George C. Parker (March 16, 1860''New York, Sing Sing Prison Admission Registers, 1865-1939'' – 1936) was an American

con man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

best known for his repeated successes "selling" the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

. He made his living conducting illegal sales of property he did not own, often New York's public landmarks, to unwary immigrants. The Brooklyn Bridge was the subject of several of his transactions, predicated on the notion of the buyer controlling access to the bridge. Police removed several of his victims from the bridge as they tried to erect

toll booths A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll plaza, tollgat ...

Early life

Parker was born in New York City to Irish parents. He had four brothers and three sisters, and was a high school graduate.

Criminal career

Parker used various names as a con man, including James J. O'Brien, Warden Kennedy, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Taylor. In addition to his Brooklyn Bridge scam, other public landmarks he incorporated into his scams included the original

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

, the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Grant's Tomb Grant's Tomb, officially the General Grant National Memorial, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States, and his wife, Julia Grant. It is a classical domed mausoleum in the Morningside Heights neighborho ...

and the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

. Parker had multiple methods for making his sales. When he sold Grant's Tomb, he would often pose as the general's grandson, and he set up a fake office to handle his real estate swindles. He produced convincing forged documents as evidence to suggest that he was the legal owner of whatever property he was selling. He also sold several successful shows and plays, of which he had no legal ownership. Parker was convicted of fraud three times. After one arrest, around 1908, he escaped the courthouse by calmly walking out after donning a sheriff's hat and coat that had been set down by a sheriff who had walked in from the cold outdoors. After his fourth conviction on December 17, 1928, he was sentenced to a mandatory life term at

Sing Sing Prison 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 o ...

by Judge Alonzo G. McLaughlin in the Kings County Court. He spent the last eight years of his life incarcerated there and was popular among guards and fellow inmates who enjoyed hearing of his exploits. Parker is remembered as one of the most successful con men in the history of the United States, as well as one of history's most talented hoaxers.

In popular culture

Parker's exploits gave rise to phrases such as "and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you", to insinuate that someone is gullible. "The Man Who Sold New York", a song about George C. Parker written by

Boo Hewerdine Mark "Boo" Hewerdine (born 14 February 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. His work includes lead singer and creative force behind The Bible, formed in the 1980s, and reformed in 1994, as well as solo recordings and work f ...

and

Findlay Napier Findlay Napier (born November 1978) is a Scottish singer songwriter and teaching artist. He was a member of Scottish folk group Back of the Moon and runs music writing courses. Biography Napier was born in Glasgow, Scotland in November 1978 ...

, appears on Napier's 2013 album ''VIP: Very Interesting Persons''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, George C. American confidence tricksters Criminals from New York City 1860 births 1936 deaths American people convicted of fraud American people of Irish descent Inmates of Sing Sing

Early life

Criminal career

In popular culture

See also

References