William Thompson: American Criminal the Original Con Man
Operating in New York City in the late 1840s, Thompson would approach a wealthy person, pretending they knew each other, and start up a conversation. Once they gained the person’s trust, they would poke around to see what people liked to spend money on. Upon taking the watch, Thompson would depart, never returning the watch.
Various Aliases of William Thompson
Samuel Thompson
James Thompson
Samuel Thomas
Samuel Powel
Samuel Williams
William Evans
Samuel Willis
William Davis
William Brown.
In 1849, Thompson was arrested and imprisoned in The Tombs. The New York Herald, recalling how he would ask his victims for their “confidence” before swindling them, dubbed him the “confidence man”.
The Thompson case may have inspired Herman Melville’s 1857 novel, The Confidence-Man.
