   cassie l. chadwick (10 october 1857â10 october 1907) is the infamous name used by a canadian woman who defrauded several u.s. banks out of millions of dollars by claiming to be an illegitimate daughter and heiress of andrew carnegie. ==early life== she was born elizabeth bigley on 10 october 1857 eastwood, ontario her parents, dan and annie, owned a small farm in eastwood. she had three sisters: alice, mary, and emily, and a brother, bill. her father worked for the grand trunk railway as a section boss and was often away from the homestead. âbetsyâ, as she was known to her family, was known to daydream and tell fibs as a child. at the age of 14, chadwick went to woodstock, ontario, canada. there she opened a bank account with a dubious letter of inheritance from an "unknown" uncle in england and a small amount of cash. while there, chadwick passed several worthless cheques to various merchants. in 1870, she was arrested in woodstock for forgery. she was released due to her age and on the grounds of insanity. following a three-year absence from eastwood, she returned to discover her sister alice had married bill york, a carpenter from cleveland, ohio, in 1875. alice had moved to cleveland with her new husband. chadwick promptly boarded a train and headed south for the united states of america. ==start in the u.s.== after a brief stay with her sister and brother-in-law, she rented the lower floor of a house at 149 garden street, cleveland from a mrs. brown. chadwick, claiming to be widowed, assumed the mystic name madame lydia devere. she set up shop as a [[clai
1857_births 1907_deaths Canadian-American_culture_in_Ohio Canadian_fraudsters Canadian_people_imprisoned_abroad Canadian_people_who_died_in_prison_custody History_of_Cleveland,_Ohio Impostors People_convicted_of_fraud People_from_Oxford_County,_Ontario Prisoners_who_died_in_Ohio_detention