Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1883-05-16
'sL0RD AsHBURTON" ARRESTED.
The Career Of a Noted FOrger-Flood.
ing the Country with Forged Clrcu-
lar NOteS-On His Way Home to Die.

"LORD AsHBURTON" ARRESTED.
The Career Of u Noted For9er-Flood.
lar Notes-On His way Home to Die
from the New York Tribune
Detective Dunlap, of the Twenty
nj -th Precinct, yesterday afternoon ar
rested William Grifis, with half.dozen
aliases criminal whose career in
crime has been more than ordinarily
curious and romantic. Grifis was ar
rested at No. 208 East Fiftieth Street,
and locked up in the Thirtieth Street
station house on complaint of Thomas
Kirkpatrick, ajeweler, of No. 8e9 Broad
way. kirkpatrick alleges that in 1873
Grifis, who was then passing under the
title of Lord Ashburton, and asserted
that he was a wealthy English nobleman
travelling in this country for pleasure,
bought jewelry worth 81, 900 and paid
for it in forged circular .e1O notes of the
Union Banking Company of London.
Griffis was the central figure of the band
of fo1gers and counterfeiters who, in
the latter part of 1878, flooded the large
cities of this country with the forged
circular drafts. His career at that time
gave him much newspaper notoriety. Al
though comparatively young man, be-
ing boon IN l849, he is now complete
physical wreck. Last night, when
locked up in the station house, he said
that he expected to live only a short
time. He suffers from hemo1rhage of
the lungs and aneurism of the heart.
Griffis vas bora in Dartmouth, Dev-
onshire, England, and in his youth went
10 q private school in London. In 1861
he was sent to Elton, where he spent two
years. From that college he entered the
service Of the Bank Of England as a
clerk. While employed in this capacity
he became familiar with all sorts Of
bank notes, and made experiments in
lithograpbing and counte1fei.ipg them.
After brief stay in this institution be
went to China and spent some time as
the confidential clerk of a wealthy tea
importer in the cities Of Hong Kong,
Shanghai and Pekin. Then for some
transaction of dubious morality he was
! forced to leave the service of the mcr-
chant, and he came to America. He
reached New York in 1867. aud fer sey-
ersi years was employed as Gle, and
lived a moral life.
Becoming weary Of morality he turnei
his attention to his old past me of litho.
graphing. He studied and experiment.
ed with marked success in this direction.
He became acquainted with gang of
forgers who we're then operating this
city and was readily induced to become
one Of their number. Walter F. Floss
| a. Efo,,onr,l 80 -.
leaders.
Awaiting themselves of Griffis' knowl-
edge of European banking, they forged
untold quantities of the London bank
ing notes. Kountze Brothers, Jesup,
Patton T. Co., and many other PROM
nent downtown firms were swindled by
the clever forgers. Not content with
passing their drafts, which were nearly
all of the determination Of el0, they
Travelled over the country scattering the
forgeries broadcast throughout the prin.
cipal cities of the Union. In Boston,
where Griffis passed under the alias OF
NJ. W. Savllle, he became acquainted
with woman known as Georgetta. The
forger induced the woman to accompany
bin on his travels. They went west
aud rQer the titles Of lord ard lady
Ashburton lived in sumptuous STYLE al
the Lin1ell Hotel in s.. Louis. Super.
intendent Wailing heard Of him in tina,
city, ard sent Detective Cunning afte1
him. When the detective got there, the
Turner, warned Ct his coming, fed tc
Denver. There he was found out by G.
c. Joy, Denver detective. Joy Offered
to give him up to Superintendent Wall
ing, provided he was we'll enough paid
Mr.. Walliog's terms were not higi
enough, and Joy struck blackmail bar
gain with the bogus Lord Ashburton
Together they started for San Francisco
yer.
In San Francisco E. J. Baldwin, the
proprietor of the Palace Hotel, together
with Matthew Cahill, Brown & Thomp
son and other stock brokers were SWIM
died by the swindler. He made thou
sands of dollars and was freely bled b,
Joy. Finally the Denver detective be-
came unbearable, and Grjffis told him t,
leave him; he would never give him an,
more money. Joy then denounced bin
to the San Francisco police and til,
criminal was arrested at once. Failing
to be indicted through some tecar icalit!
of the California law, he was sont to Wiz
ginia City and prosecuted or charge.
brought by the Bank OF Nevada. HI
was sentenced to eight years in the pen
itenhary. This was in the fall of 1879
Last November Grifis was released
from the Nevada penitentiary, as hc wal
thought to be dying. He went to Sa1
Francisco and married girl of %,
distant relative. He took his bride t.
the warm climate OF Southern Califor
MIA. But he became rapidly worse i,
health, and finally determined to retur,
to his home in Devonshire, as he ex
pressed it last night, "to die at home.
He reached this city few days ago
Mr.. kirkpatrick, the jeweler, VINO hat
never forgotten tue young Englisl
nobleman who had deceived him will
the Gl0drafts, learned of his presence i,
the city and had him arrested yesterday
His young wife called to see her husban,
in his cell last night, and the scene be
tween the two was affecting.