Was Mrs. Dougherty
Influenced By Her Cousin?
The Principal Witness in the Case is Dead;
A Lively Contest Between Undertakers for the Remains
By the death of Mrs. Ann Dougherty, which occurred at 5 o’clock Monday morning, the court loses the principal witness in a most novel suit. Mrs. Dougherty, who was 82 years old at the time of her death, lived with her son John Dougherty, aged 52 years, at 65 Otisco Street, until some months ago.

Mr. Dougherty, who is one of the best known Irishmen in the city, is a bachelor and was born in Ireland, where his father died. He may been seen any evening at Smith & Dalton’s drug store, where he is known as “Perfumery John.”

He has always worked hard for a living, and by his industry has managed to keep a bank account. His earnings were deposited in his mother’s name and credited on her book. He had the utmost confidence in his mother and gave her full charge of his money matters, it is said.

Some claim that Mrs. Dougherty looked after her son’s business affairs because he himself was incapable, having no education. Dougherty has been employed for years in the New York Central yards.

One day he came home and found that his mother had left and taken all her things. Further investigation showed that she had drawn $1,800 of the $5,000 on deposit in the bank, and given it to Mr. and Mrs. O’Hara of 164 Otisco Street, who, with the money, bought the house they live in.

Patrick O’Hara is a cousin of the deceased, and it is claimed that he influenced Mrs. Dougherty to leave her son and come live with him and his wife. He told the old lady, it is said, that he would take care of her as long as she lived and give her a decent burial.

John Dougherty says that the $1,800 belonged to him and that his mother had no right to touch it, so he has commenced action through his attorneys, Bagg & Nottingham, against the O’Haras to recover the house, 164 Otisco Street. Suit was also brought against his mother, but she has since died.

Mrs. Dougherty died Monday morning after a brief illness, and at noon Patrick O’Hara engaged undertaker McCarthy to bury the body. Assistant undertaker Snyder went to the home immediately and took charge of the remains.

At 3 p.m. undertaker McCarthy received notice by telephone from the law office of Bagg & Nottingham that his services were no longer required as John Dougherty, the son, had made arrangements with undertaker Mullin to take charge of the funeral. Mr. Dougherty had already ordered a casket andd trimmings for his mother’s funeral.

Undertaker McCarthy hurried to the home again and found that Mr. Mullin had replaced his (McCarthy’s) crepe, candlesticks and “laying out” board with his own, and that he was making preparation to bury the body.

In the meantime O’Hara came back to McCarthy’s morgue and selected a casket. He was provoked because undertaker Mullin has been engaged by the son of the deceased and gave Mr. McCarthy orders to send the casket to the house at once and prepare the remains for burial.

Undertaker Mullin was the first to obtain a burial permit, but Mr. McCarthy succeeded in getting a duplicate and said he would have the funeral anyway, as the woman died in O’Hara’s house. McCarthy asked Mullin for his permit, but he would not give it up.

Returning to the house, undertaker McCarthy removed Mr. Mullin’s crepe and candlesticks and put his own back. He also took the body off undertaker Mullin’s board and laid it out on his own. Then McCarthy gathered up the crepe, candlesticks and other things and sent them to Mr. Mullin’s undertaking rooms. The latter said that if O’Hara did not desire his services he would not interfere.

Mr. Dougherty agreed to pay the funeral expenses if undertaker Mullin was allowed to bury the body, but the O’Haras wouldn’t have it that way. They claimed that Mrs. Dougherty told them before she died to engage any undertaker they desired and bury her from their house. The O’Haras insisted on paying the undertaker’s bill.

Undertaker McCarthy buried the body Wednesday at St. Agnes Cemetery. The son selected another cemetery, but the O’Haras said the body must be buried at St. Agnes, and that “settled it.”

Mr. Dougherty, who is a quiet, inoffensive gentleman, was seen last night, but he would not talk about the matter and referred the reporter to his attorney.

“You will see pretty soon,” he remarked, “when the case is tried, who is right about it.”

His friends say that the O’Haras were authorized by Mrs. Dougherty to draw the money. The court has already fixed the matter so that they cannot get hold of the rest of the money.

Mrs. O’Hara talked freely about the matter to a Courier reporter last evening. “Mrs. Dougherty,” said she, “came to live with us seven months ago today. She was taken sick a week ago tonight. She begged of my husband to bury her decently, and told him to suit himself in an undertaker. The old lady gave us $1,800 when she came here to take care of her the rest of her life – for 20 years if she lived that long. We put $300 with it and bought this house. She said the money belonged to her and that she had left her son his share of the $3,000. She carried the bank book and brought it here with her. When she came here Dougherty got a new book and now has $100 in it. Her son was the first to come to me and ask me to take care of his mother.

“He said he’d send her to the poor house if we refused to take her, and that she had plenty of money to pay for her keeping. He wouldn’t pay her expenses, he said. I used to bring meals to her every day, so she wouldn't be bothered cooking. The night she came here her son went to John Carpenter’s to board. She had been here only a few days when he went back to the old house. Afterward he asked for a room here and lived with us two weeks. He then went back to the old house where he is keeping bachelor’s hall. Mrs. Dougherty said she had $500 of her own money when her son came to this country. She sent him $85 to come to this country a number of years ago.”

The O’Haras say they have retained attorneys Ives and McGowan.

The following story may involve the same Mr. and Mrs. Patrick O'Hara, though their address in 1906 is different from the one mentioned above. However, In 1915 this O'Hara family lived at 727 Otisco Street, Syracuse, a few blocks from the house that figured in the above lawsuit. One thing is for sure – there were a lot of O'Hara families in Central New York by the early 1900s, and a lot of them were headed by a man named Patrick.

The "Black Hand" was a familiar scare tactic at the time. In some cities – Chicago comes to mind – there were Mafia-like hoodlums who blackmailed merchants to pay protection. True to the stereotype, most of the activity was in neighborhoods that were predominately Italian-American. However, "Black Hand" letters often were a ploy used by enterprising, but selfish children to extort money from their families.

Sure “Black Hand” Entered To Kidnap
Mrs. Patrick O’Hara Claims Man Broke Into House
After She Ignored Threats – All Are Excited
but Her Little Daughter

Angry because no attention was paid to his threats and demand for $50, the “Black Hand,” disguised as a burglar, broke into the residence of Mrs. Patrick O’hara at 1015 West Fayette Street at an early hour yesterday morning, according to Mrs. O’Hara, and intended to kidnap her daughter or steal the money.

The “Black Hand” letter, addressed to Patrick O’Hara, who is employed as night watchman at the Syracuse Stove Works, was received Thursday. Upon opening the letter Mrs. O’Hara said she nearly fainted when she read:

The letter was written on both sides of a piece of letter paper. It had all the appearance of a school child’s handwriting.

Mrs. O’Hara said she had been very nervous since receiving the letter. She explained that the “prettiest child” was her 12-year-old daughter, Anna May. Now Anna May showed that she was a very brave girl when she read the letter by saying that she was not afraid of the “Black Hand” and that she would continue to carry her father’s supper every night and told both her father and mother to forget about the $50.

Sunday came and all the members of the O’Hara household were very nervous except little Anna May, who sang the whole day long. During the evening and until a late hour that night Mrs. O’Hara sat in a chair beside the window watching for the appearance of the “Black Hand” in search of the $50 under the big tree. He failed to come and all retired at a late hour.

Mrs. O’Hara said she was awakened about 2 o’clock yesterday morning by hearing a noise in the parlor. She sleeps in a bedroom off the parlor. At first, she said, she thought it was the cat. After a little she saw a tall man, she said, standing in front of the front door trying to adjust the curtain so that the light would not come into the room. She screamed and she heard the “Black Hand” run across the room. When she reached the parlor he was not in sight. She huried to the front door and screamed some more.

Patrolman John F. Donovan heard the screaming and hurried to the house. He searched the house, but failed to find any intruder. He then notified Captain of Police Thomas W. Quigley, who detailed Sergeant Peter Neumann and Patrolman John Cummings to the scene. They were hurried there in the police patrol automobile.

After making an investigation the officers found that the lower sash of a window in the parlor opening into the side yard was missing. The sash was resting on the floor against the wall. In front of the window was a table on which were a lot of fancy dishes and a large lamp. The lamp and dishes had not been disturbed. The ground under the window did not show that any person had left any footprints. The rest of the house was securely locked.

When Mrs. O’Hara produced the “Black Hand” letter the officers requested the mother and daughter to write their names and address on a piece of paper for them. They did so, and the police say that there is a wonderful similarity between the writing of Anna May and the “Black Hand.”

Mrs. O’Hara said yesterday that she did not keep any large sum of money in the house, and, in fact, all their surplus money had lately gone toward buying a new house in another part of the city where they will soon go to live. She said that she believed that the intruder was after her sister’s money. She said her sister was a dressmaker and lived with her. Anna May spoke up and said that her aunt made dresses for all the “swell” people of the city.