Please reset your password. But at the same time no passengers were reported missing from ocean-crossing liners during the early days of her disappearance. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Did the young heiress disappear of her own accord? Dorothy did have a secret boyfriend, George Griscom Jr, who she intended to marry despite her parents' disapproval. Dorothy had met him at Bryn Mawr, perhaps before she knew Junior. Yes, quite scandalous for the times But while the letters speak of love, they do not throw any further light on her whereabouts only some mentions of depression over an unpublished story (Poinsettia?). Some believe that she may have slipped and fallen on the icy pavement, suffering a concussion that brought on amnesia. She was well educated, and graduated with a major in literature from Bryn Mawr College. A fourth brother, George, died at the age of 21. Conspiracies around what actually happened to Dorothy Arnold spread like wildfire. Please try again later. Dorothy was the daughter of a Manhattan millionaire. And George, George Griscom, Jr has kept those letters reveal one week of furtive romance in Boston. Mrs. Arnold, recounting the episode later, reported that Dorothy had merely answered, No, Mother, dont bother. One day she journeyed alone to the post office at Thirty-fourth Street, where she called for mail at the general delivery window. George worked at a logging camp 6 miles from their home and when he was gone 17-year-old Sam Russ, a cousin of Blanche stayed with her. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of George Griscom (226993282)? To this day, the disappearance of Dorothy Arnold remains unsolved. The tale also endures as a reminder of the gross disparities between the attention the media and police do and dont give to certain cases as evidenced by how much leeway they gave to Dorothys upper-class parents, who effectively withheld information and handicapped the cases chances from the beginning. At around the same time she was dating George Griscom Jr, a 40-year-old engineer who still lived with his parents. Soon they found the man Mr. Arnold meant. Thanks for your help! To use this feature, use a newer browser. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). He died in 1920. . Now, it was shining twice as harshly. In an effort to bring things to a close, Dorothys father said he thought shed been killed and disposed of in the Central Park reservoir not likely, said the police, as the lake was frozen at the time of her disappearance. As Keith rose to his feet, John Arnold suggested that the burned papers might be Dorothys rejected manuscript. Family members linked to this person will appear here. He did have a letter Dorothy had written him admitting that she was depressed over a recent magazine rejection to a . He professed to be totally unaware of his sisters disappearance, claiming that he had been in Europe on a business trip since November. Lost your password? Assuming, he recapitulated, that she walked up home through Central Park, she could have taken the lonely walk along the reservoir. Instead, he seemed desperately in need of rescuing himself. As she departed from her home, Dorothy carried no luggagethough it is conceivable that a nightgown might have been hidden in the depths of her large muff. But she did nor go to Cambridge. At the bookshop, shetold her friend she was going for a walk in Central Park. John W. Arnolds arrival in New York added still another angle to the baffling case. The burnt papers were confirmed as Dorothys rejected manuscripts, one of which she had recently received back. 14.---George S. Griscom Jr. has received word from Miss Dorothy Arnold, the missing girl, and this has been communicated to the Arnold family. The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Moly 1 Samantha Moly Searcy Forensic Science 7 November 2019 The Disappearance of Dorothy Oops, we were unable to send the email. Cuando sus padres viajaban, invariablemente los acompaaba. To license content, please contact licenses [at] americanheritage.com. At two oclock on the afternoon of December 12, 1910, she stood talking to a girl friend outside Brentanos bookshop, then located at Fifth Avenue and Twentyseventh Street in New York City. There were three telling discoveries in Dorothys room: recently burnt documents in the fireplace, pamphlets for transatlantic steam liner voyages, and letters with foreign post a trifecta of intrigue if ever there was one. Griscom (who preferred to be called "Junior") was a 30-year-old engineer who came from a wealthy Pennsylvania family with whom he still lived at the Kenmawr Hotel in Pittsburgh. On that fateful winter morning in 1910, the official consensus is that Dorothy left 108 East 79th Street to buy a new dress at 11:00am. In the meantime, Dorothy's parents suspected that her ex-boyfriend George Griscom Jr, had had something to do with it, even travelling to Italy where he was vacationing in order to confront him, but there could be found no evidence at all to that effect and he adamantly denied any involvement. Further, he offered to conduct this grisly search himself, still without informing the police. GREAT NEWS! . George had 3 siblings: Clara Griscom and 2 other siblings. Getting down on his knees, Keith peered into the fireplace: here he discovered a small mound of burned papers. There is another part in Dorothys aforementioned letter to George that raises an eyebrow. Over breakfast the next morning, a distracted family settled on another strange move when they decided not to summon police, instead, Dorothys brother John phoned a friend named John S. Keith, a junior partner in the law firm of Garvan K: Armstrong. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Griscom denied any involvement in Arnold's disappearance and gave her family a letter she had written to him earlier in 1910. It took no master-mind to figure that the young man must be Dorothys older brother, John W. Arnold; he could easily have boarded a transatlantic liner in the six weeks before the story of Dorothys disappearance broke in the newspapers. The pair had met when Arnold was still at Bryn Mawr, and Arnold once even lied about visiting an old college friend to meet with Griscom in secret. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. The Arnolds feared that the case could be socially embarrassing Arnold had eloped and spent a week with George Griscom, Jr., a month before. After her second short story was rejected, Arnold wrote a letter to Griscom expressing her disappointment over her lack of progress as a writer and alluded to suicide, stating, "Well, it [the short story . She was under the weather after a day of shopping. You have chosen this person to be their own family member. The Arnolds did a hire lawyer (but most importantly, a friend) named John Keith a day after her disappearance. The public theories were many, and even when the case was closed 75 days later, it grew more and more absurd. Keith was reluctant to do so. Edit Search New Search Jump to Filters. For the next two weeks, the Arnolds kept things under wraps, refusing to tell the police of their missing daughter. They finally brought in the big guns: the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency, whose agent interviewed Dorothys friends, acquaintances, and classmates, but again, no dice. Edit your search or learn more. It was presided over by chop-whiskered Francis R. Arnold, a seventy-threeyear-old businessman, who proudly traced his lineage straight back to the Mayflower; it was his sister who had married Supreme Court Justice Rufus Peckham. Instead, they cabled European correspondents to locate Griscom. Dorothy Arnolds formidable father had not only inherited a large sum of money, bt he had made considerably more as the head of F. R. Arnold & Company, importers. This was the last time shewas ever seen. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. A full monthpassed, and the Arnolds finally told the police of Dorothys disappearance. I believe [so] absolutely, he stated, expressing the belief that she had been set upon while walking home through Central Park. Dorothysfamily was stunned to learn that she had spent a week with him earlier that year, when she claimed to be visiting some friends from college. Ludlow Griscom papers, 1918-1961. No one knew. This account has been disabled. No, this is serious, John Arnold replied. When Francis died, his will said nothing of Dorothy. Presumably the police department of New York City received one of these circulars, but it stood firmly on protocol, refusing to act in the Dorothy Arnold matter until appealed to directly. But strangely, after one friend called the family back asking if she had been found, the Arnolds lied and replied that yes, their daughter had safely returned home. George S. Griscom, Jr., of Pittsburg, who has been much talked about in connection with the disappearance of Dorothy Arnold, the missing daughter of Francis R. Arnold of 108 East Seventy-ninth . Pinkerton officials listened to the story of the disappearance and immediately mailed a descriptive circular on Dorothy to police departments all over the country. Its worth noting that Dorothy was a secretive person and there were aspects of her life which she kept hidden from her family. This theory might seem to be borne out by the steamship folders found on Dorothys desk. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. The cherry on top, however, was when he declared his plans to marry Dorothy upon her return. He's a 42-year-old named George C. Griscom, Jr., but he goes by "Junior." She met him at Bryn Mawr. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Learn more about managing a memorial . George Griscom Jr. of Pittsburg. Dorothy Harriet Camille Arnold was one of the earliest high-profile missing persons in the twentieth century. For the gossip columns, the accident evoked the involvement of something called, The House of Mystery. Thats where two the two dominating theories of her disappearance come into play. Yet asearch of the park turned up nothing. Try again later. Her parents, Francis and Mary, always tried to steer her away from the bohemian profession. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. Free subscription>>, Please consider a donation to help us keep this American treasure alive. It wasnt until late the following day that they began to ask each other, Where is Dorothy? Opening a desk drawer, Keith found a pile of personal letters, some with foreign postmarks. The Pinkerton agency thus took their investigation overseas, looking into recent marriage records and checking the passenger logs of recent steam liners. All that I can say is that it has been solved by the department, Police Captain John H. Ayers, the head of the Missing Persons Bureau, told the press. Up until now, he said, he had no idea she was missing. Or she may have died on an abortionists table. Even her friend Gladys King, who ran into her on 5th Avenue and 27th Street at 2pm, said she was in a good mood when they ran into one another. Also, no witnesses of an attack came forward. Griscom went back to Pittsburgh, there to prepare for a trip to Europe with his father and mother. He loved her and intended to marry her on his return from Europe. Elizabeth S. Griscom died in 1918, survived by her husband, George S. Griscom. PA John Denn Griscom b.1808 m. 1839 Margaret . During February, Griscom returned to America with his mother and father. Formerly engaged to heiress Carrie S. Hays. Writing was not a womans game, and certainly not in their upper-crust family. On the morning of Dorothys arrival Junior had gone to the Hotel Lenox, where he reserved a room and bath for her. Yes, shes here, Mrs. Arnold stated brightly, in reply to Elsie Henrys question. 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