Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-02-27
THE GOLD BRICK KING"
Noted Crook Was Born and Reared in
jefferson County.-He Lived r.
Double Life.

Frank .Allrich, with many aliases and
known to tho police OF a hundred cities
AS the king of gold brick sNindlcrs. blew
his brains out with "A revolver in New \ urk
city the other daN. He was none ether
than the Frank Aldrich. whose mother
now resides i'm Philadelphia. jefferson
county. and who was reared in the home
Uf Mrs. LoVina Aldrich, who now lives
with Mr.. and Mrs. Charles 1'rasior, in
West Carthage, He was born in tho town
Of Antwerp and not in Ohio as stated
below. Tn" story of Aldrich's oheok"red
career is told in the following dispatch
from New York city:
The residents of the fashionable Wash-
ington heights ncighborhood Were shock
ed when they learned that Frank Aldri, II
a wealthy mining expert and tinauCicr,
had blown his brains out. AldriCh am his
charming wife and pretty daughter ycrc
we'll known, highly respected and popular.
1t was stated that AldriCh had LONG sur
fered from tomac trouble and that
early last week the doctors told him he
had q tumor and could only be relieved
by 4 serious operation.
Ills wife said that this news utterly
crushed him and that after mopins for
two or three days 10 locked himself in his
library and sent a bullet through his head.
If the aristocratic noighhorhood was
shocked when it heard of tn" suicide,
imagine It's feelings when Chief VI De
tectives Titus declared that Aldrich, the
mining expert was also Frank AlIrch.
alias j. Il. Saul the king of spll Trick
swindlers, known to the police of a score
Of cities and with "a criminal record as
lone as your arm
For years he had lived his double life
ana even his wife and daughter had no
suspicion of his criminal career. They
thought that his long rip III the West
We're taken to inspect his mines. As a
matter of fact. Titus says, Aldrich was
huncoing the farmers of the Middle West
with the gold brick game. He was sell
dom arrested, and, in case of capture, he
put up cash bail and Skipped. only once
was ne convicted and that WAS a dozen
years ago, in Pittsburg. Tie swindlei a
farmer out of $l0.0D and was sentenced to
d long term, but his wife believing inn
plicitly in hcr husbands innocence, sue
ccedcd in interesting many noted men in
the case, with tn" result that Aldrich was
pardoned after he had served nearly two
years in lail.
Aldrich was born in Ohio, and in his
younger days was "A Snowman. tie finally
dritted to Kansas, where he married. lie
was "A fluent talkcr and accumulated a
little money in business. His first wife
died, leaving a daughter. Aldrich married
again and moved to Stamford. Kan.
where he bore an excellent reputation.
Then came the PittSburg arrest. and
after the pardon the family moved here,
buying the beautiful home on Washington
heights.
For years the police havc been trying to
get q good case against Aldrich. The last
grand jury or Urbana, Ohio, indicted Aid
rich on the charge of swindling Harvey
Kcnton out OF 5000. The case appeared
10 be an especially strong one and plans
were being made through the New York
police to take Aldrlch out to Ohio for trial
when he killed himself.