The sun., 1917-12-14
CONFR0NTEDBY
10TH WIFE, DIES
"Rev. Arthur WOrthington,"
Arch Swindler, Succumbs
to Shock in Jail.
WE'D AND ROBBED HER
Death at - Ends s. o. Craw-
ford's Remarkable Ca
reer Of Crime.
WE'D AND ROBBED HER

Special Despatch to THr sc>
NEwBuRcH. Dec. 1s.--Samuel Oakley
Crawford, better known as rev. Arthur
Worthington." one Of the cleverest char
acters In modern criminal history. died
under dramatic circumstances in Jail
here to-day.
Crawford. who was - years old. col
lapsed when confronted by Mrs Jennie
A. Showalter Of Wilmington, Del. who
Identified him as a man she had married
in July 1915. under the name Of Charles
Graham Boone. Two months later. she
says, he decamped witt, $2.5Oo. all her
savings. When the woman appeared he
fore him to-day he stared at her for a
moment. and then sank to tie floor with
groan. He was dead before a physi-
clan could reach him.
Crawford had been in Jail since Janu-
ary. when he was arrested for swindlinE
the Rev Or. Stanley OF New Hamburg
out Of several hundred dollars while a
member Of the Presbytcry. After being
depcsed he fed. but was found in the
National Soldiers Home at Newport
News.
Married Ten Women.
Crawford's career reads like an i'm
aginativs story OF criminal ncs!on. His
years of c-:me reached nearly forty. and
in that time he is believed - have Oh
tanned fraudulently and spent more than
$1,000 900 and to have married ten
women bisamously.
Up to the time he oSta.ne the pas
torate Of tho New Hamburg church he
had posed as lawyer, banker. political
orator. litterateur. real estate operator
spiritualist, organizer, free love expv-
nent. Christian Science healer. insurance
agent, Judge. captain. ma jor. colonel and
general in the Regular Army. Unitarian
minister. Mormon preacher. actor. prohi-
bition lecturer and member OF long
list Of various cults.
Crawford never could blame his early
start in life or his bringing up for his
criminal propensities. tie was born in
Saugerties and as a boy enlisted in the
civil war After the war he studied la~
at Columbia and graduated in the claks
Of 1861.
In 1863 he married the hrst OF the
women who have called him husband
Two years later he deserted her and
departed with all tho money he could
get from her and her friends. Then he
took TO horse trading. but conducted 1t
in such manner that he soon found
himself In the Albany penitentiary.
After his release he confined most Of
his efforts - swindl.ng women Of their
savings by marriage and desertion. On
tho aida hnS-ava~ a fnvOal ha01a1 nd
borrowed. An actress wife. deserted az
ter three wears, returned 20 the stage.
saved her money and paid all his debts
of which she knew.
Jailed In Australia.
He continually led a s;roiler.s life. and
travelled TO many foreign countries. He
established a religious cult In New Zea-
land. but it was too much for the New
Zealanders and he was sent ant OF the
country. He was next heard Of in Tas-
mania. and then in Melbourne. where he
was jailed for forgery and served seven
years
Europe he travelled over without cost
10 himself. bul greatly 10 the d.scori:o-.
OF others. and then returned to this
country. One Of his most remsrka ble
a achievements here was the obtaining OF
some swindlirg pretence.
Only once IN his career did Crawford
work in partnership with another. That
was In 1881 and 1882. when he joined
forces with a notorious English swindler
known as Lord Ashton" IN those
years Crawford was known as Airing
ton Buckingham Wadsworth Wrothing-
ton. Tho pair got into society in Chi
cago and Boston, parting with each
To- olx, ott
Crawford started his operations among
the Spiritual!sts.
Got 92O.OOO From, Bride.
In 1885 he appeared In Griffin. Ga.
where he met an heiress to $4,000 and
married her. fle was then posing as
Judge John ID. Crawford" After a
honeymoon trip to Europe Crawford
persuaded his bride to part with sea. 1000.
with which he told her he would start a
ba hiking business. Instead he deserted
her. going to Spokane, where he lived as
q high roller for a wear. spending most
Of the sum he had stolen.
He bobbed up next in Providence as
Gen. A. r. Ward and told how he was
when serving In the Union
Army. There he met Miss Emma Marie
Perry. an heiress to 100000, and mar
ried her. Soon afterward he disap-
peared after inducing his bride to give
him most of her money.
1t was in 1911 that he appeared in
and told the local minis
ters that he was a graduate OF oxford
and minister. but had lost his papers In
. shipwreck Fie was soon assigned to
the New Hamburg church. hut over
worked his practice by borrowing money
until suspicious we're aroused and his
career was Investigated.
After he decamped the news Of his
marriage to Mrs Showalter OF Whining
ton came 70 the swindled clersymen and
detectives were sent after him. He
to evade them until last jan
uary.
Even then II was found he had so won
tho confidence OF the inmates that they
offered to make up a purse for his de.
fence. Several OF them offered 800
zach on his assertion that he was limo.
cent