[Americana] [Lindbergh Kidnapping] Extensive Archive of New Jersey Detective Ellis H. Parker and His Investigation Into the Lindbergh Kidnapping

"Thru the electrocution of Hauptmann you cut off every clue to the 'real killer'! I don't care whom you kill. But this is an extraordinary case, & it won't cost much more to hold that man in jail for another year." - Ellis H. Parker

Extensive Archive of New Jersey Detective Ellis H. Parker and His Investigation Into the Lindbergh Kidnapping
Archive of over 1,100 items from New Jersey detective Ellis H. Parker related to his four-year investigation into the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., the infant son of American aviator Charles Lindbergh. The archive includes six pages of Parker's handwritten notes concerning potential suspects, made in the midst of his investigation; approximately 986 handwritten and typed letters sent to Parker with ideas, leads, or suggestions of persons of interest in the case from a concerned public, most with carbon copies of Parker's replies; 53 contemporary photographs, including press photographs of the Lindbergh crime scene, as well as of various pieces of important evidence; 43 typed letters between Parker and Frank Pease, author of the first book to question the guilt of the convicted killer, Bruno Hauptmann, The Hole in the Hauptmann Case (1936); Parker's copy of the ten-volume official transcript of Hauptmann's 1935 death penalty appeal trial (The State of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann, 1936); 30 contemporary newspaper issues or clippings about the kidnapping, or Parker himself; and more. Condition and locations vary. Condition report available upon request.

Of particular note, the archive also includes contemporary typescripts of the autobiographies of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, The Story of My Life (222 pp.), written during his time on death row, as well as the autobiography of his wife Anna, The Story of Anna Hauptmann (121 pp.), both signed by their respective authors. We have only been able to locate one other contemporary copy of either Hauptmann autobiography, both at The New Jersey State Police Museum in Trenton, New Jersey. Their copy of Anna Hauptmann's story is only 44 pp.

Ellis H. Parker (1871-1940) became Burlington County Chief of Detectives in 1891 at only 20 years old, and is often regarded as one of the first profilers of criminal behavior. At the time he was considered "America's Sherlock Holmes", likely due to his uncanny skills of deductive reasoning. Over his near-fifty year career he investigated hundreds of cases, becoming an inspiration for the archetypal American detective during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in the 1920s and 30s. Fletcher Pratt described Parker in his, The Cunning Mulatto and Other Cases of Ellis Parker (1935), as "probably the best detective in America...his total record is thus somewhat ahead of that established by Scotland Yard..." Similarly, John Reisinger, in his Master Detective: The Life and Crimes of Ellis Parker, America's Sherlock Holmes (2006), said Parker "...would solve over ninety-eight percent of the murders in his New Jersey County...", and had "...a worldwide reputation for solving cases that baffled everyone else."

On the evening of March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. was abducted from his crib in his home in East Amwell, New Jersey. Much like the rest of the country, Parker avidly followed the developments in the case, but he was never formally involved in the investigation as the crime was committed outside of his county. Due to his friendship with New Jersey Governor Harold G. Hoffman, shortly after the kidnapping took place, Parker was personally recruited by the governor to lead his own unofficial investigation. He operated with total independence by pursuing his own leads, identifying his own persons of interest, questioning suspects, and sharing little to no information with state or federal officials. Due to his national reputation and frequent criticism of the official investigation, Parker received many letters regarding the case, hundreds of which are included here. They created a seemingly endless supply of tips and potential suspects. Some were promising, such as an undated letter from fellow detective Fred Shanbecker: "I enclose...a photograph of Ludwig Schmidt as well as a Post Office flier of his fingerprints...Mr. Schmidt seems quite able to adjust himself to any crime...no one seems to know just what his activities were between Oct. 10, 1931 and June 11, 1932...(an inspector) told me I was not the first to question the possibility of Schmidt's participation in the Lindbergh matter." Others were more mundane, such as a December 20, 1935 letter from a woman claiming that "Several weeks before the discovery of the Lindbergh baby's body, I was told by a bar-tender in an Orange Tavern that he overheard the plotting of the baby's kidnapping." Finally, some were purely fanatical, such as one July 22, 1934 letter: "Dear Sir, I am writing you a dream I had the 3rd night after the Lindbergh Boy was kidnapped...this dream may seem foolish but you may get something out of it..." Ellis Parker eventually came to suspect Paul Wendel, a former New Jersey lawyer with ties to organized crime, who had acted as an informant for Parker in the past. Parker became convinced that Wendel knew something about the kidnapping, as many at that time believed the New York City Mafia was somehow involved. Included in the archive is a copy of the article "Lindbergh Erred In Dealing With Gang, Parker Asserts" from the May 14, 1932 issue of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, quoting Parker as saying "In the first place, the Lindberghs never should have paid any ransom whatever, or had any dealings with the underworld...When we've got to the point where we've got to stoop to deal with these gangsters, then the whole police force ought to resign..." Two months after the abduction, on May 12, 1932, the baby's body was discovered near the Lindbergh estate, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that the FBI would take over the case.

By early 1936, Bruno Richard Hauptmann (1899-1936), a German immigrant and carpenter, was on death row after being convicted for the murder. Two years earlier, in September 1934, he was arrested after being caught in possession of a number of marked bills that were given to the kidnappers as ransom for the baby. Parker disagreed with the court's ruling as well as the evidence used against Hauptmann and believed he was innocent. To prove this, Parker took desperate steps and arranged for his prime suspect--Paul Wendel--to be kidnapped and held hostage until he confessed to the crime. When he finally did, Parker delivered the confession to the New Jersey Attorney General, and Hauptmann's execution was temporarily stayed. Parker's victory however was short-lived, as Wendel soon recanted his confession on the grounds of coercion, and it was declared inadmissible. Parker and his associates, including his own son Ellis Jr., were later prosecuted and imprisoned for their drastic actions.

Bruno Hauptmann was executed on April 3, 1936, professing his innocence until the end. Despite multiple failed appeals, and character testimonies to his lifetime of public service, Ellis Parker remained in prison until his death in February 1940, the result of a brain tumor.

By descent in the Parker family, and never before offered for sale. A unique and fascinating window into one of the most famous crimes, and trials, of the twentieth century.