Humbuggery in Humboldt, Part 1

“We have been told that Eureka is the best town for fakirs on the coast and it is a ‘good thing’ as any first-class fakir will testify who has tried it.” — The Daily Standard, March 8, 1900

Though technology has evolved, human nature has not. Like today’s confidence men and women, scammers of Humboldt’s past exploited hopes, fears and the desire to protect ourselves and loved ones. They earned trust before betraying it and often relied on embarrassment and shame to keep victims silent. Con artists often dismissed their victims as suckers, but many were simply people searching for money, answers, or relief from suffering, and trusted a seemingly qualified and often charismatic stranger who promised to help. 

In 1911, 26-year-old Ida Korppila trusted a man who promised to better her life and lost her life savings instead.

Korppila, a Finnish immigrant, worked as a domestic servant for Eureka physician Harold Gross and boarded with his family. It was a respectable position, but Ida wanted a husband, home and family of her own. The odds were not in her favor. Many of Humboldt County’s single Finnish men worked in logging camps and lumber mills, while those living in town gathered in saloons from which Eureka women were barred after 8 p.m. The Finnish community hosted gatherings, but as the employee of a respected physician, Korppila had to avoid any hint of impropriety to keep her job and housing. As the years passed, she grew lonelier and more discouraged — until she found a man who promised to help.

In the fall of 1911, the Daily Humboldt Times ran prominent advertisements for “Prof. Russell De Sang, Clairvoyant and Palmist.” In them, De Sang assured readers he was genuine, unlike other “pretenders” who plagued Eureka. He promised to solve life’s most pressing problems and, most critical for Korppila, “cause speedy and happy marriages.” The young woman told him she was building a better life in America, saving to bring her mother from Finland and hoping to find a husband.

De Sang directed her to bring him $500 (roughly $17,000 in today’s money). She did. He told her to place the money in a sack. She did. He took it, muttered incantations to summon the spirits that gave him power and cast a spell. He then told Korppila to wear it around her neck. Crucially, he said, she was not to open it for 10 days.

Despite any temptation she may have felt, Korppila followed De Sang’s instructions exactly. She wore the sack around her neck and waited. Ten days passed, but no husband appeared. Disappointed, she returned to De Sang, who said she lacked commitment. At his direction, she brought him the balance of her life savings: another $285. He added the money to the bag, recited more incantations and returned it with strict instructions not to look inside. When the allotted time had passed and still no husband had arrived, she opened the bag and found nothing but weights. She searched for De Sang, but the clairvoyant was gone.

Russell De Sang wasn’t really Russell De Sang. He’d been born in Pennsylvania as William Davey in 1884. After his father died, Davey’s widowed mother struggled to raise her five children alone. When they were old enough, he and his sisters found factory work, but Davey balked at manual labor. He turned to petty thieving instead. After his second arrest for burglary at 17, Davey failed to follow the terms of his probation, landing him behind bars. After a short stint in jail, he married but failed at that, too. In 1909, while he was living in Elmira, New York, Josephine Lowrey came through as La Femme Fatima, a dancer at the Chemung County Fair. Davey fell in love. The two fled to New York City and headed west after escaping prosecution for an alleged theft.

Lowrey, a “coochee-coochee dancer,” also told fortunes and taught Davey everything she knew. By the time the couple reached San Francisco, Davey had become “William Daniels,” and he and “wife” Georgia, likely Josephine Lowrey, were a team. The pair established an office on Market Street and promoted Georgia as a “wonderful seeress” able to address personal, domestic and business troubles, dispel evil influence and grant wishes. Satisfaction was guaranteed. They also traveled. During a session in Stirling City, California, Georgia “fell into a trance” and told a Mrs. Neill that her recently inherited fortune must be spiritually cleansed of a curse to avoid a lifetime of misfortune. Georgia persuaded Neill to bring her the full amount, just over $1,000. The “clairvoyant” sewed the money into a leather bag, performed incantations, and instructed Neill not to open it for a week. She lasted an hour. After deciding to buy a watch, Niell opened the bag to grab a dollar and found paper instead.

A sobbing Neill reported the theft. When William and Georgia Daniels were arrested, they had $850, two tickets to Kansas City and letters from people across the country demanding restitution after being scammed. Charges for receiving stolen property against him were dropped, but Georgia was convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to four years in San Quentin Prison.

William did not wait around — or remain William. Reinvented as professor Russell De Sang, he and partner J. Curry Toland went north. In Petaluma and Santa Rosa, they advertised De Sang as a gifted clairvoyant offering specially reduced rates to the worried, discouraged and curious. In Ukiah, the pair were arrested for assaulting a 14-year-old girl, but prosecutors dropped the charges after determining that the girl, described as “feeble-minded,” could not provide reliable testimony. Less than two weeks after their release, “De Sang … an occult scientist, Hindu philosopher and Yogi meditator,” opened clairvoyant and palmist parlors at the corner of Fifth and E streets in Eureka.

After discovering her money was gone, Korppila pressed charges against William Davey, aka Russell De Sang, for grand larceny. Convinced he had left California, Eureka officials offered a $200 reward for his return. Nebraska authorities soon announced they had captured the fugitive. After taking a steamer to San Francisco, securing extradition papers, identifying measurements and fingerprints, Eureka Police Chief Frank Cloney rode a train all the way to Grand Island, Nebraska, and returned empty-handed. The man had not been Davey. Weeks later, Cloney left again for Wagoner County, Oklahoma. Cloney believed those officials had the right man but Wagoner County authorities demanded the $200 reward before surrendering their prisoner. With assurances that payment was on the way, they finally released Davey, and Cloney brought him back to Humboldt. Korppila identified him in a lineup. Bail was set at $5,000 and kept him in jail until the trial. 

After Davey was taken into custody, an elderly woman from Elk River came forward with allegations of her own. She agreed to testify only if her identity was protected. Officials promised anonymity, but her name, Mrs. McGee, came out anyway. Following Korppila’s tearful trial testimony, McGee told jurors she had first visited “De Sang” for palm readings. After spending $16 over a series of visits, he promised to resolve a property dispute if she brought him more funds. She returned with her $200 life savings. De Sang insisted it wasn’t enough, and she mortgaged her house for another $600. He passed her $800 through blue smoke, blindfolded her and returned what he claimed was her money in a small black bag. He instructed her not to open it for several weeks. When she finally did, she found only paper. Humiliated, she remained silent until she learned of his arrest and extradition back to Humboldt County. McGee was only a supporting witness at his trial, but her story strengthened the prosecution’s case. Testimony wrapped up on July 12, 1912, and the jury took less than five minutes to find William Davey/Russell De Sang/William Daniels guilty of stealing Korppila’s life savings. 

In the midst of Davey’s legal proceedings, the Eureka City Council adopted a new ordinance requiring astrologers, spiritualistic mediums and clairvoyants to pay a $300 quarterly license fee in advance. Officials hoped it would protect residents from future scams, but it came too late for Korppila and McGee. Davey went to San Quentin for four years. Korppila and McGee’s life savings, however, were gone for good.

The second of this two-part story, featuring swindlers and showmen, will appear in the July16 issue of the North Coast Journal.

Lynette Mullen (she/her) is a Eureka-based historian writing a book about Eureka’s early red-light District and the women who lived there.

This article appears in Humbuggery in Humboldt, Part 1.