1900 U. S. census: Ward 6, Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, USA.
MARRIAGE INFORMATION:
Married Philip Doremus Watkins on June 10, 1902 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.
Married Oliver C. Cleave on May 20, 1920 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
Married Gordon Walker Hazeltine on October 4, 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
DEATH INFORMATION:
Burial site: Alan Bell lot, Section 179, Lot 8087, Grave 2.
Grave # 2 Helen M. Hazeltine – 57 years, 7 months, 6 days, - passed on 24 East 74th St, NY, NY on 4/22/1942 – cause unknown
OTHER INFORMATION:
From the Omaha World Herald on Wednesday, August 13, 1902, Page 4:
BELIEVES MAUD IS HYPNOTIZED
Father of Watkins' Bride Scouted Suggestion at First, but Now Accepts It.
"I had heard the theory that he had hypnotized my daughter,' said Henry Shonfeld the book seller Tuesday morning speaking of Philip Doremus Watkins, who married Maud Shonfeld at Salt Lake after they had only met on the train. "At first I did not take much stock in it. But now I as I recall what I have heard I begin to believe it. My daughter at Salt Lake writes me that she noticed the influence that Watkins exerted over Maud, and that Maud seemed different from her usual self. And the minister said it was the strongest marriage that he ever performed."
Mr. Shonfeld explained that during her stay at Salt Lake she seemed to act as if she were prompted to each act by mental influence of Watkins.
Her singing in public is to Mr. Shonfeld another proof that his daughter Maud is like Trilby to the extent of singing involuntarily and went against her own judgment and inclination. She had sung two or three times in this city at Kountze church to please some of her friends in the choir. She would not sing at home and she was obeying the injunction of her teacher in New York against singing in in public until her voice should have been cultivated, under penalty of impairing it. It was a superb voice and she knew it, and music was to be her career, yet at Los Angeles she sang under the direction of Watkins for people whom she neither knew nor cared for.
Mr. Shonfeld hears that Watkins and his bride have sailed for New York.
From the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday, August 26, 1902, Page 1:
MAUD SHONFELD IS HOME AGAIN
Omaha Girl Who Wedded Philip D. Watkins Arrives and Is Astonished.
Knew Nothing Whatever of her Husband's Career Until His Arrest at Newcastle.
Started to Tell Her Mother of Watkins' Troubles and Finds Them All Known.
Declares That Hypnotism Was Not Exercised Over Her and She Was Happy
From a honeymoon bright with hope Mrs. Philip D. Watkins, who was Miss Maude Shonfeld, returned suddenly and almost unexpectedly to the city last night. Only the members of her family knew that she was on her way to Omaha, and they did not learn of this until she had reached a point in the western part of the state. At the Burlington station there was a sad meeting between mother and daughter. For a few minutes they wept in each other's arms, and mingled with their sobs was one note of triumphant gladness.
"I am so glad to have you back again, dear," said Mrs. Shonfeld, and the daughter responded to this sentiment by drawing her mother closer to her. She greeted her brother, Henry Shonfeld, with tears in her eyes and he kissed her tenderly. After a brief delay they took a carriage and were driven to the house of Henry Shonfeld, at 715 South Eighteenth street, where Mrs. Shonfeld is now staying.
When they had seated themselves in the carriage Mrs. Shonfeld received a distinct surprise. From the first sentences uttered by her daughter she discovered that Mrs. Watkins did not know of the forgery charges against her husband until he was arrested at Newcastle Wyo, on Saturday. As if breaking strange news to her mother, Mrs. Watkins said:
"I suppose I may as well tell you at once what the trouble is. My husband has been forging papers and has been arrested at Newcastle Wyo. I knew nothing of what he had been doing and spent a night of terror at the hotel. It was not until the next morning that I discovered the truth."
"We have known of his actions for some time. The papers have been full of it. Haven't you seen the newspapers?" asked Mrs. Shonfeld.
HAD NOT SEEN PAPERS
"No, not one," gasped Mrs. Watkins. "What did they say?"
Mrs. Shonfeld recited briefly some of the stories, true, false and indifferent, which have been printed concerning the marriage of Miss Shonfeld to Philip D. Watkins, his skillful manipulation of paper and the queer disappearance of Watkins and his wife after his operations at Portland and Seattle.
"It sounds like a dream," said Mrs. Watkins. "We were in Alaska and returned to Seattle August 11, and came east by slow stages. It was when he was arrested by detectives at Newcastle that I first knew anything was wrong."
Several weeks ago Mr. Shonfeld received a letter from his daughter, who was then in Skagway. In this letter Mrs. Watkins described the trip from Portland, told the little details of a pleasant ocean trip but said nothing to indicate that she had ever heard that her husband was suspected of any crime. This was considered rather odd at the time, ant it was not until she arrived last evening that her parents became aware that she had implicitly believed in the honor and integrity of her husband until his arrest at Newcastle.
Yesterday morning Mr. Shonfeld was surprised to receive a telegram from Newcastle. In it his daughter said she wished to come home and asked for transportation. Her father wired back, asking her to wait until today. A few hours later he received another telegram this time from Alliance, Neb. His daughter stated that she was aboard the Burlington train and told him not to wire the transportation.
MORE THAN HE COULD BEAR
Last evening when the time came to go to the train Mr. Shonfeld said that it was more than he could bear, and that he would remain down town until his daughter was at his son's house and then he would call.
"There would be too many conflicting emotions of grief and joy. I could not bear it" he said.
Mr. Shonfeld has engaged in selling old and rare books for years and in that time seems to have acquired something of the solidity that lurks about ancient times but just as dog-earned and dusty volume may open upon the pathetic figure of Shylock mourning for his daughter, so this remark of Mr. Shonfeld revealed his strength and his weakness like a flash of light. His daughter had been at Henry Shonfeld's house an hour before he called. To him she repeated the story of her wanderings and assured him that her husband had been kind to her at all times.
"When I visited him in the jail he broke down and wept and nothing I could say would console him" she said.
Mrs. Watkins indignantly denied that he exerted a hypnotic influence over her.
"There was no necessity of anything like that, for I was quite willing to accompany him wherever he went, never suspecting that he had been guilty of any wrongdoing," she explained. "I met him on the train going to Ogden, but we were not married until six days after our arrival there. If he passed a bad check in Ogden I knew nothing of it. From there we went to San Francisco, then to San Bernardino, Catalina Island, Santa Cruz and several other points in California. Then we went to Portland and Seattle and took a boat from the former city to Alaska."
HER MOTHER'S GRIEF.
"We returned to Seattle August 11 and took the train for the east. We passed through Montana and stopped at Billings. When my husband went to Newcastle I thought it rather strange, bu supposed that he was simply taking such trips as he fancied he would like. He told me that he was the son of wealthy parents and he seemed to have plenty of money at all times. He was never unkind to me and there was no cloud in my happiness until we reached Newcastle. Everyone was kind and considerate after the arrest, and I received many offers of assistance. I declined them all at first, but today accepted from a dear, old Scotchman at the hotel enough money to pay my way back home. I left my trunk at the hotel."
During her daughter's absence Mrs. Shonfeld sold her home at 2212 Wirt street and went to live with her son.
"I could not bear to live in that big house without my daughter" she said last night, and added: "Words cannot express how happy and relieved I am tonight."
Philip D. Watkins is the scion of a wealthy and respected family of Montclair, N. J. His father, who is a millionaire, is president of the National Dental association and vice president of the International organization.
The young man's grandfather, Philip Doremus, is president of the Montclair Savings Bank, and rated at $2,00,000. Edwin B. Goodell, an uncle, is a prominent corporation lawyer of New York City. In January of last year Watkins went to Boston and secured employment in a Chauncey street brokerage house. After borrowing a sum of money from the proprietor the young man went to Amesbury, Mass. where he was made manager of the Amesbury File Works through the kindness of Clifford A. Moore of Lowell the owner. Watkins made a great impression on the social set of the little city and was much sought after. He was accounted the "original shirt waist man" and displayed considerable prowess in various athletic contests and games. His engagement to Ethel Boardman, the daughter of a millionaire tugboat owner of Newburyport, was finally announced.
SHORT OF SALARY MONEY.
One day Mr. Moore discovered that the employees of the file works were very short of salary money as a result of Watkins' manipulations and the man was discharged. His engagement to Miss Boardman was, of course, cancelled and Watkins sought other fields. He was next heard from in Chicago, where he is said to have passed bad checks. At Omaha, he represented himself as a millionaire fruit buyer and secured more money by his smooth pretenses.
On a Pullman car bound west Watkins met Miss Maude Shonfeld and after a few hours' acquaintance induced her to marry him. She had intended to visit a sister in Ogden, Utah, but the couple stopped here only a brief time. En route west they fell in with the members of the Berkley track team, to whom Watkins represented himself as the nephew of Thomas W. Lawson, the copper king. Captain Hussey of the team indorsed two checks for Watkins for $300 each. They were returned marked "no funds."
A warrant for the arrest of the young man was sworn out, but he could not be located. He had stopped a week in Oakland at a leading hotel, and departed without paying his bill. He then went to Santa Cruz, where he and his wife remained for a few days, after which he returned to San Francisco.
On July 18, Watkins met T. Wesley Wright, a young commission merchant, who formerly lived in Montclair, N. J. and who was well acquainted with Watkins' family. Watkins represented himself as slightly embarrassed financially, and requested that Wright indorse a check for him. The worthless paper was passed on the San Francisco National bank with which Wright has an account. A few days later word cam back that the check was valueless, except for evidence.
The young man's relatives in New Jersey were communicated with, but stated that they could do nothing until Watkins was arrested. It is expected, from the tone of their letters, that they will be willing to make the bad checks good.
MARRIAGE INFORMATION:
Married Philip Doremus Watkins on June 10, 1902 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.
Married Oliver C. Cleave on May 20, 1920 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
Married Gordon Walker Hazeltine on October 4, 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
DEATH INFORMATION:
Burial site: Alan Bell lot, Section 179, Lot 8087, Grave 2.
Grave # 2 Helen M. Hazeltine – 57 years, 7 months, 6 days, - passed on 24 East 74th St, NY, NY on 4/22/1942 – cause unknown
OTHER INFORMATION:
From the Omaha World Herald on Wednesday, August 13, 1902, Page 4:
BELIEVES MAUD IS HYPNOTIZED
Father of Watkins' Bride Scouted Suggestion at First, but Now Accepts It.
"I had heard the theory that he had hypnotized my daughter,' said Henry Shonfeld the book seller Tuesday morning speaking of Philip Doremus Watkins, who married Maud Shonfeld at Salt Lake after they had only met on the train. "At first I did not take much stock in it. But now I as I recall what I have heard I begin to believe it. My daughter at Salt Lake writes me that she noticed the influence that Watkins exerted over Maud, and that Maud seemed different from her usual self. And the minister said it was the strongest marriage that he ever performed."
Mr. Shonfeld explained that during her stay at Salt Lake she seemed to act as if she were prompted to each act by mental influence of Watkins.
Her singing in public is to Mr. Shonfeld another proof that his daughter Maud is like Trilby to the extent of singing involuntarily and went against her own judgment and inclination. She had sung two or three times in this city at Kountze church to please some of her friends in the choir. She would not sing at home and she was obeying the injunction of her teacher in New York against singing in in public until her voice should have been cultivated, under penalty of impairing it. It was a superb voice and she knew it, and music was to be her career, yet at Los Angeles she sang under the direction of Watkins for people whom she neither knew nor cared for.
Mr. Shonfeld hears that Watkins and his bride have sailed for New York.
From the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday, August 26, 1902, Page 1:
MAUD SHONFELD IS HOME AGAIN
Omaha Girl Who Wedded Philip D. Watkins Arrives and Is Astonished.
Knew Nothing Whatever of her Husband's Career Until His Arrest at Newcastle.
Started to Tell Her Mother of Watkins' Troubles and Finds Them All Known.
Declares That Hypnotism Was Not Exercised Over Her and She Was Happy
From a honeymoon bright with hope Mrs. Philip D. Watkins, who was Miss Maude Shonfeld, returned suddenly and almost unexpectedly to the city last night. Only the members of her family knew that she was on her way to Omaha, and they did not learn of this until she had reached a point in the western part of the state. At the Burlington station there was a sad meeting between mother and daughter. For a few minutes they wept in each other's arms, and mingled with their sobs was one note of triumphant gladness.
"I am so glad to have you back again, dear," said Mrs. Shonfeld, and the daughter responded to this sentiment by drawing her mother closer to her. She greeted her brother, Henry Shonfeld, with tears in her eyes and he kissed her tenderly. After a brief delay they took a carriage and were driven to the house of Henry Shonfeld, at 715 South Eighteenth street, where Mrs. Shonfeld is now staying.
When they had seated themselves in the carriage Mrs. Shonfeld received a distinct surprise. From the first sentences uttered by her daughter she discovered that Mrs. Watkins did not know of the forgery charges against her husband until he was arrested at Newcastle Wyo, on Saturday. As if breaking strange news to her mother, Mrs. Watkins said:
"I suppose I may as well tell you at once what the trouble is. My husband has been forging papers and has been arrested at Newcastle Wyo. I knew nothing of what he had been doing and spent a night of terror at the hotel. It was not until the next morning that I discovered the truth."
"We have known of his actions for some time. The papers have been full of it. Haven't you seen the newspapers?" asked Mrs. Shonfeld.
HAD NOT SEEN PAPERS
"No, not one," gasped Mrs. Watkins. "What did they say?"
Mrs. Shonfeld recited briefly some of the stories, true, false and indifferent, which have been printed concerning the marriage of Miss Shonfeld to Philip D. Watkins, his skillful manipulation of paper and the queer disappearance of Watkins and his wife after his operations at Portland and Seattle.
"It sounds like a dream," said Mrs. Watkins. "We were in Alaska and returned to Seattle August 11, and came east by slow stages. It was when he was arrested by detectives at Newcastle that I first knew anything was wrong."
Several weeks ago Mr. Shonfeld received a letter from his daughter, who was then in Skagway. In this letter Mrs. Watkins described the trip from Portland, told the little details of a pleasant ocean trip but said nothing to indicate that she had ever heard that her husband was suspected of any crime. This was considered rather odd at the time, ant it was not until she arrived last evening that her parents became aware that she had implicitly believed in the honor and integrity of her husband until his arrest at Newcastle.
Yesterday morning Mr. Shonfeld was surprised to receive a telegram from Newcastle. In it his daughter said she wished to come home and asked for transportation. Her father wired back, asking her to wait until today. A few hours later he received another telegram this time from Alliance, Neb. His daughter stated that she was aboard the Burlington train and told him not to wire the transportation.
MORE THAN HE COULD BEAR
Last evening when the time came to go to the train Mr. Shonfeld said that it was more than he could bear, and that he would remain down town until his daughter was at his son's house and then he would call.
"There would be too many conflicting emotions of grief and joy. I could not bear it" he said.
Mr. Shonfeld has engaged in selling old and rare books for years and in that time seems to have acquired something of the solidity that lurks about ancient times but just as dog-earned and dusty volume may open upon the pathetic figure of Shylock mourning for his daughter, so this remark of Mr. Shonfeld revealed his strength and his weakness like a flash of light. His daughter had been at Henry Shonfeld's house an hour before he called. To him she repeated the story of her wanderings and assured him that her husband had been kind to her at all times.
"When I visited him in the jail he broke down and wept and nothing I could say would console him" she said.
Mrs. Watkins indignantly denied that he exerted a hypnotic influence over her.
"There was no necessity of anything like that, for I was quite willing to accompany him wherever he went, never suspecting that he had been guilty of any wrongdoing," she explained. "I met him on the train going to Ogden, but we were not married until six days after our arrival there. If he passed a bad check in Ogden I knew nothing of it. From there we went to San Francisco, then to San Bernardino, Catalina Island, Santa Cruz and several other points in California. Then we went to Portland and Seattle and took a boat from the former city to Alaska."
HER MOTHER'S GRIEF.
"We returned to Seattle August 11 and took the train for the east. We passed through Montana and stopped at Billings. When my husband went to Newcastle I thought it rather strange, bu supposed that he was simply taking such trips as he fancied he would like. He told me that he was the son of wealthy parents and he seemed to have plenty of money at all times. He was never unkind to me and there was no cloud in my happiness until we reached Newcastle. Everyone was kind and considerate after the arrest, and I received many offers of assistance. I declined them all at first, but today accepted from a dear, old Scotchman at the hotel enough money to pay my way back home. I left my trunk at the hotel."
During her daughter's absence Mrs. Shonfeld sold her home at 2212 Wirt street and went to live with her son.
"I could not bear to live in that big house without my daughter" she said last night, and added: "Words cannot express how happy and relieved I am tonight."
Philip D. Watkins is the scion of a wealthy and respected family of Montclair, N. J. His father, who is a millionaire, is president of the National Dental association and vice president of the International organization.
The young man's grandfather, Philip Doremus, is president of the Montclair Savings Bank, and rated at $2,00,000. Edwin B. Goodell, an uncle, is a prominent corporation lawyer of New York City. In January of last year Watkins went to Boston and secured employment in a Chauncey street brokerage house. After borrowing a sum of money from the proprietor the young man went to Amesbury, Mass. where he was made manager of the Amesbury File Works through the kindness of Clifford A. Moore of Lowell the owner. Watkins made a great impression on the social set of the little city and was much sought after. He was accounted the "original shirt waist man" and displayed considerable prowess in various athletic contests and games. His engagement to Ethel Boardman, the daughter of a millionaire tugboat owner of Newburyport, was finally announced.
SHORT OF SALARY MONEY.
One day Mr. Moore discovered that the employees of the file works were very short of salary money as a result of Watkins' manipulations and the man was discharged. His engagement to Miss Boardman was, of course, cancelled and Watkins sought other fields. He was next heard from in Chicago, where he is said to have passed bad checks. At Omaha, he represented himself as a millionaire fruit buyer and secured more money by his smooth pretenses.
On a Pullman car bound west Watkins met Miss Maude Shonfeld and after a few hours' acquaintance induced her to marry him. She had intended to visit a sister in Ogden, Utah, but the couple stopped here only a brief time. En route west they fell in with the members of the Berkley track team, to whom Watkins represented himself as the nephew of Thomas W. Lawson, the copper king. Captain Hussey of the team indorsed two checks for Watkins for $300 each. They were returned marked "no funds."
A warrant for the arrest of the young man was sworn out, but he could not be located. He had stopped a week in Oakland at a leading hotel, and departed without paying his bill. He then went to Santa Cruz, where he and his wife remained for a few days, after which he returned to San Francisco.
On July 18, Watkins met T. Wesley Wright, a young commission merchant, who formerly lived in Montclair, N. J. and who was well acquainted with Watkins' family. Watkins represented himself as slightly embarrassed financially, and requested that Wright indorse a check for him. The worthless paper was passed on the San Francisco National bank with which Wright has an account. A few days later word cam back that the check was valueless, except for evidence.
The young man's relatives in New Jersey were communicated with, but stated that they could do nothing until Watkins was arrested. It is expected, from the tone of their letters, that they will be willing to make the bad checks good.
1900 U. S. census: Ward 6, Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska, USA.
MARRIAGE INFORMATION:
Married Philip Doremus Watkins on June 10, 1902 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.
Married Oliver C. Cleave on May 20, 1920 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
Married Gordon Walker Hazeltine on October 4, 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
DEATH INFORMATION:
Burial site: Alan Bell lot, Section 179, Lot 8087, Grave 2.
Grave # 2 Helen M. Hazeltine – 57 years, 7 months, 6 days, - passed on 24 East 74th St, NY, NY on 4/22/1942 – cause unknown
OTHER INFORMATION:
From the Omaha World Herald on Wednesday, August 13, 1902, Page 4:
BELIEVES MAUD IS HYPNOTIZED
Father of Watkins' Bride Scouted Suggestion at First, but Now Accepts It.
"I had heard the theory that he had hypnotized my daughter,' said Henry Shonfeld the book seller Tuesday morning speaking of Philip Doremus Watkins, who married Maud Shonfeld at Salt Lake after they had only met on the train. "At first I did not take much stock in it. But now I as I recall what I have heard I begin to believe it. My daughter at Salt Lake writes me that she noticed the influence that Watkins exerted over Maud, and that Maud seemed different from her usual self. And the minister said it was the strongest marriage that he ever performed."
Mr. Shonfeld explained that during her stay at Salt Lake she seemed to act as if she were prompted to each act by mental influence of Watkins.
Her singing in public is to Mr. Shonfeld another proof that his daughter Maud is like Trilby to the extent of singing involuntarily and went against her own judgment and inclination. She had sung two or three times in this city at Kountze church to please some of her friends in the choir. She would not sing at home and she was obeying the injunction of her teacher in New York against singing in in public until her voice should have been cultivated, under penalty of impairing it. It was a superb voice and she knew it, and music was to be her career, yet at Los Angeles she sang under the direction of Watkins for people whom she neither knew nor cared for.
Mr. Shonfeld hears that Watkins and his bride have sailed for New York.
From the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday, August 26, 1902, Page 1:
MAUD SHONFELD IS HOME AGAIN
Omaha Girl Who Wedded Philip D. Watkins Arrives and Is Astonished.
Knew Nothing Whatever of her Husband's Career Until His Arrest at Newcastle.
Started to Tell Her Mother of Watkins' Troubles and Finds Them All Known.
Declares That Hypnotism Was Not Exercised Over Her and She Was Happy
From a honeymoon bright with hope Mrs. Philip D. Watkins, who was Miss Maude Shonfeld, returned suddenly and almost unexpectedly to the city last night. Only the members of her family knew that she was on her way to Omaha, and they did not learn of this until she had reached a point in the western part of the state. At the Burlington station there was a sad meeting between mother and daughter. For a few minutes they wept in each other's arms, and mingled with their sobs was one note of triumphant gladness.
"I am so glad to have you back again, dear," said Mrs. Shonfeld, and the daughter responded to this sentiment by drawing her mother closer to her. She greeted her brother, Henry Shonfeld, with tears in her eyes and he kissed her tenderly. After a brief delay they took a carriage and were driven to the house of Henry Shonfeld, at 715 South Eighteenth street, where Mrs. Shonfeld is now staying.
When they had seated themselves in the carriage Mrs. Shonfeld received a distinct surprise. From the first sentences uttered by her daughter she discovered that Mrs. Watkins did not know of the forgery charges against her husband until he was arrested at Newcastle Wyo, on Saturday. As if breaking strange news to her mother, Mrs. Watkins said:
"I suppose I may as well tell you at once what the trouble is. My husband has been forging papers and has been arrested at Newcastle Wyo. I knew nothing of what he had been doing and spent a night of terror at the hotel. It was not until the next morning that I discovered the truth."
"We have known of his actions for some time. The papers have been full of it. Haven't you seen the newspapers?" asked Mrs. Shonfeld.
HAD NOT SEEN PAPERS
"No, not one," gasped Mrs. Watkins. "What did they say?"
Mrs. Shonfeld recited briefly some of the stories, true, false and indifferent, which have been printed concerning the marriage of Miss Shonfeld to Philip D. Watkins, his skillful manipulation of paper and the queer disappearance of Watkins and his wife after his operations at Portland and Seattle.
"It sounds like a dream," said Mrs. Watkins. "We were in Alaska and returned to Seattle August 11, and came east by slow stages. It was when he was arrested by detectives at Newcastle that I first knew anything was wrong."
Several weeks ago Mr. Shonfeld received a letter from his daughter, who was then in Skagway. In this letter Mrs. Watkins described the trip from Portland, told the little details of a pleasant ocean trip but said nothing to indicate that she had ever heard that her husband was suspected of any crime. This was considered rather odd at the time, ant it was not until she arrived last evening that her parents became aware that she had implicitly believed in the honor and integrity of her husband until his arrest at Newcastle.
Yesterday morning Mr. Shonfeld was surprised to receive a telegram from Newcastle. In it his daughter said she wished to come home and asked for transportation. Her father wired back, asking her to wait until today. A few hours later he received another telegram this time from Alliance, Neb. His daughter stated that she was aboard the Burlington train and told him not to wire the transportation.
MORE THAN HE COULD BEAR
Last evening when the time came to go to the train Mr. Shonfeld said that it was more than he could bear, and that he would remain down town until his daughter was at his son's house and then he would call.
"There would be too many conflicting emotions of grief and joy. I could not bear it" he said.
Mr. Shonfeld has engaged in selling old and rare books for years and in that time seems to have acquired something of the solidity that lurks about ancient times but just as dog-earned and dusty volume may open upon the pathetic figure of Shylock mourning for his daughter, so this remark of Mr. Shonfeld revealed his strength and his weakness like a flash of light. His daughter had been at Henry Shonfeld's house an hour before he called. To him she repeated the story of her wanderings and assured him that her husband had been kind to her at all times.
"When I visited him in the jail he broke down and wept and nothing I could say would console him" she said.
Mrs. Watkins indignantly denied that he exerted a hypnotic influence over her.
"There was no necessity of anything like that, for I was quite willing to accompany him wherever he went, never suspecting that he had been guilty of any wrongdoing," she explained. "I met him on the train going to Ogden, but we were not married until six days after our arrival there. If he passed a bad check in Ogden I knew nothing of it. From there we went to San Francisco, then to San Bernardino, Catalina Island, Santa Cruz and several other points in California. Then we went to Portland and Seattle and took a boat from the former city to Alaska."
HER MOTHER'S GRIEF.
"We returned to Seattle August 11 and took the train for the east. We passed through Montana and stopped at Billings. When my husband went to Newcastle I thought it rather strange, bu supposed that he was simply taking such trips as he fancied he would like. He told me that he was the son of wealthy parents and he seemed to have plenty of money at all times. He was never unkind to me and there was no cloud in my happiness until we reached Newcastle. Everyone was kind and considerate after the arrest, and I received many offers of assistance. I declined them all at first, but today accepted from a dear, old Scotchman at the hotel enough money to pay my way back home. I left my trunk at the hotel."
During her daughter's absence Mrs. Shonfeld sold her home at 2212 Wirt street and went to live with her son.
"I could not bear to live in that big house without my daughter" she said last night, and added: "Words cannot express how happy and relieved I am tonight."
Philip D. Watkins is the scion of a wealthy and respected family of Montclair, N. J. His father, who is a millionaire, is president of the National Dental association and vice president of the International organization.
The young man's grandfather, Philip Doremus, is president of the Montclair Savings Bank, and rated at $2,00,000. Edwin B. Goodell, an uncle, is a prominent corporation lawyer of New York City. In January of last year Watkins went to Boston and secured employment in a Chauncey street brokerage house. After borrowing a sum of money from the proprietor the young man went to Amesbury, Mass. where he was made manager of the Amesbury File Works through the kindness of Clifford A. Moore of Lowell the owner. Watkins made a great impression on the social set of the little city and was much sought after. He was accounted the "original shirt waist man" and displayed considerable prowess in various athletic contests and games. His engagement to Ethel Boardman, the daughter of a millionaire tugboat owner of Newburyport, was finally announced.
SHORT OF SALARY MONEY.
One day Mr. Moore discovered that the employees of the file works were very short of salary money as a result of Watkins' manipulations and the man was discharged. His engagement to Miss Boardman was, of course, cancelled and Watkins sought other fields. He was next heard from in Chicago, where he is said to have passed bad checks. At Omaha, he represented himself as a millionaire fruit buyer and secured more money by his smooth pretenses.
On a Pullman car bound west Watkins met Miss Maude Shonfeld and after a few hours' acquaintance induced her to marry him. She had intended to visit a sister in Ogden, Utah, but the couple stopped here only a brief time. En route west they fell in with the members of the Berkley track team, to whom Watkins represented himself as the nephew of Thomas W. Lawson, the copper king. Captain Hussey of the team indorsed two checks for Watkins for $300 each. They were returned marked "no funds."
A warrant for the arrest of the young man was sworn out, but he could not be located. He had stopped a week in Oakland at a leading hotel, and departed without paying his bill. He then went to Santa Cruz, where he and his wife remained for a few days, after which he returned to San Francisco.
On July 18, Watkins met T. Wesley Wright, a young commission merchant, who formerly lived in Montclair, N. J. and who was well acquainted with Watkins' family. Watkins represented himself as slightly embarrassed financially, and requested that Wright indorse a check for him. The worthless paper was passed on the San Francisco National bank with which Wright has an account. A few days later word cam back that the check was valueless, except for evidence.
The young man's relatives in New Jersey were communicated with, but stated that they could do nothing until Watkins was arrested. It is expected, from the tone of their letters, that they will be willing to make the bad checks good.
MARRIAGE INFORMATION:
Married Philip Doremus Watkins on June 10, 1902 in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.
Married Oliver C. Cleave on May 20, 1920 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
Married Gordon Walker Hazeltine on October 4, 1930 in Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York.
DEATH INFORMATION:
Burial site: Alan Bell lot, Section 179, Lot 8087, Grave 2.
Grave # 2 Helen M. Hazeltine – 57 years, 7 months, 6 days, - passed on 24 East 74th St, NY, NY on 4/22/1942 – cause unknown
OTHER INFORMATION:
From the Omaha World Herald on Wednesday, August 13, 1902, Page 4:
BELIEVES MAUD IS HYPNOTIZED
Father of Watkins' Bride Scouted Suggestion at First, but Now Accepts It.
"I had heard the theory that he had hypnotized my daughter,' said Henry Shonfeld the book seller Tuesday morning speaking of Philip Doremus Watkins, who married Maud Shonfeld at Salt Lake after they had only met on the train. "At first I did not take much stock in it. But now I as I recall what I have heard I begin to believe it. My daughter at Salt Lake writes me that she noticed the influence that Watkins exerted over Maud, and that Maud seemed different from her usual self. And the minister said it was the strongest marriage that he ever performed."
Mr. Shonfeld explained that during her stay at Salt Lake she seemed to act as if she were prompted to each act by mental influence of Watkins.
Her singing in public is to Mr. Shonfeld another proof that his daughter Maud is like Trilby to the extent of singing involuntarily and went against her own judgment and inclination. She had sung two or three times in this city at Kountze church to please some of her friends in the choir. She would not sing at home and she was obeying the injunction of her teacher in New York against singing in in public until her voice should have been cultivated, under penalty of impairing it. It was a superb voice and she knew it, and music was to be her career, yet at Los Angeles she sang under the direction of Watkins for people whom she neither knew nor cared for.
Mr. Shonfeld hears that Watkins and his bride have sailed for New York.
From the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday, August 26, 1902, Page 1:
MAUD SHONFELD IS HOME AGAIN
Omaha Girl Who Wedded Philip D. Watkins Arrives and Is Astonished.
Knew Nothing Whatever of her Husband's Career Until His Arrest at Newcastle.
Started to Tell Her Mother of Watkins' Troubles and Finds Them All Known.
Declares That Hypnotism Was Not Exercised Over Her and She Was Happy
From a honeymoon bright with hope Mrs. Philip D. Watkins, who was Miss Maude Shonfeld, returned suddenly and almost unexpectedly to the city last night. Only the members of her family knew that she was on her way to Omaha, and they did not learn of this until she had reached a point in the western part of the state. At the Burlington station there was a sad meeting between mother and daughter. For a few minutes they wept in each other's arms, and mingled with their sobs was one note of triumphant gladness.
"I am so glad to have you back again, dear," said Mrs. Shonfeld, and the daughter responded to this sentiment by drawing her mother closer to her. She greeted her brother, Henry Shonfeld, with tears in her eyes and he kissed her tenderly. After a brief delay they took a carriage and were driven to the house of Henry Shonfeld, at 715 South Eighteenth street, where Mrs. Shonfeld is now staying.
When they had seated themselves in the carriage Mrs. Shonfeld received a distinct surprise. From the first sentences uttered by her daughter she discovered that Mrs. Watkins did not know of the forgery charges against her husband until he was arrested at Newcastle Wyo, on Saturday. As if breaking strange news to her mother, Mrs. Watkins said:
"I suppose I may as well tell you at once what the trouble is. My husband has been forging papers and has been arrested at Newcastle Wyo. I knew nothing of what he had been doing and spent a night of terror at the hotel. It was not until the next morning that I discovered the truth."
"We have known of his actions for some time. The papers have been full of it. Haven't you seen the newspapers?" asked Mrs. Shonfeld.
HAD NOT SEEN PAPERS
"No, not one," gasped Mrs. Watkins. "What did they say?"
Mrs. Shonfeld recited briefly some of the stories, true, false and indifferent, which have been printed concerning the marriage of Miss Shonfeld to Philip D. Watkins, his skillful manipulation of paper and the queer disappearance of Watkins and his wife after his operations at Portland and Seattle.
"It sounds like a dream," said Mrs. Watkins. "We were in Alaska and returned to Seattle August 11, and came east by slow stages. It was when he was arrested by detectives at Newcastle that I first knew anything was wrong."
Several weeks ago Mr. Shonfeld received a letter from his daughter, who was then in Skagway. In this letter Mrs. Watkins described the trip from Portland, told the little details of a pleasant ocean trip but said nothing to indicate that she had ever heard that her husband was suspected of any crime. This was considered rather odd at the time, ant it was not until she arrived last evening that her parents became aware that she had implicitly believed in the honor and integrity of her husband until his arrest at Newcastle.
Yesterday morning Mr. Shonfeld was surprised to receive a telegram from Newcastle. In it his daughter said she wished to come home and asked for transportation. Her father wired back, asking her to wait until today. A few hours later he received another telegram this time from Alliance, Neb. His daughter stated that she was aboard the Burlington train and told him not to wire the transportation.
MORE THAN HE COULD BEAR
Last evening when the time came to go to the train Mr. Shonfeld said that it was more than he could bear, and that he would remain down town until his daughter was at his son's house and then he would call.
"There would be too many conflicting emotions of grief and joy. I could not bear it" he said.
Mr. Shonfeld has engaged in selling old and rare books for years and in that time seems to have acquired something of the solidity that lurks about ancient times but just as dog-earned and dusty volume may open upon the pathetic figure of Shylock mourning for his daughter, so this remark of Mr. Shonfeld revealed his strength and his weakness like a flash of light. His daughter had been at Henry Shonfeld's house an hour before he called. To him she repeated the story of her wanderings and assured him that her husband had been kind to her at all times.
"When I visited him in the jail he broke down and wept and nothing I could say would console him" she said.
Mrs. Watkins indignantly denied that he exerted a hypnotic influence over her.
"There was no necessity of anything like that, for I was quite willing to accompany him wherever he went, never suspecting that he had been guilty of any wrongdoing," she explained. "I met him on the train going to Ogden, but we were not married until six days after our arrival there. If he passed a bad check in Ogden I knew nothing of it. From there we went to San Francisco, then to San Bernardino, Catalina Island, Santa Cruz and several other points in California. Then we went to Portland and Seattle and took a boat from the former city to Alaska."
HER MOTHER'S GRIEF.
"We returned to Seattle August 11 and took the train for the east. We passed through Montana and stopped at Billings. When my husband went to Newcastle I thought it rather strange, bu supposed that he was simply taking such trips as he fancied he would like. He told me that he was the son of wealthy parents and he seemed to have plenty of money at all times. He was never unkind to me and there was no cloud in my happiness until we reached Newcastle. Everyone was kind and considerate after the arrest, and I received many offers of assistance. I declined them all at first, but today accepted from a dear, old Scotchman at the hotel enough money to pay my way back home. I left my trunk at the hotel."
During her daughter's absence Mrs. Shonfeld sold her home at 2212 Wirt street and went to live with her son.
"I could not bear to live in that big house without my daughter" she said last night, and added: "Words cannot express how happy and relieved I am tonight."
Philip D. Watkins is the scion of a wealthy and respected family of Montclair, N. J. His father, who is a millionaire, is president of the National Dental association and vice president of the International organization.
The young man's grandfather, Philip Doremus, is president of the Montclair Savings Bank, and rated at $2,00,000. Edwin B. Goodell, an uncle, is a prominent corporation lawyer of New York City. In January of last year Watkins went to Boston and secured employment in a Chauncey street brokerage house. After borrowing a sum of money from the proprietor the young man went to Amesbury, Mass. where he was made manager of the Amesbury File Works through the kindness of Clifford A. Moore of Lowell the owner. Watkins made a great impression on the social set of the little city and was much sought after. He was accounted the "original shirt waist man" and displayed considerable prowess in various athletic contests and games. His engagement to Ethel Boardman, the daughter of a millionaire tugboat owner of Newburyport, was finally announced.
SHORT OF SALARY MONEY.
One day Mr. Moore discovered that the employees of the file works were very short of salary money as a result of Watkins' manipulations and the man was discharged. His engagement to Miss Boardman was, of course, cancelled and Watkins sought other fields. He was next heard from in Chicago, where he is said to have passed bad checks. At Omaha, he represented himself as a millionaire fruit buyer and secured more money by his smooth pretenses.
On a Pullman car bound west Watkins met Miss Maude Shonfeld and after a few hours' acquaintance induced her to marry him. She had intended to visit a sister in Ogden, Utah, but the couple stopped here only a brief time. En route west they fell in with the members of the Berkley track team, to whom Watkins represented himself as the nephew of Thomas W. Lawson, the copper king. Captain Hussey of the team indorsed two checks for Watkins for $300 each. They were returned marked "no funds."
A warrant for the arrest of the young man was sworn out, but he could not be located. He had stopped a week in Oakland at a leading hotel, and departed without paying his bill. He then went to Santa Cruz, where he and his wife remained for a few days, after which he returned to San Francisco.
On July 18, Watkins met T. Wesley Wright, a young commission merchant, who formerly lived in Montclair, N. J. and who was well acquainted with Watkins' family. Watkins represented himself as slightly embarrassed financially, and requested that Wright indorse a check for him. The worthless paper was passed on the San Francisco National bank with which Wright has an account. A few days later word cam back that the check was valueless, except for evidence.
The young man's relatives in New Jersey were communicated with, but stated that they could do nothing until Watkins was arrested. It is expected, from the tone of their letters, that they will be willing to make the bad checks good.
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