Fish, James Dean, 1819-1912

Ulysses S. Grant as a king sits on a throne, surrounded by his courtiers, identified as Rev. J. P. Newman, Henry Ward Beecher, Roscoe Conkling, Jay Gould, George W. Childs, William Belknap, G. Jones, Senator John P. Jones, Simon Cameron, James Donald Cameron, James D. Fish, John A. Logan, T. C. Platt, George M. Robeson, [and] Joseph W. Keifer.” The unidentified man standing behind Logan may be Ferdinand Ward. At center is a large cushion covered with coins labeled “$150,000,000 Surplus – Result of Over-Taxation.” In the background is a standard that states “Glory to the Ex-Decoy for Grant & Ward.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-05-21

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

James Gillespie Blaine, dressed like a Roman statesman, stands on a pedestal that states, “What are you going to do about it,” a phrase attributed to Boss Tweed. The ghost of Tweed stands behind Blaine, weeping, holding a paper that states, “Why wasn’t I vindicated? I cast my anchor windward too!!” At the base of the pedestal are books and papers, some labeled, “20 Years Casting My Anchor to Windward,” “Burn this,” and “20 Years No Deadhead.” Whitelaw Reid stands at center, appealing to Blaine. On the left are various bank officers who committed crimes and got caught. Some hold papers that state, “I saw various channels in which I could be useful. President Dodd, Bank Breaker,” “I cast an anchor to windward in the Marine Bank. J. D. Fish, Bank Breaker,” “I would ‘sacrifice a great deal to get a settlement’ Captain Howgate, U. S. A., Defaulter,” “I did not prove a deadhead in the enterprise. A. S. Warner, Albion Bank Breaker,” “I received very large sums of money without one dollar of expense. Ferdinand Ward, Swindler.” Albert S. Warner was President of The First National Bank of Albion; Henry W. Howgate was a Disbursing Officer in the U. S. Signal Service. Caption: Chorus of Non-Magnetic Swindlers – “Why shouldn’t we be vindicated, too? We saw various channels in which we could be useful. We were no deadheads.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1884-09-24

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896

Puck stands on a stack of bound Puck volumes between a row of people on the left identified as a “Bank President, Cashier, Teller, Clerk, [and] Janitor” as well as a scrub-woman and an office boy, and a row of known criminals on the right identified as “Scott, O. L. Baldwin, F. Ward, J. D. Fish, H. W. Howgate, [and] Eno,” and Fredericka Mandelbaum identified as “M.” Between the two rows are bottles of “Virus from Thieving Office-Boy, Light-Fingered Scrub-Woman, Defaulting Bank Cashier, Receiver of Stolen Goods, [and] Corruptible Janitor,” “Lymph from Swindling Bank President [and] Embezzling Bank Clerk,” and “Vaccine from Speculating Bank Teller.” O. L. Baldwin was a cashier at the Mechanics’ National Bank in Newark, Henry W. Howgate (1834-1901) was a Disbursing Officer in the U. S. Signal Service, and Fredericka Mandelbaum was a known fence for stolen property. Caption: “Now, my friends, step right up and be vaccinated for all forms of disease to which bank officials are liable!”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-06-24

Creator(s)

Keppler, Joseph Ferdinand, 1838-1894

Inside a “Prison Barber-Shop” are two men labeled “Budensiek” and “J. D. Fish,” wearing prison stripes and “Close Crop” haircuts by the prison barber, who is holding a shaving mug labeled “Ferd. Ward.” Entering on the right is a man labeled “F. Ward” wearing civilian clothing, followed by a prison guard. On the shelves are other shaving mugs labeled “J. D. Fish, Baldwin, [and] Crowley.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1885-07-08

Creator(s)

Gillam, Bernhard, 1856-1896