Swindling

Victim. An Unpleasant Duty Discharged. [New York, 1870].

As immigrants and country dwellers crowded 19th-century cities and settled the West, people lost the intimate, face-to-face interactions that characterized much of American society during the Colonial and early Republic eras. That people were more frequently living among strangers made accurately judging others increasingly difficult. Imposters abounded. This pamphlet recounts the “operations” of one T. O. R. Keatinge, who, claiming to be a clergyman, was able to gain the confidence of victims who would loan him money for supposed necessities which he instead spent on high living and never repaid. So convincing, Keatinge gained the endorsement of Henry Ward Beecher, who published his writings in the Christian Union.