The Parson and the Detectives

In the bustling city of Lansing, Michigan, in 1894 — population approximately 14,000, give or take — a man known as Rev. Charles O. Gibson arrived, brimming with charm, charisma, and a trunk full of church songbooks, which he intended to sell to the good folks of the city. He had been corresponding with local pastors and finally arranged to personally visit them. Gibson was welcomed warmly into their homes and quickly gained the trust and respect of the community — after all, the Reverend was well-read on biblical subjects, familiar with mission work, and conversant with books and authors. He was even invited to join in services and addressed prayer meetings with tears rolling down his cheeks.

The Reverend, however, was not the man he claimed to be. Beneath the facade of holy obligation and divine servitude, he carried a secret identity — Frank A. Harvey, a notorious forger and swindler, who just a few weeks earlier on October 6 escaped from Maryland’s Harford Jail where he was incarcerated for forgery. 

Harvey’s ruse was invariably successful. A master of manipulation, he had a keen understanding of human psychology, a trait that he exploited to its fullest to deceive people and institutions, leaving a trail of fraud and chaos in his wake.  

If everything had gone as he planned, as it had in other cities, Harvey would have mingled with the church folks for a few more days before choosing an earnest and well-respected church member to introduce him at a local bank. He would deposit small amounts for a short period, keeping a running account at this bank. His final move would have been to deposit a forged draft against which he would draw and disappear.

But it didn’t go as planned.  

The Infamous Career of a Master Forger 

Harvey’s career had been an almost continuous one of crime. According to the Boston Globe newspaper, he was without a doubt one of the “slickest” forgers in the country — along with the likes of Charles Becker, the Prince of Forgers. His dexterous hand, by his power to imitate signatures, had carved many a large sum of money out of the money drawers of banks and the purses of individuals. 

Early in his career Harvey, a native of Virginia raised in Philadelphia, served time in California State Prison. After his release, Harvey wandered the country before settling temporarily in Topeka, KS, where under the name of Robert H. Alexander, he claimed to be engaged by the publishing house of Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago. He connected with the Good Templars YMCA and numerous other charitable and religious organizations, and then he married a woman of a highly respected family. 

He later traveled to Washington, D.C. where under the alias of Robert E. Hall, he was arrested for forging the names of several businessmen on checks for small amounts. Upon his arrest, it developed that he was wanted in Montana and Colorado for forgeries there. An effort was made to extradite him. However, he was found guilty of crimes in Washington and sentenced to three years in the Albany Penitentiary. He was released in August of 1892 — unrehabilitated. He went to Elmira, NY, and that autumn, forged a draft for $121.50, that was purported to have been issued by the Twin Valley Bank of Alexandria on the National Bank of the Republic of New York City.  

From Elmira, Harvey went to Cleveland, OH, where he swindled Bordell and Company using a forged draft for $42.20 from the Merchants Bank of Birmingham, New York, on a New York City bank. He also succeeded in swindling banks in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts as well as other parts of New England, in the amount of nearly $75,000 between March 1893 and June 1894.

One newspaper stated that Harvey, alias Warren Glen, was largely responsible for a Another stated that he played an active part in the forged drafts and checks that were circulating about the South end Boston. The newspaper also reported that there was hardly a large city in the country that did not want him for some swindle or forgery.  

The Unmasking of Reverend Gibson 

His reputation had preceded him. The historic Pinkerton National Detective Agency, known for their relentless pursuit of lawbreakers and bank forgers, had been on Harvey's trail for a few weeks, gathering evidence and following the exploits of his other aliases: Henry M. Thomas, Reed Halford, Herbert E. Roberts, Ralph C. Hunter, Sherman Melchor, Henry B. Scott, Lawrence Stevens, Walter B. Snow, G. W. Nelson, Victor Finnick, W. H. Milnes, A. G. Buckley, C. E. Hiscock, among 14 others. 

While Harvey was quite adept at transforming himself, the Pinkertons kept a detailed Rogue’s Gallery, the first systematic collection of criminal mug shots and descriptions used to identify and track known criminals.  

And Harvey was quite identifiable. He was 37 years old, 5 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, and weighed 135 pounds. He had dark brown hair, and at times he wore a dark mustache and Burnside whiskers closely trimmed. He had heavy eyebrows, a full forehead over his eyes, and an ashen complexion. He also had an ink spot on the back of his left hand from his time as a journalist in his early career. He also had a scar under his lip and another on his right hand. 

As the master forger set the groundwork for his scheme in Lansing, the Pinkertons closed in. They identified patterns, traced his steps, and predicted his next move — in Lansing, where they found him masquerading as Reverend Gibson. 

And then on November 26, just as Harvey was about to execute his plan, the Pinkertons apprehended him. The unsuspecting townsfolk were shocked as the man they knew as the good reverend was revealed to be a notorious criminal. After just seven weeks on the lam, Harvey was returned to Hartford Jail in Maryland, although records are incomplete on just how much time Harvey served in Hartford.  

The Downfall of "The Man of Many Names" 

Nearly 15 years later on March 3, 1909, Robert Forrest, aka Frank A. Harvey, was once again pursued by the Pinkertons for a string of forgeries. Once found, he was taken to the Oak Park Police Station in Chicago where his criminal career effectively ended. “The man of man names" was suspected of having at least sixty aliases over the course of 28 years. Pinkerton detectives asserted that he had operated in every U.S. city. He Is alleged to have obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars by forged or worthless checks.

His later swindles, it is said, were confined largely to real estate men and automobile dealers. Nearly every member of the Chicago auto colony was said to have been robbed by him at one time or another. The Chicago Police Department sent out photographs along with a description of his distinctive features hoping to connect him with criminal activities coast to coast.  



They were successful. There was a chain of worthless checks, as it were, strewn by Forrest/Harvey everywhere he went.