James "Honest Dick" Tate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| James William Tate | |
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Kentucky State Treasurer
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| 1867 – 1888 | |
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Kentucky Assistant Secretary of State
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| 1854 – 1855 | |
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Kentucky Assistant Secretary of State
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| 1859 – 1863 | |
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Assistant Clerk of the Kentucky House of Representatives
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| 1865 – 1867 | |
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| Born | January 2, 1831 Franklin County, Kentucky |
| Died | Unknown Unknown |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lucy J. Hawkins-Tate |
| Profession | Post office clerk |
James William Tate (January 2, 1831[1] –unknown), was the State Treasurer of Kentucky. He was nicknamed "Honest Dick" because of his good reputation and rapport with his colleagues. The nickname turned ironic, however, when Tate absconded with nearly a quarter of a million dollars from the state's treasury in 1888. He was never found.
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[edit] Early life
Tate was born the only child of Nancy (Taylor) Tate and her second husband, Thomas L Tate in Franklin County, Kentucky. At age 17, he began work as a clerk at the Frankfort post office. In 1856, he married Lucy J Hawkins. The couple had a daughter, Edmoina, and a son who died at the age of three.[2]
[edit] Political career
Tate's political career began with an appointment to the position of Assistant Secretary of State for the state of Kentucky in 1854. He was appointed to the same post in 1859, serving until 1863. From 1865–7, Tate served as Assistant Clerk to the Kentucky House of Representatives. At the end of his service in the house, Tate successfully ran for state treasurer, a post to which he would be re-elected every two years for the next two decades.[2]
In 1878, Tate was mentioned in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky. The biographer gushed that in 1867, Tate had "materially contributed, by his personal popularity, to the great success of the Democratic party" adding:
"Biennially, since that time, without opposition in his own party, he has been successively re-elected by popular majorities, perhaps exceeding those obtained by any other candidate for office in the State. From these evidences of popularity, it would seem that his lease on the office might be regarded as a fixed fact."[3]
[edit] Disappearance and aftermath
In the first quarter of 1888, Tate began a pattern of behavior that would have aroused considerable suspicion in a man of lesser repute. He began depositing only checks in the state's bank account, instead of cash, as was usual. In a short period of time, he paid a number of personal debts. On March 14, 1887, Henry Murray, one of Tate's clerks, noticed him filling two tobacco sacks with gold and silver coins later determined to be worth about $100,000. He departed for Louisville, leaving a note saying he would return in two days. Again, due to the nature of his job and his impeccable record of trustworthiness, nobody found his actions questionable. After a week passed with no word from Tate, it became clear what had happened.
Records would later show that, after a few days in Louisville, Tate boarded a train for Cincinnati, and then vanished, leaving his wife and daughter behind.[3]
During the investigation that followed, the state's ledger, which was almost indecipherable, was found to show Tate giving some state officials loans that were many times left unpaid and advances on their salaries, including an advance of several thousand dollars to Governor Preston H. Leslie in 1872.[3] Tate had apparently used some of the state's money to make personal investments in mines and real estate. Governor Simon B. Buckner announced that between his atrocious bookkeeping, his embezzlement and his outright theft, Tate had misappropriated $247,128.50 from the state's treasury.[2]
Impeachment hearings followed in the House, and the Senate removed Tate from office, convicting him on four counts. A criminal indictment followed. An 1895 case marked "Not to be officially reported" freed those implicated in the scandal from any obligation to repay the state. "Tateism" became synonymous with political corruption in the state, and Tate's crime was frequently cited at the state's fourth constitutional convention in 1891. The resulting constitution, which still governs the state today, forbade state officials from holding more than one consecutive term in office.[2]
Despite the General Assembly's offer of $5,000 for information leading to Tate's arrest, he was never found. Though his family at first claimed that had heard nothing from Tate and presumed he may have committed suicide, his daughter eventually admitted that she had received at least four letters from her father between April and December of 1888. The letters were postmarked from British Columbia, Japan, China, and San Francisco. Another witness claimed to have seen a letter to one of Tate's friends written in 1890 and postmarked from Brazil. That was the last known communication from "Honest Dick" Tate. An article in The New York Times, citing "friends who should know", claimed that Tate was believed to have died in China in 1890.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Politicians Who Disappeared or Died Under Mysterious Circumstances. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on January 17, 2007.
- ^ a b c d (1992) "Tate, James W.", in Kleber, John E.: The Kentucky Encyclopedia, Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter, Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0813117720.
- ^ a b c d McQueen, Keven (2001). ""Honest Dick" Tate: Absconder", Offbeat Kentuckians: Legends to Lunatics, Ill. by Kyle McQueen, Kuttawa, Kentucky: McClanahan Publishing House. ISBN 0913383805.
