THE KING OF FORGERS

 

THE KING OF FORGERS

 

CHARLES I. BROCKWAY is another of the famous names in the calendar of criminal practices, and with whom I have had dealings on more than one occasion. This forger and counterfeiter, now about forty years of age, and exceedingly handsome. He was born and raised in the City of New York, and except when undergoing imprisonment, has made his home in that city. Soon after the war had closed, Brockway opened a faro bank in New York City and was an extensive dealer in counterfeit money. From this he gradually became an adept in the forging and counterfeiting line, and for twenty years led the vicarious life of one who outrages the laws and suffers its penalties. On his last arrest, I played a prominent part and will relate that part of his experience in this connection.

I want to remind you that in my portrayal of Charles F. Ulrich, I mentioned he was regarded as one of the most skilled engravers willing to help with counterfeiting. Few mechanical engravers could replicate a Treasury note as skillfully as he, unaided. The details of his career, his later arrest and his release during good behavior have already been related. Since that time Ulrich has lived in Trenton, N. J., and so far, as is known, has confined himself to honest employment. In July 1880, a well-known law firm in Trenton sent me a letter. They informed me that Charles F. Ulrich was trying to live an honest life but was constantly bothered by dishonest individuals seeking his help. Among the most persistent of these was Charles I. Brockway. According to the letter I received, Brockway was hounding the reformed man to perform some counterfeiting work for him and offering to pay him 10 per cent of all moneys obtained, in addition to a large payment for his labor in cash. The letter stated that Ulrich was determined to get rid of these villains for good and recommended coming up with strategies to catch and punish Brockway, at the very least. I had heard rumors of Ulrich and Brockway working together again not long before this letter reached me. Yet this later news made me question the accuracy of my first understanding. To discover the truth and help the community, as I always intended, I responded by offering to take the case if Ulrich was serious.

I demanded, however, Ulrich that he should place himself entirely in my hands, in order that I might fully satisfy myself as to the genuineness of his desire to serve the interests of justice. The responsibility for conducting this case fell to Linden, the proficient superintendent of my Philadelphia office, with Ine giving him complete freedom to arrange everything as he saw fit.

In compliance with a request made by Mr. Linden, Ulrich came to Philadelphia and showed two checks which he said that Brockway had given him to counterfeit. The National Bank of Providence held one of these, which Henry E. Cranston often paid to C. L. Parker for $109. The other was on the Fourth National Bank of the same city and was for an exactly similar amount. This check was payable to E. L. Parker and was signed by Chase, Watson & Butts. Prominent Providence businesses, which were known for their substantial bank deposits, issued these checks. Charles Ulrich stated that Brockway was exceedingly anxious to have the counterfeits finished in three days. As this allowed but little time in which to perfect arrangements for a complete surprise and capture of the forger, Ulrich was directed to obtain a delay from Brockway on the plea of his inability to finish them properly in the prescribed time. To this Ulrich yielded a ready assent and promised to notify Mr. Linden whenever Brockway should call upon him.

The delay allowed us to contact Providence banks and learn how the two genuine checks for Ulrich were obtained.

It was later revealed that both checks originated from prominent Providence stockbrokers. These brokers had acquired the checks by selling $100 worth of four-percent government bonds. The sellers in each case had asked for checks to be given them, on the plea that they desired to send them into the country. Banks were informed and quickly replied, wishing to prosecute the forgers and asking Mr. Linden to send an operative to Providence to identify them. The Trenton attorneys were also informed of what had taken place and taken fully into our confidence in the matter. It was suggested by these gentlemen, that the best plan would be to arrest Brockway when he call at Ulrich's residence, and receive the counterfeit checks, but as I knew that the mere engraving and printing of a check blank which was not filled in or signed, was not an offense under the law, I resolved to give Brockway all the rope he desired, particularly as the trap into which he was about to fall was entirely of his own designing.

Ulrich was instructed to mark the fake bills for teller detection, keeping Brockway unaware. This was accomplished by lengthening the lines in the border, where they met at the upper right-hand corner, so that instead of joining exactly, as in the originals, they projected to the slightest degree, and by altering the names of the original engravers at the bottom, from “Bugbee and Kelly “to Rugbee and Kally.” This change could only be detected upon close examination.

Brockway, all unsuspicious of the danger that was threatening him, called upon Ulrich at the time prescribed, and received a number of the printed blanks. The next day he called again and desired more, stating that he had spoiled all the others. These also were given to him. It was naturally supposed, therefore, that the following day, being Friday, was the day selected for the commission of the crime, and a trusty operative was therefore sent to Providence to look out for Brockway. The assistance of the chief of police of that city was invoked, and an intelligent detective was detailed to assist us in the enterprise. Two other local detectives were stationed, one in each bank, with instructions to arrest the “layer down” as the presenter of a forged check is called, as soon as he should appear, and to take him at once into a back room, in order not to give the alarm to any confederate who might be outside on the watch. My operative was then to be communicated with immediately, and he was to proceed at once to the bank and point out any of the Brockway gang whom he would be able to recognize in the vicinity. My operator, therefore, with his delegated assistant took up their positions in the post office, which was directly opposite the old National Bank building, which was supposed to be the first tried.

 

Since the commencement of his operations, Brockway has always worked upon a system which, though perfectly familiar to the detectives, is one which is ingeniously calculated to baffle them in their attempts to fasten a crime upon him, so directly as to ensure conviction.

It has been his custom to employ as an agent, a man whom he could trust, but one of such bad character and reputation that no jury would accept his uncorroborated testimony should he prove unfaithful. This man's duty was to impart his instructions to the rest of the gang, with whom Brockway himself never held any business communications or whatever— and to see them carried out. One Charles Fera, otherwise known as the “Big Duke “has acted in this capacity for Brockway.

I scarcely expected that Brockway would himself go to Providence, and my plans were, duly laid, to have him indicted there, after the arrest of his confederates, for sending forged papers into the state, securing a requisition for him, and then taking him on for prosecution.

Another of Brockway's rules was to have duplicate forged checks prepared. The “layer down” was given one of them, which was simply indorsed on the back, to take in. The teller would naturally require identification. The “layer down” would then take the check and retire from the bank, destroying the document as he went. On the street he would be met by Brockway, who would hand him another check, similar in all respects to the one that had been presented, except that in addition to the endorsement of the drawer, it had also the words “all right “or O. K.,” and the signature of the firm whose genuine check had been imitated.

The “layer down” would then return to the bank, and get the money without difficulty, the teller supposing the identification to have been freshly written. It would not have been at all “regular,” to present the identified check first, and Brockway was always too shrewd to take any such chances. Another rule of his was to have several “layers down.” If one came out all right, another was sent in with a

check, and if this succeeded, a third attempt was made. After this third attempt, however, he always stopped for the day. His watchers kept a lookout on the bank, and the broker's office until the next morning, and if no unusual commotion was observed, it was taken for granted that the victim's account was large enough to stand further depletion, and other checks previously prepared would be presented next day, and even the third day thereafter, if circumstances seemed to warrant the venture. The moment any sign of discovery was observed, however, the entire gang would incontinently flee the city.

In the selection of layers down, favorites were always sent in first, as the chances of detection were then the slightest; the last men were required to possess a large amount of nerve, as the amount drawn might overdraw the account of the party against whom the checks were drawn, and there would naturally be some searching questions to answer. Of course, the amount of a firm's account in bank was always a matter of guess work, and therefore involved significant risk, although Brockway's rule was to select heavy concerns, leave a wide margin, and work up gradually.

But to return to our operation. Friday passed without sign. On Saturday, however, my operative, while at his post in the post office, saw Brockway pass the old National Bank. As he reached a position in front of that building, he gave a signal with his head to somebody who stood on the opposite side of the street. Soon afterward he was joined by a young man, who held some conversation with him, and after a short delay went into the bank. When they had disappeared, it was ascertained that the young man desired to get a check certified, similar in all respects to one of the checks prepared by Charles Ulrich. Another young man had another check like the other one certified in the Fourth National Bank on the same afternoon. They then called upon Chase, Watson & Butts, and Henry E. Cranston, just before the close of business, and sold two more one hundred dollar four-per-cent bonds, asked, as in the first instance, for checks” to send into the country.” The object of this move, it will readily be perceived, was to get the last numbers of the checks issued by both the firms, upon which they intended to operate. This would give them all day Sunday to affix the numbers to the forged checks, and they would be ready to work without fear of detection from that source, as soon as the banks were opened on Monday morning. The object of having the checks certified, as above related, was to make them available for their face value anywhere in case anything disastrous occurred. The two original and genuine checks, from which the counterfeits had been imitated, reached the Providence banks on Saturday, in regular order from the Ninth National Bank of New York, having been deposited there by T. Winterbottom, a Spring St. undertaker.

All being in readiness, the officers awaited the assault they had every reason to expect would be made on Monday morning. Their anticipations were fully realized, for at 10 0'clock on that morning, a man entered the Fourth National Bank of Providence and presented one of the forged checks. It was filled out for one thousand three hundred and twenty-seven dollars. The detective who was on duty in the bank stepped up at the same moment and presented another check. The money was paid to the forger without hesitation, and he placed it in his pocket. The teller then gave the sign agreed upon, and the man was at once arrested. Word was quiet but instantly sent to my operative who was watching Brockway, waiting upon the outside of the bank, and before he knew found himself a prisoner. The first man arrested gave his name as Joseph Cook, but upon being confronted with my operative, he was at once recognized as Billy Ogle, a well-known confederate of Brockway's. Three hours passed by, and the patience of the detectives at the other bank was still unrewarded.

At one o'clock, however, a suspicious looking fellow sauntered in and presented the expected forged check. An attempt was made to arrest him, but he took to his heels, and was captured only after a long chase, in which the officers were obliged to use their revolvers upon the fleeing fugitive. This man was identified as George Howell, who was known to be in communication with Brockway, and who had left Chicago but a brief time before.

It may be truthfully said that Brockway had been responsible for every forgery of consequence within the two years that preceded his arrest, and I have no hesitation in saying that there was no one in the world that could best him in that line of crime. There never was but one check put forth by him that was stopped without previous warning, Which was a forgery at the Fourth National Bank of New York, in which the signature and blank of Messrs. Fisk & Hatch, the famous New York bankers, were imitated to a remarkable degree of correctness. This firm, however, had a private mark upon their blanks, which the counterfeiters had overlooked, and the absence of this mark caused the cashier of the bank to hesitate a moment. The “layer down” at once took alarm at this and fled, but had he stood firm, he would undoubtedly have received the money.

Brockway is one of the most handsome men of the day. He is tall, well built, with a wealth of curling black hair, a full beard of raven blackness and a pair of piercing black eyes. Though an extravagant man in every respect, he is charged with no small vices and was never intoxicated. At one time he kept a faro bank in partnership with the notorious Dan Noble, who was recently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in England for the crime of forgery.

Brockway subsequently branched out as a counterfeiter, and being detected, served two terms in the New York State prison for that offense. His last incarceration was in Auburn, where he remained five years. During this term of his imprisonment, it was noticed that he seized every opportunity that was offered to him to practice with pen, ink, and paper. He was released in 1878 and immediately set out on a career of wholesale forgery, through the West and South. In June 1879, he, and Bill Ogle, one of his pals, arrested at Providence were held on a charge of forgery at the First National Bank of Chicago, and a complete set of implements was found in his rooms. In this case he made a confession, in which he charged Samuel Felker, an ex-Government detective, with having induced him to come to Chicago, promising him the full protection of the police, and then selecting the banks for him to work upon. This statement was corroborated by a subsequent confession made by Ogle, and so convinced were the authorities that Felker was indicted, and Brockway was held on $10,000 bail, as a witness against him. The case, however, has never been called to trial, on account of the lack of sufficient corroborative evidence—the main witnesses being both men of acknowledged bad character.

After his release, Brockway went to New York and succeeded in perpetrating the following forgeries: Chemical National Bank, $13,000; Second National Bank, $1,700; Bank of the Republic, $14,000; Chatham National Bank, $1,700; Corn Exchange Bank, $700; Phenix National Bank, $7,500. There were undoubtedly other cases in which the banks sustained the loss and made no public announcement of it. The Chemical National Bank also did this, and I only learned of this forgery by accident. For the Phoenix Bank Forgery, Brockway, James Williams, William Ogle, and Charles Fera were all arrested by me and held to trial in the City of New York. Williams turned on state evidence, and Ogle, who was the first to be tried, was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, but his case was afterward appealed. Fera and Brockway, however, managed to escape punishment on the old ground— the bad character of the witnesses against them, and the lack of corroborative evidence.

Brockway was, however, rearrested by my son, Robert Pinkerton, on a requisition from the Governor of Illinois, at the instance of his bondsmen in the Felker case, and was sent to Chicago, but he soon succeeded in restoring their confidence in him, and, they again renewing his bail, he was released. He returned to New York at once and proceeded from thence to Baltimore, where he perpetrated successful forgeries on the Merchants' and Third National Bank of that city, to the extent of $10,146.

When the information about these forgeries was published, I felt confident, from the way the work was done, that Brockway was at the bottom of them, and my son Robert, meeting him a few days afterwards at Coney Island, openly taxed him for the crime.

Owing to some ill-feeling which grew out of the distribution of the bank of the Republic job, a noted crook, Tommy Moore, shot Brockway in the back, and Moore was instantly shot and dangerously wounded by Billy Ogle. A dozen shots were fired, and several were severely wounded, but the police made no arrests, and consequently no one was punished.

Brockway was tried for his last attempt in Providence. Charles Ulrich testified against him. He also testified that Brockway had brought two other checks to him for counterfeiting, in which two prominent Philadelphia bankers were to be made the victims.

His career was thus brought to a summary end, and it is to be hoped that equal promptness and courage in detection and punishment will follow any further attempts of this audacious thief to plunder the unsuspecting public.