Cassie L. Chadwick

Cassie L. Chadwick was born Elizabeth Bigley in Ontario Canada in the 1850s. She had several siblings and it is reported that her father was a railroad worker. Not much else is known about her childhood, however, rumors state that her fraudulent activities began when she was a teenager. She forged documents that named her heir to a fictitious relative who had recently died and attempted to collect her inheritance. She was caught, but charges were reportedly dropped on claims of insanity and she was simply told not to do it again.

Chadwick was in her early 20s when she left Canada and moved to Cleveland. Her first marriage was reportedly to Dr. Wallace Springsteen in the early 1880s. Chadwick assumed the name Lydia Springsteen. The marriage did not last long as Dr. Springsteen quickly became suspicious of his wife when creditors came calling to collect payments on Chadwick’s ridiculous expenditures. Springsteen promptly paid is wife’s debts and divorced her mere weeks after their wedding.

After her marriage to Springsteen, Chadwick left Cleveland and changed her name and identity again. In the late 1880s, Chadwick’s most documented con was her time as clairvoyant Madame Lydia De Vere. She would convince clients to cash bad checks and collect money for her. She and one of her clients, Joseph Lamb, were caught by authorities and stood trial for forgery. The San Francisco Call reported that Lamb was innocent because he was “held in the woman’s power and did not knowingly commit a crime.” Chadwick wasn’t considered conventionally beautiful, but she was rumored to have had “hypnotic eyes” and a charismatic, convincing charm. Lamb’s claim of innocence was accepted, Chadwick was found guilty. She was sentenced to prison for fraud but was able to secure early release.

It is unclear how many other cons Chadwick attempted or how many other names she assumed. She may have even married a few more times, and at some point she had her son, Emile Hoover. By this time, Chadwick had assumed the name Mrs. C. L. Hoover and was rumored to have been working as mistress of a brothel. This is supposedly how she met widower Dr. Leroy S. Chadwick whom she would marry in 1897.

Dr. Chadwick lived on Euclid Avenue, known today as Millionaire’s Row due to the number of wealthy entrepreneurs, bankers, and politicians that had massive estates and mansions there. Dr. Chadwick’s family and associates were reportedly suspicious of his new wife and her history, and this mystery about her origins might have helped her construct the Carnegie Con.

It is unknown how exactly Cassie Chadwick made it known that she was the illegitimate daughter and heiress to Andrew Carnegie’s fortune. Some versions of the story credit the spread of the rumor to a Mr. Dillon. He supposedly accompanied Chadwick to Carnegie’s home in New York, witnessed her go in, saw her return with promissory notes signed by the philanthropist, and was the first person to hear Chadwick claim Carnegie was her illegitimate father. While this is the most popular version of events, there is no primary source evidence that a Mr. Dillon was ever involved in or implicated in the case.

Regardless of how the rumor started, it is known that Chadwick had promissory notes bearing Carnegie’s forged signature held in a safety deposit box at Wade Park Banking Company in Cleveland, Ohio. It is these notes that she relied upon to take large sums of money on loan from both wealthy entrepreneurs and local banks such as the Oberlin branch of Citizen’s National Bank. The president of Oberlin’s Citizen’s National Bank, Charles Beckwith, reportedly loaned Chadwick three times the bank’s available capital. All of Chadwick’s investors seemed confident that their loans would be repaid with interest. Perhaps it would not happen right away, but they stood to profit if Carnegie either paid the loans for her or if they received their payment after his death and Chadwick inherited his fortune.

Chadwick spent as lavishly as she borrowed. One story says that one Christmas eve, she surprised her husband with a complete makeover of their Euclid Avenue mansion. Another story claims that she purchased a dozen grand pianos as gifts for friends. She bought extravagant clothes, hats, and jewelry and reportedly had million’s worth in diamonds. Her spending and display of wealth earned her the nickname “The Queen of Cleveland.”

The more money Chadwick borrowed and failed to repay, the more suspicious her lenders became. A Boston banker by the name of Herbert B. Newton started a lawsuit over her failure to pay back a several thousand dollar loan. As investigations began, a connection was made between wealthy heiress Cassie L. Chadwick and the clairvoyant Madame Lydia De Vere. Newspapers reported that witnesses, including Joseph Lamb, were being called on to confirm that Chadwick and De Vere were one and the same. Her promissory notes held at Wade Park Banking Company were investigated and found to be invalid forgeries. Andrew Carnegie also became involved and announced on multiple occasions that he did not know Chadwick and had not been in the habit of signing promissory notes for a number of years. In 1904, Chadwick, Beckwith, and one of the bankers at Oberlin’s Citizen’s National Bank, were arrested for conspiracy to defraud a national bank.

Throughout her trial, Chadwick denied that she had done anything wrong. Reporters wrote that she seemed agitated and unwell and may have suffered declining health throughout the proceedings. Carnegie is also said to have attended the trail, but declined to press charges or participate in any way other than as an observer. Many newspapers, including the Jackson Daily News, reported that he said “She has only brought before the public a very advantageous thing - that my credit is A No. 1.”

In 1905 Chadwick was found guilty of her charges and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. It is unclear if Beckwith and his associates were charged, but the Oberlin branch of the Citizen’s National Bank was irrevocably ruined and facing bankruptcy. Students at Oberlin College and even some Oberlin citizens lost most of their savings and received relief in the form of a substantial donation from Andrew Carnegie himself to help cover their losses.

It is unknown if Chadwick’s husband or son, Emile, knew of her activities or even questioned the source of her wealth. Dr. Chadwick was reported to have faced financial ruin at the hands of his wife and he quickly divorced her and distanced himself from Cleveland and the trial.

Cassie L. Chadwick spent the rest of her life refusing to admit to or divulge the extent of the fraud she committed and it may never be known just how much money she stole. Throughout her trail and time in prison, she is reported as appearing anxious and sickly and her health declined rapidly. She passed away in 1907. 

"Aid for Mrs. Chadwick, But Arrests Threatened," The New York Times. December 4 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/04/118949430.pdf.

"Tracing Chadwick Satchel. Receiver on Trail of More Missing Possessions of the Woman," The New York Times. December 22 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/22/118949902.pdf.

"Identify Mrs. Chadwick as Mme. DeVere, forger," The New York Times. December 16 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/16/120273739.pdf.

"Want Carnegie as Chadwick Witness," The New York Times. December 6 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/06/102418822.pdf.

"Carnegie and Mrs. Chadwick. An Effort Made to Keep Him Out of the Case," Jackson Daily News. December 15 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12778301/andrew-carnegie-comments-on-cassie/.

"The Strange Case of Mrs. Chadwick," The North American. Accessed March 10 2021. http://www.oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka203/exhibits/show/carnegie_library_oberlin/azariah_smith_root_years_1887/cassie_chadwick.

"The Chadwick Affair," The Democratic-Herald. December 15 1904. Accessed March 10 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12778034/cassie-chadwick-arrest-in-new-york/.

"Cassie L. Chadwick Arrested on the Charge That She Aided in Embezzlement by Bankers," San Francisco Call Vol 97, Number 8. December 8 1904. Accessed March 10th 2021. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19041208&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1.

"Cassie Chadwick's Husband "Broke,"" The Morning Call. August 15 1908. Accessed March 10 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/34241957/dr-chadwick-files-for-bankruptcy/.

"Cassie Chadwick Stricken Blind in Penitentiary," The Charlotte News. September 16 1907. Accessed March 10 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/570349/the-charlotte-news-charlotte-north/.

"Chadwick, Cassie L.," Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Accessed March 10 2021. https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/chadwick-cassie-l.

"Cassie L. Chadwick," History of Carnegie Library, Oberlin Carnegie Library. Accessed March 10 2021. http://www.oberlinlibstaff.com/omeka203/exhibits/show/carnegie_library_oberlin/azariah_smith_root_years_1887/cassie_chadwick.

"Cassie Chadwick: The Con Artist of Millionaire's Row," Western Reserve Historical Society. Accessed March 10 2021. https://www.wrhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Cassie-Chadwick.pdf.

Thornton, Willis. "The Fabulous Fraud from Eastwood," MacLean's. November 1 1949. Accessed March 10 2021. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1949/11/1/the-fabulous-fraud-from-eastwood.

"Cassie L. Chadwick," Women in History Ohio. January 26th 2013. Accessed March 10 2021. http://www.womeninhistoryohio.com/cassie-l-chadwick.html.

Sanford, John. "Queen of the Sob Sisters," MacLean's. November 15 1953. Accessed March 10 2021. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1953/1/15/queen-of-the-sob-sister.