"An Extraordinary Disclosure of Vice": The Gold Street Murder, Part 2

It is never made clear why William Skidmore, a well-regarded police officer at Brooklyn's Fourth Precinct, began to show his darker side in the early 1860s. In the newspaper coverage of his murder conviction and suicide, the Eagle implies that his promotion in the police force brought with it temptations that led him to drink heavily and act with violence and disregard for the law.

He was born about 1830, the son of Connecticut-born Philo Skidmore and his wife, Margaret Ann Reynolds. Philo and Margaret had 13 children, of whom 5 survived to adulthood: Harriet Louisa, Melissa Amanda, Charles Henry, Eugene H. and William Thomas. Two previous Williams had died young (born in 1826 and 1829).

William Thomas was a carpenter when he married Susannah Hicks about 1852, probably in Brooklyn. He was a police officer by the late 1850s and described as "a very valuable officer" until his promotion to sergeant in the early 1860s. Then "extra temptations" and "intemperate habits" led to his becoming "unreliable." He was either fired or "allowed to resign" about 1864.

He got work as a carpenter at the Navy Yard but had trouble there. The Eagle notes that he probably got whatever money he had through "nocturnal raids for which he was so well prepared," and added, after his suicide, that the public "must feel thankful that Skidmore is where he cannot rob and kill the unoffending citizens."

The Eagle tells of Skidmore's cruel treatment of his family starting in the early 1860s, saying that they got their information from their Eastern District colleagues at the Williamsburgh Times. That paper in turn got their information from Mr. Lemuel Hicks, who is said to have spoken to them at length after Skidmore's arrest.

William Skidmore started to come home late, sneaking in as if he was a burglar, frightening Susannah. He hit her with a stick that he took from the window sash. One night he made them both "hot punch" with liquor in it, and insisted that Susannah have a cup. She drank some and said that it tasted strange. Skidmore said that this was because he had put "Jamaica rum" in it. She said (presumably to her family later, and not aloud) that she wouldn't drink any more - "she set it aside, saying that she would have it analyzed, inasmuch as he had previously endeavored to poison her.

After he was fired by the police force, Skidmore abandoned his wife and children. The story is a little hazy here, but apparently "a child died" and he got drunk at the funeral. He was arrested and put into a cell. where he tried to kill himself. He got out eventually, and continued to neglect his family. His wife had told all this to her relatives -my great great grandparents and the other Hickses. They found her and the children in a terrible state, starving and "in a nauseating state of uncleanliness." Susannah was bedridden and ill. The Hickses took care of them and called in a Dr. Palmer to tend to her. He said that Susannah had "an illness of a peculiar character," and sent her to the hospital. This was quite an extreme measure back in the 1860s.

When William Skidmore found out, he was enraged, told Dr. Palmer that he was off the case, and brought in a Dr. Chase to look after his estranged wife. "But abuse had been to[o] long pursued against that unhappy lady," and she died. The cause of death was officially "dropsy," but the Hickses were not at all convinced and "a post-mortem was decided upon by the brothers of the deceased." But this was not done due to "some of the female relative" objecting.

Skidmore said that he did not poison Susannah but admitted beating her, saying that this was because "she was untrue to him." The Eagle notes that this was "a cowardly subterfuge to excuse his brutality."

The story is picked up here by an anonymous letter-writer, "J.H.L.," who wrote to the Eagle about the case on June 21, 1867:

Mrs. Hicks said that Mrs. Skidmore met with foul play, and was poisoned by her husband; well, William T. Skidmore went to Mr. Hicks, and asked him what this talk was about...[Skidmore] told Mr Hicks to have the body exhumed and analyzed, and said he would have it done himself.

But Coroner Lynch refused as did Coroner Samuel D. Morris. J.H.L. points out that Mr. Hicks only started talking about this again after Skidmore's arrest. He asks why was Mr. Hicks afraid to ask the Coroner about it when Skidmore was free? But of course the Coroner had refused; and furthermore, Skidmore was a dangerous sort even before Carr's murder. You can imagine Daniel not really wanting to get on his bad side.

I think that J.H.L. is talking about Daniel here, because of the Mrs. Hicks (his wife) talking - Skidmore mentioned that Dan and Mary were talking about this issue. J.H.L. says that they ought to exhume the body, and see what's what. If Skidmore is guilty, he is guilty of two murders (and J.H.L. as well as many others believed that he was). If not, "Hicks should be taken to court and tried for slander."

Tomorrow, the final part of the Gold Street Murder story: the murder of William Bishop Carr, two suicides, and a possible mystery woman.

Police cartoon, circa 1855, from NYPL Digital Gallery.

More on the Gold Street Murder:

Part 1: http://thevirtualdimemuseum.blogspot.com/2008/03/meanest-sort-of-snake-gold-street.html

Part 3: http://thevirtualdimemuseum.blogspot.com/2008/03/like-shadow-along-air-gold-street.html

Sources

"Extraordinary Disclosure of Vice," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 20, 1867, p. 2.

"Views of Correspondents: The Skidmore Case," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 21, 1867, p. 2.

"The Wounded Man Still Alive," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 22, 1867, p. 3.

"The Skidmore Case - A Correction," Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 20, 1867, p. 3. Mrs. Hicks wants everyone to know that she is the late Mrs. Skidmore's sister, not Mrs. Carr's sister, as reported incorrectly in the previous day's edition.

Ancestry World Family Tree, WorldConnect and the International Genealogical Index (IGI) for Skidmore family information.

Lain's Brooklyn City Directories, 1858-59 and 1860-1867, inclusive.