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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 17:50:54 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 17:55:00 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 18:07:40 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 19:52:14 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 20:20:31 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 20:42:29 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 20:54:31 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 22:35:35 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 30, 2010 22:50:30 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 31, 2010 13:59:15 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 31, 2010 14:25:37 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 31, 2010 14:33:26 GMT -5
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Post by sue75 on Jan 31, 2010 14:48:46 GMT -5
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Post by wolf2 on Feb 1, 2010 9:39:38 GMT -5
great find sue, i enjoyed the articles. i never read these and never knew red gave a detailed statement of his involvment in the case
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Post by sue75 on Feb 2, 2010 3:40:09 GMT -5
I was able to find (with some trouble) all 12 of the articles in the series. I wonder what Red got paid by the Pittsburgh-Press Gazette? Is there another "Red" account similar to this that I'm not aware of? He really had alot to say, Steve!
Try clicking the + button to enlarge the print to see it better.
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Post by Michael on Feb 2, 2010 8:25:21 GMT -5
I was having a hard time with this. My Browser doesn't have the "+" button but once I used a different one there it was....
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Post by anayah on Dec 2, 2015 11:02:38 GMT -5
the police back then was really bad at working with cases like this.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Mar 8, 2023 7:43:42 GMT -5
This excellent find and discussion thread was contributed by Sue back in 2010. The above articles, titled "My Adventures in the Lindbergh Case" were authored by Henry "Red" Johsnon and appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette between April 19 and May 2, 1932. Through his relationship with Charlie’s caregiver, Betty Gow, Johnson found himself in the unique position of having been a potential insider within this case. It’s very informative, insightful and entertaining reading.
Johnson at times, relates just how easy it would have been for him and/or Betty to have provided information relative to the comings and goings of the Lindberghs, to a third party. He was of course, grilled very thoroughly by case investigators who could come up with little more incriminating than the fact Johnson was an illegal immigrant.
Referencing the April 22 instalment of Johnson’s chronicles, I was surprised at how many curious people the construction of the house itself had attracted in November of 1931. I tend to believe this would have been a regular occurrence, especially as the house had taken its exterior shape in November of 1931. And I also wonder how easy it would have been for someone intent on discovering valuable details about the house and its room locations, to have slipped relatively unnoticed in and out of what was otherwise just a large and happy group of sightseers.
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Post by stella7 on Mar 8, 2023 10:01:33 GMT -5
I was not able to access these articles, is there a different way to reach them?
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Mar 8, 2023 10:29:15 GMT -5
I was not able to access these articles, is there a different way to reach them? Stella, I just click on the links and the newspaper pages pop up, but I realize now this may be due to the fact I have a newspapers.com account. I've been member of this now for the past year or so and it's an absolute gold mine for news information. Naturally, it all has to be evaluated against known facts of the case, but I highly recommend it. Michael, is there any way to lift the current restriction that appears to be preventing the downloading of attachment files, so I can post the information I referenced in my post?
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Post by Michael on Mar 8, 2023 21:09:25 GMT -5
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Post by stella7 on Mar 8, 2023 21:50:08 GMT -5
Thank-you for trying, Michael. This doesn't work either. It requires me to sign up to read the article.
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Post by Michael on Mar 9, 2023 9:11:15 GMT -5
That’s strange. Google News is free. When I click it goes directly to the page it’s on. Some you have to move around to find but they are there. Have you tried a different browser? Is anyone else having this problem?
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Mar 9, 2023 9:35:32 GMT -5
Thank-you for trying, Michael. This doesn't work either. It requires me to sign up to read the article. For Norma and others who may not be able to access the articles, here is the piece from Henry (Red) Johnson's April 22, 1932 installment of 'My Adventures in Lindbergh Case' I had previously referred to. This continuous excerpt talks mainly about the crowds that had gathered during the final stages of construction of the new house, and while cars were not allowed to get past the gates at the entrance to the private drive, many people took the initiative to wander about the grounds, keeping Whateley busy trying to chase them off. This visit by Red and Betty took place in mid-November of 1931. Given that the Lindberghs had spent an overnight visit at the house a few weekends before this, suggests that final interior and exterior finishing touches would have been going on at this time. I'll see if I can find a way to copy and paste some of the other articles and excerpts as there is a lot of information and insights I don't believe are commonly known. Considering that Johnson was interrogated for well over a week by no less than four individual police organizations as well as "Federal Men" ultimately assigned to his illegal immigration status, I have to believe his own investigative and intuitive senses would have been significantly heightened by the ordeal he very calmly went though and not only the general, but inside police information he would have been privy to within the lines of his questioning. He was a pretty decent writer and over the course of these articles, Johnson comes across as someone with a very down-to-earth, rational and common sense approach towards his own understanding of the case, while clearly demonstrating his humanity and genuine concern for Charlie and those who loved him. I believe he would have made a very good, good cop! Crowds Astonished
As we started past the line, people began to call at me that nobody was allowed on the grounds, and there wasn’t any use trying. I just grinned and went on. At the gate to the estate, Ollie Whateley met us, and to the astonishment of the assembled multitude the gate was thrown open and little old “Depression” chugged in through while the limousine customers were barred.
Anyway, the hundreds of people that day and many another day would have had plenty of opportunity to have a good look at the lay of the land and the surrounding country. Who knows? Maybe the kidnapers were there that day having a look around. Any maybe they came back time after time until they had every feature of the surrounding country firm in their mind. Maybe they had already begun to rehearse the actual kidnaping and getaway.
Although cars couldn’t come through the gate on the little side road that led directly to the house, many of the curious passengers would get out and walk around the grounds.
Many of them got very near the house and surveyed it from all angles. Whateley was kept busy chasing them away, but many of them were very persistent about coming back after they were chased away, so he had quite a time. It would have taken a squad of policemen to have kept the place entirely (free?).
Could See How House Lay
The visitors could see how the house lay, with trees in the back, open towards Hopewell and the road, and with a field in front. Most of the surrounding property was covered with small scrub growth which would give concealment but which would not interfere with the vision of anyone who wanted to lie there night after night and study the movements of the household a couple of months later
That in my opinion is just what happened. It wasn’t necessary for the kidnapers to have information from the inside, as many people believe. A clever observer could have concealed himself near the house and studied every movement of the household every evening until he was certain of the routine. It’s my impression that most of the house was not equipped with shades, and that if there were shades throughout, nobody would bother very much about them because the house was so isolated. So, it was not very difficult to get a pretty good idea from the outside of just what was going on.
Anyone lying out there in the bushes while the Lindberghs were home could soon find out just when the baby was put to bed, just when the household dined, where the servants were likely to be at a certain time, how often the baby was visited after it was put to bed, where the Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh spent their time in the evenings and all the other necessary details.
Could Take Time
That’s my idea of how the thing was done. The kidnapers could have taken plenty of time for their preliminary surveys, because they were playing for big stakes.
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Post by IloveDFW on Mar 9, 2023 9:46:05 GMT -5
Thank-you for trying, Michael. This doesn't work either. It requires me to sign up to read the article. For Stella and others who may not be able to access the articles, here is the piece from Henry (Red) Johnson's April 22, 1932 installment of 'My Adventures in Lindbergh Case' I had previously referred to. This continuous excerpt talks mainly about the crowds that had gathered during the final stages of construction of the new house, and the fact that even though cars were not allowed to get past the gates at the beginning of the private drive, many people took the initiative to wandering about the grounds, keeping Whateley busy trying to chase them off. This visit took place in mid-November. Given that the Lindberghs had spent an overnight visit at the house a few weekends before this, suggests that final interior and exterior finishing touches would have been going on at this time. I'll see if I can find a way to copy and paste some of the other articles and excerpts as there is a lot of information and insights I don't believe are commonly known. Considering that Johnson was interrogated for well over a week by no less than four individual police organizations as well as "Federal Men," ultimately assigned to his illegal immigration status, I have to believe his own investigative and intuitive senses would have been significantly heightened by the ordeal he very calmly went though and not only the general, but inside police information he would have been privy to within the lines of his questioning. Not only was he a pretty decent writer, but over the course of these articles, Johnson comes across as someone with a very down-to-earth, rational and common sense approach towards his own understanding of the case, while clearly demonstrating his humanity and genuine concern for Charlie and those who loved him. I believe he would have made a very good, good cop! Crowds Astonished
As we started past the line, people began to call at me that nobody was allowed on the grounds, and there wasn’t any use trying. I just grinned and went on. At the gate to the estate, Ollie Whateley met us, and to the astonishment of the assembled multitude the gate was thrown open and little old “Depression” chugged in through while the limousine customers were barred.
Anyway, the hundreds of people that day and many another day would have had plenty of opportunity to have a good look at the lay of the land and the surrounding country. Who knows? Maybe the kidnapers were there that day having a look around. Any maybe they came back time after time until they had every feature of the surrounding country firm in their mind. Maybe they had already begun to rehearse the actual kidnaping and getaway.
Although cars couldn’t come through the gate on the little side road that led directly to the house, many of the curious passengers would get out and walk around the grounds.
Many of them got very near the house and surveyed it from all angles. Whateley was kept busy chasing them away, but many of them were very persistent about coming back after they were chased away, so he had quite a time. It would have taken a squad of policemen to have kept the place entirely (free?).
Could See How House Lay
The visitors could see how the house lay, with trees in the back, open towards Hopewell and the road, and with a field in front. Most of the surrounding property was covered with small scrub growth which would give concealment but which would not interfere with the vision of anyone who wanted to lie there night after night and study the movements of the household a couple of months later
That in my opinion is just what happened. It wasn’t necessary for the kidnapers to have information from the inside, as many people believe. A clever observer could have concealed himself near the house and studied every movement of the household every evening until he was certain of the routine. It’s my impression that most of the house was not equipped with shades, and that if there were shades throughout, nobody would bother very much about them because the house was so isolated. So, it was not very difficult to get a pretty good idea from the outside of just what was going on.
Anyone lying out there in the bushes while the Lindberghs were home could soon find out just when the baby was put to bed, just when the household dined, where the servants were likely to be at a certain time, how often the baby was visited after it was put to bed, where the Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh spent their time in the evenings and all the other necessary details.
Could Take Time
That’s my idea of how the thing was done. The kidnapers could have taken plenty of time for their preliminary surveys, because they were playing for big stakes.Thanks Joe!!🤘
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Mar 11, 2023 9:57:34 GMT -5
Here is the full April 23, 1932 installment of the series of Johnson articles, which appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
My Adventures in the Lindbergh Case By Henry (Red) Johnson – Chapter V
The first time I visited the Lindbergh house while the family was there was on New Year’s Day. It was about this time that the Lindberghs began to spend weekends at their new house. Sometimes Betty went down with them and sometimes she didn’t, because it seems that Mrs. Lindbergh like to take these holiday opportunities of having he baby entirely to herself.
It was at this time that I had the chance of a more less private chat with Mr. Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., who was then around 18 months old.
Betty and I were sitting in the servants’ sitting room when young Mr. Lindbergh came toddling in. It is my firm opinion that he was just returning from an unsuccessful foraging campaign in the kitchen. He was very fond of crackers and various sorts of biscuits, and it was no secret to him that the supply base lay in the kitchen, where Mrs. Whateley was on guard.
Tried to Trick Guard
Often he would try to trick the guard by all sorts of clever stratagems and even outright pleas. But he was successful only when his plans were approved by his headquarters staff—Mrs. Lindbergh or Betty.
When he came into the room he gave no indication of the failure of his campaign. Evidently he had made up his mind to make the best of his defeat, like a real soldier, and hope for the best next time.
When he saw Betty he broke into a broad grin and said “Bet-tee,” and he said it with a strong Scotch accent, far stronger, it seemed to me, than Betty’s own Scotch accent, which is very slight.
Young Charles stuck close to Betty when he first came into the room because I was there. He wasn’t exactly timid, but still he wasn’t used to strangers, so he gave me a wide berth for a while. I asked him where his father was, and he said “Dair,” pointing towards the garage, where the colonel, in rough trousers and sweater, was tinkering with a car. He also indicated where his mother was by pointing toward the living room, where Mrs. Lindbergh was reading.
Plays With Terrier
At that time, the little fox terrier came bouncing in. With a merry laugh the baby bounced after him and began to play with him, talking all the while in a language which I guess the dog understood, but which escaped my small ability to in the matter of languages. Suddenly the little terrier happened to think of something that required his attention elsewhere, and he bounced out of the room just as he had bounced in.
Baby Charles stared in amazement at this sudden desertion, then burst into a smile, raised his arm haphazardly toward the door, and said to me: “Dog all gone.”
Then he started after the dog. Halfway to the door he turned to me again and smiled, as if to say: “Pardon me, but I’ve got to go out and take care of that dog. He’ll probably get into some mischief if I don’t watch out for him.” Soon I heard Baby Charles romping with the dog in another room.
There has been so much mystery about little Charles that most everybody is wondering about him. There have even been rumours that the child was deaf or dumb or had some other defect because of the way he was kept secluded. But what I have just related should scotch that rumor once and for all.
I am certainly not an expert on the matter of children, but I come from a large family, and there are a lot of children in it, and it is my nature to observe things, so I can say truthfully that little Charles Lindbergh is as fine a youngster as I ever saw.
Obedient Child
He is alert, intelligent, happy, and greatly loved by everyone that come in contact with him. He has the pleasantest smile I ever saw on a youngster. And he is not at all spoiled. His mother and father and Betty won’t allow that.
He is far more obedient than most children I have seen. He has never been allowed to get the idea that he’s the cock of the walk. His mother treats him with sensible tenderness and his father looks on him as a sort of miniature pal, from what I can gather. I figure the way they look at it is this: The baby was not given to them just for their selfish amusement, but to make him into a real, fine, upstanding boy and man. They’ll do it too, if God wills that the baby is returned to them.
Right after the kidnaping a lot of people were convinced that some servant or someone connected with the Lindbergh or Morrow families must have had something to do with it. Well, I know how much all the servants loved that baby, and I know that if any of them had ever suspected that that child was in danger they would have volunteered to watch him every minute, day and night, and defend him with their very lives.
Besides that, all the servants are loyal to the Lindbergh and Morrow families, and they should be, because they get fine treatment. I know there are a lot of people who think the colonel is a hard, sour, stubborn man: but that’s not true. Maybe they get that idea because he’s a timid man in a crowd, a straight-forward man who doesn’t shoot off a lot of hot air and go in for a lot of show.
Saw Colonel Often
I have seen him often, mainly during my visits to the Morrow home to see Betty. Frequently when I came in he would be in the garden, and he always nodded pleasantly or spoke a pleasant word to me. And I know that when others were still suspicious of me he had faith in my innocence of any knowledge of the kidnaping.
And Mrs. Lindbergh is one of the finest ladies in the world. Anybody who has ever had any close contact with them will tell you that they are swell people, and nobody who really knows them would want to do them any harm.
Well, I am wandering away from the thread of my story. That New Year’s day, I left the Lindbergh home in the early evening around 6 or 7 o’clock, and made the drive back to Englewood in about two or two and a half hours, as nearly as I can remember.
The next time I visited the Lindbergh estate was about the middle of February, two weeks before the kidnaping. It was on a Sunday, and the Lindberghs and the baby were at Englewood. Betty and I drove down to visit the Whateleys, who remained permanently at the Hopewell place. Without a doubt, when we made that trip, the plans for the kidnaping were already being perfected. Tomorrow I’ll have something to say about the week-end just before the crime occurred, and show how I was connected with it.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Aug 20, 2023 9:36:49 GMT -5
Here is the first instalment within the complete set of Henry (Red) Johnson (sic) articles which appeared in the Evening Graphic Articles between April 19 and May 2, 1932. Wayne took the time to type these out from the original syndicated set of articles and has kindly given his permission to let me post them.
Evening Graphic, Tuesday, April 19, 1932
‘RED’ JOHNSON TELLS HIS OWN STORY OF THE LINDBERGH BABY TRAGEDY
Opportunity Wove Net Trapped Him as Suspect In Baby’s Kidnaping
Henry (Red) Johnson was the first man actually detained by the authorities in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Because he was the sweet-heart of Betty Gow, the nurse of the Lindbergh baby; because he had access to information about the routine of the Lindbergh household; because he left the vicinity of the crime on the following day; because a milk bottle cap was found in his car, and because of various other clues, he seemed a logical suspect. He was put through severe grillings by the authorities of several cities, and although exonerated, he is now being held at Ellis Island pending a deportation decision because he entered the country illegally from Norway. In this story he records his connection with the Lindbergh kidnaping case, gives intimate glimpses of the baby and the Lindbergh family, and tells how it feels to be a suspect in one of the most sensational cases in the history of crime. Red Johnson, who was a sailor aboard the yacht of Thomas W. Lamont, Sr., of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co., in his absorbing story, throws new light on many interesting phases of this tragic ease.
By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER I
Believe me, it's no fun being suspected of one of the most devilish crimes of the century—the kidnaping of Baby Charles Lindbergh. It's no fun going through a series of tough grillings by detectives, police, and prosecutors who were convinced that I had something to do with engineering the kidnaping, or at least had guilty knowledge of it.
I was in a tough spot. And I’ll admit that I was a good suspect. There were a lot of things that, at first glance seemed to connect me directly with the crime. I certainly was in a position to know a lot about the inside routine of the Lindbergh household, through my acquaintance with Betty Gow, the baby s nurse. It could have happened that Betty and I staged the whole thing. We would have had a much better opportunity to do it than any outsider. She could have given me the whole lay of the land, and told me just when to come for the baby. As a matter of fact, she did communicate with me on the night of the kidnaping, as I shall relate later. It is known that on that night, Col. Lindbergh was suppose to be away from home. Betty and I could very easily have arranged that she was to go up to the nursery at a certain time and pass the baby out to me as I came up the ladder. And, incidentally, being a sailor and pretty handy with my hands, I would have had no trouble building a fair sort of ladder. And, being used to such things, I could have carried Baby Charles down the ladder without much difficulty.
Knew the Country
I know the country around the Lindbergh home fairly well, and I could have found my way around in the dark without losing my way or creating any commotion. Furthermore, if Betty and I had arranged the whole thing, she could have arranged not to give the alarm until I was safely away. As a matter of fact, there has been a lot of talk about the fact that the baby was left alone for quite a while without Betty checking up on. Then, too, the night was dark and stormy. A sailor knows just how a high wind can drown out small sounds.
And here’s another point: The wind that night was from the West, which means that any sound I might make at the window would be carried away from other parts of the house, especially away from the living room where the family might be. And that west wind wouldn’t carry a scent to the little fox terrier, which more than likely would be with the servants in the wing of the house that was far away from the nursery. A sailor might notice points like that about the wind, while other people wouldn’t. As a seaman I can say that the kidnaper picked a mighty fine night for his (or her) dastardly crime.
Then, to make matters look still worse for me, I left Englewood early on the day after the crime in my car. And, to add fuel to the flames, a milk bottle cap dated Wednesday (the baby was kidnaped Tuesday night) was found in my car, as if I had been buying milk for a baby. That milk bottle cap certainly capped the climax when I was under investigation at Hartford, Conn.
So, all in all, I was a prize suspect, and I’m sure that millions of newspaper readers all over the country were convinced that the police had done some clever work in picking me up. There are those who believed, and still believe, that the kidnaping was some sort of inside job. I certainly fitted into that picture. So the police were absolutely correct in pouncing on me. But some of them weren't so correct in the way they handled me, as I shall point out later.
He Was Exonerated
In the end, I was completely exonerated. And you can believe me when I say that those who questioned me didn't leave a single stone unturned to hang something on to me. It would have been quite a feather in the cap of the officials who could actually show that I had some connection with the crime.
They put me on the grill in Hartford, Newark, Jersey City and at Hopewell, where I had an opportunity to see with my own eyes the tragedy of the kidnaping in the household of Col. and Mrs. Lindbergh. At Hopewell, the officers brought Betty and me together in the hope that something would develop from our conversation.
At last I was able to prove my innocence to the satisfaction of all concerned, including Col. Lindbergh; but, in spite of everything, I feel that the finger of suspicion is still pointed at me by thousands of people who are not familiar with the complicated ins and outs of this amazing case. Regardless of what has come out about my connection with the case, I'm sure there are thousands who are saying. "Well, maybe they can't pin anything on him, but certainly he had a better opportunity than almost anyone else to do the kidnaping."
Opportunity a Factor
As I understand it from my reading of detective stories now and then, opportunity is an important factor. And there's no getting around the fact that the kidnapers had much of the knowledge about the household which I myself had. So, the only way I can hope to clear myself in the minds of the people of this country is to tell the whole story from beginning to end. And that is what I intend to do now.
My story hasn't even been hinted at in the little squibs of news that have come out since my detention. Perhaps some parts of it will not be exactly discreet, but I have no choice. If I tell anything, it must be everything. I shall tell of my relations with Miss Gow, from the time I met her in Maine, just after Col. and Mrs. Lindbergh took off on their trip to the Orient, until the present. It was through her that my connection with the Lindbergh family was established.
I will tell what I know of Baby Charles, whom I had an unusual opportunity to observe, and I want to say here that you'll sail many a sea and call at many a port before you'd see a finer youngster than he. I shall describe what I saw of the how the long arm of circumstance Lindbergh family before and after the tragedy, and I am glad that I shall have an opportunity to scotch certain various rumors than been getting the rounds.
Naturally, I shall relate my own theories of the kidnapping based on the knowledge I have. I shall show how the long arm of circumstance reached out and dragged an unimportant sailor lad into one of the most sensational cases in the history of crime, and show how easy it is for an innocent person to become entangled in the web of fate. I understand now how accident and circumstances can stack the cards against an innocent victim.
I shall tell, too, what I went through during my contact with the forces of the law. Sometimes I was treated with consideration, but again I was the victim of actual violence.
I'll be perfectly frank. I want to tell my story so that never again can any one point the finger of suspicion at Red Johnson. Frankly, I want to win the favor of the American people, because some day I hope to win the privilege of American citizenship. That is my greatest ambition.
I am now being held at Ellis Island pending decision of my case. I entered the country illegally. I left the Norwegian ship on which I was a sailor because I had fallen in love with America and I wanted to stay here. That was against the law, but to my mind it was not a crime to love America so.
I have met with so much kindness in this country. I like to think I have become completely Americanized. No matter what happens, America is the country where I want to live and work. If I am deported, I can never come back. If I am allowed to go voluntarily, I can come back and some day become an American citizen. That is the hope strongest in my heart. But all that is my trouble. You do not want so much to hear about that. I promised a story, so I must be on with that. It will not be a fancy story, but the straightforward story of a seaman whom fate cast in a strange role. Tomorrow I shall relate the beginning of my connection with the Lindbergh family.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
(Be sure to read the next chapter of Red Johnson's own Lindbergh story in The GRAPHIC tomorrow.)
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Aug 20, 2023 9:41:08 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Wednesday, April 20, 1932
RED JOHNSON TELLS OF FIRST SEEING LINDY’S BABY
As Sailor on Lamont Yacht He Reveals How Betty Gow Helped Family Guard Baby
Henry (Red) Johnson was the first man actually detained by the authorities in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Because he was the sweet-heart of Betty Gow, the nurse of the Lindbergh baby; because he had access to information about the routine of the Lindbergh household; because he left the vicinity of the crime on the following day; because a milk bottle cap was found in his car, and because of various other clues, he seemed a logical suspect. He was put through severe grillings by the authorities of several cities, and although exonerated, he is now being held at Ellis Island pending a deportation decision because he entered the country illegally front Norway. In this story he records his connection with the Lindbergh kidnaping case, gives intimate glimpses of the baby and the Lindbergh family, and tells how it feels to be a suspect in one of the most sensational cases in the history of crime. Red Johnson, who was a sailor aboard the yacht of Thomas W. Lamont, Sr., of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co., in his absorbing story, throws new light on many interesting phases of this tragic ease. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER II.
On a bright, pleasant day last summer, the yacht Reynard, belonging to Thomas W. Lamont, Sr., on which I was a seaman, drew smoothly into the harbor of North Haven, Me. Mr. Lamont has his summer home on North Haven Island, near the summer place of the late Senator Dwight Morrow. As everybody knows, Mr. Lamont and Mr. Morrow were closely associated in the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co. and they were the fastest of friends. Not only were their summer homes close to each other in Maine, but their regular residences in New Jersey were separated by only eight miles. Naturally the Lamont family was friendly with and very much interested in the Lindberghs, and this summer day on which we made port was to be a great event in the lives of all concerned. It was the day Col. and Mrs. Lindbergh took off on their historic flight to the Orient. They chose to begin their flight from the Morrow summer home because they were going to leave Baby Charles there for the season, and Mrs. Lindbergh wanted to see him as long as possible before they actually started their trip, which lay along the northern route.
Praises Mrs. Lindbergh
I know that Mrs. Lindbergh has been criticized for going away on such a long and perilous journey and leaving her baby behind. People have said to me, “How could a mother who loved her child do such a thing?" But people who said such things didn't reckon with the extraordinary love and care which Mrs. Morrow and Betty Gow lavished on that fine, alert youngster.
No mother could do better by her child than his grandmother and nurse did by Baby Charles. Mrs. Lindbergh knew that she could leave her baby with the full knowledge that he couldn’t lack for the smallest attention.
Many people think that rich people don’t bother much with their children, but entrust them to the care of nurses and servants. That may be true in some cases, but it certainly wasn’t true of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. When the baby was in the Morrow home in Englewood, Mrs. Morrow and Mrs. Lindbergh gave him the finest personal attention you could imagine.
They didn't baby him too much, because Betty Gow says that is the best way to ruin a child, and they were t0o sensible to let their emotions run away with them to the damage of the child. That whole family was determined that Baby Charles wouldn’t be spoiled.
So when Mrs. Lindbergh was getting ready for the flight it was a comforting feeling for her to know that her child would be as safe as it were snuggled against her own breast. That day was a very exciting day for the members of the summer colony and the natives and the seamen from the yachts. Everybody took it as a point of personal pride that the colonel had chosen this spot for the hop-off, and we were pleased that his son (a wing off the eagle himself) would be one of the substantial and important citizens of the colony. At that time I did not realize how pleased I was to be about the arrangement because I had not yet seen Betty Gow.
Lindberghs Are Calm
I guess the colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh were the least excited of anybody around that day. Neither of them is an excitable person. I suppose their emotions burn too deep to give much outward sign. In sailing around quite a bit I’ve noticed that that usually holds true. Often I’ve seen ships' officers who would give their lives for their men, but who didn't waste much time talking about it. And I’ve noticed that that kind of people, cool and determined, come through better than anybody in a real test.
I’ll have something to say later about how the colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh stood the test of the greatest tragedy in their lives—the kidnaping of their baby.
The senator and Mrs. Morrow and a great many of the summer people, mainly society folk from Boston, were down to see the take-off. The senator appeared in cheerful good health, and there was nothing about him to give any sign of his death a short time later. Baby Charles was not brought down to see his mother and father leave. They had said good-by to him at the Morrow home. I guess that was all right with little Charlie.
Betty Gow Upset
When the plane skipped along the water of the harbor, rose, circled and headed into the west, all the sailors and village people roared out a long cheer, and even a lot of the society people broke through their dignity and cheered and waved their hands and their handkerchiefs. I looked on with envy, because I think flying is great. I suppose there's a kinship between sailors and flyers; both pit their skill against the elements in a constant fight for life.
During all the, excitement connected with the Lindbergh departure a strange thing happened. The news reel photographers managed to get their cameras pointed into the Morrow grounds and take some fine “shots” of the baby through telephoto lenses. Young Charles apparently didn't mind, for he smiled and gurgled, but Betty Gow was tremendously upset, she told me later, because it was a hard and fast rule around the Morrow home to keep the baby out of the limelight.
The families felt that the child had no special virtues or accomplishments that made him a public figure. He was just a nice baby, like thousands and millions of others. They hoped and trusted that some day he would make his mark in the world on his own account, but they didn’t want him to bask in reflected glory because of the accident of birth. Both Col. Lindbergh and Senator Morrow were self-made men and they believed in rising in the world by honest effort. The strangest part of this news reel incident was that after the kidnaping some of the pictures made against the will of the family were used to make the baby's face familiar to people all over the country, so that they could be on the watch for him. It would have been stranger still if these pictures had been the means of bringing little Charles back to his suffering family.
It was after the Lindberghs left that I made the acquaintance of Betty Gow at a dance. I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.
Follow Red Johnson's disclosures in The GRAPHIC daily. Another interesting installment tomorrow.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Aug 20, 2023 9:47:30 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Thursday, April 21, 1932
NURSE’S DEVOTION TO BABY DESCRIBED BY RED JOHNSON; NO THOUGHT OF KIDNAPING
Henry (Red) Johnson was the first man actually detained by the authorities in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Because he was the sweet-heart of Betty Gow, the nurse of the Lindbergh baby; because he had access to information about the routine of the Lindbergh household; because a milk bottle cap was found in his car, and because of various other clues, he seemed a logical suspect. He was put through severe grillings by the authorities of several cities, and although exonerated, he is now being held at Ellis Island pending a deportation decision because he entered the country illegally front Norway. In this story he records his connection with the Lindbergh kidnaping case. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER III
My first connection with the Lindbergh baby and his family circle was established a couple of days after the Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh started their flight to the Orient, when I met Betty Gow, the baby's nurse, at a dance in the village of North Haven, Me. These dances were held often during the season and were largely attended by the villagers and the servants of members of the rich summer colony.
There wasn't much for us seamen to do when the Lamont yacht was lying in the harbor, so we didn't miss many of those dances. The night I met Betty I came to the dance late. I entered the hall during the intermission and saw a group standing over to one side. I saw in the group a pretty, slight, brunette girl who attracted me immediately. She was talking to Burke, the Morrow chauffeur, and, as I knew Burke, I walked over to them, and he introduced me to Betty Gow. I asked her to dance, and we had several dances together. I did not take her home that night, and I didn't make any date with her. I guess I am a slow worker. The next time I saw her was at another dance. At that time I was not so backward. I took her home and made a date to see her again. After that we saw more and more of each other. I liked her immensely, and I had reason to believe that she returned my sentiments. During the time that we were at North Haven we had wonderful times together. The servants of the various summer colonists used to have picnics, clambakes and a number of happy social gatherings. Betty and I usually went along. Betty had considerable freedom and a lot of time off, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, because Mrs. Morrow took a great deal of pleasure in caring for Baby Charles Lindbergh herself. I am sure that she would like to have had the sole care of the baby if she could have spared the time from her other activities. But I know that nothing else gave her so much happiness as watching out for the welfare of her little grandson. Betty says she was an excellent nurse, too.
Baby Was Watched
The baby rarely left the grounds of the Morrow summer home, so far as I know. I don't think they were especially afraid of kidnapers at that time, but they just wanted to keep the baby out of the limelight.
I want to emphasize here that Betty never talked to me about the baby during the early part of our acquaintance. I draw attention to this because there has been a lot of talk to the effect that Betty may have unknowingly given valuable information to the actual kidnapers or some members of their gang. From my knowledge of the situation, I would say that that was impossible.
Betty never talked about the baby to strangers, and she was reticent about him even to her best friends. Usually, if anybody asked her about the baby, she would reply, “He’s fine, thank you," but that is about as far a she went. She knew feelings of the Morrows and the Lindberghs about drawing any special attention to the child. And she was so fond of both families that she observed their every wish willingly.
The first time she mentioned little Charles to me was when we went to see the news-reel picture of him. I have already told how, during the excitement of the Lindbergh takeoff for the Orient, the photographers swooped down on the Morrow home, set up their cameras with telephoto lenses outside the grounds and took the first movie of little Charles. Of course, when the pictures came to North Haven, everybody was anxious to see them, because a sight of the baby was a rare thing.
Johnson Liked Pictures
Betty and I went to the theater. She, of course, was anxious to see how they came out. I guess I was more anxious to see Betty than the baby. The pictures showed Betty wheeling little Charles across the grounds. I thought they were very good of both of them. After her curiosity was satisfied, Betty’s chief reaction was humiliation at the thought that she had unknowingly figured in an incident which the Morrows and Lindberghs would disapprove of. Of course, she wasn't to blame, and she knew that they wouldn't feel harshly toward her about it, but still she wanted everything she did to be pleasing to them.
While the film was being run off she nudged me and said, "Isn't he a darling?” I started to say, “Yes, she is,' but somehow my tongue got stuck, as it often does. Later she told me about how the pictures came to be taken, and how she was helpless to do anything about it. By that time we had become very good friends and naturally I would make inquiries about the baby when I met her, just as I might ask Burke, the Morrow chauffeur, about how his car was running, or as I might ask any friend about how his work was going. Also, I knew Betty was so fond of the child that she appreciated my showing an interest in him, and I certainly didn’t want to miss any chance of doing things she appreciated. Now and then the Morrows would take the baby out with them in their 30-foot motorboat Mouette (the one the colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh went on their honeymoon in). Little Charles seemed to like that fine, especially when his grandfather, the late Senator Morrow would carry him aboard. I think he’ll make a fine sailor. Well, Betty and I had great times until the early part of September, when our yacht, Reynard, weighed anchor and set out for New York. We never dreamed, then that we, especially I, would be tangled up in a few months in this horrible kidnaping business. That there was any possibility of the Lindbergh baby being kidnaped never crossed our minds. And I don't think it ever entered the heads of the Morrow family, for they left little Charles with Betty for several weeks and went back to New York in September.
Of course there were other servants and caretakers around, and all loved the child so much that they would protect him with their very lives. But, if the senator and Mrs. Morrow had ever thought of the possibility of kidnaping, that child would never have left their sight. Anyway, leaving him there with Betty showed how much they trusted her, and I know she appreciated that trust. After the voyage from Maine, we tied up the yacht Reynard at Alpine, opposite Yonkers, on the Hudson. During the later part of October, Betty and Baby Charles returned to Englewood.
It was not long after that, that we made our first trip to Hopewell to see the new home that the Lindberghs were building. Tomorrow I shall tell about that.
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
Follow Red Johnson’s story daily in The GRAPHIC. Another installment tomorrow.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,653
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Post by Joe on Aug 21, 2023 9:45:38 GMT -5
Evening Graphic, Friday, April 22, 1932
BETTY GOW’S FIANCE SEES KIDNAP LADDER AS BLIND
Henry (Red) Johnson was the first man actually detained by the authorities in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. Because he was the sweet-heart of Betty Gow, the nurse of the Lindbergh baby; because he left the vicinity of the crime on the following day, and because of various other clues, he seemed a logical suspect. He was put through severe grillings by the authorities of several cities, and although exonerated, he is now being held at Ellis Island pending a deportation decision because he entered the country illegally front Norway. In this story he gives intimate glimpses of the baby and the Lindbergh family, and tells how it feels to be a suspect in one of the most sensational cases in the history of crime. By HENRY (RED) JOHNSON
CHAPTER IV
When Betty took little Charles Lindbergh back to the Morrow home from their summer place in Maine during the latter part of October, 1931, I moved over to Englewood to be near her. Before that I had lived aboard the yacht. As I have related, Betty had a lot of time off because Mrs. Morrow liked to care for the baby herself, so Betty and I could spend many evenings together, and I wanted to be nearby so that we could take advantage of all the time she had free from her duties. I bought a small second-hand car. If anybody thinks I was getting money from some kidnapping gang or anything like that, they just ought to see that car. It certainly tested my mechanical skill to keep it running.
I named it the Depression, because that’s just how it looked. But Betty and I had a lot of fun with it. From helping me make repairs on it, she developed into quite a mechanic. And more than once during an evening ride something would go wrong with it and she would have to hold the flashlight while I tinkered with it.
Crowds at Estate
The first time we ever went to the Lindbergh home near Hopewell was about the middle of November. We went down to visit Ollie Whateley, the Lindbergh butler, and his wife. Betty and I were very fond of them. The house was being built then, but the Whateleys were living there and taking care of things. Their main job was to keep the curious away, and that was quite a job.
When we reached the town of Hopewell, we asked a man in the street how to find our way to the Lindbergh home. He laughed and said: "I can tell you, but it won't do much good. There's a couple hundred cars down there now, not nobody can get in."
I smiled and said I'd take my chances, so he told us how to get there. About a quarter of a mile before we reached the Lindbergh property we struck a line of cars that extended all the way to the gate. They ranged from fine limousines to small, battered touring cars. It seemed that curiosity about the Lindberghs and their home was the great leveler.
As we started past the line, people began to call at me that nobody was allowed on the grounds, and there wasn't any use trying. I just grinned and went on. At the gate to the estate, Ollie Whateley met us, and to the astonishment of the assembled multitude the gate was thrown open and little old “Depression” chugged on through while the limousine customers were barred.
Kidnapers' Opportunity
Anyway, the hundreds of people that day and many another day would have plenty of opportunity to have a good look at the lay of the land and the surrounding country. Who knows? Maybe the kidnapers were there that day having a look around. And maybe they came back time after time until they had every feature of the surrounding country firm in their minds. Maybe they had already begun to rehearse the actual kidnaping and getaway. Although cars couldn't come through the gate on the little side road that led directly to the house, plenty of the curious passengers would get out and walk around the grounds.
Many of them got very near the house and surveyed it from all angles. Whateley was kept busy chasing them away, but many of them were very persistent about coming back after they were chased away, so he had quite a time. It would have taken a squad of policemen to have kept the place entirely clear.
The visitors could see how the house lay, with trees in the back, open toward Hopewell and the road, and with a field in front. Most of the surrounding property was covered with small scrub growth, which could give concealment, but which would not interfere with the vision of any one who wanted to lie there night after night and study the movements of the household.
No Informer Needed
That, in my opinion, is just what happened. It wasn't necessary for the kidnapers to have information from the inside, as many people believe. A clever observer could have concealed himself near the house and studied every movement of the household every evening, until he was certain of the routine.
It's my impression that most of the house was not equipped with shades, and even if there were shades throughout nobody would bother very much about them because the house was so isolated. So it was not very difficult to get a pretty good idea from the outside of just what was going on.
Anybody lying out there in the bushes, while the Lindberghs were home, could soon find out just when the baby was put to bed, just when the household dined, where the servants were likely to be as a certain time, how often the baby was visited after it was put to bed, where the Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh spent their time in the evenings, and all the other necessary details.
That’s my idea of how the thing was done. The kidnapers could have taken plenty of time for their preliminary surveys, because they were playing for big stakes.
Ladder a Blind?
That ladder which was found against the window of the baby's nursery could have been some sort of a blind or false clue.
It would have been possible for the kidnaper to have opened the front door softly, slipped up the stairs, taken the baby from his crib and then retraced his steps. I heard that some of the investigators believe that the marks of the ladder in the ground were too shallow, showing that it hadn't supported the weight of a man.
Well, I don't know about that, but I do know that under the circumstances, the kidnaper would have been fairly safe in using the stairway.
On our first visit to the Lindbergh home, Betty and I went all over the place, and from that and following visits the whole plan stands out clearly in my mind. The stairway is to the left, just as you come in the door. From the head of the stairs to the baby's nursery is only a couple of steps.
And as the Lindberghs were in the rear of the house and the servants in their own quarters on the windy night of the kidnaping, the baby could have been taken away without the use of the ladder. Tomorrow I want to tell about another visit to the Lindbergh home when I had quite a chat with young Charles!
© 1932 Famous Features Syndicate, Inc.
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