Henry Howgate Life on the Lam ” Part Three”

In the past two columns, I wrote about Henry Howgate, who had been responsible for the planning of American polar expeditions, his theft of government funds and his flight from justice. In 1884, while the search for Howgate continued, Adolphus Greely's expedition returned from the High Arctic.

In 1884, Greely's expedition returned to America after three years in the Arctic. Eighteen men had died. Only seven returned. One of them was its leader, Adolphus Greely. He had been a friend of Howgate.

But Howgate's thefts had been known in March of 1881, three months before Greely had left for the Arctic, and they were the talk of Washington. Greely had to have known about them.

So it is understandable that in October, General Hazen hit the roof when he noticed, while perusing the charts and maps that Greely had brought back, that Greely had named three geographic features after Howgate – a lake, a cape and a mountain. Of course he ordered the names changed.

Brazenly, Howgate wrote to Greely complaining about the removal of his name. He apologized for not having written earlier to congratulate Greely on his safe return. And he pointed out how valuable his own efforts had been in advocating for the cause of Arctic exploration.

"You, better than any living man," he wrote, "know how earnestly, effectively and unselfishly I labored in the cause of Arctic exploration, and that through these labours the opportunity for your splendid achievements were rendered possible."

If his own name must be erased from the maps, he asked Greely to instead name a feature after his daughter, Ida.

When Greely received this unexpected letter, he took it straight to Robert Todd Lincoln.

But Howgate wrote a second letter to Greely, this time asking for a loan of $500. Greely could send the money to Ida, at that time a teacher in Cleveland. Greely wrote to Ida saying that he was unable to make a loan.

But this time he didn't bother to pass Howgate's letter on to Lincoln. A sergeant, however, suspecting that Greely was in communication with Howgate, rifled Greely's desk drawer and found the letter. Lincoln sent the sergeant and a Pinkerton detective to Cleveland where they put Ida's house under surveillance.

This attempt to catch the fugitive failed as well. Greely received an anonymous letter telling him that Howgate's letter had been found in his desk. And that story was leaked to the press, presumably to warn Ida and Howgate. The Pinkerton stakeout was called off.

Nothing more was heard of Henry Howgate for about a decade. Then in early 1894, A. L. Drummond, who had once been part of the Howgate manhunt, resigned as Chief of the United States Secret Service. He moved to New York where he started a detective agency. It wasn't long before he heard a rumour.

Harvey W. Williams ran a rare book store in the basement of a building at Fourth Avenue and Tenth Street. He was a tall man with a grey beard, a frequent attender at book auctions and knowledgeable in his trade. He and an attractive woman lived in a small house near his shop. Drummond suspected he was really Henry Howgate. And he wanted to make the arrest himself.

Waiting in the rain on the grey morning of September 27, 1894, Drummond approached the bookseller as he came up the steps from his shop. "How are you, Captain Howgate?" he asked. The bookseller, confused and taken aback, at last replied, "Yes, I'm Howgate. I'll go with you. I'm beat."

In Washington, Ida posted bail of $10,000. Abigail had died in the intervening years. Howgate and Nettie married, and went to live with Ida while awaiting trial. In January of 1895, a jury found Henry Howgate not guilty despite the mass of evidence against him. But the government had held back some charges for just such a possibility. A second indictment was prepared and in the second trial the jury found Howgate guilty, but recommended mercy.

There wasn't much mercy. Henry Howgate was sentenced to 15 years in prison. With his health failing, he was paroled in 1900 after five years. He died the following year.

Taissumani recounts a specific event of historic interest. Kenn Harper is a historian, writer and linguist who lives in Iqaluit. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to kennharper@hotmail.com.