The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-03-08
CRIMES OF A NOTED FORGER
AIonzo j. whiteman's Record as Pol
itician and Swindler.

man, of DanviIle, this State, who is In the
| Tombs, charged with swindling the Column
bia Bank. No. sol Fifth avenue, out of $3.50
] on February 90, is a man Of many aliases.
| with a criminal record which few OF his
class have surpassed He is alleged to be
| or good family connections. but became
fofger, swindler and raee-tIack welsh
err of great astuteness-
Whiteman is said to have begun his
career as a. politician in Mimi esota, and
in consequence has had the assistance OF
many influential friends, WHO paid him
out OF many of bis scrapes. Among the
charges brought against him by tie Pink
ertons are these During the season OF 1890
ne is said to have swindled Frank Shaw, a
ST. Paul tookmaker, out OF 81, 200 by
means of forged telegram On June "A,
1894. Whiteman attempted 10 collect 1900
license m oney from each of the ninety look
makers at Washington Park race track,
in Chicago, but was foiled. His next ex-
plot was TO raise a draft sent him by his
sister from IS to $50.
A little later he was arrested for passing
a bogus check on hotel proprietor in De
troit, for which he was sentenced to i'm
prisonment for ten years, but escaped pun
ishment upon a technicaiity. Whiteman
was implicated by confession or an accom-
plice in swindling the National Bank or the
Republic in September, 1894, and ned TO
Europe. While in London he attempted to
beat a bank In that city out OF f5OO by
means of a bogus check Failing there, be
went to Paris and yictimiZed sundry trades
men by the use of checks stolen in London
from a member OF Parliament, and returned
to the United States.
He was arrested May 2, 1895, and, after
a long delay, was taken to San Francisco
to answer to the charge Of forgery. His
conviction followed, but Whiteman was
again successful in evadng justice. and was
discharged from custody, November y,
1896.
Whiteman's attention was directed 70
some OF these statements He denied the
Truth of them all as they were there given
He directed attention 70 the arrest on the
San Francisco charge, aud showed pam
phlet which he had printed, giving IN
detail the history OF the case The pam
phlet gives the opinion OF the supreme court
of California which granted whteman a
new trial and scathingiy criticised the
action of the trial court From the PAM
pblet it appears that Whiteman was fully
acquitted.
Wliteman flatly denies that he had any
thing whatever to do with the crime with
which ne is charged To understand ms
exact position at present one must know
something Of his remarkable career he
was born In Dansville in 1851. His father,
Reuben whiteman, was one OF the leading
men of the town. He was president ~ the
whiteman Pulp and Paper Company, presI-
dent of the Merchants and Farmers Ma
tionaI Bank and the owner OF large timber
tracts In the West. When he died. In
1888. he left an estate valued at about
$500. 900 BY the terms of his will his two
children, AlouzO J and Clara j., were tor re-
ceiye 0,0GO each. The rest OF the estate
wasIeftto the widow for life. At her death
it was to be divided equally between the
two children. After AlOnZO j. Wbiteman
had received his preparatory education ne
was sent to Hamilton College. where he
was gradBatedin the class of SS1. He did
little work in college. He was known as
the best poker player in college The story
is still told at Hamilton how Whiteman,
while still a freshman, went down tn Utica
one night wandered into the Keno Tooms
kept by David Dishler and began TO play.
when uIay stoppedthe freshman had brOken
the bank.
After his graduation Wmteman entered
Columbia Law School. from which he was
graduated After being admitted TO the
bar. he went to Duluth, MIMI, where his
father was wen known He made friends
for himself rapidly, and his fathers
wealth helped him along. In 1884 he was
nominated for the legislature, and carried
the city OF Duluth by the largest majority
ever given in that city TO any candidate
for IN elective office In 1886 he was nom
mated and elected to the Minnesota senate,
in which he served four years. He was
the youngest man ever elected "a the
senate of that State. While in the senate
he drafted and secured the passage of what
was known as the whiteman election law,
which was used in Minnesota until the
adoption OF the Australian ballot system
He was also chairman of the Democratic
State central committee, delegate to the
national Democratic convention in 1888,
and a candidate for member of Congress
from the Fifth Minnesota district in 1890
Atthis time he begap specializing in wheat,
and so extensive and daring were his
operations that when he went down from
Duluth to Chicago and went into the BOa.s
of Trade, everybody waited TO see what
Whiteman was doing, and then tried to
follow suit In 1889 he was married for
the second time, TO the daughter of Gen.
Nettleton, of st. Paul, who, after he was
arrested the first time, went back to her
fathers home, where, il is understood,
she still lives.
His defeat for Congress was the beginnSsy
of Whiteman's financial downfall. Before,
he was supposed to be worth any where from
500, 900 to 81 ,OO0, 900. The wheat and
lumber market turned against him, and he
became so much invoI.ed that he put his |
In the hands OF his sister. Mrs. I
Clara J. Gibbs, the wife OF A Leicester |
Gibbs, of this city Afterwari Mrs. Gibbs !
accused her brother of passing notes upon |
his fathers estate, of which he and his |
mother were the executors, for $4,000. |
Whiteman denies this, and says that the |
accusation was made simply because his |
sister and her husband wished to keep the |
control of the entire estate, Mrs Gibbs, |
by an agreement between herself, her |
mother, and her brother, having become |
the ADMINISTRATIVE OF the estate.
GOULD SELLS THE vIGILANT. |