Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20sHam, George H. (George Henry)
History
Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20s
Ham, George H. (George Henry)
Canada; Ham, George H. (George Henry), 1847-1926; Journalists -- Canada -- Biography
A remarkable case was that of Lord Gordon-Gordon, a presumed nobleman,
who in the early ’70’s cut a wide swath in Minnesota, where he was
royally entertained by leading people. He intimated that he was acting
for his sister, who desired to invest heavily in western lands. He was
“pie” for the Minnesotans, who were willing to unload on her ladyship
all the land she coveted. A fine looking gentlemanly fellow, he quickly
made hosts of friends. It was not long before it was discovered that his
lordship had previously got into difficulties in New York with Jay
Gould, the well-known railway magnate, and was out on bail. He promptly
immigrated to Manitoba, and to secure his return to the United States an
attempt was made to kidnap him. He was forcibly seized at the residence
of Hon. James McKay, whose guest he was, and hurried towards the
boundary line, but the authorities interfered and brought back Lord
Gordon-Gordon and his kidnappers to Winnipeg, where the offenders and
their accomplices, who were prominent business men and politicians of
Minnesota, were lodged in jail. Amongst them was Loren Fletcher, of St.
Paul, who wired his friends a pithy telegram which has been often
quoted: “I am in a hell of a fix.” Lord Gordon-Gordon, who had the
sympathy of the people, went to a friend’s house in Headingly, and when
advised that he would have to be extradited, asked for time to pack a
few clothes, went into an adjoining room, from which was heard the sharp
report of a revolver, and when his friends rushed in he was dead. Who
and what he was has never been revealed, but some years later
_Chambers’s Journal_ had a long and interesting article about him, in
which it was made to appear that he was the illegitimate offspring of a
Cornish family, whose ancestry had accumulated great wealth through
smuggling. His remarkable career is now about forgotten, but he set the
pace in New York and through Minnesota and created more excitement in
Winnipeg than any other event of the early days, excepting perhaps the
Riel Rebellion.
The Farr Case
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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