Tiffany & Co.
Alton E. Holcomb of Granville, Massachusetts, married Pauline B. Lathrop of Hartland, Connecticut, on June 8, 1875. The couple welcomed two daughters, Clara, born on March 9, 1877, and Maud on July 15, 1880. (Pauline's mother died shortly after giving birth to her, and she was sent to live with her maternal grandparents in Hartland.)
When Pauline fell ill sometime around 1882, she traveled to Bridgeport, Connecticut, for medical care, leaving her husband to raise their girls and attend to the household alone in her absence. After a few months, Alton sought help. In May, he induced Pauline's friend, Miss Mary Giddings of Hartland, to move in with him and the girls, and in doing so, it did not take long for neighbors to become suspicious of the pair's rapidly developing relationship, one of intimacy.
Mary returned to Connecticut in October, first visiting relatives in Hartland. Alton showed up there on or about November 28, and he and Mary then headed to Torrington, where they registered as H. C. Smith and wife at the American House hotel. The next day, Mary went to see her sister in Waterbury, confessing that she was "in trouble" before returning to Torrington a week or so later to the house of Dr. Tiffany, where she remained until her death on December 19; her body was buried in Waterbury to the dismay of her friends in Hartland who, suspicious of her untimely passing, launched an investigation. (Dr. Tiffany reportedly never graduated medical school, but the eclectic physician earned a good reputation from the townsfolk. He was supposed to meet Mary in Waterbury on the 4th but never showed.)
Dr. Tiffany caught wind of the investigation in early 1883 and quickly fled, leaving all his personal effects behind, including his furniture and surgical instruments. (Dr. Tiffany was no stranger to the Holcombs, for he delivered Maud, probably Clara, too.)
Authorities arrested Alton in Granville Corners on an accessory charge on March 16; Pauline subsequently filed for divorce and requested alimony on the grounds of adultery. Alton was released on bond as he awaited his appearance before a Torrington judge on the 30th. (In finding a defect in the complaint against him, Alton failed to appear in court, and the judge forfeited his bond.)
Dr. Tiffany, who remained on the run, returned to Torrington in August on the advice of a lawyer. He offered himself to trial, but the Connecticut state attorney, citing lack of evidence, nolled the state's case against him.
Less than one year later, on July 17, 1884, Pauline died in Bridgeport.
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| Coe Brass Manufacturing Company's canal |
In 1892, detectives arrested Dr. Tiffany at a Philadelphia hospital (where he was taking gynecology classes) for passing a large number of forged checks in multiple states; he signed some of them using his first and middle initials followed by the last name "Spencer," his mother's maiden name, one of his many aliases.
As authorities led Dr. Tiffany out of the building, he grabbed a vial marked "poison" and put it up to his mouth, appearing to gulp its contents; unbeknownst to those around him, the bottle was empty.
On February 27, 1893, a Pennsylvania judge sentenced Dr. Tiffany on two charges, one year and three months each, to run concurrently in the Eastern State Penitentiary. The judge also fined him two dollars. (Approximately two weeks before being arrested, Dr. Tiffany swore to libel in a divorce case against his wife; the couple wed in Granville on December 17, 1879.)
On September 1, 1891, the tenth anniversary of her second marriage, Dr. Tiffany's stepmother picked up a keen-edged razor. She slit her throat as she lay on the floor inside her Manchester, Connecticut, home. She was 39, about six years older than her stepson and 17 years younger than her husband, a well-known jeweler.
This story appeared in the January 2024 edition of Southwoods. Please support locally owned and operated Southwick businesses.
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