The Washington times., 1919-10-15
TWice- ToId TaLes of CapitQL
WE PRINCE OF -POEERY PLRATES

TaE life record OF Colonel
William a. H. suloway, alias
= Sigourney, who defrauded tho
Washington public and persons
/ throughout the country al periods
extending over fotty-seven years,
and who was exposed here In 1895,
attracted the attention Of the whole
District at the time. For two score
years he had taken advantages Of
the reading people OF the nation
with poems and stories stolen from
old magazines and periodicals. his
bogus war record" was the subject
Of a letter, purpOrted to be Official
from President Mckinley, before ne
was placed in the White House, TO
a General Welles at headquarters
here The letter was published BY
Republican managers in Washing
ton. and was intended 70 be sprung
as a campaign document
The Infamous career OF the swim
dler and thief began when he was
but a boy thirteen years OF age.
He entered the office Of a small pa
per as a printers devil. He was
then described as being dirty,
he slandered. lied, and stole. He
was discharged in short order.
The Colonel stole articles writ
ten by well-known authors. palm
ing them OF on rural editors. not
especially we'll read, as original.
One of the editors who was deceived
was owner of a county paper, and
IL was through fraud perpetrated
upon him that the police were. put
on the track Of the young pirate.
Vanished From Records.
Silloway vanished from TIE rec
ords after the closing OF the
columns of the papers to his forged
poetry at the end OF the first half
OF last century, to reappear after
the close Of the civil war as ". A.
SiEourney.
He turned up in Connecticut pre-
tending to he a nephew Of Mrs.
Lydia Huntley Sigourney. then
deceased, and used her name and
fame to float literary pretensions,
although ne was far from being
capable of literary work.
The poems which appeared In
various newspapers as his work
were signed sometimes William A.
SiEourney" and sometimes William
HuntIey Sigourney." and the writer
posing as the nephew of Mrs. Sig
Quincy, accounted for his poetic
ability by that relationship. 1t
was discovered later that the verses
signed with his name were taken
from Mrs. Sigourney's published
volumes, and little explanatory
paragraphs went around in the
newspapers giving the further in
formation that the "nephew's right
name was "SillOwav" or "Sulloway."
The pretender disappeared for q
short while after that, but turned
up again when the newspaper dis
pute arose over the authorship OF
Beautiful SOW" for which he was
one of the MIST eager contestants
OF the honor under the name OF
Major Sigourney."
Crock Me to Sleep
Not long after the appearance OF
William A. SiFOurney, William
Huntley Sigourneg and Major ST.
goUrnev-Or, to exact, in the
year 1S67-there was a controversy
over the authorship OF Rock Ne
to sleep" which was written by
Mrs. Elizabeth AkerL
In May Of the yeaT Of the discus
sion Mrs. Akers 70 Sived a letter
posted at Albany, y Y. and signed
Major william H0 lley." Offering
to prove for her that she was the
author OF the poem, and that the
writer had seen It. in manuscript In
1S49-tan years before II was writ
ten. He said that lie had watched
her work since then. She wondered
who he could be, as his name was