Adam Worth
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Adam Worth (18448 January 1902) was a crime boss and fraudster. His career in crime, stretching from the United States to Europe and South Africa, included the infamous theft of Gainsborough's celebrated
Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire ''Portrait of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire'' is a portrait painting by the English painter Thomas Gainsborough of the political hostess Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was painted between 1785 and 1787. Background During he ...
, which he retained for 25 years. In London, he lived as a respected member of high society under the alias Henry Judson Raymond.
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
Robert Anderson nicknamed him "the
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
of the criminal world" (because of his short stature). He is widely considered the inspiration for
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
's fictional criminal mastermind James Moriarty in the
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
series.


Early life

Adam Worth was born into a poor
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family somewhere in Germany. His original surname might have been "Werth". When he was five years old, his family moved to the United States and settled in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, where Worth's father became a
tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
. In 1854, Worth ran away from home and moved first to
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and then, in 1860, to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He worked as a clerk in a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
for one month. When the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
broke out, Worth was 17. He lied about his age and enlisted in the
Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
army. He was wounded in the
Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...
on 30 August 1862 and shipped to a Georgetown Hospital in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In the hospital, he learned he had been listed as killed in action and left. (Worth is often confused with Adam Wirth, who served in the 2nd New York Heavy Artillery, Battery L (later designated 34th New York Battery), died at Georgetown Hospital of wounds he suffered at the Second Battle of Bull Run, and was buried in Washington, D.C. Adam Wirth and his family were residents of College Point, Long Island, New York, and had no connection with Adam Worth.)


Criminal career

Worth became a
bounty jumper Bounty jumpers were men who enlisted in the Union or Confederate army during the American Civil War only to collect a bounty and then leave. The Enrollment Act of 1863 instituted conscription but allowed individuals to pay a bounty to someone else t ...
, enlisting into various regiments under assumed names, receiving his bounty, and then
deserting Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or Military base, post without permission (a Pass (military), pass, Shore leave, liberty or Leave (U.S. military), leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with u ...
. When the
Pinkerton Detective Agency Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton ...
began to track him, like many others using similar methods, he fled from New York City and went to Portsmouth. After the war, Worth became a
pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...
in New York. In time, he founded his own gang of pickpockets, and then began to organize robberies and heists. When he was caught stealing the cash box of an
Adams Express Adams Funds, formerly Adams Express Company, is an investment company made up of Adams Diversified Equity Fund, Inc.(NYSE: ADX), a publicly traded diversified equity fund, and Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. (NYSE: PEO), formerly Petroleum & Res ...
wagon, he was sentenced to three years in
Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...
prison. He soon escaped and resumed his criminal career. Worth began to work for the prominent
fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. ...
and criminal organizer Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum. With her help, he expanded into bank and store robberies around 1866 and eventually began to plan his own robberies. In 1869, he helped Mandelbaum break
safecracker Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or the key. Physical methods Different procedures may be used to crack a safe, depending on its construction. Different procedures are required to open different safes ...
Charley Bullard out of the White Plains Jail, through a tunnel. With Bullard, Worth robbed the vault of the Boylston National Bank in Boston on 20 November 1869, again through a tunnel, this time from a neighboring shop. The bank alerted the Pinkertons, who tracked the shipment of trunks Worth and Bullard had used to ship the loot to New York. Worth decided to move to Europe with Bullard.


Exploits in Europe

Bullard and Worth went first to
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Bullard took the identity of "Charles H. Wells", a Texas oilman. Worth was financier "Henry Judson Raymond" – a name that he "borrowed" from the late founder editor of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and which he would use for years afterwards. They began to compete for the favors of a barmaid named Kitty Flynn, who eventually learned their true identities. She became Bullard's wife, but did not disfavor Worth. In October 1870, Kitty gave birth to a daughter, Lucy Adeleine, and seven years later had another daughter named Katherine Louise. The paternity of these two girls is left up to debate. It is possible that Kitty herself did not know, but Bullard and Worth claimed each child all the same. William Pinkerton (son of
Allan Pinkerton Allan J. Pinkerton (August 25, 1819 – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in the United States and his claim to have foiled a plot in 1861 to a ...
and a detective with
Pinkerton Pinkerton may refer to: Places * Pinkerton, Ontario, named after surveyor and early settler Matthew Pinkerton * Pinkerton's Landing Bridge, railroad bridge in Pennsylvania People * Allan Pinkerton (18191884), Scottish detective and spy * Bill ...
) believed Worth fathered both of Kitty's daughters. When the Bullards went on their honeymoon, Worth began to rob local
pawnshop A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...
s. He shared the loot with Bullard and Flynn when they came back, and together, the three moved to Paris in 1871. In Paris, the police force was still in disarray after the events of the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
. Worth and his associates founded an "American Bar", a restaurant and bar on the ground floor, and a gambling den on the upper floor. Because gambling was illegal, the gambling tables were built so that they could be folded inside the walls and the floor. A buzzer would be sounded from downstairs to alert the customers before any police raid. Worth formed a new gang of associates, including some of his old comrades from New York. When William Pinkerton (by then president of the Pinkerton Detective Agency) visited the place in 1873, Worth recognized him. Later the Paris police raided the place numerous times, and Worth and the Bullards decided to abandon the restaurant. Worth used his place for the last time to defraud a diamond dealer, and the three moved to London.


London master criminal

In England, Worth and his associates bought Western Lodge at
Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of gr ...
. He also leased an apartment in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
and joined
high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...
. He formed his own criminal network and organized major robberies and burglaries through several intermediaries. Those who worked in his schemes never knew his name. He insisted that his subordinates not use violence. Eventually, Scotland Yard learned of Worth's network, though they were initially unable to prove anything. Inspector John Shore made Worth's capture his personal mission. Things began to go wrong when Worth's brother John was sent to cash a forged check in Paris, for which he was arrested and
extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
to England. Worth managed to exonerate him and get him sent back to the United States. Four of his associates were arrested in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
for spreading more forged
letters of credit A letter of credit (LC), also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking (LoU), is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exp ...
, and he had to use a considerable amount of money to buy off the judges and the police. Bullard became increasingly violent, as his alcoholism worsened, and he eventually left for New York, followed soon afterward by Kitty. In 1876, Worth personally stole
Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
's recently rediscovered painting of
Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (née Spencer; ; 7 June 1757 – 30 March 1806), was an English aristocrat, socialite, political organiser, author, and activist. Born into the Spencer family, married into the Cavendish family, she wa ...
from a London gallery of
Thomas Agnew & Sons Thomas Agnew & Sons is a fine arts dealer in London that began life as part of in a print and publishing partnership with Vittore Zanetti in Manchester in 1817 which ended in 1835, when Agnew took full control of the company. The firm opened its Lo ...
with the help of two associates. He liked the painting and did not try to sell it. The two men who assisted in the robbery, Junka Phillips and Little Joe, grew impatient. Phillips tried to get him to talk about the theft in the presence of a police informer, and Worth effectively fired him. Worth gave Little Joe money to return to the United States, where he tried to rob the
Union Trust Company Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
, was arrested, and talked to the Pinkertons. They alerted Scotland Yard, but they still could not prove anything. Worth kept the painting with him even when he was traveling and organizing new schemes and robberies. Eventually, he traveled to South Africa, where he stole $500,000 worth of uncut diamonds. Back in London, he founded Wynert & Company, which sold diamonds at a lower price than its competitors. In the 1880s, Worth married a Louise Margaret Boljahn, while still using the name Henry Raymond. They had a son Henry and a daughter Beatrice. It is possible his wife did not know his real identity. He smuggled the painting to the United States and left it there.


Mistake and capture

In 1892, Worth decided to visit Belgium, where Bullard was in jail. Bullard had been working with Max Shinburn (also Maximilian Schönbein), Worth's rival, when police captured them both. Worth had heard that Bullard had recently died. On 5 October, Worth improvised a robbery of a money delivery cart in
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
with two untried associates, one of them the American Johnny Curtin. The robbery went badly, and the police captured Worth on the spot. The two others got away. In jail, Worth refused to identify himself, and the Belgian police made inquiries abroad. Both the
New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
and Scotland Yard identified him as Worth, although the Pinkertons did not say anything. Max Shinburn, now in jail, told the police everything he knew. In jail, Worth heard nothing about his family in London, but received a letter from Kitty Flynn, who offered to finance his defense. Worth's trial took place on 20 March 1893. The prosecutor used everything he knew about Worth. Worth flatly denied that he had anything to do with various crimes, saying that the last robbery had been a stupid act he had committed out of a need for money. All the other accusations, including those by British and American police, were mere hearsay. He claimed that his wealth came out of legal gambling. In the end, Worth was sentenced to seven years for robbery and was sent to
Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
prison. During Worth's first year in jail, Shinburn hired other inmates to beat Worth up. Later, Worth heard that Johnny Curtin, who was supposed to have taken care of his wife, had seduced and abandoned her. She had been committed to an
asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...
. The children were in the care of his brother John in the United States.


Release and last years

Worth was released early for good behavior in 1897. He returned to London and stole £4,000 from a diamond shop to get funds. When he visited his wife in the asylum, she barely recognized him. He traveled to New York and visited his children. Then he proceeded to meet with William Pinkerton, to whom he described the events of his life in great detail. The manuscript that Pinkerton wrote after Worth left is still preserved in the archives of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in
Van Nuys, California Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...
. Through Pinkerton, Worth arranged the return of the painting ''Duchess of Devonshire'' to Agnew & Sons in return for $25,000. The portrait and payment were exchanged in Chicago on 28 March 1901. Worth returned to London with his children and spent the rest of his life with them. It is said he lived "extravagantly on the proceeds of his business as a receiver for an international agency of thieves." His son took advantage of an agreement between his father and Allan Pinkerton and became a career Pinkerton detective. Adam Worth died on 8 January 1902. He was buried in
Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
in a mass pauper's grave under the name of "Henry J. Raymond". A small tombstone was erected to mark his resting place in 1997 by the
Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP) is an American non-profit 501(c)(3) volunteer historical society. The society locates sites of American and Jewish historical interest and importance. It works with local community org ...
.


In popular culture


Literature

According to
Vincent Starrett Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (; October 26, 1886 – January 5, 1974), known as Vincent Starrett, was a Canadian-born American writer, newspaperman, and bibliophile. Biography Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett was born above his grandfathe ...
, Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
used Worth as the prototype for
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
' adversary,
Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...
: "The original of Moriarty was Adam Worth, who stole the famous Gainsborough, in 1876, and hid it for a quarter of a century. This was revealed by Sir Arthur in conversation with Dr Gray Chandler Briggs, some years ago."


Movies

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...
played Adam Worth in the film ''
Harry and Walter Go to New York ''Harry and Walter Go to New York'' is a 1976 American period comedy film written by John Byrum and Robert Kaufman, directed by Mark Rydell, and starring James Caan, Elliott Gould, Michael Caine, Diane Keaton, Charles Durning and Lesley Ann Warre ...
'' (1976). Though Worth is correctly portrayed as a criminal mastermind, the events of the story are not based on true events.


Television

In the eighth season of the CBS series ''
Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was r ...
'', Adam Worth is used as a pseudonym for the season's main villain, John Curtis (
Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...
). The third season of the
TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
series ''
Leverage Leverage or leveraged may refer to: *Leverage (mechanics), mechanical advantage achieved by using a lever * ''Leverage'' (album), a 2012 album by Lyriel *Leverage (dance), a type of dance connection *Leverage (finance), using given resources to ...
'' used Adam Worth as a target for the team. In the
SyFy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
series ''
Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
'' (2007), Adam Worth is one of the main villains, although his character is Irish and includes elements of
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's '' Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' (1886).


References


Works cited

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General references

*


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worth, Adam 1844 births 1902 deaths British gangsters British bank robbers Union Army soldiers United States Army soldiers German emigrants to the United States 19th-century German Jews Jewish American gangsters Criminals from New York City Burials at Highgate Cemetery Art thieves British crime bosses Arthur Conan Doyle Pinkerton (detective agency)