To make matters worse, she felt she had few champions behind her given her parents negative attitude, and had to keep a secret PO box for sending and receiving mail about her work. As Keith rose to his feet, John Arnold suggested that the burned papers might be Dorothys rejected manuscript. The $25 in her pocket would not last forever, but perhaps she had been secretly saving money and had more with her. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. In 1921, the case burst into unexpected life when Captain J. H. Ayers, head of the New York City Department of Missing Persons, announced in a speech before the student body of the High School of Commerce that the real truth about Dorothy Arnold had been known for many months to family and police. Try again later. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. Others point out that the drugging and abducting of attractive girls was fairly common in 1910. Like most of the upper class of the time, Mr. Arnold had a deep aversion to publicity. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Mrs. Arnold was widely believed to be a semi-invalid who seldom left the residence on Seventy-ninth Street. Mr. Arnold much preferred it that way, and vigorously resisted two days of intensive argument before he brought himself to tell the world about Dorothy. But first, a little portrait of a not-so-happy family. More likely is the possibility that she contrived, or connived in, her own disappearance. Now, George was a wealthy Pennsylvania boy, so his social standing wasn't the problem for Dorothy's parents, but his social etiquette was. Dorothys mother, who lived until 1928, never believed her daughter was dead. Griscom, Jr. (who preferred to be called "Junior") was a 42-year-old engineer who came from a wealthy Pennsylvania family with whom he still lived at the Kenmawr Hotel in Pittsburgh. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. At the Lenox, Dorothy registered under her real name, with the correct New York address. But then, sometime between noon and 2 p.m. on Dec. 12, 1910, Dorothy Arnold vanished. But Dorothy was more artistic than athletic. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. So attired, Dorothy Arnold descended the stairway of her family home at 108 East Seventy-ninth Street, about eleven oclock on the morning of December 12. MD and son William E. Griscom, Jr. of Lancaster and his wife, Amy Griscom and their three daughters: Olivia Fox; Penelope Rose; and Charlotte Lynn. Wikimedia CommonsThe intersection on Fifth Avenue where the heiress was reportedly last seen. This theoryisnt outlandish, but it isnt a slamdunk, either. At the press conference on January 26, Francis Arnold stated that his wife, whose bad health had been worsened by the shock of Dorothys disappearance, had retired to a rest home at a New Jersey resort. Now, it was shining twice as harshly. To get better results, add more information such as Birth Info, Death Info and Locationeven a guess will help. Her destination was Brentanos bookstore, where she was observed leafing through books on the newfiction counter. Edward said they cocooned the dead body in saran wrap, and left it in the cellar of an abandoned home. Writing was not a womans game, and certainly not in their upper-crust family. Are you sure that you want to delete this memorial? That same morning a bulky envelope was delivered for Dorothy. Once more she charged the purchase to the family account; and with the wrapped book under her arm, Dorothy Arnold again stepped out on the cold Fifth Avenue sidewalk. Please support this 72-year tradition of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage. On the day of her disappearance, Dorothy Arnold was expensively and modishly clad, a fact that would make her highly conspicuous at a time when class distinctions in female dress were sharp. As nighttime fell and she failed to return home, Arnolds family became worried. Failed to delete memorial. To this day, the disappearance of Dorothy Arnold remains unsolved. It simply made no sense to the media, the public, and the police. The story, and pictures of Dorothy appeared in newspapers as far away as Europe. She also had on a long blue coat and carried a black fox muff. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. Edit Search New Search Jump to Filters. Here indeed is a riddle deep within a riddle; this was Thanksgiving Day, when businesses closed down and no daily mail was delivered. Some speculated that Dorothy Arnolds older, less prestigious boyfriend had ordered a hit on her after she refused his hand in marriage. George Rastelli's passing on Friday, February 3, 2023 has been publicly announced by Adams Funeral Home in Woodstown, NJ. Griscom believed this might be the case, and we know that she was very sensitive about the rejected manuscripts. Then Gladys King excused herself, explaining that she had to meet her mother for lunchit was now nearly two oclock and she was late. Young Arnold asked Keith to stop at the house on his way downtown that morning. She and her twenty-seven-year-old son had sailed for Europe on January 6; apparently she had remained abroad after he returned in the hope that Dorothy might still turn up near Griscom. At this point, the case needed some big publicity to get the ball rolling again. Impulses undreamed of by proper parents may have been fanned into flame by the week with Griscom in Boston. On Monday she paid a visit to the general delivery window of the Thirty-fourth Street post office, where she received several letters with foreign postmarks. George, after weeks of claiming his correspondences with her were gone, surfaced a letter in which she wrote, Failure stares me in the face. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. who yesterday announced his engagement to the young woman and whose name has been linked with hers ever since she disappeared, refused to see newspapermen or discuss the case. No one said she seemed upset though, and it seems strange for herto buy a book before killing herself. Yet Dorothy traversed the twenty blocks to Fifty-ninth Street on foot. He was quickly found in Florence, where he admitted receiving on December 16 a cable from John Keith. But her lie was uncovered when the family realized shed pawned some jewelry to spend a week with Griscom at a Boston-area hotel. Dorothy did want to go out alone that day, and perhaps she was upset about her writing. Further, he offered to conduct this grisly search himself, still without informing the police. Instead, he seemed desperately in need of rescuing himself. McClure's has turned me down. By her will, she left her estate in trust, to pay the income to her husband and son for life; after the death of the husband to the son for life and after the death of the son . They hired private investigators, the notorious Pinkertons, who searched everywhere for the heiress: shops, hospitals, friends homes, and even the morgue. Dorothy had met him at Bryn Mawr, perhaps before she knew Junior. [13] [22] Reporters also discovered that, in September 1910, Arnold had lied to her parents and told them she was going to visit a former Bryn Mawr classmate in Boston. Romantically involved with heiress Dorothy Arnold when she mysteriously disappeared on December 12, 1910. Yet asearch of the park turned up nothing. Reporters also discovered that, in September 1910, Arnold had lied to her parents and told them she was going to visit a former Bryn Mawr classmate in Boston. Legacy invites you. When Francis died, his will said nothing of Dorothy. Or so one would think. But the mystery was never truly solved. You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial. The executor of George S. Griscom, Jr., contends that the gift of the remainder to the testatrix's sister was void in that it violated the rule against perpetuities and that an intestacy resulted. In a few days, a much-dreaded event occurred: Poinsettia Flames was returned. But to do this, Dorothy Arnold must have been either supersensitive or else supremely callous. What had, or was going to happen? Then, accompanied by Pinkerton detectives, Keith and Francis R. Arnold called upon Deputy Police Commissioner William J. Flynn. CABLE GARVARMCOM IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING OF HER WHEREABOUTS . She died on 21 September 1793, in New Britain, Bucks, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America, at the . Some preferred to imagine her living out her days laughing at the press from afar, on a boat in Greece, or a cabin in California. His last job was at Moore Brothers in Clayton. She came downstairs for breakfast fully dressed for travel, and carrying her bag. Make sure that the file is a photo. She was a clever woman with a college degree, she was fluent in several languages, and she was independently wealthy. She hurried away, but on the far corner of Twenty-seventh Street, she turned to wave back a second good-by to Dorothy. Also, no witnesses of an attack came forward. asked the World , tying her story to Andrew Griscoms death. She left home on foot to go shopping for an evening dress around 1:30p.m., wearing a long blue coat over a blue dress and carrying about $25. By the next day the Captain denied that he had ever said this. The people she had encountered prior to disappearing said Dorothy seemed to be in good spirits. Her parents, Francis and Mary, always tried to steer her away from the bohemian profession. So much to their chagrin, the Arnolds were asked to hold a big press conference to announce Dorothys disappearance, and a $25,000 reward for any tip-offs. George remained in Europe for another month, but eventually had to give his own press conference upon returning to America. Manuscripts she submitted to publisherswere rejected, a fact Dorothy was anxious to hide. You need a Find a Grave account to continue. The doctor who ran the clinic, Dr. Meredith, would later claim to have performed a procedure on Dorothy that took her life, as the conditions, he argued, were simply so shoddy that complications and deaths amongst patients were inevitable. As she departed from her home, Dorothy carried no luggagethough it is conceivable that a nightgown might have been hidden in the depths of her large muff. This may have led to contact with the underworld, and the pent-up Dorothy may have seized on this road to a new kind of life. He immediately replied: KNOW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. It was the last time anyone saw her. Support with a donation>>. As one newspaper remarked, She disappeared from one of the busiest streets on earth, at the sunniest hour of a brilliant afternoon, with thousands within sight and reach, men and women who knew her on every side, and officers of the law thickly strewn about her path. How? For the Arnolds, the fear of embarrassment and public scandal may have played a part in the decisions they took next. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. 0 cemeteries found in West Kirby, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. Did the young heiress disappear of her own accord? Dorothysfamily was stunned to learn that she had spent a week with him earlier that year, when she claimed to be visiting some friends from college. Did Dorothy simply run away? Whichever it was, the elderly gentlemans behavior before the assembled press was gloomy to an extreme. Dorothy did have a secret boyfriend, George Griscom Jr, who she intended to marry despite her parents' disapproval. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced. Told that she had not, the Arnolds begged that no mention ever be made of their call. It was made of black velvet, with two blue roses for decorationa type then called a Baker, which resembles nothing so much as an overturned dishpan. The discovery of these letters revealed that Arnold and Griscom were in regular communication before she vanished, a communication she continued over her parents objections. Back home, she retired to her room and answered Griscom with a letter which he saved and later returned to the family. When she failed to return for dinner, an increasingly worried group ate without her, then began making discreet phone calls to Dorothys close friends to ask if the girl had, by any chance, dropped in on them. He was George C. Griscom, Jr., a plump, sideburned forty-two-year-old who lived with his elderly parents in Pittsburgh, and summered at Nantucket. As the flowery journalese of the era pictured her, she was at the summit of her youth, rich, especially preferred, blessed with prospects, and to the outer eye completely happy.. Arnold is making serious trouble, some thought he muttered. A quiet-looking, sturdy girl with a healthy complexion, she had brown hair done up in a high pompadour, and steady, blue-gray eyes. Moly 1 Samantha Moly Searcy Forensic Science 7 November 2019 The Disappearance of Dorothy It read: DOROTHY ARNOLD MISSING. There were also suspicions of murder. On the morning of Dorothys arrival Junior had gone to the Hotel Lenox, where he reserved a room and bath for her. One had simply to look at her wide, placid lace to realize that she was more studious than frivolous. To obtain the old mans business, Keith was fully prepared to become, for the moment, a private detective. Some believe that she may have slipped and fallen on the icy pavement, suffering a concussion that brought on amnesia. Mrs. Arnold was equally well-connected, and the family ranked high in the old guard of New York society, then noted for its propriety and unbending reticence. His name wasGeorge C. Griscom, Jr., and he was a wealthy engineer who lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. He stated virtuously: I am sorry my father should have seen fit to give out the story. Abstract: Correspondence concerning activities at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, as well as field notes, reports, and biographical information about Griscom. It satisfied the NYPD, but not George or her parents (the only time they would ever agree). George C. Griscom, Jr. was 42 when Dorothy went missing. Griscom denied any involvement in Arnold's disappearance and gave her family a letter she had written to him earlier in 1910. But when he probed with his finger, he saw no writing visible on the charred remains. Presumably these came from Griscom, who had arrived with his parents in Italy. For in any display of anger there might be a cine to the girls inner feelings about her family. Try again later. This browser does not support getting your location. based on information from your browser. For the next two weeks, the Arnolds kept things under wraps, refusing to tell the police of their missing daughter. A system error has occurred. Another theory was that Dorothy had killed herself. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. George C. Griscom, Jr. was 42 when Dorothy went missing. If anything, Dorothy Arnold looked cheerful. Her maddening disappearance sent New York City into a tailspin of speculation, but her familys extreme secrecy in handling the case was perhaps even more peculiar to onlookers. After phoning Dorothys friends, the Arnolds realized something must have happened to her. You dont feel just right and its no use going to the trouble. Are you sure that you want to remove this flower? He was George C. Griscom, Jr., a plump, sideburned forty-two-year-old who lived with his elderly parents in Pittsburgh, and summered at Nantucket. The one theory to which I have always leaned is that she was kidnapped and made away with in a short time, he told a journalist. You will receive mail with link to set new password. One report said his doting mother still bought all his shirts and ties." . Her family assumed she was staying with a friend when she failed to come home that night. Cuando sus padres viajaban, invariablemente los acompaaba. No, this is serious, John Arnold replied. Yes, quite scandalous for the times But while the letters speak of love, they do not throw any further light on her whereabouts only some mentions of depression over an unpublished story (Poinsettia?). That, Keith said, was an area where had found some troubling things. cemeteries found in West Kirby, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Arnolds uncle was the former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Rufus W. Peckham, and the Arnolds were generally regarded as high-society as one could get. CDLXXXIII). The lining of this oversized chapeau was Alice blue, the makers name was Genevieve, and along its edge, rimming Dorothys pleasant, open face, ran a fetching bit of scalloped lace. The pair had met when Arnold was still at Bryn Mawr, and Arnold once even lied about visiting an old college friend to meet with Griscom in secret. Creator: Griscom, Ludlow, 1890-1959. the odd 11-day saga of crime novelist Agatha Christies disappearance. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. Instead of calling the police, they made discreet enquiries through John S. Keith, a family friend, and hired Pinkerton detectives to investigate the disappearance. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Alerting their circle of friends meant inviting high societys gossip mongers to speculate about a missing heiress. So back home it was, to 108 East 79th Street where there was little room to rock the boat. Dropping the candy into the capacious muff, Dorothy returned to the street for the second lap of her last known walk. Tuscaloosa NewsA 1928 article about Dorothy Arnolds case in The Tuscaloosa News daily. Originally know as "Dolobran II" and renamed Linden Hill in 1999 by its present owner, the mansion was built in the early 1930s for Rodman E. Griscom Jr. Reporters were no more successful. He even went to Boston and Philadelphia, but still, no dice. George, however, also wasnt fond of another explanation that surfaced, and put him in jeopardy: the Little Louie Theory. In 1916, a man named Edward in a Rhode Island prison said he was paid to dispose of a womans body the same year Dorothy went missing. One theory suggested that the heiress had either run away or committed suicide after becoming bereft from receiving constant rejections from publishers. Francis R. Arnold died in 1922, his wife in 1928. He was George C. Griscom, Jr., a plump, sideburned forty-two-year-old who lived with his elderly parents in Pittsburgh, and summered at Nantucket. He was hardly the type to sweep a girl off her feet, or rescue her from a stifling existence. No one knew. The public loved it. Tax Lists. In 1978, the 49-year-old actor was found bludgeoned to death in his apartment. Weeks passed and additional theories surfaced, each testing the limits of plausibility. Elizabeth Griscom Ross (ne Griscom; January 1, 1752 - January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn and Claypoole, was an American upholsterer who was credited by her relatives in 1870 with making the first official U.S. flag, accordingly known as the Betsy Ross flag.Though most historians dismiss the story, Ross family tradition holds that General George . Instead, they cabled European correspondents to locate Griscom. In 1742 his marriage was condemned by Friends as contrary to discipline. But when Elsie asked to speak to Dorothy there was a momentary silence. On July 1, 1886, Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold was born in New York City to her prominent parents, Mary Parks Arnold and Francis Rose. "This guy is a winner. But he also discovered that some of the burned papers were letters with foreign post from a man named George Griscom Jr. She married Samuel Griscom on 6 February 1741, in Monmouth, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Did the rejection of the first stories she ever submitted to a magazine, which coincided with her fathers stern refusal to let her live in Greenwich Village, or to see more of the idle Griscom, plunge her into a mood of suicidal despair? As Edward Henry Smith wrote in his Mysteries of the Missing , the Dorothy Arnold case has been called a disappearance which had from the beginning no standard in rationality, being logically both impenetrable and irreconcilable. FAMILY PROSTRATED. She decided that it contained the rejected manuscript of Dorothys second short story, Lotus Leaves. Yet there is nothing to support this assumption. That was the last time Dorothy Arnold was ever seen alive. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Arnold began to pursue her ambitions to become a writer, though she was unsuccessful in getting anything published. It was precisely the spotlight they never wanted. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. She was under the weather after a day of shopping. Formerly engaged to heiress Carrie S. Hays.Romantically involved with heiress Dorothy Arnold when she mysteriously disappeared on December 12, 1910.------Notes:*Death date confirmed via 1939 court decrees, re: Griscom's estate. George worked at a logging camp 6 miles from their home and when he was gone 17-year-old Sam Russ, a cousin of Blanche stayed with her. He was the grandson of Clement A. Griscom, who'd commissioned Furness' Dolobran a half century earlier. By modern standards, the Arnold family would seem stully and somewhat forbidding. or the lawyer who was employed in their service? Dorothy's father was a distinguished Harvard graduate who . You are nearing the transfer limit for memorials managed by Find a Grave. Looking animated and happy, they made no effort to hide their identities, or their presence in Boston. When the Arnolds finally divulged the predicament to the NYPD, admitting theyd waited to tell them, the force assumed they meant a matter or days, maybe a week. The facts of her case are sparse but suggestive of a darker story.