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his closest competitor, Connolly was elected. The time was ripe for
an escalation of fraudulent claims for work and materials billed to
the City. When claims came in, bonds were sold to cover them, but
many claims were completely bogus, and even legitimate claims were
terribly inflated. Of the money garnered, first 45 percent and then 65
percent went to the top bosses in the ring, which starred none other
than William Marcy “Boss” Tweed. Richard Barrett Connolly was one
of four top lieutenants who benefited. According to a
New York Times
article, $30 million was fraudulently diverted from the city treasury
between January 1, 1868 and July 1, 1871.
By 1870, the editor of the
New York Times
had decided to take on
Tammany Hall, whose stranglehold on the political life of the city had
grown ever more outrageous. As public indignation over the fraudulent
activities began to rise, “Slippery Dick” Connolly was drafted by Tweed to
offer the editor $5 million to drop the anti-Tammany Hall campaign (this
amount equates to over $100 million today). The editor refused, claiming
that seeing an end to the corruption would be reward enough.
Between the scores of news stories exposing the nefarious activities
of “Boss” Tweed and the political cartooning of Thomas Nast and others,
indictments were issued for the top members of the ring. Connolly was
arrested on November 25, 1971. Eventually, 15 criminal counts were
issued against him, with bail set at $1,000 per count. He met his bail in
time to greet the new year on January 1, 1872. Five days later, he slipped
out of the country.
About a year before the “great exposure,” Fannie Fithian and her
father had purchased extensive amounts of stocks and bonds. Then she
and her brother, Townsend Connolly, took a trip to Europe, placing the
bulk of the family fortune out of the reach of American courts. Only a
Park Avenue home remained in the Connolly family’s possession, and that
had been deeded to Fannie’s mother.
About a year after Connolly disappeared from American soil
and reappeared in France, Fannie and Joel Adams Fithian followed.
They found that Connolly wasn’t living the high life in exile; he had
developed nephritis (then called Bright’s Disease), and the last few
years of his life were spent in great physical agony. He died in May
1880, in Marseille, France.
Over the years, Joel Adams and Fannie traveled back and forth to
New York but continued to live in France, where they had substantial
Moguls & Mansions
(Top left)
Thomas Nast cartoon shows Richard Barrett Connolly stumbling on
the curb as Tweed and additional members of the ring pretend to join the chase
for those who robbed the New York City treasury (Courtesy Library of Congress)
(Top right)
Joel Remington Fithian and Mary relax at their Sandyland beach
cottage (Courtesy JRF II)
(Bottom)
The 1896 Fithian Building (Courtesy Santa
Barbara Historical Museum)