The New York Times: June 20, 1862

On June 20, 1862, The New York Times reports the Ellen Eyre scandal, adding a bit more information. The paper states that the arrestee is “a young man not exceeding 20 years of age.”[1]

Around May 1, 1862, The Times says, B. Coffin had rented a 9th Street office, claiming to be a doctor with good references from people like the son-in-law of William B. Astor. But he soon began to address letters to “respectable married gentlemen up-town, in which he represented himself as a woman, and called himself ‘Mrs. Ellen Eyre.’”[2]

The Times adds: “It is needless to say that many married gentlemen have been induced to answer the notes, and have met the person at a place agreed upon, and afterward, in order to hush the affair, the virtuous married men have been compelled to hand over money, some of them as much as $300.” The decoy letter by which Eyre came to be arrested, The Times reports, was sent by “a very well-known and respectable attorney.”[3]

The Times reporter says that while searching Eyre's home, the officer found “about $600 worth of female wearing apparel, showing that he was carrying on the business upon a very extensive scale.” The paper further reports, “It is well known that he has swindled married men out of over $5,000 by the means above alluded to.” The Times adds, “The most of the victims are unwilling to come forward and give their testimony against him, and are even unwilling to have their names published. All who have been swindled are requested to call at Police headquarters to-day and identify the prisoner.”[4]

Other Newspapers

On June 20, 1862, the Daily Herald of Cleveland, Ohio, reprints a story credited to the New York World. Headlined “Excitement Up Town,” the story reports that a man calling himself B. Coffin and Ellen Eyre had swindled men out of $6,000.[5]

On June 21, 1862, the Daily Observer of Utica, New York, also reprints a version of the story from the New York World, titling its account “Late Last Night.”[6]

Notes

[1] “Serious Charge of Swindling,” New York Times, June 20, 1862, 2.

[2] “Serious Charge of Swindling.”

[3] “Serious Charge of Swindling.”

[4] “Serious Charge of Swindling.”

[5] “Excitement Up Town,” Cleveland Daily Herald, June 20, 1862.

[6] “Late Last Night,” Utica Daily Observer (Utica, NY), June 21, 1862.