A petty robbery investigation in Jersey City took an unexpected turn in August 1898 when police stopped a suspicious man carrying a bundle and uncovered something far stranger than theft.
The man told officers his name was William Armstrong and claimed the young woman walking beside him was his wife. She supported his story, saying they had been married only days earlier at Giffords Church.
But the officers recognized him under another name: William Gassman, a former Jersey City resident already known to police.
When Gassman’s first wife was brought to the station, she identified him as her husband and learned, to her shock, that he had recently married another woman under an alias.
What began as a search for a thief quickly became a bigamy case, leaving the second bride refusing to believe the truth until she came face to face with the first wife.
Arrested As Thief; Proved Bigamist
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey. — William Gassman, 24 years old, was mistaken for a thief last night, and when taken to the Oakland Avenue Station, Jersey City, was recognized as a former resident of Jersey City, for whom the police had been asked to look.
There was a petty robbery in Bayonne Friday evening, and Actin Captain Haag and Detective Dennett, of Greenville, were out in citizen’s attire in an endeavor to catch the thief. About 10 o’clock they saw a man, accompanied by a young and good looking woman, walking along Ocean Avenue. As the man carried a bundle, he was questioned. The man said he was William Armstrong, of Greenridge, S.I., and the woman said she was his wife. She said that she married him a week ago last Tuesday in the Giffords Church, and that her maiden name was Alice Cassie.
The police recognized Armstrong as Gassman, and sent for his first wife. She came from her residence and identified the supposed Armstrong as her husband. She was told of his second marriage, and that a charge of bigamy could be made against him. She preferred the charge, and her husband was locked up.
The young woman who married Gassman under the name of Armstrong refused to believe the truth of the charges against him until confronted by his first wife.
Source: New York Journal and Advertiser. New York, N.Y. August 7, 1898.
