360): death certificate for Howard Humiston, July 21, 1943, registered no. 33, Office of the Secretary Division of Vital Statistics of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
“Auntie Disgrace” (p. 360): Author’s personal interview with Day grandson.
“not received them from me” (p. 360): Letter, Grace Quackenbos to Edward C. Stokes, January 15, 1906. New Jersey State Archives, R. Group: Governor Edward Caspar Stokes (1860–1942) Series: Correspondence, 1904–08, files 618–21, box 6.
“we just file paperwork” (p. 361): Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn, “NYPD: How the Police Handles Missing Person,” themissingny.nycitynewsservice.com, 2015.
“place in
my heart” (p. 361): “Is It Safe for a Woman Ever to Tell All?” San Francisco Chronicle, April 18, 1920, 3.
“can be checked” (p. 362): “Disappearing Girls and White Slaves,” Urologic and Cutaneous Review, vol. 21, October, 1917, 594.
“road to ruin” (p. 362): “Mystery of Our Missing Girls,” Charlotte News, December 3, 1922, 27.
“you will tolerate it at all” (p. 362): “Statement of Mrs. Mary Grace Quackenbos,” Hearings Before Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. House of Representatives, 61st Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, March 29, 1910, 438.
NCMEC (p. 362): missingkids.org. The site walkfree.org also provides worldwide statistics and resources.
State Department (p. 362): “Trafficking in Persons Report,” U.S. Department of State, July 2015, http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/.
Cleveland girls (p. 363): John Glatt, The Lost Girls, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2015.
“coming for you” (p. 363): Meghan Keneally, “Small Ohio Town,” ABC News, June 24, 2015. http://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-now-helping-search-killer-string-murders-ohio/story?id=32006473.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Ruth’s clothing (p. 365): “Can Now Forget,” San Bernadino County Sun, July 9, 1924, 20.
“Frightened Eyes” (p. 367): “Case of the Frightened Eyes,”Daily Herald, July 8, 1956, 43.
morgues (p. 368): Scott Sherman, “The Long Good-Bye, Vanity Fair, November 30, 2012.
Grace Humiston (p. 368): Karen Abbott, “Mrs. Sherlock Holmes,” Smithsonian.com, August 23, 2011; Charles Kelly, The Crime Lawyer, Kindle ed., 2002, and Grace Humiston and the Vanishing, Self-published, 2012, fiction; Tim McCarl, “The First Woman Detective,” Murder, Mischief and Mayhem: A Process for Creative Research Papers, Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1978.
work of government agents (p. 369): FOIa request 1301332-000, October 6, 2014.
“to each individual story” (p. 369): “Statement of Mrs. Mary Grace Quackenbos,” Hearings Before Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. House of Representatives, 61st Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, March 29, 1910, 433.