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Post by Michael on Nov 21, 2008 19:08:09 GMT -5
Ok, if you refer to the Inmate Profile sheet from Alcatraz (above) you will see the notation " 44" and " age when arrived here." The age on the license in question is " 47" Next, I searched through Whitaker's letters and found a letter dated 5-8-37 originating from "1900 F Street, Washington, D.C." The next letter I have is dated 5-23-37 and here begins the return address "51 Colonial Avenue, Trenton, N.J." This is the address on the license (above). On 6-18-37 I have a letter written from "Toledo, Ohio." The next change of address, that I have, is on 7-22-37 when he is back at the "1900 F Street" address which doesn't seem to change again all the way into 1939 (of what I have in front of me). With this information I think we can date the license. Additionally, I wanted to pass along this information which may or may not be helpful - but I hope it is.... I have record of Whitaker holding (4) different driver's licenses: - D.C. 369561
- Maryland 123078
- California 612298
- New Jersey (above)
Since Whitaker doesn't claim to have one from Alabama, in the summer of '37, then its either an error, he lost it earlier, or got it later.
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Post by Michael on Nov 24, 2008 7:38:24 GMT -5
I knew enough though, that fear kept me from testifying at my trial last May. Just before it started my wife was on two occasions threatened with death if I told what I know. Once by one man; once by two men, as she, a most devout Catholic, has stated in writing under oath. [Whitaker to Condon 2-1-34]
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Post by vovina on Nov 25, 2008 13:23:47 GMT -5
Thank you for the belated birthday greetings; I concur with your dating of the New Jersey license for 1937 ( your letter citations plus Whitaker's birth certificate in the Whitaker papers make it highly probable ) - I only asked if there happened to be a date on the document itself to see if Whitaker lied about his age on driver's licenses for whatever reasons. It seems very odd to carry multiple driver's licenses - when asked Whitaker always went into his song and dance about avoiding paying traffic tickets ( some states didn't recognize the right of other states to impose traffic fines on driver's licensed in their jurisdiction - apparently even into the 1970's when the Alabama license was questioned ). Whitaker was in St. Louis at the end of May, 1931 and officially in Tulsa in October, 1931 according to Hilbert. But Hoyt has both Whitaker and Means in Chicago spying on the Communist Party and searching for Wellington Henderson during the entire summer and early fall of 1931. If Hauptmann stayed in the Congress Hotel during his " vacation "( as your reconstruction of the time and locales during the trip places him in Chicago at the same time as Whitaker and Means ), the probability is very high that he met with Whitaker and Means as this was their headquarters during the summer of 1931 ( Hoyt pg. 289 ). Does the Congress Hotel's records still exist ? It is interesting to note that Means' reason for being in New York City on Feb.16th and 26th 1932 was again searching for Wellington Henderson ( Hoyt pg. 294 ). And in reference to " H.P. " as Harvery Philips in Reply#49, I wonder if Harvery is a male relative of Harold Philips who was the New York lawyer that served as President of the United states Chess Federation fron 1951-54 and who was a friend of Whitaker's. Perhaps " H.P. " is in fact Harold Philips ? Or Harvery Philips is getting his inside Whitaker info from his relative Harold ? Thanks again for the documentary evidence as it greatly aided my reconstruction of Whitaker's movements during 1931.
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Post by Michael on Nov 26, 2008 15:22:08 GMT -5
Harvey Phillips is definitely Harvey although I can't say if he's related to Harold or not. This man in unknown to me as of right now. H.P. worked for Plain Talk Magazine.... The following is a chronology put together by H. H. Martin of the Mixed Claims Commission: 1930 or 1931 - Means had talks with Mr. H. Feyfield , President of Guild Publishing Co., N.Y.C., re: publishing book on "Crimes in the U.S. by Germany and England 1915-1918"This book, that was to take the place of the articles which were to have been written for the Plain Talk Magazine, was never published.
1930-31 - Means met Wheeler Bloodgood, Esq., of Detroit, Mich., and discussed with him proposed publication of book and question of N.J. immunity.
1931 - Means again went to the Pacific Coast in connection with the 1929 investigation.
1931 (summer) - Means rented a furnished, summer cottage at Lookout Point, Md., moved his trunks and safe to that place.
Late in Dec. 1931 or Jan. 1932 - Means arrived in Washington from Chicago via B. & O.
Jan. 1932 - John Stedman arrived in Washington from Chicago and remained until the middle of Feb. 1932.
Feb. 1932 - Means and Stedman went to N.Y., where Means registered at the Hotel Imperial, 33rd and Broadway, and Stedman stayed with friends in N.Y. living north of 125th st.
Feb. 22, 1932 - Means returned to Washington. I recently found a bunch of new material that I am now going over. Some is EWM's material. Letters, rough drafts, articles, etc., some I am not sure were ever published, or if they were, whether or not I have a draft with material that feel on the cutting room floor. Some great stuff about Betty Gow's identification which I think is from her Liberty Article but I am not sure if this was put in there ( ) Here's something from My Say, undated, and there were several written (this being from one of them): Anybody that ever played Means for a fool was entirely wrong. He always worked on the theory that you must tell a certain amount of truth, but would weave in his lies with this truth, so in the end you would begin to wonder if it was not all truth. he never traveled under an assumed name. I had such a funny experience at El Paso one night. He told me with great seriousness that the wife of the Commander of Fort Bliss, who had invited me to come out to lunch the next day, wanted to see me that evening. Of course, I did not believe a word of this, but I said I would see her. Around eleven o'clock that night Means arrived with two of the most awful looking women I had ever seen and two men, one a half-breed and I know the other was a crook. but I played the game through, told them how sorry I was I could not go to the Fort the next day and I remember I had just finished reading a book called "For Men Only," which was a very, very broad book. I could not resist, as the red-headed hussy walked out of the room, handing it to her and telling her to read it and it would make her feel at home.
Of course, at heart Means was really a coward. He wouldn't mind shooting a woman in the back. But I don't think he would have the nerve to hit a child if that child was looking him straight in the eye.
He had a most remarkable fund of stories and if Means had put that brain of his to work in a constructive way, he undoubtedly would have been one of our big men today.
[LOC]
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Post by Michael on Nov 27, 2008 12:23:32 GMT -5
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Post by vovina on Dec 3, 2008 9:43:45 GMT -5
Are there any records of the purchase of Hauptmann's car for the 1931 vacation ? I've been tracking down Whitaker's various car purchases and car thefts. Whitaker's biographer claims the motive for the earlier car thefts was simply greed for automobiles, but then gives evidence that Whitaker was pulling an insurance scam - a possible hypothesis being an earlier version of a " black box " operation to raise money. And Whitaker was locked up in Florida during the kidnapping on auto theft charges. Besides the driver's licenses from various states, Whitaker was in the habit of buying license plates from different states - registering his cars in odd locals like Alabama. Could the reported low cost of Hauptmann's auto be related to Whitaker laundering stolen vehicles ? It would be a find if the Hauptmann auto was purchased from one of Whitaker's cronies !
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Post by Michael on Dec 3, 2008 18:23:06 GMT -5
There's reports and the actual invoice to this purchase.... If someone here doesn't have them on hand I will get them when I go to my condo for the picture dates.....
I recently came into some more McLean stuff to include the Liberty articles written by Thacker on Means. I am going to read them tonight.
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Post by Michael on Dec 7, 2008 9:50:50 GMT -5
Furthermore, I explained to him that we were fully aware of the facts regarding his code name as Z-16, and that he was also an undercover agent, and that his salary was paid by German officials at the rate of $100 a day plus all expenses. (Means eventually died in a Federal penitentiary hospital in another state). [Lt. Robert Hicks, "X-5", Mixed Claims Commission] This is the same Hicks who worked on the Lindbergh Kidnapping for Hauck, McLean, and Hoffman. His Code Name, "X-5", was assigned to him way before his involvement with that case just as Keyes's code name "K-4" had been assigned to him when he was working for the Secret Service. I make mention of this because I seem to recall a certain element making light of these code names employed during Hoffman's re-investigation implying these men were some type of "wanna-bes" and/or misfits inventing their own Code Names to seem important.
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Post by Michael on Dec 12, 2008 17:18:28 GMT -5
There were many men doing time in Alcatraz whose friends were slaughtered by Capone henchmen. There are others, like Jimmy Lucas, who hate him on general principles. It was Lucas who stopped Capone last June.
Capone was sorting laundry at the time. Lucas was going into the barbershop. he saw Capone, grabbed up a pair of scissors, rushed down a corridor. Capone was leaning over a laundry basket. Lucas stabbed him in the left side of the back. Capone whirled around and felled Lucas with a blow. Then the two battled for the scissors until guards came. Lucas went to the hole, Capone to the prison hospital. Capone said Lucas had been asking for money for his friends. Lucas denied that. He said Capone was a "squealer" and a "yellow rat." Capone got a reputation as a "squealer" when he refused to join an attempted "strike," terming it silly.
Lucas is serving thirty years for robbing a bank. he robbed the bank shortly after escaping from the Huntington, Texas, prison. He was serving life in Huntington, charged with murderous assault. he was still in the hole at Alcatraz when Capone left the hospital.
Loomis was present in the yard when a former member of the Tuohy kidnaping gang rushed toward Capone with a baseball bat. Capone's friends went to work on the Tuohy man, and guards took him to the hole. [Liberty Magazine, "House of Living Hell", 8-15-36, p.24]
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Post by Michael on Dec 17, 2008 16:47:41 GMT -5
This might seem insignificant, and actually may be, but these are the types of things I read once then never able to find again so I figured I would just post it for easier reference in case it is something noteworthy..... Agent Conroy also stated that Agent Anderson had talked with one Sam Goodman, a brother of the deceased husband of Pauline Means Goodman, a sister of Gaston B. Means, and that Mrs. Goodmanhas a daughter, Kathleen Goddman Handley, married to one Dan H. Handley, and that the Handleys live at Panama City, Florida: that Pauline Goodman visited the Means on March 23rd or 24th, and attended a family reunion, when Gaston Means was present, and that she left the next day for Panama City, Florida, which Agent Conroy understands to be near Dothan, Alabama. This information was conveyed to Agent in Charge Keith. [Agent V. W. Hughes, Memo for the Director, p2., 5-13-32]
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Post by Michael on Dec 21, 2008 9:06:50 GMT -5
I finally got a copy of Spectacular Rogue by Edwin Hoyt. Looks like a great book and I am so happy I finally have it. I wanted to quickly make mention that the "R. W. Hicks Jr." of the Mixed Claims Commission (discussed on pages 315-316) is Lt. Robert Waverly Hicks. Hicks is the man who was employed by Hauck early on in the Lindbergh Investigation then later by Gov. Hoffman (via Mrs. McLean).
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Post by vovina on Dec 22, 2008 8:53:03 GMT -5
Hoyt's narrative flow is at times dense. And his take on Means remains extreme: that Gaston was a complete con-man, liar, and probably a murderer. Hoyt didn't have access to the Harding materials that vindicated at least part of Gaston's tales - nor did Hoyt have access to the Spence materials on German spies during World War 1 that also vindicate part of Gaston's accounts of those years. Be that as it may, the Hoyt book is the only " complete " account of Means' life that we have at present. And the strange facts that Hoyt tosses out provide much " food for thought ".
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Post by Michael on Dec 23, 2008 6:43:38 GMT -5
Does anyone know if Thacker wrote another book on Nan Britton and Mrs. Harding?
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Post by vovina on Dec 23, 2008 8:22:57 GMT -5
Anthony doesn't list another book by Thacker on the topic, but does give a " Liberty " magazine article by Thacker entitled " Debunking the Strange Death of President Harding " on November 7th, 1931.
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Post by Michael on Jan 7, 2009 14:44:49 GMT -5
I asked what I did above because I seem to have a couple of chapters written by Thacker that looks like The Strange Death of President Harding but I can't seem to find where this is included in that book...perhaps someone can assist me before I get the notion that I have something "unique." Here is a page which is hand written: " This is page 1 - Chap 3" It is my profound regret that in all this story there can be no tale of romantic love. I have always loved romance and innocent coquetry. Even a hard-boiled two hundred and fifty pound investigator will expend his strength and talents and every resource at his command to protect and help along -- the foolish little intrigues or romantic love. With what joy and delight would I shield young love in even the weaknesses of idyllic dreamings. Romance of youth, caught in the snares of intrigue can be forgiven. Youth is that beautiful time in which we sow the immortal seeds of love and heroism and devotion.
But -- who cares for the sordid rendezvous of a married woman and her paramount?
That this first book of my Memoirs must drag into light sordid ugly facts that makes romance hide its face, -- is my misfortune......
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Post by vovina on Jan 8, 2009 9:10:47 GMT -5
So far the passage cited is not in my copy of " The Strange Death Of President Harding " nor " The President's Daughter " by Nan Britton: it sounds like a larger manuscript from which Thacker trimmed out her Liberty Magazine article. If such is the case, there may be information contained that has been previously unpublished which may be of interest to both Harding scholars as well as those of us trying to track down Means and Whitaker at various squares of their checkered ( or chessly ! - LOL ! ) careers .
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Post by Michael on Jan 8, 2009 17:07:50 GMT -5
Well, I just discovered its some of the rough draft from Strange Death..... I found where some matched up and some which apparently was cut out of the book. I only have about 3 chapters though. I also found a note from Thacker to McLean, in essence, telling her to "guard these" and the one's she gave her earlier.....
I just posted a digital copy of Brant and Renaud's book in our Member's Section. It's free to all Members for download.
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Post by Michael on Jan 12, 2009 7:04:18 GMT -5
Mrs. Warren G. Harding and Evalyn Walsh McLean: [LOC]
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Post by Michael on Apr 18, 2009 8:16:50 GMT -5
Here's a letter from Bill Conklin to Alan Hynd. This connects up with this thread and ties into Sue's recent post. Here is the first page and I will post the 2nd page soon:
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Post by Michael on Apr 19, 2009 8:10:50 GMT -5
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Post by Michael on Jul 12, 2009 11:29:29 GMT -5
For anyone who is interested... I fixed a bit of wrong information pertaining to the $104,000 in relation to Means/McLean. Too often I see people confused about it and it was wrong there too so what I posted is 100% the right information coming directly from the Trial Transcripts, which of course I properly cited. Means came to see her at her home again, in Washington, and said he would have to have an additional $4000 to pay the expenses of the kidnapers. So she had a $6000 check cashed at one of the banks in Washington and turned $4000 over to him to pay the kidnapers.[2] (2) United States vs. Gaston B. Means and Norman T. Whitaker, Criminal No. 53134, May 8, 1933, p51 [a href=" "] [/a]
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Post by Michael on Jul 27, 2009 15:35:33 GMT -5
Kinda going off on a tangent here but in relationship to my comment above (12/7) this report shows how the NJSP utilized the Private Investigators for information. This is exactly one of the same Agencies Gov. Hoffman requested information from that drew such unsavory adjectives from those who want to make his efforts look underhanded by using misfits. Yet, none of those are barking about it when the NJSP did the exact same thing. Morton Bernstein, along with his brother and other Agents within his Agency, assisted Schwarzkopf, Kimberling, and Gov. Hoffman. This was not uncommon. But what is uncommon is the truth and a balanced look at it.
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Post by vovina on Jul 29, 2009 8:24:33 GMT -5
Were any of the Private Investigators utilized by Gov. Hoffman ex-Burns Agency employees ? This may explain why Whitaker's hunt for the missing McLean money was actually given funding and support. And I am still trying to figure out how Means and Whitaker apparently knew of the general date and location of the kidnapping in advance.
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Post by Michael on Jul 29, 2009 15:41:56 GMT -5
That question is going to require a bit of research. Various people worked at various places - so its possible someone had even if they weren't at the time.
Off the top of my head - I believe Harvey Phillips was behind Whitaker's search. I will verify this and post what I find.
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Post by Michael on Jul 31, 2009 5:45:57 GMT -5
I found an inter-office Memo from Bill Conklin to Gov. Hoffman suggesting there's no harm in meeting with Harvey Phillips and Whitaker. I know that later on Finegan is involved and then later still when nothing is produced Whitaker is asking for money from the Gov. and he's telling him he just doesn't have the resources to fund his hunt for the stash.
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Post by Michael on Aug 19, 2009 15:29:38 GMT -5
Gaston Bullock Means: Death Certificate
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Post by Michael on Aug 25, 2009 17:35:32 GMT -5
Well, when I gave that money to Means I really expected never to see it again and I still do not think I will. As every one knows, it was not marked. I went into the Means episode with my eyes open, knowing full well his past reputation.
As I have explained before, he was in the Department of Justice when I first knew him and as a great favor to certain high officials who did not want to contact Means personally, I had him come out to Friendship and took some very important papers from him.
I will never forget that night when he arrived. I fully expected to see a suspiciious looking, hard-faced criminal, but instead of that in walked this fat, smiling, good-natured man with two very deep dimples and a very soft voice.
I took him in the little room and after givign him a couple of drinks of whiskey, asked him why he killed Mrs. King. He looked at me with a funny twinkle in his eye and siad, "Well, Mrs. McLean, accidents will happen." [My Say, Evalyn Walsh McLean, undated, Library of Congress]
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Post by Michael on Aug 31, 2009 12:34:06 GMT -5
Here's something I found at the Archives today which I find interesting... A gentleman by the name of William Gallatin found a "slip of paper" blowing around on the Rock Creek Golf course in Washington, D.C. After reading it he quickly wrote a letter to Lindbergh thinking it might have something to do with the Kidnapping. After reading his letter, Schwarzkopf asked the Metropolitan Police Department to investigate. Assistant Superintendent Frank S. W. Burke had Gallatin interviewed and obtained the note in question. They were impressed, not that it had anything to do with the actual kidnapping but that it might have to do with the Means angle. He forwarded a copy of the note to both OIC Keith, FBI and to Leo Rover the U.S. District Attorney for Washington D.C. Here is the contents of the note: "X3-11-87-2- Leave the baby behind the Jefferson Davis statue in Staturary Hall in the Capitol - The Jack will be in a little tobacco sack hanging on Carrie Nation's left breast - Gaston -X3-11-87-2"
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Post by Michael on Oct 13, 2009 7:33:15 GMT -5
***At times I am finding pictures I posted that have been "hijacked" by someone. They switch the picture I posted with theirs on Image Shack. If anyone sees any that I missed PLEASE let me know. I am going to be using the Proboards up-loader most of the time anyway which means if you haven't signed up you won't be able to see the actual document*** Here is something, from the actual source documentation, that A&M made a good point about in their book: I saw a man, the fabulous Gaston B. Means, sitting in a courtroom, on trial, and saying in effect:
"I was driving an automobile through Alexandria, Virginia, at an early hour in the morning. Under a street light at the edge of town a man stepped out into the roadway, and I stopped. He said to me, "I am Number Eleven," so I gave him the hundred thousand dollars." Then I saw another man, the gray-haired erratic "Jafsie" Condon sitting in a courtroom, in a witness chair, and saying in effect:
"I left Colonel Lindbergh sitting in the car and walked over to the appointed meeting place. There was a voice in the darkness: 'This is John'. So I gave him the fifty thousand dollars over the graveyard hedge." One story sent the teller of it to the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, and the other story, startlingly like the first, made the teller a public benefactor, and sent Hauptmann to the death house. [Harold G. Hoffman, Uncut Manuscript for Liberty Magazine, p.13, NJSP Archives]
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Post by vovina on Oct 14, 2009 8:23:01 GMT -5
In response to Reply # 86, I always have doubts about Mrs. McLean's testimony unless it is supported independently - she changes her stories almost as often as Gaston. And she wasa heavy narcotics abuser and alcoholic. However no one put any investigative pressure on her as she had J. Edgar Hoover somehow neutralized ( blackmail regarding Hoover's sexuality via Jess Smith could be a reason ). The incident she is referring to has to do with some Harding documents that the President stored at Friendship. And its nice to get to serve whiskey during Prohibition ( LOL! ). Since Gaston's testimony came first, perhaps Jafsie patterned some of his court testimony accordingly. And all this stuff is very murky to say the least !
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