Ponzi's Scheme (34 page)

45

“Bianchi the Snake”: Herbert L. Baldwin, “Canadian ‘Ponsi' Served Jail Term,”
Boston Post,
August 11, 1920, p. 1.

45

inspector named W. H. Stevenson: Letter of immigration, inspector James Yale to John Clark, commissioner of immigration, Montreal, Canada, viewed online at www.mark-knutson.com.

46

an old schoolmate: Ponzi, pp. 23–24.

46

the old friend was Antonio Salviati: “Receivers Grill Ponzi,”
Boston Traveler,
August 21, 1920, p. 1.

46

Ponzi bought the deal and pleaded: Ponzi, pp. 26–28.

46

lounged in the plush seats: Ponzi, p. 29.

47

“might as well be a gilded cage.”: Ibid.

47

A. C. Aderhold: “Planned Coup While Prisoner,”
Boston Herald,
August 12, 1920, p. 3.

47

F. G. Zerpt: “Arrest in Ponzi Case May Be Made Today,”
Boston Post,
August 12, 1920, p. 1.

47

Ignazio “the Wolf” Lupo: Lupo also was known as Ignazio “Lupo the Wolf” Saietta. Jay Maeder, “Pay or Die: Lieutenant Petrosino and the Black Hand, 1909,” New York
Daily News,
March 3, 1998, p. 49. Also www.gangrule.com/biography.php?ID=1.

48

kinship with his countryman Lupo: Ponzi, p. 30.

48

Lupo was tough: Ibid.

49

Charles W. Morse: Henry F. Pringle,
The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography.
Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1939, pp. 627–36. Also Ponzi, pp. 31–32.

49

“the most brutal”: Ibid., p. 628.

50

false medical claims against coal-mining companies: Ponzi, pp. 33–34.

51

Truman H. Aldrich: Charles E. Adams, “The Great West Blocton Town Fire of 1927,”
Alabama Heritage,
Summer 1998.

51

“a brotherhood of common interests”: Ponzi, p. 35.

52

“Something always happens!”: Ibid.

52

Pearl Gossett: The story of Ponzi's donation of skin can be traced to A. C. Aderhold, his boss at the Atlanta prison, who shared the newspaper clipping of the account with reporters in 1920. See “ ‘Ponci' of Great Help in Federal Prison,”
Boston Globe,
August 12, 1920, p. 10. Ponzi provides his own account in his autobiography, pp. 36–38.

54

S.S.
Tarpon:
Ponzi, p. 39.

54

“Librarian Wanted at the Medical College”: “A Leaf out of Ponzi's Past: ‘Fired' from $30 a Month Mobile Job in 1915,”
Boston Globe,
August 5, 1930, p. 1. Gus Carlson Jr. is quoted extensively in the story, along with Mrs. T. C. White. Also Ponzi, pp. 39–43.

56

New Orleans: In his autobiography, Ponzi tells an interesting but largely unverifiable story about his time in New Orleans (see pp. 44–50). In it, he claims the following: Following a string of unsolved murders, he and a minister took it upon themselves to improve the reputation of the city's Italian community. The two men went to the editor of the
New Orleans States
newspaper claiming to represent a secret society of prominent Italians that in truth existed only in their minds. Insisting on anonymity, they told the editor that “the better element of the Italian colony have decided to take matters into their own hands and put an end to all these killings.” To do so, the society would gather information about everyone suspected of involvement, and that information would be turned over to the police. They reasoned that the public announcement of such a society would slow the killings because the killers would fear that “they might be secretly denounced by persons whose identity they could not establish.” The
States
ran a story about the society, Ponzi claimed, after which other newspapers poured reporters into the city's Italian enclave, hoping to learn more; of course they could not, because no such society existed. The upshot of Ponzi's story was that the editor of the
States
arranged a secret meeting between Ponzi, the minister, the mayor of New Orleans, and the chief of police, at which the mayor supposedly offered Ponzi and the minister thirty thousand dollars to help the society in its investigation. Ponzi claimed that he and the minister realized they had gone too far; had they been identified as the originators of a law-and-order society they would have faced danger from the killers. But if their society was shown to be a ruse, they might face charges from the authorities. Their only choice was to leave town, separately, which Ponzi insisted they did. “We were just a couple of madcaps,” he wrote. “Not swindlers.” Although the story cannot be confirmed and may well be fanciful, it is reasonable to think that there are several grains of truth to it. Mostly, it is consistent with Ponzi's trademark brand of impetuous scheming in which a seemingly clever idea gets him in over his head.

56

Wichita Falls: Historical information found online at www.wichitafalls.org/index.htm. Also Ponzi, pp. 51–52.

56

a sixteen-dollar-a-week clerk: “Arrest in Ponzi Case May Be Made Today,”
Boston Post,
August 12, 1920, p. 1.

57

Italy was seeking emigrants as reservists: “Ponzi's Career Is Spectacular,”
Boston Globe,
August 13, 1920. Also “Ponzi Relates Story of His Life,”
Boston Post,
August 9, 1920, p. 16; “Arrest in Ponzi Case May Be Made Today,”
Boston Post,
August 12, 1920, p. 1.

59

“There were many times”: Keene Sumner, “A Great Editor Tells What Interests People,”
American,
January 1924, p. 122.

59

guest at his dinner table: Ibid., p. 120.

59

“The bulk of the work”: “Editor of Post Dies,”
Boston Post,
May 10, 1924, p. 1.

60

drawing tiny boats and ships: “Reminds of Early Days,” letter from Herbert Kenny to Edwin A. Grozier, published in the
Boston Post,
June 1, 1921, p. 25.

60

Edwin often remained in Boston: Interview with Mary Grozier, March 7, 2003.

60

Phillips Exeter Academy: Richard Grozier's transcripts and pages from the 1905 Exeter yearbook,
The Pean,
were obtained through the school with the help of archivist Edouard L. Desrochers and assistant archivist Shelley C. Bronk.

60

Richard was accepted at Harvard: The Harvard University Archive contains an extensive file on the academic history of Richard Grozier, including his complete transcripts and the remarkable letters written by him, his father, E. A. Wells, B. S. Hurlbut, W. G. Howard, and Joseph Ross.

60

Half were from Massachusetts:
First Report of the Harvard Class of 1909,
printed in 1910.

61

fine wine and champagne: Interview with Mary Grozier, March 7, 2003.

62

“Gold Coast”: Interview with Marvin Hightower, senior writer and archivist, Harvard news office, March 7, 2003.

64

Vera Rumery: “Romance Disclosed: Newton High School Girl to Wed Harvard Man,”
Boston Globe,
November 24, 1907.

68

“One of our teachers”: Hans Von Kaltenborn, “The College and the Press,” disquisition presented at Class Day 1909, reprinted in
First Report of the Harvard Class of 1909,
printed in 1910, pp. 235–36.

68

“a very routine life”:
Harvard Class of 1909, Fiftieth Anniversary Report,
1959. pp. 452–53.

69

168 Brattle Street: “Mr. J. G. Thorp's House on Brattle Street,”
Cambridge Tribune,
February 2, 1889, p. 1; information on the house and the neighborhood is also from the files of the Cambridge Historical Commission and the Cambridge Historical Society.

69

Alice had found the house: Interview with Mary Grozier, March 7, 2003.

69

editorial writer: “Bursting Golden Bubble Wins Gold Medal,”
Editor & Publisher,
June 4, 1921, p. 1.

73

James Michael Curley: There is no better source on Boston's rogue mayor than Jack Beatty's
The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley,
Addison-Wesley, 1992. For the period covered here, I relied most heavily on pp. 67–211. For Curley's attack on the
Post,
see p. 209 and also the
Boston Post,
December 2, 1917. Also on Curley and John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald: Francis Russell,
The Knave of Boston,
Quinlan Press, 1987, pp. 1–84; Thomas H. O'Connor,
The Boston Irish: A Political History,
Northeastern Press, 1995; pp. 179–217; Doris Kearns Goodwin,
The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga,
Simon & Schuster, 1989, pp. 244–52; and Kenny, pp. 163–173.

78

Ponzi found himself rooting for Curley: Ponzi, p. 58.

79

“By starving one day”: Ibid., p. 53.

79

Meeting Rose: “Ponzi Relates Story of His Life,”
Boston Post,
August 9, 1920, p. 16. Also Ponzi, pp. 53–55; “Wife Tells of Ponzi's Plans,”
Boston American,
July 31, 1920, p. 1; and Charles Merrill, “His Pretty Girl Wife Sorry When Ponzi Quit $50 Job,”
Boston Globe,
August 8, 1920, p. 8. Information about Rose Gnecco Ponzi also was gathered during interviews in April and May 2003 with John Gnecco, Rose's nephew, who cared for her during the years before she died, and his sisters, Florence Gnecco Hall and Mary Gnecco Treen.

79

four foot eleven: Rose's height was confirmed by her nephew. Her pride in her weight comes from “ ‘Charlie's a Born Aristocrat,' Says Mrs. Rose Ponzi,”
Boston Post,
December 3, 1922, Special Feature Section, p. 1.

80

“Time, space, the world”: Ponzi, p. 54.

81

nephews and nieces to the beach: Interview with Mary Gnecco Treen, May 5, 2003.

81

Imelde wanted to be sure Rose knew: “Mrs. Ponzi Loyal,”
Boston Post,
August 13, 1920, p. 9. Also Clarence White, “Mrs. Ponzi Says, ‘We Will Stay Here and Square Debts,' ”
Boston Globe,
July 17, 1921.

82

Saint Anthony's Church: marriage license obtained from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Vital Statistics. Also church records from Saint Anthony's, provided in April 2003 by church secretary Millie Teixiera.

82

dinner and the theater once a week: Margaret Strickland, “Mrs. Ponzi Willing to Surrender All,”
Boston Post,
August 17, 1920, p. 1.

82

song on the mandolin: “ ‘Charlie's a Born Aristocrat,' Says Mrs. Rose Ponzi,”
Boston Post,
December 3, 1922, Special Feature Section, p. 1.

83

“tastes of the millionaire”: Charles Merrill, “His Pretty Girl Wife Sorry When Ponzi Quit $50 Job,”
Boston Globe,
August 8, 1920, p. 8.

83

stamp collection: Ibid.

83

with Roberto de Masellis: “Ponzi Asks Aid . . . Witness Says Foreign Exchange Plan Feasible,”
Boston Evening Transcript,
October 27, 1922. The physical description of de Masellis comes from a
Boston Traveler
sketch published on October 28, 1922.

84

“Charlie, for heaven's sake”: “ ‘Charlie's a Born Aristocrat,' Says Mrs. Rose Ponzi,”
Boston Post,
December 3, 1922, Special Feature Section, p. 1.

84

“When a man is always a gentleman”: Ibid.

84

“An American beauty. My Rose!”: Ponzi, p. 55.

84

“I want you to be able to throw away a hundred dollars”: Charles Merrill, “His Pretty Girl Wife Sorry When Ponzi Quit $50 Job,”
Boston Globe,
August 8, 1920, p. 8.

84

Once she took a photograph of him: Nancy Wrynne, “Ponzi's Home Life Is Simple and Devoid of Ostentation,”
Boston Sunday Herald,
August 1, 1920.

84

the world to take notice of him: “ ‘Charlie's a Born Aristocrat,' Says Mrs. Rose Ponzi,”
Boston Post,
December 3, 1922, Special Feature Section, p. 1.

85

Rose's mother died: Margaret Strickland, “Mrs. Ponzi Offers All,”
Boston Post,
August 17, 1920, p. 1.

85

Her love for him deepened: Ibid.

85

“tired of working for expectations”: Ponzi, p. 59.

85

inherited some money from her mother: Clarence White, “Mrs. Ponzi Says, ‘We Will Stay Here and Square Debts,' ”
Boston Globe,
July 17, 1921.

86

He sat in the office's lone armchair: Ibid.

86

stealing 5,387 pounds of cheese: “Ponzi's Career Is Spectacular,”
Boston Globe,
August 13, 1920, p. 9.

86

kingmaker and blackmailer Dan Coakley: Annual Report of the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks, 1921, pp. lv–lvi.

87

a deal with the store's owner: The terms of the furniture deal come from multiple sources, including, “Ponzi Sent No Representative to Europe,”
Boston Globe,
September 29, 1920.

87

anglicized his name from Giuseppe Danieli: Albert Hurwitz, “The Ponzi Bubble,”
Boston Sunday Herald Magazine,
August 30, 1970, p. 13.

88

The ill-fated story of the
Trader's Guide
comes from Ponzi himself. His most complete telling is found at Ponzi, pp. 60–66.

89

“with the same inflection”: Ponzi, p. 64.

89

“I cannot approve the loan”: Ibid.

89

Sitting alone in the office: Ponzi told the story of how he came up with the idea of speculating in International Reply Coupons on many occasions, each time recounting the same essential facts about the letter from the Spaniard who wanted a copy of the
Trader's Guide.
See Ponzi, pp. 67–70; Charles Ponzi, “Ponzi's Own Story of His Life Reads Like a Romance,”
Boston Sunday Advertiser,
August 8, 1920, p. 3; and “Ponzi Tells His Story,”
Boston Evening Transcript,
November 27, 1922, p. 1.