Minister of Gospel Under Arrest for Counterfeiting Coins

1907

Preacher Made Coin

Minister of Gospel Is Under Arrest for Counterfeit

SPRINGFIELD, Il., June 17. — A federal grand. jury Saturday night returned an indictment against Rev. James R. Kaye, formerly pastor of the First Presbyterian church, and now editor of the Home Herald, published at Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, charging him with manufacturing counterfeit money.

Molds for the manufacture of counterfeit dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars were found in the basement of the house which the Rev. Kaye occupied while pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Lincoln.

When arrested he confessed to making the molds, but explained that he was only experimenting with them to see if he could manufacture medals to be presented to the children of the Sunday school as rewards for getting new pupils for the school.

—La Crosse Tribune, La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 17, 1907, p. 4.


Pastor Charged with Counterfeiting

Rev. James R. Kaye, of Oak Park, was indicted by the federal grand jury on a charge of having in his possession molds in similitude with United States coins. Rev. Mr. Kaye came to Springfield for the investigation, expecting to be indicted. As soon as the bill was reported Mr. Kaye furnished bond for his appearance for trial.

The molds and dies were found in the basement of the house formerly occupied by the minister in Lincoln, Ill., where he was pastor of the First Presbyterian church. After the church was combined with the Cumberland church, Mr. Kaye went to Oak Park and conducted a prohibition publication. The dies were found early in the winter by workmen repairing a furnace in the basement of the house. The facts at that time were suppressed.

Early in May gossip about the finding of the dies was revived and Capt. Porter, of the secret service bureau, began an investigation, which ended in finding a number of dies and a plate for printing one dollar bills. The plate and some of the dies were found in an outhouse and others were secreted in the basement of the dwelling. Some babbit metal was also discovered, but there was no trace of counterfeit coins. The dies were declared to be exceedingly crude and would not have turned out coins which would pass, but this plate was said to be an excellent one.

Capt. Porter and a number of witnesses from Lincoln and other parts of Logan county were the principal witnesses before the grand jury. When the accusation was first made against Kaye, he denied the seriousness of the charge and declared the dies were for the purpose of making souvenir medals for his Sunday school class. He said he used lead and even melted some old silver but finding he couldn't get the sharp finish, abandoned the work. He insisted that the finding of the dies was conclusive proof of his innocence.

Rev. Mr. Kaye was a popular pastor and leader in social reforms in Lincoln. He was a conversationalist of exceptional ability. He was in great demand as a speaker before women's clubs and stood high in the councils of the Lincoln Ministers' association. Mr. Kaye lives with his wife and two children at 302 Wisconsin avenue, Oak Park.

—The Pointer, Riverdale, Illinois, June 21, 1907, p. 6.


Notice has been received at the United States District Attorney's office in Springfield that Rev. James R. Kaye of Oak Park, former pastor of the Wheaton Congregational Church, who was convicted on a charge of counterfeiting, has filed his appeal in the United States District Court at Chicago.

—Daily Herald, Chicago, July 16, 1909, p. 15.


KAYE DODGES FEDERAL PRISON

Former Pastor Is Re-Sentenced to Peoria Workhouse.

Rev. James R. Kaye, the former Lincoln minister and later pastor of a fashionable church at Oak Park, and convicted of counterfeiting two years ago, has won his fight to escape the federal penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth. He appeared before Judge J. Otis Humphrey in the United States District Court in Springfield, and was re-sentenced to a six months' term in the Peoria workhouse. Kaye began his sentence to-night.

The efforts of the counterfeiting preacher to keep from wearing a convict's garb have attracted wide attention. Members of former congregations have contributed liberally to make a notable legal fight. Kaye's frank explanation of how molds and counterfeit money came to be found in his former home at Lincoln and his denial of any criminal intent find partial vindication in his reduced sentence.

Kaye was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Lincoln, where he also gave lectures at Lincoln College on Shakespeare and Browning and occupied the chair of theology. He had more than a local reputation for his literary and educational abilities. After leaving the Logan County town to go to Oak Park to take the pastorate of a prominent church, Lincoln's citizens were surprised to learn that molds used for making money had been found in the Presbyterian parsonage.

The Federal authorities caused Kaye's arrest and had him indicted in June, 1907. The following January the minister was found guilty by a jury in the United States Circuit Court in Springfield and was given a two years' sentence at Fort Leavenworth on a charge of counterfeiting.

—Daily Herald, Chicago, March 4, 1910, p. 11.


Note: There apparently was a Saturday Evening Post article about Rev. Kaye. It is mentioned in an article from Lincoln, Nebraska, and apparently in the Saturday Evening Post article Kaye's former residence is given as Lincoln, Nebraska. The Lincoln newspaper checked old directories and couldn't find anything about him, so referred to him as "the alleged Lincoln minister," then went on to tell his story. (Lincoln Daily News, Lincoln, NE, April 19, 1912, p. 16.) But of course the Illinois articles make clear he was pastor in Lincoln of Logan County, which is definitely Illinois.

Comment: This sentence carries some weight: "He insisted that the finding of the dies was conclusive proof of his innocence." He must not have felt guilty of much. It also is conclusive proof of his ignorance. Obviously when he moved, or before, he should have disposed of the dies and not left them lying around. And obviously he should have been experimenting with some other pattern than United States coins and one dollar bills. Smart about Shakespeare and Browning and conversation, not so smart about making Sunday School medals.