Monroe Edwards
Monroe Edwards | |
---|---|
Sing Sing Prison, Ossining, New York, United States | |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Slave trader |
Known for | Forgery |
Criminal charge(s) | Multiple counts of forgery and fraud |
Criminal penalty | 10 years in prison |
Monroe Edwards (1808 – January 27, 1847) was an American slave trader, forger, and criminal who was the subject of a well-publicized trial and conviction in 1842. Originally from
Edwards' largest swindle involved forged letters from cotton brokers in New Orleans which he used to secure bank drafts for large sums that he then cashed. His fabrications caught up with him, and he was arrested and tried for the forgeries in June 1842. Convicted partly because his distinctive good looks made him memorable and easily recognizable, and partly from making the same spelling errors in his fakes, Edwards was sentenced to 10 years in prison and died in 1847 while incarcerated. Several sensational accounts of his offenses and trial were published after his death, and he was mentioned in Herman Melville's 1853 short story "Bartleby, the Scrivener".
Early life
Edwards was born in 1808 in
Around 1822, Edwards was sent to
Slave trading and forgery
Edwards' next efforts in smuggling involved a new partner,
In February 1836 Edwards landed 170 black people in Texas, taking advantage of the confusion surrounding the end of the
Edwards then tried to change the deal with Dart. Instead of dividing the smuggled slaves between the two men, Edwards tried to keep all the slaves and instead repay the money Dart had advanced him, with some interest.[1] Dart sued, and at the trial in March 1839 Edwards offered two forged documents claiming that Dart had sold his interest in the slaves to Edwards.[1] In forging the documents, Edwards originally secured Dart's signature on a document written in a type of ink that could later be chemically removed. After Dart signed the document, Edwards then removed the original wording of the document and substituted a deed selling Dart's interest in the land and slaves.[7] The documents were determined to be forgeries and on April 2, 1840, Dart was awarded $89,000 (~$2.63 million in 2023).[2] Edwards fled the Republic of Texas to the United States.[1]
As part of a plot to discredit both Dart and the government of Texas, Edwards persuaded some abolitionists in
Final scheme
Edwards' next fraudulent scheme involved forging letters to cotton brokers in New Orleans and using the signatures obtained from their replies to forge letters to brokers in New York City, saying that the fake John Caldwell – Edwards' alias – had a large amount of cotton on deposit with the New Orleans brokers. Edwards used those letters to secure fraudulent loans from brokers on the security of the non-existent cotton. Two New York brokers –
After his arrest, Edwards was imprisoned in the Tombs, New York City's jail. When he was arrested, he had more than $44,000 in a trunk in his room.[12] While in jail awaiting trial, Edwards forged a letter alleging he had funds in New Orleans, and then showed the letter to one of his lawyers to reassure the lawyer about Edwards' ability to pay for legal counsel. In an attempt to delay his trial, Edwards also forged a letter from a supposed witness, Charles Johnson, stating that he was in Cuba and would not be able to come and testify for Edwards for a while; this gained Edwards a three-month delay.[14]
Trial
Edwards' trial was in June 1842 and was a media sensation. He secured a defense team of six lawyers, including
Legacy
Edwards earned a mention in Herman Melville's story "Bartleby, the Scrivener". Melville used the names of contemporaneous events and people to give a contemporary feel to his short stories.[18] One of his characters is imprisoned in the Tombs with the main character, and he asks if he is a "gentleman forger" like Edwards.[12] The career of Melville's narrator in "Bartleby" parallels that of Edmonds, who defended Edwards then went on to be the prison inspector at Sing Sing during Edwards' prison term and was known for his attempts to improve the treatment of the prisoners. Melville's narrator also tries to secure better treatment for Bartleby. The narrator's description of Bartleby just prior to death "eerily echoed" the state of Edwards just prior to his death, in the words of Robert Wilson.[17][e]
Edwards was known as the "Great Forger" during and after his trial.[18] The main account of his life and trial is Life and Adventures of the Accomplished Forger and Swindler, Colonel Monroe Edwards, which was written by an editor of the National Police Gazette in 1848, probably by George Wilkes. It is the fullest account of Edwards' life but mingles fact with fiction to the extent that it has been listed in bibliographies of American fiction. Wilkes' account is the source for the story of Kitty Clover, supposedly a slave who loved Edwards, rescued him, and followed him throughout his life. There are other accounts, including two anonymous narratives published in 1842.[1]
Notes
- ^ Edwards may have been the only American citizen in Texas to have gone to Africa to acquire slaves.[5]
- ^ Evarts went on to be the first president of the New York Bar Association, United States Secretary of State, and a U.S. Senator.[15]
- ^ Documents produced in the trial showed that Edwards was attempting to finance another slaving trip from Martinique into Texas by use of land he claimed to hold in Texas, although at the time the documents were written it was not clear if Edwards still owned any land there.[7]
- ^ Another account of his death states he died after a beating by prison guards.[2]
- ^ Melville's short story appears to be set in the mid-1840s, but his mention of Edwards' death by consumption while still at Sing-Sing in 1847 is at odds with the rest of the historical events depicted as contemporary in the story.[19]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Thompson "Edwards, Monroe" American National Biography Online
- ^ a b c d Jones "Edwards, Monroe" Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Muir "Union Company in Anahuac" Southwestern Historical Quarterly p. 265
- ^ a b Barrows William M. Evarts pp. 21–23
- ^ a b c d Robbins "Origin and Development of the African Slave Trade" East Texas Historical Journal p. 158
- ^ Rowe "Disturbances at Anahuac" Quarterly p. 280
- ^ a b c d e f Kelley "Blackbirders" Civil War History pp. 410–412
- ^ a b Lack "Texas Revolutionary Experience" p. 4
- ^ Valdes "Decline of Slavery in Mexico" Americas p. 194
- ^ Kelley "Blackbirders" Civil War History p. 418
- ^ Denham "Peerless Wind Cloud" East Texas Historical Journal p. 13
- ^ a b c d e f Dillingham Melville's Short Fiction pp. 51–52
- ^ Kouwenhoven Partners in Banking p. 77
- ^ a b c Barrows William M. Evarts pp. 24–27
- ^ Hoogenboom "Evarts, William Maxwell" American National Biography
- ^ Dyer Public Career of William M. Evarts p. 12
- ^ a b Wilson "Sympathy for the Lawyer" ANQ pp. 25–26
- ^ a b Dillingham Melville's Short Fiction pp. 14–15
- ^ Swann "Dating" Notes and Queries pp. 357–358
References
- Barrows, Chester L. (1941). William M. Evarts: Lawyer, Diplomat, Statesman. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 2746630.
- Denham, James M. (1991). "The Peerless Wind Cloud: Thomas Jefferson Green and the Tallahassee Land Company". East Texas Historical Journal. 29 (2): 3–14.
- Dillingham, William B. (1977). Melville's Short Fiction 1853–1856. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. OCLC 2632482.
- Dyer, Brainerd (1933). The Public Career of William M. Evarts. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. OCLC 479207.
- Hoogenboom, Ari (February 2000). "Evarts, William Maxwell". American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
- Jones, Mary Beth (June 12, 2010). "Edwards, Monroe". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
- Kelley, Sean (December 2008). "Blackbirders and Bozales: African-Born Slaves on the Lower Brazos River of Texas in the Nineteenth Century". Civil War History. 54 (4): 406–423. S2CID 143517331.
- Kouwenhoven, John A. (1968). Partners in Banking: An Historical Portrait of a Great Private Bank Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. 1818–1968. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company. OCLC 249770.
- Lack, Paul D. (1992). The Texas Revolutionary Experience: A Political and Social History 1835–1836. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 0-89096-497-1.
- Muir, Andrew Forest (October 1966). "The Union Company in Anahuac 1831–1833". Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 70 (2): 256–268. JSTOR 30236390.
- Robbins, Fred (1971). "The Origin and Development of the African Slave Trade in Galveston, Texas, and Surrounding Areas from 1816 to 1836". East Texas Historical Journal. 9 (2): 153–161.
- Rowe, Edna (April 1903). "The Disturbances at Anahuac in 1832". The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association. 6 (4): 265–299. JSTOR 27784935.
- Swann, Charles (September 1985). "Dating the Action of 'Bartleby'". Notes and Queries. 32 (2): 357–358. .
- Thompson, George A. (2000). "Edwards, Monroe". American National Biography Online. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
- Valdes, Dennis N. (October 1987). "The Decline of Slavery in Mexico". The Americas. 44 (2): 167–194. S2CID 147163139.
- Wilson, Robert Andrew (Fall 2008). "Sympathy for the Lawyer: A Source for 'Bartleby' and Nineteenth-Century Prison Reform". S2CID 159757459.
Further reading
- Wilkes, George (attrib.) (1848). Life and Adventures of the Accomplished Forger and Swindler, Colonel Monroe Edwards. New York, NY: H. Long & Brother.