Queen of the Con (eBook)

Thomas Crowl (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
320 Seiten
The Kent State University Press (Verlag)
978-1-63101-464-2 (ISBN)

Infos

The definitive account of audacious con woman Cassie Chadwick, the Carnegie ImposterQueen of the Con tells the true story of Cassie Chadwick, a successful swindler and "e;one of the top 10 imposters of all time,"e; according to Timemagazine. Born Betsy Bigley in 1857 in Canada, she first operated as Madame Devere, a European clairvoyant, and in 1890 was arrested for defrauding a Toledo bank of $20,000. In the mid-1890s, while working as a madam in Cleveland, Cassie met and married a widowed physician with a coveted Euclid Avenue address.At the dawn of the 20th century, Cassie borrowed $2 million (worth roughly $50 million today) throughout northern Ohio, Pittsburgh, New York, and Boston by convincingly posing as the illegitimate daughter of wealthy industrialist-turned-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. When the fraud collapsed in 1904, it was a nationwide sensation. "e;Yes, I borrowed money in very large amounts,"e; she told reporters, "e;but what of it? You can't accuse a poor businesswoman of being a criminal, can you?"e; Carnegie, who never responded to the claim, merely joked that Mrs. Chadwick had demonstrated that his credit was still good.This meticulously researched book is the first full-length account of the notorious career of this fascinating woman, the forerunner to more recent female scammers like Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes or fake heiress Anna Sorokin, the "e;Soho Grifter."e; Crowl's engaging storytelling also leads readers to consider aspects of gender stereotypes, social and economic class structures, and the ways in which we humans can so often be fooled.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 26.10.2021
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-63101-464-1 / 1631014641
• ISBN-13: 978-1-63101-464-2 / 9781631014642