Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick
Greed in the Gilded Age is a Gatsby-esque tale of mystery, money, sex, and scandal.

‘Millionaire’ had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt’s inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history.

Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word.

She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gender, to beat the men of the one percent at their own game.

1139927521
Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick
Greed in the Gilded Age is a Gatsby-esque tale of mystery, money, sex, and scandal.

‘Millionaire’ had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt’s inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history.

Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word.

She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gender, to beat the men of the one percent at their own game.

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Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

by William Elliott Hazelgrove
Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

by William Elliott Hazelgrove

Paperback

$19.95 
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Overview

Greed in the Gilded Age is a Gatsby-esque tale of mystery, money, sex, and scandal.

‘Millionaire’ had just entered the American lexicon and Cassie Chadwick was front page news, becoming a media sensation before mass media, even eclipsing President Roosevelt’s inauguration. Using these newspaper articles, Hazelgrove tells the story of one of the greatest cons in American history.

Combining the sexuality and helplessness her gender implied, Chadwick conned at least 2 million dollars, equivalent to about 60 million today, simply by claiming to be the illegitimate daughter and heir of steel titan, Andrew Carnegie. Playing to their greed, she was able to convince highly educated financiers to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars, on nothing more than a rumor and her word.

She was a product of her time and painting her as a criminal is only one way to look at it. Those times rewarded someone who was smart, inventive, bold, and aggressive. She was able to break through boundaries of class, education, and gender, to beat the men of the one percent at their own game.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781538189405
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 04/16/2024
Pages: 212
Sales rank: 949,674
Product dimensions: 5.95(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.15(d)

About the Author

William Elliott Hazelgrove has a masters in history and is the best-selling author of ten novels and five narrative nonfiction books. His most recent publications include, Sally Rand: American Sex Symbol (Lyons Press), Knox's Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller's Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution (Prometheus), Al Capone and the 1933 World's Fair: The End of the Gangster Era in Chicago (Rowman & Littlefield). He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Reader

Prologue

Gilded Age

Chapter 1: The Trial of the Century

Chapter 2: The Chase

Chapter 3: The Immigrants

Chapter 4: A Genteel Victorian Twist

Chapter 5: The Cauldron of Greed

Chapter 6: The Tombs

Chapter 7: Mrs. Bastado

Chapter 8: The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance

Chapter 9: Lady Liberty

Chapter 10: The Good Doctor

Chapter 11: Madame DeVere

Chapter 12: The Bank Failure

Chapter 13: The Homestead

Chapter 14: The Gold Standard

Chapter 15: The Carnegie Subpoena

Chapter 16: The Doctor and His Wife

Chapter 17: The Queen of Cleveland

Chapter 18: The Broken Man

Chapter 19: Setting the Hook

Chapter 20: The Trial of the Century Begins

Chapter 21: The Bait

Chapter 22: Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 23: The Switch

Chapter 24: The Work of a School Boy

Chapter 25: The Good Pastor

Chapter 26: Geronimo

Chapter 27: Cashing In

Chapter 28: A Jury of Farmers

Chapter 29: Amazing Times

Chapter 30: A Conspiracy to Defraud

Chapter 31: The Newton Loan

Chapter 32: Closing Arguments

Chapter 33: The Verdict

Chapter 34: The Sentence

Chapter 35: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick

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