Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 10

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 10

* One Chicago Matrimonial Bureau circulated the photograph of one miss to cowboys in the West, inferring an abundance of brides…
* Matrimonial Bureau run by a man named Chinn, accused of having purchased pictures of Actors and Actresses and passing them off as candidates for marriage.
* 40,000 Love Letters: Manager of a Matrimonial Bureau Slides Down a Rope From a Third Story Window (leaving wife and desperately ill baby behind in a closet)
* The Salvation Army, in the Cupid Business? (A delightful spot of humor!)

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 7

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 7

  1. Scammers threw out baited hooks to entrap the unsuspecting…and “suckers” fell for it far too often. This article covers a few short newspaper reports of circumstances wherein the honest fell for scams and ultimately paid plenty.
  2. The Postoffice Department takes steps to Suppress a Matrimonial Bureau. [sic]
  3. Six young boys run a scam, presenting themselves as a wealthy widow seeking a husband.
Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 6

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 6

Detective Clifton R. Wooldridge made a difference on the streets of wicked Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. Some of the 100 fraudulent matrimonial agencies he shut down are captured in newspaper articles from the era. A significant scam involving Mail-Order Brides, mentioning Detective C.R. Wooldridge is featured in this article.

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 3

Nineteenth Century Mail-Order Bride SCAMS, Part 3

A man with two wives (neither knows about the other) seeks yet two more, entirely to swindle them of their means. This 1899 tale is so well worth reading.

Franks, as he presents himself on the West Coast, in the middle of defrauding women through multiple marriage agencies is scammed, himself, by a wealthy widow in demand of a expensive courtship.

Amateur historians will find myriad details worth noting, such as the communication of chiefs of police, use of the term “dead beat,” laws on the books, and so much more.