The So-Called 'Dr.' Blood and His 'Oxygenized Air' Cure

very affable, it is claimed. The report continued that he had been operating as a sort of confidence man and that he had no right to the title MD. The Boston Globe described him as having a quote national reputation for crooked work, and according to Chicago's Inter Ocean newspaper in February of eighteen ninety, police described him as quote the silkiest and slipperist confidence man in the business. So let's meet this so called doctor Blood. Welcome to Criminalia.

I'm Maria Tremarqui and I'm Holly Fry. Charles Lewis Blood was an American con artist who operated primarily in Boston, with time also spent in New York City, Philadelphia, and the Chicago area. Charles was born in Groton, Massachusetts, about forty or so miles west of Boston, on September eighth, eighteen thirty five. He was the son of Lewis Blood, a successful farmer, timber dealer, contractor, and prominent citizen of

the town. Although Charles always maintained the story that his father was a physician, people who knew him in the family years earlier denied that his father was ever a doctor, But Charles never strayed from his story. We know nothing about his childhood. In fact, we don't find much about him in the historical record until he's about thirty years old. He fabricates a medical career. It starts up a column.

Charles was a self proclaimed doctor, and he sold a patent medical treatment known as oxygenized air, which he promoted as a cure for all sorts of problems, from postnasal drip to tuberculosis. His oxygenized air was actually nitrous oxide, which you may better know is laughing gas. It's a colorless, nonflammable gas that has a mildly sweet odor and taste, and when inhaled, it can cause feelings of euphoria, relaxation, and calmness. As well as fits of giggles, because you know,

there's a reason it's nicknamed laughing gas. Charles manufactured his own product, but he wasn't the first to use nitrous oxide. It was first synthesized by Joseph Priestley in seventeen seventy two and then introduced as an analgesic by Humphrey Davy in eighteen hundred. In eighteen forty four, it was first used as a surgical and esthetic, and still is today as a mild sedative. It's long been used to calm anxiety and dentistry, but it's not a cure for any

respiratory ailment, as Charles promised. Charles arrived in Boston in eighteen sixty five and soon established himself as a curer of consumption which we now call tuberculosis and respiratory diseases by means of his patented oxygenized air. He kept his headquarters on Chauncey Street in the city. Charles started out his khan with a khn, meaning he swindled and experienced

and respected businessmen from Wellesley, Massachusetts. A mister Humphrey Cummings whose name may have been Whitney Cummings into advancing him forty five hundred dollars in capital for his oxygenized air treatment. The dividends coming received from their partnership were no more valuable than the air Charles was peddling to his marks, and it didn't take long before Cummings demanded his money

be returned to him. Charles never paid out, and about a year later the entire matter was closed when Cummings died. Doctor Blood had a full patient load and frequently promoted his medical services in full page newspaper ads across the city. He also issued an advertising sheet of his own, which he broadcast throughout the surrounding counties. As an example, on May first, eighteen sixty seven, an advertisement in the Lewiston

Evening Journal in Maine read, in part quote, qatar. In America today we call this post nasal drip, which is just a build up of phlegm in your throat. But qatar should not be ignored, as it is apt to lead to fatal pulmonary complaints. It is easily cured with oxyanogized air. Oxyanogized air is also a remedy for consumption.

The remedy is given by inhalation breathed directly into the lungs and through them carried into the circulating fluids of the body, decomposing the impure matter in the blood and expelling it through the pores. As do not have to experiment long to learn results. The effects are immediate, and but a short time is required to perfect a cure in any curable cure. He often used that somewhat confusing slogan a cure in any curable cure when promoting his product.

But anyway, business boomed and the fraudulent doctor upgraded his office into an opulently appointed clinic located at one ninety nine Harrison Avenue in the South End neighborhood of the city. He saw a steady stream of patients throughout the day, yet some historians question whether or not he used shills people that he paid to give the appearance that he

was running a bustling business. He was described by the Interocean as quote quick in motion, with small, sparkling eyes and a plausible manner, calculated to win those inexperienced in reading human nature. Charles was already making a tidy wage when he sold the rights to administer oxygenized air to other real physicians, and that's when Charles found himself with a rival. But first we're going to take a break forward from our sponsor before we talk about the emergence

of a doctor Jerome Harris. Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk about what happened when a patient was treated with a therapy called superoxygenized air by a real physician, not Charles Blood. Not long after Charles sold the rights to his air, a doctor Jerome Harris, a real physician who practiced in Boston, had begun applying nitrous oxide to patients under the therapy name super oxygenized Air. We don't know

what made Harris's therapy super, but we'll go on. Not only was Harris trading on Charles's stick, he was doing it out of Charles's former office on Chauncey Street. One day in the winter of eighteen sixty six, doctor Harris was called upon by a mister Carville of Lewiston, Maine, who complained of bronchial symptoms and specifically requested Harris's super

oxygenized air therapy. Within moments of receiving treatment, though Carville fell into a seizure upon returning home, he called for his own physician for follow up treatment, and that physician turned out to be yes doctor Charles Blood. The next day, the press wrote, well, they wrote a lot, both fact and fiction. Most described the scene as one where doctor

Harris had poisoned Carville by administering super oxygenized air. They also noted the subsequent relief that Carville received through the treatment of physician doctor Blood. For Charles, this media attention was amazing for developing a much larger pool of marks. Usually, as a con artist, you don't want media attention because it might spoil the game, but in this instance, he made sure the press and the public were all aware

of Carville's continued improvement under his care. Not one to pass up a marketing moment, he was quick to point out that improvement was due to his own harmless oxygenized air, and often he would include his office address for those who wished to try it themselves. Carvill sued Harris, which kept the story in the media even longer, and it turned doctor Blood into a local medical hero in the press.

Harris's legal counsel advised that Harris was being blackmailed by Blood and Carvill, and that Carvill was being paid off to make Harris look like a poor physician and Blood a superior one. You know. Ruse. That was basically an entire staged event, but in the end no illegal activity was proven. The case fell through, Harris left Boston and Charles's practice quote continued in high Feather. Charles didn't do

all his work in Boston. He ran a brief oxygenized Air Cohn in Chicago in eighteen seventy five and eighteen seventy six, where he set up an office on the corner of State in Madison. There are some back number directories still available that placed the doctor at two different addresses on Madison Street. First he was at seventy seven

and then six eighty three. A mister Charles S. Cruspy was the agent for the property at seventy seven Madison, and later told the Interocean quote, why yes, I remember doctor Blood. He came here in the spring of eighteen seventy five and rented a suite of rooms on the fourth floor. He was a fine looking man and dressed nicely. He paid his rent promptly in advance and always seems to have of money. He did a good business too, and he had lots of papers and circulars that he

would have distributed. He seemed to be introducing a new treatment, the oxygen treatment I believe it was called, and was advertising it pretty freely. He always did a good business, and after being here about a year, he sold out to a man I don't remember his name and went away. The man did not stay here but a month or so and then moved away. I believe that doctor Blood left the city. I don't know where he went or

where he came from. Doctor Blood never had any trouble here so far as I know, and when he left here, I never heard from him again until you mentioned his name to me. In eighteen eighty, doctor C. L. Blood authored a book on medicine entitled A Century of Life, Health and Happiness or a gold Mine of Information, A Cyclopedia of Medical Information for Home, Life, Health, and Domestic Economy.

It was essentially a collection of medical information for the home, and it was written in a period when Charles's focus changed from nitrous oxide inhalation to homeopathy, and in it he spends a good amount of time discussing okay, truth be told, there's a lot of hemorrhoid talk. He also focuses on the quote sickening habit of eating undercooked meat. Other highlights include chapters on how to properly wash your

feet to tips for silencing embarrassing stomach growling. He writes about physicians over medicating their patients and includes marketing copy for his own clinic, presumably where treatments were better and no lie. The book ends with a section called Cooking Formulas, which includes a lot of recipes for everything from baking powder to sauces to puddings, too pies. There's some good recipes in this book. When it came to baking powder,

doctor Blood advised that his homemade version was healthier. As part of his book Sales Techniques, Charles advertised in the book itself that random book buyers would be given prizes of up to five hundred dollars, and all they had to do was buy the book. He also suggested buyers by several books and sell their surplus. No one collected on these, but that swindle got him arrested in eighteen

eighty three. The arrest went nowhere, but his name was splashed over Boston newspapers, and one newspaper referred to him as a quote philanthropic swindler. Three years later, an investor by the name of Charles Baker alleged that doctor Blood defrauded him of two hundred and ten dollars when he failed to provide copies of his book to backers's promised,

and took the matter to the authorities. A warrant was issued for Charles's arrest in Massachusetts, but at that time he was already wanted in the state for various misdemeanors. He was taken into custody in Philadelphia actually and returned to Massachusetts on a charge of defrauding by false pretenses. While he was running this long con, Charles had other run ins with the law, most related in some way to his oxygenized air scam. We're looking at fraud, blackmail, murder,

and tax evasion. Tax evasion, you ask. Charles got pinched by the Feds, but not for running a con. It was for failing to properly stamp his patent medicines. Never mind the quackery of the product, the labels. The labels have to be correct. Charles left Boston in the custody of two Deputy US Marshals, and he reappeared sometime later in Philadelphia. But I want to back up and talk for a minute about why they arrested him and what that stamp was all about. A patent granted the medicine

maker a monopoly over their particular formula. In the United States, after the American Civil War, the patent medicine trade was very lucrative, and the medicines were aggressively marketed. During the war, patent medicines were taxed, as were matches, playing cards, perfumes, and other articles to fund the war effort. So from eighteen sixty two to eighteen eighty three, patent medicines required tax stamps placed on all packaging. Until federal drug regulations

were put in place in nineteen oh six. Patent medicine manufacturers could also make any therapeutic claims for their product that they could think of, literally anything a pill that cures cancer? Sure, why not. The second half of the nineteenth century is generally considered to be the golden age of American patent medicines, in part because of rapid increases in industry and manufacturing, but really because there was an absence of drug regulation. So without drug regulation, why would

people give something potentially sketchy like oxygenized air? Go Probably for a few reasons. Actually, doctors didn't have the training that positions due today. With some exceptions, most were trained through two year apprenticeships without formal education requirements. Procedures and treatments often used harmful tools, and practitioners were rarely regulated.

The time when Charles pulled his column is now referred to as one of heroic medicine, when some extreme techniques like bleeding, blistering, and purging were prescribed by physicians to restore the natural balance of the body. Treatments often didn't work or they made you worse. You literally might be

risking your life instead of saving it. This was also before the advent of germ theory that discovery wouldn't happen until the end of the nineteenth century, so physicians didn't have a lot to offer in a competition with patent medicines promises of a cure in a bottle. We're going to take a break for a word from our sponsor, and when we're back, we'll talk about how it wasn't all about maitros oxide. We'll look at the side crimes Charles engaged in while running his oxygenized air scam. Welcome

back to Criminalia. Charles ran his medical con for decades, but it wasn't the only crime he was involved in. Let's talk about not just fraud, but blackmail and murder charges as well. Charles was in the paper again in May of eighteen eighty four, but not in the same positive way he had been after Carville's treatment. He was arrested by Boston authorities for blackmailing a local musician named Ernest Weber. This instance is one that didn't have anything

to do with the con. This instance involved a woman. In April that year, Charles began dating a woman named Jeanette Nickerson, and the two were often seen together theaters, lectures, and they dined almost daily at Young's Hotel. That's meaningful because guests at Young's usually included names like Mark Twain, Elizabeth,

Katie Stanton, and Rutherford B. Hayes. And during their relationship, Charles had procured or perhaps coerced, an affidavid from Janet Nickerson, stating that we're going to paraphrase this she had been quote ruined under promise of marriage by Webber, and that Webber had furthermore employed a physician to terminate a pregnancy,

a procedure that had nearly taken her life. One of Charles's cronies, a doctor Townsend, delivered the Affidavid to Webber, and Webber was threatened with criminal prosecution unless he paid four thousand dollars. Webber wisely consulted with the police, who, in response arrested doctor Blood and doctor Townsend. Both men were convicted of blackmail and sentenced to several years in prison. But it's the murder of Hiram Sawtel on February fifth,

eighteen ninety that was Charles's pre eminent crime. Probably if he did it, he got away with it. The story goes like this. Hiram was a fruiterer living in Boston with his mother and family. His brother Isaac, recently home upon release from prison, argued with Hiram regarding their late father's estate. Technically, the property was in their mother's name, but Hiram managed it for her. Isaac had decided he

wanted to control it. This all seems like an unfortunate but pretty common family dispute at this point, But now let's step back a minute. Isaac and Charles Blood knew each other. They had met in prison, and upon hearing Isaac's plate, Charles offered to force Hiram's hand in the matter. His fee was five hundred dollars and they were going to have to bring in a third person to pull

it off. They agreed they had a deal. Isaac kicked things off with kidnapping Hiram's daughter Marian, not in any way to hurt her, but in an effort to lure her father to a remote location in Maine, and that's where Charles and the intended third party would be waiting to muscle Hiram into giving up control over their mother's property. This plan, though, did not play out as they had envisioned. Hiram was shot four times. We don't know who did the shooting. We don't know why guns were even fired.

Hiram did not survive, and the men took care of the body in a particularly grizzly manner, first by decapitating it and then partially dismembering it. They buried him in a shallow grave. After her husband's disappearance, Hiram's wife immediately suspected that Isaac had murdered him, and she notified the authorities. Hiram's body. It was found ten days after his murder when Isaac was arrested. He had two train tickets to Montreal with him, one of which was thought to be

for Charles Blood. Charles's picture was being circulated after the murder, and he was recognized by a hotelier, a Missus Richmond, who contacted the police after seeing his photo in her local Sunday paper. She told authorities, quote, why I know that man? He called here a week ago today. It was in the afternoon. He asked for a room. I told him I had one, but when I looked at his face, I refused to give him one. He had two bundles, one done up in wrapping paper. It might

have contained clothes. The other was done up in a newspaper about the size of a man's head. He looked just like the picture of doctor Blood. I sent him to mister Hall's. Later, when the picture was shown to mister Hall, he told authorities he recognized him, and the man had quote engaged rooms of him last Monday, but did not come back. Hall also stated he saw him on the street that same evening. Isaac was charged with

conspiracy and with the murder of Hiram Sawtell. The indictment contained these two counts, one charge of willful murder of his brother, and the other charge that he hired, procured, or otherwise induced some party to commit the crime. While awaiting trial, Isaac confessed to the plot to intimidate his brother, but he denied prior knowledge of or taking part in murder. He claimed that Charles owed Hiram a good deal of money and that he had killed him to escape repayment.

Hiram's widow, though, was not having this. She claimed, quote, he never had any money dealings with doctor Blood. You may rest assured Hiram wouldn't dream of lending that scamp money or anything. Hiram wasn't that kind of man being close in such matters, Nor would he or did he borrow money from doctor Blood, supposing that the latter had it to lend. And Isaac says doctor Blood owed my husband money. I'm sure that it is one of six bluffs.

Hiram's widow also claimed that Isaac had told her Charles was quote a man who will do anything for a dollar. Despite the hotelier's statements in Isaac's last minute confession, Charles was never questioned by the authorities. Isaac was convicted of his brother's murder, and he was sentenced to death. He died from complications of a stroke on the night of December twenty sixth, eighteen ninety one, shortly before his scheduled execution,

at age fifty five. Charles Blood died nearly two decades after Isaac's trial, on September twenty seventh, nineteen oh eight, in his early seventies of an unnamed illness, So Piers, it turns out that his oxygenized air couldn't cure everything. He was buried in the family plot, but his widow and surviving sisters chose not to add his name to the memorial. And that is our doctor cl Blood, your blood. Please tell me we have a red drink for our

scamsel We do, and it is unbelievably delicious. This is one of those cases, right, like sometimes you got a tweak stuff, but this is when we're right out of the gate. It was correct. It just came together. So I knew that I wanted to do something red. I know it's obvious, but we've been doing all of our scam artists, but we haven't had a good, grizzly and dark thing in a while. And the name doctor Blood

is so good. I feel like doctor Blood deserves to have a bloody beverage in no matter, all of my Halloween feelings were awakened. So I made a little something called Doctor Blood's Tonic, and I wanted obviously to have an airiness to it, because it's oxygen, I right, right, And did you put nitrousendens drink? No, dear Lord, no, no, I made something else to make it airy. This I'm not gonna lie. There are a few steps here, none

of them are hard, but just stay with me. In your mixing tin, you are going to combine a pretty basic easy recipe. Three quarters of an ounce of lemon juice, three quarters of an ounce of an aggave syrup. I like a heavier, darker syrup in this one, two ounces of pomegranate juice, and an ounce and a half of the whiskey or bourbon of your choice. Like everything in

this drink. Oh, it's gonna get even better. You will want to have had during this like a martini glass chilling in your chiller or fridge, or just fill it with ice and let it sit while you mix your drink. You're gonna shake this drink up and in the meantime, you are also going to take one egg white I've come around, or if you do pasteurized egg whites like that, you can pour out of the container. I use this all the time. There's no shame in that game. It

does take more effort to get it frothy. But here is what I did for this one. I didn't immediately mix it with the rest of the drink. I put it in its own little container, and I used my coffee froth to whip it and like an ounce of the poort egg white. Again, that's a measure with your heart moment, but it was a boat an ounce and get it nice and frothy, and then add it to

the cocktail mix and mix it all up together. Before you strain this out, you're gonna take your martini glass out of the chiller and you are going to glaze the inside of it with ginger liqueur. This is one of those cases where the pre chilled glass really helps because the ginger liqueur sticks to the sides, it slows down its viscosity so it doesn't just drain all to

the bottom. And then you're gonna strain that cocktail right into it, and then you're gonna sip it and you're gonna hear the singing of angels, and you will feel like the light of Heaven has shined upon you and everything is good in the world. I'm not kidding. This is so delicious I can't even deal with it. There was like a magic in the silkiness of the egg. That's like part of what is great about an egg and a drink is that it gives it this really

good mouth feel and it's this very velvety texture. But like something about that with the pomegranate juice and the whiskey. I don't know what sorcery happens. It was like, just good luck the mocktail for Doctor Blood's tonic. Now that you're oxygenated from all this frothy deliciousness that air, the mocktail is easy. You're going to make it exactly the same way. This is one where you will just sub out.

I would make your black tea like we often do for a whiskey or bourbon, I would put a drop or two of a non alcoholic vanilla extract, because you know how you think vanilla extract is going to be sweet when you're a kid and you take a swig of it and go, oh no, it adds a nice note to that tea that it's not heavy vanilla flavor at that point, literally like a drop, like you want a tiny amount. But it gives that fuller sense of having additional kind of dessert no that some bourbons will have,

for example. So I just highly recommend it. It It gives it just makes a symphony. And other than that, you will make it exactly the same way with that three quarters of an ounce of lemon, three quarters of an ounce of agave syrup, an ounce and a half of your fake urban or whiskey, two ounces of pomegranate juice, with your froft egg white ginger syrup instead of ginger

liqueur easy piec. If you cannot find ginger syrup, make your simple syrup on the stove, a cup of water, a cup of sugar, pour in some fresh ginger, just sliced up. Or if you have ginger tea, you can throw that in with it instead. Let that do its thing, and you're in great shape. You have ginger syrup, and then you'll want to put that on everything too. I will. So that is doctor Blood's tonic, and it is almost certainly going to be on my favorite list for this season.

It is the silkiest selibristlely mouses right so delicious. We hope that it makes it onto your favorites list. If it does, be sure to share it with us online. You can use the hashtag Criminalia. We'll find it. We find nothing but delight in the time that you spend with us, so thank you for doing that, and we hope that you have had a good time. We will be right back here again next week. Look, there's going to be more drinks and more stories. We're always here

on Criminalia. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.