Elizabeth Bigley was born in Ontario, Canada in 1857. In 1879 she was arrested for forgery for passing off worthless cheques to merchants, but was acquitted on grounds of her age and insanity. She later worked in Cleveland, Ohio as a psychic, calling herself Madame Lydia DeVere. In 1889 she was again arrested and this time convicted of forgery and spent several years in prison before being pardoned by the then governor of Ohio (later President) William McKinley in 1893. By 1897 she was back in Cleveland, living under an assumed name, with her new husband Dr Leroy Chadwick. He married her believing her to be the illegitimate daughter of wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
What was the scam?
What happened next?
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