LUTHER C. BRYANT (1801-1886)

This week I came across the sensational story of the burglary of New York coin dealer Luther C. Bryant. Often a statement in one source is contradicted in another source. Much of the story cannot be verified and that may not be his true name.

According to an 1886 interview, Bryant was born in Cummington, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, the son of a physician. He graduated from Williams College when he was fourteen years old, studied medicine, travelled to Europe and settled in Burlington, Vermont. During trips to Italy and the Holy Land, he collected coins. He left Charleston, South Carolina and moved to New York City about 1861. In an interview, he claimed that he brought with him assets of $60,000.

Luther also claimed to be the brother of William Cullen Bryant, romantic poet and editor of the New York Evening Post. However, this is not supported in the family history for William. There are no Census records for Luther. I found no public record of him before 1861. His true identity cannot be verified.

He set up a small stall at the lower end of City Hall Park and went into business as a dealer in old coins, mutilated currency, plus postal and revenue stamps. Around 1870 he relocated at the corner of Fulton and Williams Streets against the railing of the Old Dutch North Church. He was described as a miser who lived alone in two rooms at No. 1 Forsyth Street on the corner of Bayard and Forsythe Streets in New York City.

Some businesses in Manhattan received a lot of foreign correspondence with foreign stamps. They might bundle them up occasionally and sell them to Bryant who had a market for them.

Part of his business was buying mutilated currency at a discount and redeeming in at the Treasury for full face value. He also bought current postage stamps at a discount. It was alleged that his source was a criminal ring of delivery boys who stole from their employers. Private Detective Roscoe made unsubstantiated negative claims about his character.

Businesses in his neighborhood hired private detectives to investigate the loss of their postage stamps. They found that the company messengers were pilfering from the bookkeepers. The detectives followed the boys to Bryant's stall where he bought the stamps at a discount.

William K. Evans was bookkeeper for Eberhard Faber & Co, in the lead pencil business. He filed charges against Bryant who was arrested on October 7, 1874, by officer Peters of the Second Precinct. Bryant was locked up in the Tombs awaiting trial.

On the morning of October 12, Lizzie Neubauer came to the house with clean clothes for Bryant and noticed that his locks had been broken and called police. Detectives Lyon and Dyer found his rooms ransacked. When Bryant was notified, he became distraught, He informed the police that he had valuables worth more than $100,000 in his apartment.

When he was allowed to return. he furnished police with a list of his losses. They included $70,000 in United States gold Double Eagles, $12,000 in legal-tender notes, $1000 in mutilated currency, $700 in fractional currency, a gold watch worth $500 and many items of lesser value. He claimed that his collection of old coins was worth $25,000.

Bryant liked those twenty-dollar gold pieces. He took a punch and marked the head of Miss Liberty to identify them. Then he rolled them up in brown paper and silk in bundles of $100 (or, perhaps, it was 100 coins.).

In 1874, the value of gold was $20.67 per ounce. With each coin containing .96750 ounces, each coin was worth about $20 in bullion value and in face value. The bullion value of the gold today would be more than $16 million.

Bryant was released from jail as the charges were shown to be unfounded. In later years it was believed that the charges were fabricated to get Bryant out of his house.

Assigned to the case were detectives Reilly and Williamson. Eventually, they focused on two habitual criminals who were spending beyond their means. They were followed, watched and arrested.

The property of Robert Walsh, a/k/a Robert Murray, a/k/a "Bobby the Welchman" was searched. The detectives found a pearl-handled umbrella and a pawn ticked for a pistol. Both items were identified as taken in the burglary.

The residence of George "Rat" Reilly had an ivory handled umbrella and a quantity of postage stamps identified as stollen from Bryant. Both men were arrested and put on trial. The loot was never recovered although an occasional punch marked double eagle turned up later.

Reilly was sent to state prison for ten years. Robert Murray was granted a second trial and also received a ten-year sentence.

A few years before the burglary, Bryant met an attractive young woman who worked in a store selling neckties. He proposed marriage but his proposals were rejected. When he was absent from his apartment, Lizzie Neubauer took some of his valuable furniture. She claimed these were a gift. He filed charges claiming she had taken them by misrepresentation.

In 1875, Bryant's aunt died and left him a 200-acre farm and $7,000. Other relatives contested the will on the grounds of insanity.

Bryant came to the public attention again on January 7, 1886. He was noticed by police wandering in the rain without an overcoat on Charles Street and taken to St. Vincent Hospital. The next day he talked with a newspaper reporter.

He said that he had saved his money with the thought of setting up a Home for Old Bachelors in Philadelphia. He claimed that he had a secret that would be revealed after he was dead.

There were several premature reports of his death. The New York Gazette reported on November 14, 1885, that "Bryant subsequently died from grief." An article in the Buffalo Eagle reported on May 28, 1886, that Bryant had died at St. Vincent's hospital that morning. That same paper reported on October 11, 1886, that he was applying to be admitted to some charitable institution.

His death was recorded on January 16, 1888, and noted that he was widowed. This was not reported in the papers.

"Harry Hill's Gotham" was a column in the New York Sunday Mercury, ghost written by Isaac George Reed. The story of "The Robbery of Luther C. Bryant: was in the issue of April 12, 1885. This included much biographical information that is unavailable anywhere else. Other parts of the story are known to be incorrect, such as the statement, "He is dead now."

An article by Coleman O. Parsons, "William Cullen Bryant's Wayward Cousin" appeared in the April 1952 issue of New York History. While William had several cousins named Bryant, none were named Luther and none were born before 1823.

After I wrote this, I discovered that the story had been told by John Lupia in The E-Sylum ten years ago. I think it is worth retelling.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
LUTHER C. BRYANT (1801-1886) (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n36a18.html)

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