National and local frauds in history

At one time or another, many of us have been victims of some clever person or group who, for various reasons, seeks to convince us that they are in possession of information that you will be much the better for if they shared it with you. Often these purveyors of smoke and mirrors emerge after a legitimate event has taken place, and they seek to capitalize on it by adding false information with the intent to defraud the public and line their pockets with the proceeds.

A good example occurred after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Almost immediately the conspiracy theory made headlines not only in this country, but also throughout the world.

Someone saw a way to make some fast money when a series of coincidences became apparent on some of our dollar bills. The Federal Reserve System of the United States consists of 12 districts, each of which has a certain amount of paper currency printed for use within their district. Boston is designated as 1, along with the capital letter “A� within the seal; San Francisco is 12, with the letter “L�; and Dallas, Texas, is 11, with the 11th letter of the alphabet, “K� inside its seal.

Take out a dollar bill and you will notice on the left-hand side of the face the black seal containing these letters. If you happened to be looking at a bill from the 11th district, it would have the letter “K� inside the seal, and the words “Dallas, Texas� at the bottom of the seal. Notice that there are four number 11s; two on the left side, two at the right; there are two identical green identification numbers, both beginning with the letter “K�; finally, look at the lower right of Washington’s portrait and observe the word “series,� directly over a date. This date changes whenever either the treasurer of the United States or the secretary of the treasury is replaced — it does not indicate the year the bill was printed.

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With that background, know that 1963 saw either the secretary or the treasurer replaced; therefore the date reads 1963. So how do you go about reaping illegal money from that sad event? Our con artist realized that most citizens hardly look at the currency in their pockets, so he says something like this: “The president has been assassinated by our own government, probably the CIA. A treasury employee discovered the plot, and figuring that he would be quickly added to the list of victims if he breathed a word, found a way to print the proof for the American public to see; he would have our $1 bills printed in such a way that the truth would be obvious.

“To begin with, notice the black letter ‘K’ in the center of the seal; see ‘Dallas, Texas’ right under it? Now look at those green letters ‘K’ in front of the serial numbers, as well as the four numbers ‘11.’ If the truth isn’t obvious to you, let me point out to you their significance: Kennedy was killed in November, the 11th month; he was killed on the 22nd (add either the left or right set of numerals) and he was 44 years old (add all four 11s). If you need further proof, notice the date – 1963! The only problem is that this person’s attempt to expose the plot was discovered after very few bills were printed. The plates were seized and destroyed, but a handful was smuggled out of the treasury building by my brother-in-law, and this is one of them. I’m willing to sell this one to you for “$—â€�  (Fill in the amount you think your gullible mark is good for.)â€�

The government had to take out newspaper ads and other means at their disposal to alert the public to this scam, although there no doubt remain a certain few who still believe the hoax. No doubt in some people’s minds, the government’s attempt was misconstrued as further evidence of its complicity in the cover-up.

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That is an example of criminal fraud. Another scenario doesn’t seek to gain illegal money, but is designed to gain the public’s interest in a subject near and dear to them. Let’s take, for example, some of the writings printed right here in Winsted and its environs:

Louis Stone, one of the past editors of the Winsted Evening Citizen, is credited with compiling a steady stream of reports concerning the amazing events that seemed to take place around here.

Frank L. Wentworth wrote a book, “The Winsted Wildman and Other Tales,� published in 1929. It is a collection of stories, many of which supposedly had been published in the Citizen and the Winsted Herald. The event responsible for his choice of a title took place in 1895. “Wild Man Seen Again� reads the headline, followed by a subtitle reading “Chased over the hills and his capture now probable. Now in a cave.�

Before going further, let’s say right now that just about everyone who read Louis Stone knew that he was spinning yarns, but other papers picked up on his stories, and their readers were more apt to fall for his writings, hook, line and sinker. I know that certain New York City papers regularly ran these items. As a matter of fact, quite a large number of New Yorkers in those days knew (or thought they knew) about Winsted when they probably would have been hard pressed to name another town in the state. All this based upon the wonderful happenings that took place in and around Winsted as envisioned by the fertile mind of Louis Stone.

The wild man was first seen near the Winchester-Colebrook town line between Smith Hill Road and the Old Colebrook Road. He was described as being large, stark naked and covered with hair all over his body. He was given to making loud yells and cries and could run very fast — one reason why he was never caught.

As the reports continued, the wire services must have picked up on the story and several reporters were dispatched to Winsted by train, and for a while at least, as the story goes, there wasn’t a riding horse available for hire in Winsted or Colebrook. In spite of all the reporters, or perhaps because of them, the wild man was never sighted and although several reports placed them right on his heels, he remained elusive. When the reporters returned home, they took with them a profitable source of income for the Winsted storyteller.

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Now let’s look into the Colebrook cave. The 1895 initial report on the wild man has him fleeing his pursuers and he is thought to be hiding in a cave. There was speculation at the beginning of this episode as to the identity of the mystery wild man. One scenario put forth by Stone named an artist who had become insane and placed in a Litchfield asylum, from which he escaped and turned up six months later in Cuba, living in a cave and acting like a wild man.

The resurrection of the 1841 newspaper account that had received widespread publicity by means of inclusion in a book published in 1869 had not escaped the attention of Stone, who no doubt had filed the information away for future use.

The truth of the matter is that in those days little was known of geology by the average person, and a convincing writer could easily gather a large following if he so desired, even if he described a limestone cavern located in a hill composed of granitic schists. Perhaps things don’t change that much; claims of yeti or sasquatch sightings still surface, just outside of camera range.

Bob Grigg is the town historian in Colebrook.