Harry K. Thaw
Encyclopedia
Harry Kendall Thaw was the son of coal and railroad baron William Thaw
. He is best known for murdering the architect Stanford White
at Madison Square Garden
in 1906 in a jealous rage.
coal and railroad baron William Thaw
. Violent and paranoid from a very young age (his mother claimed his problems had started in the womb), he spent his childhood bouncing from private school to private school in Pittsburgh, never doing well and described by teachers as unintelligent and a troublemaker. Still, as the son of William Thaw, he was granted admission to the University of Pittsburgh
, where he was to study law, though he apparently did little studying. After a few years he used his name and social status to transfer to Harvard University
.
Thaw later bragged that he had studied poker
at Harvard. He also went on long drinking binges, attended cockfights, and spent much of his time romancing young women. He was expelled after being picked up for chasing a cab driver through the streets of Cambridge
with a shotgun
, though he claimed it was unloaded.
Thaw has been credited with the invention of the speedball
, an injected combination of morphine
and/or heroin along with cocaine
sometime between 1896 and 1906. He was also reported by newspapers at the time of his trial to have once consumed an entire bottle of laudanum
in a single sitting and carry a special silver case full of syringes and other parts of a large "outfit" of injecting equipment.
and cocaine
and frequenting Broadway
shows, which he described as "studying." In fact, Thaw made a habit of studying chorus girls, and this hobby first brought him into contact with noted architect Stanford White
. White, who had a similar hobby, had made some disparaging remarks about Thaw to a group of chorus girls Thaw was engaged in wooing, and Thaw blamed their subsequent snub on White's influence. White soon became a focus of Thaw's disjointed rage, and so when Thaw learned that White had begun paying special attention to Evelyn Nesbit
, a chorus girl from the show Florodora
, Thaw arranged to meet her at a party.
White warned Nesbit of Thaw, and Nesbit for a while avoided him. But a bout of presumed appendicitis
put Nesbit in the hospital and provided Thaw with an opening. Harry came in bearing gifts and praise, managing to impress both Nesbit's mother and the headmistress at the boarding school she attended. Later, under Stanford White's orders, she was moved to a sanatorium
in upstate New York
, where both White and Thaw visited often, though never at the same time.
Finally, under duress, Evelyn admitted to Thaw that Stanford White had indeed taken her virginity, and she claimed that she was unworthy to be Thaw's wife. This enraged Thaw, but did not dissuade him from wanting Evelyn's hand in marriage. He soon packed Mrs. Nesbit back to New York and took Evelyn to an isolated German
castle, where he forced himself on Evelyn and beat her repeatedly with a dog whip. Perhaps out of fear, Evelyn nonetheless stayed with Thaw, eventually convincing him to let her return to New York.
Thaw remained enraptured with Evelyn, and over the course of several years he managed to wear her down. Then his mother arrived at Evelyn's doorstep and announced that she wished for Evelyn to marry her son. Settling down, she said, would help curb Harry's "eccentricities." Evelyn at last gave in and returned to Pittsburgh to live with Harry and Mother Thaw. Harry's obsession with her seemed to wane as soon as the two were married, and Harry sometimes disappeared to Europe or elsewhere for days at a time.
while dining at the Cafe Martin. After learning that White was to attend the premiere of Mam'zelle Champagne, a show the Thaws were also planning to attend, Harry took Evelyn back to their hotel and disappeared, returning just in time to pick up Evelyn and head to the show — curiously dressed in a black overcoat, though it was a hot evening. At the rooftop theatre of Madison Square Garden
, the hat check girl repeatedly tried to relieve Harry of his heavy coat, but he refused. He wandered through the crowd during the show, approaching White's table several times, only to back away on each occasion. During the finale, "I Could Love A Million Girls", Thaw produced a pistol and fired three shots at close range into Stanford White's face, killing him.
The crowd initially suspected the shooting might be part of the show, as elaborate practical jokes were popular in high society at the time. Soon, however, it became apparent that Stanford White was dead. Thaw, holding the gun aloft, walked through the crowd and met Evelyn at the elevator. When she asked what he'd done, Thaw said that he had "probably saved your life."
: at the second, where he pled insanity, Evelyn testified. Thaw's mother told Evelyn that if she would testify that Stanford White abused her and that Harry only tried to protect her, she'd receive a divorce
from Harry Thaw and one million dollars in compensation. She did just that, and performed in court wonderfully: he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Evelyn got the divorce, but not the money. Thaw testified that he had had a "brainstorm", meaning a moment of temporary insanity. Thaw was incarcerated at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Fishkill, New York
, enjoying nearly complete freedom. In 1913 he walked out of the asylum and was driven over the border to Sherbrooke, Quebec. His lawyer, William Lewis Shurtleff
, fought extradition
back to the United States, but he was deported and arrested in the United States
. In 1915, a jury judged him sane, and he was released.
. While living at Kenilworth, Thaw ingratiated himself with the locals, joined the Rouss Fire Company, and even marched in a few local parades in his fireman's uniform. He was regarded as an eccentric by the citizens of Clearbrook but does not seem to have run into a great deal of additional legal trouble.
In the late '20s, Thaw went into the film production business, based on Long Island. At first, he attempted to make short comedies and stories about fake spiritualists. In 1927, he contracted with John S. Lopez and detective-story author Arthur B. Reeve
for a batch of scenarios continuing the fake spiritualism theme. This resulted in a lawsuit when the scenarios weren't paid for; Thaw had switched emphasis, attempting to film a story of his own life, so claimed he owed nothing. The suit eventually resulted in a $7000 judgment for Lopez in 1935. In 1944 he sold the Kenilworth home and moved to Florida.
in his will. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery
in Pittsburgh.
William Thaw
William Thaw, Sr. was an American businessman who made his fortune in transportation and banking. -Biography:...
. He is best known for murdering the architect Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1890)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...
in 1906 in a jealous rage.
Early life
Thaw was born on February 12, 1871 to PittsburghPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
coal and railroad baron William Thaw
William Thaw
William Thaw, Sr. was an American businessman who made his fortune in transportation and banking. -Biography:...
. Violent and paranoid from a very young age (his mother claimed his problems had started in the womb), he spent his childhood bouncing from private school to private school in Pittsburgh, never doing well and described by teachers as unintelligent and a troublemaker. Still, as the son of William Thaw, he was granted admission to the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, where he was to study law, though he apparently did little studying. After a few years he used his name and social status to transfer to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Thaw later bragged that he had studied poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
at Harvard. He also went on long drinking binges, attended cockfights, and spent much of his time romancing young women. He was expelled after being picked up for chasing a cab driver through the streets of Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
with a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, though he claimed it was unloaded.
Thaw has been credited with the invention of the speedball
Speedball (drug)
Speedball is a term commonly referring to the hazardous intravenous use of heroin or morphine and cocaine together in the same syringe. The speedball can also be taken by insufflation. The original speedball used cocaine hydrochloride mixed with morphine sulfate, as opposed to heroin...
, an injected combination of morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and/or heroin along with cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
sometime between 1896 and 1906. He was also reported by newspapers at the time of his trial to have once consumed an entire bottle of laudanum
Laudanum
Laudanum , also known as Tincture of Opium, is an alcoholic herbal preparation containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight ....
in a single sitting and carry a special silver case full of syringes and other parts of a large "outfit" of injecting equipment.
Early relationship
After his expulsion from Harvard, Thaw bounced around between Pennsylvania and New York, injecting himself with both morphineMorphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and frequenting Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows, which he described as "studying." In fact, Thaw made a habit of studying chorus girls, and this hobby first brought him into contact with noted architect Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
. White, who had a similar hobby, had made some disparaging remarks about Thaw to a group of chorus girls Thaw was engaged in wooing, and Thaw blamed their subsequent snub on White's influence. White soon became a focus of Thaw's disjointed rage, and so when Thaw learned that White had begun paying special attention to Evelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit was an American artists' model and chorus girl, noted for her entanglement in the murder of her ex-lover, architect Stanford White, by her first husband, Harry Kendall Thaw.-Early life:...
, a chorus girl from the show Florodora
Florodora
Florodora is an Edwardian musical comedy and became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the music was by Leslie Stuart with additional songs by Paul Rubens, and the lyrics were by Edward Boyd-Jones...
, Thaw arranged to meet her at a party.
White warned Nesbit of Thaw, and Nesbit for a while avoided him. But a bout of presumed appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
put Nesbit in the hospital and provided Thaw with an opening. Harry came in bearing gifts and praise, managing to impress both Nesbit's mother and the headmistress at the boarding school she attended. Later, under Stanford White's orders, she was moved to a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where both White and Thaw visited often, though never at the same time.
Marriage proposal
White's attention soon waned, but Thaw remained an ardent admirer of Nesbit, and after her release from the sanatorium, Thaw invited her and her mother to visit Paris with him. In Europe, Thaw spent vast sums of money on Evelyn and her mother, and eventually proposed marriage to Evelyn, who demurred. Thaw, however, was not to be swayed, and for several weeks continued to press Evelyn for her hand.Finally, under duress, Evelyn admitted to Thaw that Stanford White had indeed taken her virginity, and she claimed that she was unworthy to be Thaw's wife. This enraged Thaw, but did not dissuade him from wanting Evelyn's hand in marriage. He soon packed Mrs. Nesbit back to New York and took Evelyn to an isolated German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
castle, where he forced himself on Evelyn and beat her repeatedly with a dog whip. Perhaps out of fear, Evelyn nonetheless stayed with Thaw, eventually convincing him to let her return to New York.
Thaw remained enraptured with Evelyn, and over the course of several years he managed to wear her down. Then his mother arrived at Evelyn's doorstep and announced that she wished for Evelyn to marry her son. Settling down, she said, would help curb Harry's "eccentricities." Evelyn at last gave in and returned to Pittsburgh to live with Harry and Mother Thaw. Harry's obsession with her seemed to wane as soon as the two were married, and Harry sometimes disappeared to Europe or elsewhere for days at a time.
Murder of Stanford White
In the spring of 1906, Harry and Evelyn decided to travel to Europe and New York. On June 25, while in New York, Evelyn and Harry saw Stanford WhiteStanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
while dining at the Cafe Martin. After learning that White was to attend the premiere of Mam'zelle Champagne, a show the Thaws were also planning to attend, Harry took Evelyn back to their hotel and disappeared, returning just in time to pick up Evelyn and head to the show — curiously dressed in a black overcoat, though it was a hot evening. At the rooftop theatre of Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1890)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...
, the hat check girl repeatedly tried to relieve Harry of his heavy coat, but he refused. He wandered through the crowd during the show, approaching White's table several times, only to back away on each occasion. During the finale, "I Could Love A Million Girls", Thaw produced a pistol and fired three shots at close range into Stanford White's face, killing him.
The crowd initially suspected the shooting might be part of the show, as elaborate practical jokes were popular in high society at the time. Soon, however, it became apparent that Stanford White was dead. Thaw, holding the gun aloft, walked through the crowd and met Evelyn at the elevator. When she asked what he'd done, Thaw said that he had "probably saved your life."
Murder trials
There were two trials, the first lasting from January–April 1907 and the second in January 1908. At the first, the jury was deadlockedHung jury
A hung jury or deadlocked jury is a jury that cannot, by the required voting threshold, agree upon a verdict after an extended period of deliberation and is unable to change its votes due to severe differences of opinion.- England and Wales :...
: at the second, where he pled insanity, Evelyn testified. Thaw's mother told Evelyn that if she would testify that Stanford White abused her and that Harry only tried to protect her, she'd receive a divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
from Harry Thaw and one million dollars in compensation. She did just that, and performed in court wonderfully: he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Evelyn got the divorce, but not the money. Thaw testified that he had had a "brainstorm", meaning a moment of temporary insanity. Thaw was incarcerated at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Fishkill, New York
Fishkill, New York
Fishkill is an upscale village within the much larger town, Town of Fishkill, one of the fastest growing towns in the region, in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The village population was 1,735 at the 2000 census...
, enjoying nearly complete freedom. In 1913 he walked out of the asylum and was driven over the border to Sherbrooke, Quebec. His lawyer, William Lewis Shurtleff
William Lewis Shurtleff
William Lewis Shurtleff, K.C., LL.D., was a Quebec lawyer and newspaper owner. He was the defense lawyer for Harry Kendall Thaw in 1913. The Buffalo Morning Express calls him "one of the leading lawyers in Canada".-Biography:...
, fought extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
back to the United States, but he was deported and arrested in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1915, a jury judged him sane, and he was released.
Assault trial
For his part, Thaw continued to live as he had always lived. The year after his release, he was accused of sexually assaulting and horsewhipping Fred Gump, Jr., a high-school student he brought from Kansas City to New York. When Thaw was indicted for the assault, he fled to Philadelphia, where he was found with a self-inflicted slash to the throat. He was again adjudicated insane, and sent to an asylum. After seven years, he was declared sane and released in 1924.Later life
In 1924, he purchased a historic home known as Kenilworth in Clearbrook, a farming community in Frederick County, VirginiaFrederick County, Virginia
Frederick County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is included in the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was formed in 1743 by the splitting of Orange County. For ten years it was the home of George Washington. As of 2010, the population was...
. While living at Kenilworth, Thaw ingratiated himself with the locals, joined the Rouss Fire Company, and even marched in a few local parades in his fireman's uniform. He was regarded as an eccentric by the citizens of Clearbrook but does not seem to have run into a great deal of additional legal trouble.
In the late '20s, Thaw went into the film production business, based on Long Island. At first, he attempted to make short comedies and stories about fake spiritualists. In 1927, he contracted with John S. Lopez and detective-story author Arthur B. Reeve
Arthur B. Reeve
Arthur Benjamin Reeve was an American mystery writer. He is best known for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes," and his Dr Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter, in eighteen detective novels...
for a batch of scenarios continuing the fake spiritualism theme. This resulted in a lawsuit when the scenarios weren't paid for; Thaw had switched emphasis, attempting to film a story of his own life, so claimed he owed nothing. The suit eventually resulted in a $7000 judgment for Lopez in 1935. In 1944 he sold the Kenilworth home and moved to Florida.
Death
Thaw died of a heart attack in Miami, Florida on February 22, 1947 at the age of 76. He left $10,000, less than 1% of his fortune, to Evelyn NesbitEvelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit was an American artists' model and chorus girl, noted for her entanglement in the murder of her ex-lover, architect Stanford White, by her first husband, Harry Kendall Thaw.-Early life:...
in his will. He was buried in Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery
Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.It is a nonsectarian, wooded hillside park located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood and bounded by Bloomfield, Garfield, and Stanton Heights...
in Pittsburgh.
Non-fictional accounts
- The Architect of Desire - Suzannah Lessard
- Glamorous Sinners - Frederick L. Collins
- Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White: Love and Death in the Gilded Age - Michael Mooney
- The Murder of Stanford White - Gerald Langford
- The Traitor - Harry K. Thaw
- The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing - Charles Samuels - 1953
- The Story of my Life - Evelyn Nesbit Thaw - 1914
- Prodigal Days - Evelyn Nesbit Thaw - 1934
- American Eve - Paula Uruburu - 2008
Fictional accounts
- The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955 movie)
- The 1975 historical fiction novel RagtimeRagtime (novel)Ragtime is a 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow. This work of historical fiction is primarily set in the New York City area from about 1900 until the United States entry into World War I in 1917...
by E. L. DoctorowE. L. DoctorowEdgar Lawrence Doctorow is an American author.- Biography :Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of second-generation Americans of Russian Jewish descent...
was adapted into the two below works:- The film Ragtime.
- The musical RagtimeRagtime (musical)Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.Based on the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in America, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; Mother, the matriarch of a WASP family in...
.
- Dementia Americana - A long narrative poem by Keith MaillardKeith MaillardKeith Maillard is a fiction author and poet.Maillard has lived in various places in the United States and Canada.He attended West Virginia University and was host of a Boston campus radio programme.He moved to Canada in 1970, attaining citizenship in 1976.In the early 1970s, Maillard worked as a...
, which won the Gerald Lampert AwardGerald Lampert AwardThe Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert...
for the best first book of poetry published in 1994. - My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon – play by Don NigroDon NigroDon Nigro is an American playwright; his plays Anima Mundi and The Dark Sonnets of the Lady have both been nominated for the National Repertory Theatre Foundation's National Play Award...
- La fille coupée en deux – movie by Claude ChabrolClaude ChabrolClaude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
(2007) - A fictionalized Thaw also appears in Jed RubenfeldJed RubenfeldJed Rubenfeld is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He is an expert on constitutional law, privacy, and the First Amendment.-Biography:...
's 2006 novel The Interpretation of MurderThe Interpretation of MurderThe Interpretation of Murder, published in 2006, is Jed Rubenfeld's first novel. The book is written in the first person perspective of Dr. Stratham Younger, supposedly an American psychoanalyst...
.
External links
- Harry Kendall Thaw and trial at Flickr Commons
- "Harry Thaw's trial" Scans of a dinner program with Jurists autographs