“Mrs. Caroline Smith is a colored woman who
keeps a second-hand store at 95 King street east. Just a week ago, a man about
45 years of age, W. H. Sawyer, by name, representing himself to be a member of
the Georgia minstrel troupe, presented himself at Mrs. Smith’s and asked to be
taken in as a boarder.”
Hamilton Spectator. June 8,
1885.
Mrs. Caroline Smith and her
husband were well known in Hamilton in June 1885, so when the story appeared in
the Spectator that something untoward had happened to them, it was read with
interest.
W. H. Sawyer was stylishly-dressed
in a well-cut suit, with shiny jewelry and carrying a gold-headed cane, and so
the Smiths agreed to take him on as a boarder.
However, just a few days
later, Mrs. Smith discovered that most of the $600 in cash which she had just
received after taking out a mortgage on their property was gone.:
“Sawyer had also
disappeared, jewelry, gold-headed cane and all, and did not show up again. Mrs.
Smith reported her loss to the police and sent telegrams with a description of
the supposed thief to Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Windsor.
“Sawyer is a short, stout
man, of a brown, rather than black, complexion and well-dressed. Nothing has
been heard of him since the money was stolen. The money was in three $50 and
seventeen $20 bills.”1
1 “A Good Haul : How Mrs. Caroline Smith Had Her
Money Stolen”
Hamilton Spectator June 8, 1885.
Readers of the Spectator
were very concerned about the matter, but were somewhat relieved when seeing a
sentence that he quickly added to the already-written story, just before the late
edition of the paper went to press:
““A telegram received by the
chief of police from Buffalo Saturday afternoon states that sawyer had been
arrested there.”1
There was much gossip about
exactly what had happened and the paper which appeared on Monday provided all
the answers :
“Vincent Smith and his wife Caroline carry on
a second-hand business in a quiet was at 95 King street west. They are both
elderly, and both honest, inoffensive persons – apparently a quiet,
steady-going couple, who have been living in harmony and working hard to lay a
little stock of money to keep them comfortably in the fast-approaching days of
old age, when they could work no more.
“Both are colored,
especially Caroline. Caroline seemed to be a woman whose nature whose nature
would afford but a sterile soil at the best for amatory passion to blossom in
it. But every woman has to have her romance someone. Most frequently it occurs
in early youth. Sometimes it comes later. When love comes late, it takes root
deeply. In Caroline’s case, it took root deeply.
“A week or ten days ago
occurred an event big with fate for the Smith household. This was the
appearance of a stranger who came to Mrs. Smith and asked to be admitted into
the family as a boarder.
“The stranger’s name was W.
H. Sawyer. Mr. Sawyer was a most stylish-looking colored gentleman – dressed in
a suit of the latest cut, resplendent with jewelry, and sporting a gold-headed
cane. He had been a member of the Georgia minstrel company which delighted the habitués
of Tuck’s dime museum early in the season
“Mrs. Smith was delighted to
receive as a boarder such a distinguished gentleman, and it was arranged that
he should sojourn with the Smiths. He came, and like an easy, well-bred man of
the world, speedily made himself at home, and ingratiated himself with his host
and hostess.
“His friendship with the
open-hearted Caroline especially bloomed very rapidly. Their relations grew even
to be so confidential that Mrs. Smith informed her new friend thoroughly as to
some details of family affairs, and Sawyer became aware that the estimable pair
owned a little property, and learned further that they were thinking of
improving and extending their premises. To do this, it was necessary to
mortgage the property, and the confidence that was placed in Sawyer’s judgement
and business tact by Mr. and Mrs. Smith was shown by his accompanying them to
the office where the mortgage was drawn and assisting in that legal ceremony.
The sum raised by the mortgage was $600.
“Last Friday night, only two
or three days after the money was received, Mrs. Smith appeared at the police
headquarters, nearly beside herself with excitement and grief, with the story
that Sawyer had robbed her of $494 cash and had gone away, she knew not where.
“A description of Sawyer was
sent to several central points, and on Saturday afternoon, word was received
that he had been arrested in Buffalo. The same night, Detective Reid went to
Buffalo to fetch the supposed thief back, and he took Mrs. Smith along to
identify the prisoner.
“But a surprise awaited him.
The prisoner was charged with having stolen; but he stoutly maintained his innocence
on the charge of theft, and declared that Mrs. Smith had entrusted him with the
money as one of the preliminary arrangements for an elopement. To prove this he
asserted that he had in his possession a number of tender missives addressed to
him by the susceptible Caroline.
“Mrs. Smith did not deny the
soft impeachment; in fact, she admitted that in an hour of weakness she had
lent a too willing ear to the tales of her gay and flattering deceiver and had
promised to elope with him.
“But she wanted her money
back. Sawyer’s soul was touched by her pitful appeals; he offered to
compromise; and, after a good deal of parleying, a compromise was effected.
“Mrs. Smith received $300,
and out of the balance he paid the two lawyers whom he had engaged to defend
him.
“In company with detective Reid,
Mrs. Smith returned home last evening – a sadder, but considerably more
experienced, if not wiser woman than she was ere the warm springtide of passion
burst upon the winter of her days.”1
1 “A
Highly Colored Romance : In Which It Appears That June Roses ‘mid Winter’s
Snows”
Hamilton Spectator June 9, 1885.
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