Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1857-02-18
HISTORY oFAFAsT NEW YORKER.

The following sketch of Huntington, the
New York forger, is taken from the Tribune
Charles B. Huntington was born in Geneva,
Ontario County, in 1922, where he remained
| in his fathers family till he reached his major
ity. Early in life, he was afflicted with scrof-
ulous disease in his head and neck, which
hung about him till he was upward of ten years
old. He received excellent moral and religi-
Gus training at home and was studously kept
| from low associations. Toward his parents he
showed a respectful regard, but they found it
difficult to impress him, by chastisement, with
q sense of moral obligations, he early dis
| played disposition to do forbidden things.
He would steal, lie, destroy things wantonly,
| and drive nails no matter where. Once he al
tered his fathers handwriting in the family
record as to make himself year younger
| than he was. 4
| Between ten and sixteen, he went to school
steadily, where he appeared rather shallow
| than malicious, but always reckless. He used
| to write excuses in his fathers name, and lie
when interrogated about them he would read
| copied compositions as his own tear leaf
| anywhere from book when he wanted piece
of paper; engage in various Young American
| speculations, &c. On the whole he tho't
altogether the worst boy in school, and receiv-
ed the most frequent thrashings, which he
seemed to mind very little.
In 1913 or III, at the age OF 81, Huntington
came to this city, where he served as a clerk
| in a furniture store till 1915, when he formed
a partnership in the same business, which fail
ed before the end of the third year, paying but
ten cents on the dollar. After few months
| visit at home, he returned to the city and went
into Wall street, where he engaged in Gene
| terry schemes. Between the Fall of AS and
! 40, he embarked in four of these, two of which
were on Manhattan Island, one in Buffalo, and
| one in Baltimore. All were failures. In June,
! 1851, hearing that there dirty clothes to
be washed on the Isthmus, Huntington started
steam laundry at Panama, which was in op-
| Grafton but two or three weeks.
! After planning a stock-company, which
went 70 further than paper, he got up a couple
of bogus banks in the Spring and Fall Of 1852.
| Their bills he put into circulation by paying
| his creditors with them allowing ten per cent.
on every debt they to circulate and redeem
them at : per cent. Both exploded within
few months of their birth, and Huntington
was indicted for his participation in of
them, but never brought to trial. In 1858, he
started the Little Androscroggin Company in
Maine, with charter authorizing the manu-
facture of linen goods or paper, and such 9TH
cr articles as may necessarily or conveniently
be connected herewith Under the latter
clause, he commenced issuing bank bills, but
the scheme was soon broken up. He went to
r.
turned in some four months to find his liabil-
tiles upwards of 500, 900 large portion of
which grew out of forged paper. He prevail
ed on most of his creditors to release him
from their claims and to destroy the evidences
! of his guilt. From the whole testimony in the
case, it would seem, indeed, that he had won
derful power of winning attachment and con-
| ideuce, and inducing those whom he had
wronged TO forgive and trust him again and
those who had furnished capital and lost mon
| ey by his speculations-he does not seem to
have had any TO lose himself or to have made
any in the case of the Buffalo Cemetery-to
lend again. In 1913, the year which he went
| into the Cemetery business, he married
man whose devotion to him has been exem-
| plary. Between the death of one scheme and
the birth of another, he would have seasons
of low spirits, when he threatened to make a.
way with himself, particularly BY accidental
drowning on the way to Brooklyn, so that his
wife might get the insurance on his life.
After his return from California, he renewed
business note broker in Wall street, which
indeed, he had made the centre of his opera
| tions during the previous years. Whatever
the precise date at which he began again to
.smake paper,'' in the Winter and Spring of
1856 he is doing so on large scale, which
grew larger and larger throughout the year.
The forgeries to the amount of 100000 which
are charged in the 27indcrments found against
him are probably not 1.-THE of those actually
committed. His deposits for four months in a
single bank were five millions, and his counsel
assert that he issued bills to the amount of 20
millions in the course of the year. None of
the signatures when he forged were tolerable
limitations, some Of them no limitations at all
and in one case the firm whose name was used
was firm of mere lawyers, the order of whose
names were reversed at that. The forged pa
per was in all cases, as far as known deposited
as collateral security, on the faith of which
loans were expected. When first arrested he
was released on bail of $4,000 only, all his
| forgeries not having been discovered, but went
to Wall street as usual the next morning, TAX
| ing no steps to escape or destroy the eviden-
ces of his guilt.
Huutipgton's career in the street was fully
parelleled in the magnificence of his private
life. After moving eight or ten times within