This one struck my eye as it included two familiar names: Thaw and Bingaman. What I found by a bit more research was that Pulliam's middle name was Clay, another familiar name for western PA researchers.
Pulliam Feared Curse
Pittsburg, Pa. Aug. 4 - A tale of the blighting curse of a cripple is out here in connection with the suicide of President Harry C. Pulliam, of the National league. Pullman with Harry K. Thaw and Dr. Walter S. Bingaman, both close friends of his, were standing in front of the Hotel Henry in Pittsburg, four years ago, and three laughed loudly at some joke just as a cripple in passing slipped and fell on the pavement. The cripple, thinking the trio was laughing at his fall, became most bitter and pronounced a curse to the effect that none of the trio would ever die a natural death.
Pulliam was much exercised over the incident and hurried after the crippled man trying to explain that he and his friends had not been laughing at his fall, but the cripple stormed away and would not have anything to do with Pulliam.
The famous baseball man apparently never forgot this curse of the crippled man and mentioned frequently to it among his friends. One year later Thaw killed Stanford White and has been in the hands of the law ever since. Recently Dr. Bingaman was sent to the Dixmont Insane Asylum, and Pulliam is dead by his own hand.
The du Pont family is always good for providing grist for the rumor mills:
Dupont's Daughter Elopes with Student
Wilmington, Del., Dec. 19. -- Miss Madeleine Dupont, oldest daughter of Alfred I. DuPont, the millionaire vice president of the Dupont Powder Company, and niece of United States Senator, H. A. Dupont, eloped to Washington yesterday with John Bancroft, a Princeton sophomore.
News of the clandestine marriage became known upon the return of the couple to Wilmington.
Simultaneously the bride announced that she would never have eloped but for the cruel treatment accorded to her by her own mother, who is Alfred I. Dupont's divorced wife. The girl told her friends pathetically that life with her mother had become unbearable, that she was forced to run away and wed the boy to whom she has been engaged for four years.
Young Bancroft is 24 years old, He is the son of John Bancroft, the millionaire textile manufacturer of Wilmington.
Source: The Boston Journal. 1907-12-20
This particular marriage had quite a few issues, which I'll talk about later.
The Thaw family always managed to end up in the news, it seems:
William Thaw Lost On His Honeymoon Nephew of Harry K. Thaw, Who Was Married on a Good Behavior Pledge, Has Quit His Bride Detectives Now Seek Him
Young Husband's Disappearance Came Soon After the Robbery of His Mother's Jewels in Pittsburg
Pittsburg, Penn, Feb 9. According to the information given out at North Side Police Headquarters and verified at the Thaw home, William Thaw, 3rd, has disappeared on his honeymoon. Detective Frank Lee of the north side force, who for many years acted as a guard for "Wild Willie Thaw, Jr.", has been pressed into service and is on his way to the West Indies, Thaw having last been heard of in the vicinity of Jamaica. Details of the disappearance are lacking, but it is feared that Thaw has broken the six months sobriety pledge which was given by his mother to Miss Gladys V. Bradley of Bridgeport, Conn, before she would consent to marry him.
Mrs. William Thaw, 2d, who received the word of her son's disappearance within the past three days, fears the young man may have been lost overboard. Very recently the Thaw home was entered at the dinner hour by a burglar and jewels to the amount of $35,000 taken, including a necklace of pearls and diamonds valued at $18,000.
William Thaw, 3rd, is a nephew of Harry K. Thaw, the slayer of Stanford White. About one year after the White tragedy, the mother of William Thaw, 3rd, created somewhat of a sensation by entering the Pittsburg courts and asking that her son be declared a habitual drunkard and that his property be placed in charge of a guardian. By promising to do better, however, young Thaw managed to get his mother to withdraw those proceedings. The young man had always had a penchant for disappearing suddenly. Some years ago at Cairo, Egypt, for instance, he suddenly left his mother and sister alone, on a trip around the world, catching up with them months later in Paris.
This article caught my eye while I was looking for more information about the well-known Thaw family of Pittsburgh. It would appear that this fellow planned to carry his grudge against his family to the grave.
Suicide Accuses Kin Philadelphian Ends Life in Park Declaring Rich Relatives Let Him Starve Lived Under Assumed Name
After Concealing his Connection with the Thompsons and Thaws for Twenty-Five Years Despondent Man Takes Poison, Leaving A Bitter Note for His Brother.
Philadelphia, Aug. 18. Unable to bear longer the sight of his wife and children suffering the tortures of poverty, Joseph Alexander Thompson of this city killed himself on a bench in Fairmount Park after writing a letter in which he revealed the fact that for twenty five years he had been living under the name of Thomas and he was related by marriage to the wealthy Thaw family of Pittsburg. Two letters were found on the body, one addressed to Thompson's wife and couched in the most endearing terms and the other written apparently to let the world know that he was a brother of William R. Thompson, a wealthy resident of Sparkhill, N.Y., who married a daughter of William Thaw of Pittsburg.
It was a remarkable document the man left, apparently intending it as a dying rebuke of a neglected brother. In it he painted in terms, whose simplicity gave added force to the picture, his own poverty and contrasted it with the luxuries his relatives enjoyed.
Not in a long time have social circles in this state been stirred as much as they were when the letter was published. From Pittsburg there came confirmation of the man's assertion that he was related to the Thaws, but it was denied he had been neglected by his relative. It was said that Thompson had frequently received offers of aid and a good position from his brother on condition that he resume his family name and do as the brother requested. The offers were refused.
Out of Work Three Years
Thompson was about fifty-five years old. Twenty-five years ago he had married Katie Spangler of this city. The couple had four children. He had been out of regular work for the past three years, and it was known he felt bitterly toward his relatives. It is said his marriage caused the estrangement between Thompson ad his relatives. A message sent from Pittsburg to J. D. Lyons, a partner of William R. Thompson, said he had never heard his partner speak of his brother. Mrs. Thompson, or Thomas, said her husband's relatives had refused to anything for him.
One of the notes found on Thompson's body read:
"I am Joseph Alexander Thompson, son of Andrew Turley Thompson, who for years was the agent of the Young Men's Bible Society of Allegheny county. Mr. brother, William R. Thompson, of Sparkhill, N.Y., knows my circumstances and will not help me or my family.
"He married Mary Thaw, daughter of William Thaw, who died in Paris. Thaw was second vice-president of the Pennsylvania railroad and was in the firm of Mark & Thaw of Pittsburg.
Related to the Thaws.
"He was the father of Alice Thaw, who was married to the Earl of Yarmouth, and of Harry Thaw, who married Miss Evelyn Nesbit, the artists' model. I am connected with Harriet Thaw, who lives in Cross street, between Ninth and Tenth, and who was permitted to live in squalor, with rats as her companions. Me and mine are starving and have been for the past five months.
"His brother, Dr. A.D. Thompson, starved to death in Philadelphia in 1879 or1880. What have I, as his brother, to look far? I have been a slave to hard work for forty years, and as Virginus says, 'There is no way but this.'"
In the letter to his wife Thompson said:
"You are still a young woman and I am too old to stand in the way of what might be a pleasant and happy future for you and the children. I cannot get work on account of my age, so I am only in the way. May God in his infinite mercy deal gently and kindly with you and my loving children.
"I have lived the past twenty-five years under an assumed name. My brother, William R. Thompson of Pittsburg, now st Sparkhill, N. Y. knew all the time of my double life, from the time your first child was born. To make you happy for the future I must make you unhappy for the present..
"From one who loves the ground you walk on."
Right below this, the paper also printed a response from the brother in question:
Suicide's Brother Denies Charges
New York, Aug 18. William R. Thompson was seen at his home at Sparkhill. He was shocked and surprised at the news of his brother's death, notice of which had just reached him. "For years I have been sending him money," said Mr. Thompson, "but he would spend it faster than I could send it to him, and at times I have lost all patience with him. he had two sons, both at work, and surely they would not permit him to suffer, nor could I, for the necessities of life. I regret exceedingly that it becomes necessary to make this statement, but in justice to myself, in view of what he says in that letter blaming me, I must say what is the truth."
Nothing like airing dirty laundry in public, eh?
Source: Easton Free Press, 8/8/1905
When I was young, I can remember my mother mentioning that some of her mother's family had often traveled to western PA to visit cousins in the Sewickley area. I knew that there was a branch of the Nevin family out there, but I never gave the idea much further thought until I recently read some background information about the Johnstown flood in 1889. As so often happens, once you find one connection, you find many and this certainly true of the people who were prominent in the society of the late 1800's and early 1900's.
The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club (hereinafter SFFHC) owned the dam that held back the waters of Lake Conemaugh, so when the dam broke in 1889 and destroyed most of Johnstown, the members of the club were held to blame in the eyes of the public though the disaster was ultimately deemed a natural event and no official blame was laid. As Henry Clay Frick was one of the founders and charter members of the club, his connections in western PA were interesting to look at. His wife was Adelaide Howard Childs, daughter of Asa Partridge Childs and Martha Howard. The Childs family was well-established in Pittsburgh, having made their fortune in the shoe business. Adelaide's brother Howard married Elizabeth Rankin, daughter of David Nevin Rankin and Kate Irwin. Since David Nevin Rankin was my great-great-grandmother's brother, this connection becomes quite interesting to me. David Rankin's wife was the sister of Lewis Irwin, another member of SFFHC and prominent in Pittsburgh as well. Lewis Irwin was a business partner of Henry Holdship, his sister Maria's husband and fellow member of the SFFHC.
There are two books that come to mind that you might enjoy if you would like to know more about the tragedy of the flood of 1889. The first is a work of fiction by Kathleen Cambor called In Sunlight, A Beautiful Garden, and the other is David McCullough's history of the flood, both shown in the link shown below.
