Bag of Bones
Page 21
Fuller approached the man casually enough. Although he tried to engage him in small talk about the weather and the beauty of the grounds, the man was reticent. Fuller even offered the man a cigar, which he refused. The man offered to show Fuller and the others another area of the grounds that they might find interesting, trying his best to lure the group away from the spot. Fuller pretended to fall for the man’s entreaty and urged his companions to follow the man. They did, but only until they were satisfied that the worker with the expensive shoes thought they were gone from the area for good. Finally, the worker, seemingly convinced he had led them off the track, wandered away, leaving Fuller and his group to their own devices.
Fuller was certain that whoever had stolen Stewart’s body had chosen this particular spot at Cypress Hills Cemetery to hide the body because it was so secluded. Who stole the body remained a mystery, but Fuller was sure that whoever had sent him the painting knew the whereabouts of it. Certain that he was onto something, Fuller immediately wired Hilton after he and his party returned from the cemetery. He told Hilton that they had found the exact spot depicted in the mysterious painting and that he was sure that excavation of the area would prove successful. He asked Hilton to join him, but Hilton still refused. Fuller wired Hilton back that he was prepared to begin digging up the area. Hilton, again without completely lending his approval to the operation, advised Fuller to keep Harris, his envoy, informed and to proceed apace as he planned.
Fuller next contacted John Runice, the seventy-year-old controller of the Cypress Hills grounds and asked for permission to excavate a portion of the cemetery. Fuller did not mention that the request had anything to do with the prospect of A. T. Stewart’s body being buried there, for fear of another media circus erupting. Instead, he told Runice that he was investigating a case and that several valuable clues to the undisclosed crime were buried in that section of the cemetery. In the ensuing release of misinformation, the New York Herald reported that Fuller had apprised Runice of all the details surrounding the case, explaining that he was looking “for the body of A. T. Stewart.” Fuller denied having ever told Runice anything of the sort. Regardless of who leaked the information about Fuller’s extraordinary undertaking, word of it spread quickly to the press, the public, and the New York City Police Department. The search was on again for the missing body of A. T. Stewart.
A PERMIT FOR AN EXCAVATION
The Controller Of The Cypress Hills
Cemetery Astonished.
FULLER: We have called to ask a favor. We desire that you will give us your support in a matter of more than ordinary moment. The Cypress Hills Cemetery has been imposed upon. A crime has been committed, and the proof of it, we believe, lies buried beneath a certain part of your cemetery’s surface, a part we are able to locate.RUNICE: You can’t mean it. A Crime committed; Cypress Hills in it. Well, well, this is strange. Now gentlemen I will do anything in the world that I can do. Of course I will. Ask whatever you want, gentlemen.
FULLER: We want a permit to make an excavation.
RUNICE: But can you tell me in what part of the cemetery, in public or private ground?
FULLER: In ground that has not been graded: in ground that probably has not been sold into lots.
RUNICE: In what part of the cemetery?
FULLER: I am willing to treat with you in confidence; the spot to which we refer I can readily point out upon a map of the cemetery. We want to make our excavations in section 18, near the conjunction of West Dolorosa with the Lake Road.
RUNICE: Section 18. Well, now, that is strange. Why, do you know, I myself own that part of the section where the avenues cross? Somebody buried there, eh? Well, that is news. You see, section 18 at that point has not been improved; in fact the men have used it for a place to dump their extra dirt … you’re right, anything buried in that ground could be depended upon to stay buried.
FULLER: Then can we have the permit?
RUNICE: Have the permit? Well, I should say you could. When do you want to begin your operations?
FULLER: To-morrow afternoon at 1 o’clock.
RUNICE: All right gentlemen, I will meet you then and you shall have any number of my men necessary to do the work you desire.
—New York Times
August 21, 1881
The next day, Fuller and his staff, as well as Harris and Runice, began the operation. Runice ordered all his cemetery workers to concentrate their day’s workload on the far end of the cemetery, out of view of the secluded area where the excavation was to begin. Runice brought with him three men he trusted. Using a long, pointed iron rod, Runice poked at the ground. The deep punctures—soundings—were made to determine if the soil below the surface had been recently disturbed or if something might have been recently buried there. Soundings were made throughout the area, but the depth of the soundings was limited because the ground was too rocky. What had been an operation planned in deep secrecy was suddenly laid bare when curiosity seekers—about a dozen people: men, women, several newspaper reporters, and even several New York City police officers—converged on the scene.
Edward Harris, Judge Hilton’s representative at the excavation site, was aghast. Under orders from Hilton, the excavation was supposed to be a secret undertaking and in no way linked to either his approval or the case of Stewart’s missing body. If word got out, as it surely had, Hilton would be made to look the fool, since he had publicly announced that Stewart’s body had been recovered and was safe and sound in a Garden City crypt. Harris demanded that the digging stop. Fuller agreed. Yet, Runice remained adamant about continuing the operation. It was, after all, his cemetery, and Fuller realized that with or without him, Runice could continue the excavation. If Runice alone made the discovery of Stewart’s remains, then all the fame, not to mention any reward, would go to him, regardless of any legwork Fuller had done. In no uncertain terms, Fuller made it clear to the crowd of onlookers who had descended on the scene, and especially to members of the police department, that the excavation was being conducted under his direct auspices and that any discovery made would be his and his alone. In other words, the crowd could stay but would not share in any of the fame, glory, or proceeds connected with the operation.
As the day wore on, more and more people gathered to watch. Fuller’s secret was now out in the open, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It then spread like wildfire across the city.
The soundings went on for several hours, and finally Runice, on Fuller’s orders, began digging. Workers dug a trench several feet long and about six feet deep near the entrance of the secluded roadway. All they discovered was a pile of buried cobblestones, most likely put there for drainage. The digging continued for much of the day and by twilight, despite its best efforts, the team had turned up nothing. As word spread about the excavation, more and more people began to arrive at the scene until a crowd of about one hundred people had gathered, requiring Fuller’s men to set up a barricade to keep the onlookers at a comfortable distance. Although the day ended without any satisfactory discovery, Fuller remained upbeat, determined to continue the excavation the next day. He had some of his detectives guard the site overnight. By the next day, the city was abuzz again with speculation about the A. T. Stewart case, and even more people came to watch the undertaking at Cypress Hills Cemetery.
THE SEARCH BEGUN
Unexpected Parties Appear On The
Scene, But The Work Goes On
Promptly at 1 o’clock yesterday afternoon Controller Runice was at the cemetery grounds, and he found there Detective Fuller, surrounded by members of his staff, and with them Mr. Edward D. Harris, representing Judge Hilton. … The men who were ordered to obey Mr. Fuller were kept busy for several hours. The digging for the most part was confined to one special locality, no effort being made to cover all of the territory which the clues in hand embrace. … Hundreds of people walking and driving
through the cemetery during the afternoon looked on in wonderment upon the strange work in progress, but the innumerable questions propounded received anything but thoroughly satisfactory replies. When Detective Fuller left the cemetery last night he placed Section No. 18 under guard. … Superintendent Fuller declared that he was not discouraged, and proposed to prosecute his investigations much more fully than he had yet attempted. The digging will be resumed at an early hour to-morrow morning.
—New York Times
August 21, 1881
Not everyone was enamored of Fuller’s work. The Brooklyn Eagle mocked the private detective.
Detective Fuller, who is in energetic search of the remains of A.T. Stewart at Cypress Hills Cemetery, yesterday succeeded in digging a trench nearly one hundred feet long by four feet deep and three feet wide. This was a noble day’s work, but the industrious detective has mistaken his true field of labor. Nothing could prevent a man of his phenomenal powers with the spade and pickax from making a fortune in the mining regions.
Still, the news of Fuller’s excavation at Cypress Hills had rejuvenated the public’s interest in the Stewart grave robbery. The New York Times, the Herald, and almost every other New York City newspaper ran front-page stories. As fast as the news spread, people from Brooklyn, New York, and other points of interest flocked to the cemetery to watch. Whole families turned out, bringing picnic baskets with them. Wandering around the cemetery in wide-eyed astonishment, many of them engaged in conjecture over the exact location of Stewart’s body. Some set up camps on the outskirts of the Section 18 excavation, laying down blankets, popping open bottles of beer, and uncorking wine, settling in comfortably to watch and often provide running commentary on the proceedings. Some wandered the grounds, women sporting parasols, men in derbies, smoking cigars, children toddling along behind them carrying balloons. The whole enterprise took on a macabre gaiety that did little to assist the excavation or endear itself to the single-mindedness of Fuller.
A. T. STEWART’S REMAINS
THE NEWLY AROUSED INTEREST
IN CYPRESS HILLS CEMETERY
A Large Number Of People Visit The
Place Yesterday—The Search To Be
Resumed To-Day—
The passenger railway lines from New-York and Brooklyn to the Cypress Hills Cemetery received an unusually large patronage yesterday. Hundreds of people went in quest of the alleged site of the burial place of the body of A.T. Stewart and the trench dug in section 18 of the cemetery was closely scanned by the crowds. The story of the recent moves made by the Fuller Detective Bureau, as told yesterday in THE TIMES was on every lip, and argumentative visitors discussed the case in every aspect, few agreeing upon any essential point. There were those present who energetically scoffed at the idea of any importance attaching to the newly declared clues, many maintaining that the dead millionaire’s remains were safely sealed in the crypt at Garden City. Others as earnestly contended that Detective Fuller’s clues were worthy of the most thorough investigation.
—New York Times
August 22, 1881
Fuller had brought with him a tintype (a metal photograph) of the mysterious painting that had been sent to him. It was plainly discernable in the tintype copy that Section 18, where the excavation was being undertaken, was indeed the place depicted in the painting. The low picket fence near the deserted road, the ramshackle buildings, the double trunk willow tree were all clearly visible. The words written on the painting were still legible in the copy Fuller brought with him—“Cypress Hills. Stewart is buried here.” There could be no doubt about it, Fuller had located the exact spot even though they were unable to turn up anything, not even the slightest clue to the whereabouts of Stewart’s remains.
Now that word was out about Fuller’s endeavor, he was repeatedly asked about Judge Hilton’s involvement. Fuller tried to dispel such notions.
“I am conducting this investigation, though, on my own account purely. Judge Hilton does not bear a single penny of the expenses. Every move of importance in this case has been my own,” Fuller told reporters.
The New York City Police Department stationed three men at the excavation site in case Fuller did find Stewart’s remains. Having been soundly ridiculed for its ineptness in the case, the police weren’t about to be shut out of an opportunity, no matter how far-fetched, to regain some modicum of respectability. No one in the police department was optimistic about the potential outcome, but still, their presence was deemed necessary should Fuller’s work be successful.
Fuller was brimming with confidence. He would excavate every foot of ground in Section 18 if that’s what it took. Fuller’s detectives and Cypress Hills Cemetery workers were enthusiastically engaged in the digging. Off and on there could be heard the excited shouts of these men claiming to have struck something of importance, but further digging only turned up more rock and dirt. The original trench was dug deeper and wider, extending in all directions. The mysterious man that Fuller had run into on his first excursion to the cemetery—the man wearing expertly polished shoes along with cemetery worker’s garb—was ultimately identified. James Dagner lived in a house not far from the deserted road leading out of the cemetery. He turned out to be just a well-soled cemetery employee and was solicited to help with the digging. Fuller remained dubious of him and went so far as to question Runice about the possibility that Dagner might have been involved in the case. Runice dispelled such theories, explaining that Dagner had only tried to lead Fuller’s group away from Section 18 because it was private property, belonging to Runice, and supposedly not accessible to the general public. Still, Fuller kept a watchful eye on Dagner, just in case.
After two days of digging, on August 20 and 21, not a single clue or anything of any consequence was found. By the end of the second day, Section 18, once bustling with spectators and a cadre of enthusiastic and relentless diggers, was reduced to a paltry three workers and only a dozen or so onlookers. Every shovelful of dirt brought Fuller’s excavation closer to an end. Fuller himself abandoned the site on the 23rd. The next day, he officially abandoned the search for A. T. Stewart’s body, faced the newspaper reporters, and admitted he had been fooled. The painting had been, after all, a hoax. Fuller made a public apology.
“I do not hesitate to say that I believe I have been fooled,” Fuller said.
Still, the question remained: “Why try to fool this particular detective?”
Fuller concluded that the hoax had been designed by culprits intent on embarrassing Hilton and Mrs. Stewart and creating some sensational journalism at his expense.
THE CYPRESS HILLS SEARCH ABANDONED
Detective J. M. Fuller announced yesterday afternoon, at an early hour, that he was satisfied that no good results would follow a further prosecution of his excavation work in the Cypress Hills Cemetery, and the digging was thereupon abandoned, the workmen receiving orders to refill the long, deep trenches which had been made.
—New York Times
August 24, 1881
12
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
In which, in early April 1882, it is announced that A. T. Stewart & Co., the once prosperous retail empire, is going out of business. Although surprising to the general public, it comes as no surprise to New York City’s mercantile community and bankers, or even to Wall Street. Many agree that Henry Hilton’s lack of business savvy, his imperious management style, and a series of egregious public relations blunders ultimately led to the liquidation of the company. Hilton refuses to accept any blame for the company’s demise.
No news regarding A. T. Stewart could have been more startling to the general public than the front-page headlines that appeared across the city on April 15, 1882—the once vast and profitable firm of A. T. Stewart & Co. was going out of business. The recovery of Stewart’s remains and the apprehension of his grave robbers wouldn’t have caused as many ga
sps. Yet, while the news shocked the public, it did not surprise New York City’s mercantile community and bankers, or even Wall Street. They knew the end was coming, and many knew why. They just didn’t know when.
RETIRING FROM BUSINESS
THE FIRM OF A.T. STEWART & CO.
WINDING UP AFFAIRS
Merchandise And Mill Properties
Offered For Sale—What Judge Hilton
Says Is The Cause For Discontinuing
Business—Views Of The Trade
The advertisement in the morning newspapers of yesterday that A.T. Stewart & Co. had determined to discontinue their dry goods and manufacturing business and offered their stock of merchandise and mill properties for sale, excited general interest, but the fact that the firm had thus given notice of their intention to retire from the business created little excitement in the mercantile community. Merchants declared they were not astonished and seemed to have determined long ago that the closing of the firm’s business was merely a question of a very short time. … When these advertisements first appeared Judge Henry Hilton was appealed to for information. He then said he had nothing to communicate to the public. … Rumors obtained good headway that the business of the house was rapidly declining. … Bankers yesterday admitted that the firm had been forced to borrow money, but said that that fact did not indicate they would be unable to meet their liabilities. … Wall street was not at all disturbed over the announcement that the firm is to withdraw from business and it seemed to be the general opinion that extraordinary opposition had forced the firm to surrender, leaving the field to their competitors. The placard “For Sale” was displayed on the windows of the uptown establishments … and were viewed with surprise by persons who daily pass those buildings.