Scams Part 2

Yesterday, I discussed inheritance scams of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most cases, the con artists were caught, tried and convicted. However, these were not the only scams in operation at that time. There were about a half a dozen "professional" genealogists who, for a fee, would produce one's genealogy including supporting documentation.

This was a time when there was a great interest in proving one's lineage to a Mayflower pilgrim, to a patriot of the American Revolution, to an ancestor who settled in the colonies prior to the revolution, or to European royalty.

It was the wealthy class who could afford to hire someone to conduct such research. So, it's not surprising that some "professional" genealogists might see an opportunity for a quick buck. I came across a few articles on the Internet that identified about a half a dozen people as scam genealogists. At least one name on the list seems to be an error and I have not had an opportunity to confirm or refute the others named with the exception of Gustave Anjou.

He was quite prolific in producing genealogies especially for the wealthy of northeastern United States. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City website has posted a list of family histories in their library that are suspect because Gustave Anjou authored or provided the "documentation" to a client who authored the family history.

I was curious if Willem Teller, Peter Stoutenburg or Resolved Waldron were among the list of suspect family histories. I found accounts that Willem Teller was the son of Baron Rudolf Teller of Germany, Peter Stoutenburg was the grandson of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt of the Netherlands, and Resolved Waldron was a baron and his 2nd wife, Tanneke Nagel was Lady Nagel. Since none of these stories are true, I thought that Anjou may have been the source of the tales.

At this point, I have no evidence that Gustave Anjou was involved in the fabrication of the family lore associated with these three mean. But what I learned about Gustave Anjou was very interesting.

His obituary in the New York Times on March 3, 1942, claims that he was born in Paris but lived in Sweden. It also claims that PhD was conferred on him at Upsala University in Sweden. The article further claimed that he married a Swedish woman from a prominent family and then emigrated to the United States.

From the records I've seen, he had no children. None were mentioned in the obituary. I am curious to know who provided the information for the obituary. Since his deceased wife's name was not mentioned, I believe that the informant was not a relative but a staff writer for the New York Times.

The obituary mentions that he was a genealogist who charged wealthy clients $9000 to research the family history. It also mentioned that later he had a mail order business with a catalog of family histories that could be purchased for $250.

I found a handful of family histories that Anjou printed and many more in which he is cited as the source of information. His heyday seems to be between 1890 and 1916.

I first encountered Gustave Anjou as the transcriber of Ulster County Probate Records published in 1906. I don't know why or how he happened to transcribe these records but on November 17, 1905, the New York Times published an article, "Anjou Library Sold." The Anderson Company of New York City sold his library.

The various records regarding Anjou all have conflicting information. In 1900, he was living in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ with his wife and mother-in-law. All three were born in Sweden and he and his wife, Anna, came to the United States in 1890. His mother-in-law, Maria, came to the US in 1899. His occupation was a heraldist and genealogist.

In the Swedish emigration index, I found a Maria Gustava Anjou Spångber who left Stockholm Lån, Sverige to New York. The entry was filed on April 15, 1899. My Swedish friend, Mona, said that Anjou was not a Swedish surname. When I tried to find its origin, it seems to be more of a French name.

In 1910, the family was living New Brighton on Staten Island. This time the record claims that he was born in France as were his parents. He and his wife Anna came to the US in 1890. His mother-in-law, Maria, came in 1900. His occupation is historical researcher.

In 1920, his mother-in-law appears to be deceased as the family consists of Gustave and his Swedish wife. They both came to the US in 1890, he was naturalized in 1917, born in France along with his parents and he is a genealogical professional.

The SS St. Paul passenger list on October 2, 1909 includes a Gustave Anjou, age 46, married and a United States citizen. The SS Belgenland passenger list on November 20, 1925 includes a Gustave Anjou, age 61, widowed, naturalized in Richmond County, NY Court on March 9, 1918 and living at 177 Rice Avenue West, New Brighton, NY.

I found his passport application of April 19, 1924, in which he claims that he was born in Paris, France. His father, also born in France, was Charles Gustave Maris Anjou. He claims to have been naturalized in Richmond County, NY on March 9, 1918.

I viewed a passenger list in 1902 in which he was a US citizen and another in the 1920s in which he was naturalized in 1919. I haven't yet found the ship on which he arrived in 1890 but I am sure that it will conflict with these other records.

During his life time I found indications that others were questioning his research. Investigation of the reliability of the "History of the Longyear family" by Gustave Anjou in New York, U.S.A. is just one example.

Inheritance Scams Now and Then

Many of us have received at least one email message over the last several years that claims we have inherited money or some variation of the scam. Typically the amount is one million dollars. I suspect that $1 million is an amount that the victim can believe as credible and would love to be able to claim.

The small processing fee that the sender requests seems reasonable in view of the amount you will receive. Unfortunately, anyone who falls for the scam is out the processing fee sent to the perpetrator and will never see $1 million.

Sadly, this scam is not new, only the use of email to contact the victims is new. A hundred years ago, con artists employed newspapers and postal services. Since the target was a group of victims, the amount of the inheritance was much larger, tens of millions and hundreds of millions in currency. Also, the victim's investment was a dollar or two.

As a direct descendant of Anneke Jans through her daughter Sarah Roelofs, I had heard about the Bogardus lawsuit against the Trinity Church in New York City. I also heard the story that Anneke Jans was the daughter of Prince Wolfert, who was angered at her marriage to a commoner, left her inheritance in trust for her 7th generation of descendants. In other accounts, she was the daughter of William, Prince of Orange.

I spent years researching my family history that included learning naming traditions and studying local histories and documents. The lawsuit and the stories about Anneke Jans being a princess made no sense to me. Yet I was intrigued by the lawsuits. I found articles in various newspapers in the United States about the lawsuit.

To my surprise, I found similar lawsuits initiated by the descendants and alleged heirs of other notable European figures claiming that vast sums were due these heirs. At this same time, there seemed to be a plethora of claims by families to valuable properties on the Atlantic coast from Georgia to Newfoundland. The theme was the same...title to the property was unlawfully transferred to another.

The sad part of what I found in my research is that a handful of individuals made money from these lawsuits at the expense of the gullible and greedy. So many Americans had sent letters to the Dutch government laying claim to the fortune left to the 7th generation descendants of Anneke Jans that the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie generated a form letter to respond to these people and implied that these were all greedy Americans.

I found an article an Ogden, Utah newspaper printed on November 6, 1880, about the Bogardus vs. Trinity Church lawsuit being revived by a John A. Anderson of Brooklyn. The article says that he is to collect $50 each from 500 heirs to pursue the lawsuit and that the Trinity Church "will be compelled to give each of them a fortune of $2,000,000." The article further states that he will accept $50 only from proven heirs of Anneke Jans.

Before the last of the Trinity Church lawsuits was ended, an attorney, Willis T. Gridley, managed to bilk Anneke Jans descendants of more than a million dollars. Yet when he was sentenced in 1928, many members of the Bogardus descendants living in Michigan continued to support him. In 1930, Gridley published a book entitled, "Trinity! Break Ye My Commandments?"

A little over a year ago, I distant relative invited me to see a book that he had inherited from his grandfather. It was Gridley's book. Until I read an article by Jeffrey G. Raphelson in The Court Legacy (Vol. XIV, No., 1, February 2007) concerning the Anneke Jans descendants and their lawsuit, I did not connect the book to the lawsuit.

The relative is from a branch of the family that settled in Michigan. The Gridley trial was held in Michigan. The Court Legacy is a publication of the Historical Society for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

I was amazed to learn that support by the victims for the perpetrator was not unique. The same article mentioned the Heirs of Sir Francis Drake scam. I also found a mention of the Drake "heirs" in a 1927 New York Times article regarding the Anneke Jans lawsuit.

Oscar Hartzell trumped Gridley in the amount that he was able to scam the Drake "heirs". Not only did he collect $2 million before he was brought to trial, but he managed to get some of his victims to contribute $68,000 for his defense and his agents collected $500,000 from Drake "heirs" the year after he was convicted.

Richard Rayner wrote a book about Oscar Hartzell who conned almost 70,000 people out of over $2 million. The book is "Drake's Fortune: The Fabulous True Story of the World's Greatest Confidence Artist."