The Smooth-Talking 'Distressed Brother' Who Worked the Masons
An impostor posing as a stranded fellow Mason bilked lodges from coast to coast. Seattle's United Lodge No. 92 — whose safe was cracked last summer — believes it unknowingly armed him with the forged receipts he used to collect.
J. H. Taylor, grand master of the Grand Lodge of Washington, F. & A. M., received a letter yesterday from United Lodge No. 92, F. & A. M., dated February 12, calling his attention to the actions of an impostor named William C. Clayton, who has been working brother Masons in the East and South on the pretense that he is a distressed brother of that lodge. His victims are writing United Lodge, asking to be reimbursed the money advanced.
Some time last summer United Lodge, No. 92, had its rooms broken into and blanks extracted from the lodge safe. Clayton is supposed to be the thief, and it is believed he thus supplied himself with blank lodge receipts, which he has forged and is using to extort money from members of the fraternity. He is not and never was a member of that lodge.
He is described as six feet tall, of slim build, slightly stoop-shouldered, dark complexion, black mustache, large eyes, looks one in the eye while talking, and is 'bright' in his profession.
United Lodge, No. 92, received a letter from H. Williams, the cashier of the Bank of Williamson, Williamson, W. Va., dated January 6, stating that William Clayton, under the plea of being in destitute circumstances, received a loan of $5, saying that his lodge would repay it.
Brother Howard P. Miller, of Doric Lodge, is among the many victims of Clayton's wiles, and it has been ascertained that he has secured several hundred dollars in this petty fraudulent manner, and that he is still working his game.
T. M. Reed, of Olympia, the grand secretary of Washington, also calls attention to other like frauds, namely, O. A. French, who is traveling through this state seeking relief in the same fraudulent manner. French was expelled by Oriental Lodge, No. 34, Knoxville, Iowa, July 11, 1894, for drunkenness and attempted rape.
A man named E. Settler, expelled from Ottawa Lodge, No. 132, Kansas, is also visiting in this state without due warrant, and lodges are cautioned against him.
“He looks one in the eye while talking, and is 'bright' in his profession.”
This is affinity fraud, 1890s style: a con man borrows the instant credibility of a trusted brotherhood to open wallets in a dozen cities. What makes it a Seattle story is the safe-cracking — the local lodge was both victim and, without knowing it, the supplier of the forged paper. Replace 'distressed brother' with 'fellow parishioner' or 'alumnus' and the scheme reads like a modern wire-fraud case.
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