The Evening critic., 1882-12-19
COL. N. w. FITZGERALD
HE is pERsEouTEp BY A FoRoER

H. r.. FrtNcnbrWs " COnuUente MINI
ana SwindIer-He Procures the
Arrest of Colonel Fitzgerald on
RidicuIous CharRe-A Man Worth
100000 Charged with Forging u
Patent-Mediciue Note for $50
Persistent Persecution of an Ex.
celleDt Citizen and Upright Busi-
ness Man by n Rascal He was Com
pclIed 10 Arrest and Indict for
FOrgeries Colonel FftzgeraId's
Story of Pritchard's Infamous
Career.
10 ne Editor Of ne Erea,ng Critic:
My attention was called to paragraph In n
recent Issue OF the Sunday Chronicle OF this
city, asking II lido "not owe 1t to tho public,
as well as TO myself, to explain or deny tho
statements, published against me by b. F.
Once or twice before that paper called atten.
tion TO tho same subject.matter, which had
pass Ss Se ronep I ne erS
the fncts, when legally placed before them. /
have for that reason preferred that the forge.
should not be tried by the press prior to trial
by jury, and have kept silent. It seoms, how
ever, that pritchard, the defendant in the
for newspaper notorioty, having rushed Into
print with his malicious, lying and slanderous
charges against me; and also having clandes.
slanderous and untruthful statements con.
cerning me, have concluded TO set forth n
concise Etatemcnt OF all the 1uCtB IN relation 10
my dealings with tho said FoRaER and assassin
OF chdrdcter-Bcnja jamin i. Pritchard.
! feel that your readers, the people OF this
city, have tho right to know all the facts In re-
Iatlon to my dealings with the said Pritchard
Tho only object ever had In Wow whom
doing what did for him, which has caused mo
world or trouble, was dono from sympathy for
him, in response to his entreetles to help him
out OF financial distress-he claiming that he
was about to lose valuable property unless he
could raise tho moneyxthrough me to save It,
Since my discovery OF his forgerles, have In
vestigated his record, and ind II appalling
with the criminal acts charged against him In
several States. He has been an inmate OF
prisons In the States Of Indiana, Ohio, Penn.
sylvania, and the District OF Columbia charged
brief statement Of my transactions with
this notorious villain and forger may be stated
ms follows;
camo to Washington In 1875, having had
but a few months acquaintance with him, and
that being before his entry upon his subse.
quent notorious criminal career. From 1876
to 1880 know practically nothing OF him, OK
cept to having heard through tho papers that
he had been disbarred from practice before the
Pension ONCE and other Departments. Dur
cular printed advertisement OF the Western
Medical Works, of indianapolis, with d. +.
Pritchards name attached as manager. had
seen him but once or twice from 1875 up to
1880. He came to Washington In December,
1880, accompanied by woman, putting at
the Gfobo House, In this city, representing
said woman as his wife, when in fact his wife
was at homo in Indiana. He has been divorced
tee times, as court records will show, and mar
ried six times. While hero on that trip he
stated to mo that he was carrying on large
business In indianapolis; that ho was run.
ming some magnificent teams with finely ca:
parlsoned horses and wagons in tho States OF
Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois and was
selling goods; that he was taking In payment
rom nth three 10 ak months Tine % to purcbaserss, %
taking their notes for the remainder. Ho had
bono OF those notes with him-or what he
represented as such--and asked mo to become
nnrClQSer tler0fOr.
show to my entire satisfaction that said notes
were good, and would be paid promptly, and
for the use OF my money. declined TO pur-
chase tho notes at that time, not knowing
enough about thcm to justify me IN doing 80.
He returned to Indianapolis and wrote me I'M
mediately that he had passed through Ohio
and called upon the party whose note he
wanted to sellme, and by throwing of So got
the S400 note cashed some ten days before It
was due. Then followed a series OF
letters, dating from December 20, 1880, up to
January 30, 1881, all in his own handwriting,
stating that he had from three to four thou.
sand dollars in A No. One bankable notes,
md that he would furnish certificates signed
by the parties who made them; that these
notes were all right, and that IL did not pur-
chase them, he would lose some property
which he had bought and had partly paid for,
and that his only way to savo his property was
by my purchasing tho notes, assuring mo they
were good notes, given for valuable consid-
Grafton and would be paid promptly. Upon
such inducementI yielded to the trap that he
had set for me, and parted with my money for
the notes, paying for them through the Citizens
National Bank OF this city. Said money was
obtained by false pretenses upon notes which
Pritchard knew were false and forged. After
said notes matured, In endeavoring to collect
the same through process of law IN Ohio, they
were proven to be forgeries, and the collections
defeated. Upon my return here after attend-
Ing such trials and hearing testimony, 1
sent for Pritchard; he came TO my oflce. 1 nc
cused him Of the forgery and fraud that he had
practiced upon mo, anu told him no would
have TO sufier tho penalties OF the law. lie
rrfaI IN,
know the notes were forgeries; that he had
only used them to obtain money, intending to
make mo whole, thinking would not be hard
on him. placed the matter in the hands OF
the proper authorities, and ho was indicted at
Cincinnati In two cases, and was arrested and ta-
procuring Of which had nothing TO do, at
Troy, Ohio. Tho indictments at Cincinnati
were for obtaining money on false pretenses
and forgery, and uttering forged notes. He
has also been indicted three or four times at
Greenville, Ohio, by other victims OF his for.
gories ana note swndies upon other for forged
them. Subsequently he was indicted at Green
Vile, Ohio, upon other forged note transac.
restsa and taken there and has vy again Pev given
bail. Some seven or eight OF the persons In
the State OF Ohio, upon whom he sold, mo
Grand Jury here. They all denied ever having
signed any such notes, showing conclusively
that the notes he sold mo were fraudulent and
forged. After his several arrests In Ohio. on
note transactions, and before any OF the other
trials on notes ! had purchased of him came
up for hearing, he always stoutly declared to
me that all the notes he had sold me
were genuine, and said that evil
disposed persons In Indiana and Ohio
were prosecuting him. Now when tho notes
he sold me have been proved in the courts to
be "fraudulent and forged" he comes out
with the same cry OF persecution, saying that
] am the prosecutor. have one OF his letters
stating that there were other notes that would
come up against him, thereby admitting his
guilt. 30 long as ho can obtain professional
bondsman for nifty dollars, he VIII remain at
large, and Will exhaust his vicious ingenuity
try TO tn1ure me before the public. When he
was arrested in this city on an extredition
from Ohio, and taken through Pennsylvania
last summer, Pritchard caused the brakeman
TO send q telegram ahead OF the
train to Altoona, Pa, TO have q lawyer
meet him there at the train 70
rescue a man who was being kidnapped
Tho lawyer appeared and Pritchard was
handed over to Pennsylvania authorities
Pritchard laid in jail there several days, and
n correspondence took place between Gov
ernors Foster OF Ohio, and Hoyt OF Pennsyl
vania, Governor Foster kstating In his letteI
that the said d. +. Pritchard was not wanted IN
the State OF Ohio for that case only, upon which
hs was then being extradited, but that he was
Waited for other henious crimes committed IN
tnalState. He was not detained at Altoona
many dars, was, carried handcuffed and
.ougou IA Jaii'nl Cincinnati. While there ht
iorgeu the name OF General J.. Bingham \
20. 70 some U. b. checks which General BOG
nam mad directed PritcharC to forward to him
IN ARKANSAS and obtained tho money thereon,
using said money to pay attorneys fees and
secure his release on bail. Upon number OF
these .. y. checks belonging to General Bing
nam, tne forgery was nn attempt TO Initiate th'