A bigamist, scoundrel and all-around villain arrested
B.C. had a lot of rogues in the 1890s. But it would be hard to find one as devious as the Rev. Dr. William Hammond, a sometime preacher accused of marrying rich women, poisoning them, and leaving town with their cash.
When he was arrested in New Orleans on Dec. 11, 1895, the Los Angeles Times dubbed him a “smoothy,” as well as “a thief, confidence man, bigamist, adulterer, abortionist and all-round crook.”
News of his arrest didn't reach here until Jan. 17, 1896, when the Vancouver World recounted many of his misdeeds in a story headlined, “An All-round Villain.” He had first drawn the World's attention on Sept. 5, 1892 when he turned up in Port Haney, inspiring one of the longest and best headlines I've ever read. It began, “A Much-married Old Fraud,” and continued with, “All-round Scoundrel Residing Not Far From Vancouver.”
But the best part was the third section: “He is Wanted in Many Places for Bigamy, Embezzlement, Thievery and General Rascality, and Has Begun New Villainies.”
Born in Lachute, Que. around 1841, Hammond was infamous in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. But he didn't come off like Snidely Whiplash. “Hammond looks more like a minister than a criminal,” said the World in 1896.
“He is slightly bald and what hair he has is auburn. He wears a thick, auburn beard. He always wears a pious expression and his smile is one of peaceful resignation.”
Hammond was well-educated and chose a spiritual path.
“As a preacher he was at different times connected with Catholic, Drunkard, Methodist and Free Will Baptist churches,” said the World.
“He was an Odd-fellow, Knight of Pythias, Red Man and Patron of Husbandry, but has been expelled
from each.”
After he lost a position at a Montreal church, he forged “letters of recommendation” to a bank to get money. When the fraud was discovered, he fled to the U.S., where he became a preacher in Franklin Falls, N.H. He soon married a wealthy widow, Mrs. Brockway.
“He picked me out as the wealthiest woman in the congregation, for I have learned since that he
never married poor women,” Mrs. Brockway said. “My former husband, Dr. Brockway, had left me a fine house and some property, and Hammond persuaded me to sell the house, for I then thought he was an angel of light.
“Unbeknown to me, he sold some of my furniture and pocketed the proceeds. I began to be sick soon after our marriage. Hammond told my friends I had heart disease and
that I might die suddenly.
“I suppose now that he put poison in my food. One day, he said he would fix me some medicine, which he did, and instructed me to take it after he had left the house. He filled a glass with a mixture of what he called quinine.
“I swallowed about half of the mixture, when the effects alarmed me, and I sent for a physician, who came at once. He saw that it was a case of morphine poisoning, and succeeded in saving my life.”
Hammond claimed it had been an accident, but when he drew $2,000 from his wife's bank account she had him arrested. When she “delayed prosecuting him,” he escaped back to Canada.
“I secured a divorce,” said his ex-wife. “After Hammond's adventures were published (in newspapers) I received letters from all over the country, sometimes 30 a day, from people who had been swindled by him. As nearly as I know, he had nine wives, six of whom are dead.”
He pulled scams all over the U.S., marrying women from Yreka, Calif. to Wolf Lake, Ind. and Macon, Fla. In 1887, he took his con on a tour of Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. He came to the Vancouver area “with two women” in early 1892, but after the World “made life too hot for him” he vamoosed.
Although the newspapers accused him of all sorts of crimes, he never seems to have been convicted of anything. He was discharged from New Orleans jail on Jan. 10, 1896, a week before the World ran the news of his arrest.