Wallace Tillinghast
From Kook Science
| Wallace Tillinghast | |
|---|---|
 As depicted in Jan. 1910 newspapers. | |
| Born | 5 September 1872 [1] Cranston, Providence, Rhode Island |
| Died | 25 November 1930 (58) [2] East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island |
| Burial | Peleg Wood Lot, East Greenwich, R.I. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Chicago Technical College[3] |
| Workplace(s) | North Pacific Railroad; Westinghouse; Allen & Redd (Providence, RI)[3] |
| Spouse(s) | Minna Sophia Rose (m. 1907) [4] |
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Wallace Elmer Tillinghast (September 5, 1872 - November 25, 1930) was an American engineer who reported to American newspapers that he had built a "secret aeroplane" and flew it from Worcester, Massachusetts to New York City and back via Boston, a trip of some four hundred miles, over the night of 8 September through the morning of 9 September 1909, and was reported to have renewed his night-flights over New England during the Christmas season that followed. Ultimately, Tillinghast did not produce any evidence for his claims, and he was subsequently dismissed as a hoaxster.
Press Coverage
Mid-December 1909
- "FLEW TO NEW YORK AND BACK TO BOSTON; So Says Mr. Tillinghast of Worcester, but He Won't Show the Airship He Used. TRAVELED 4,000 FEET UP And Sometimes Made 120 Miles an Hour — Refers Doubters to a Long Island Coast Guard.", New York Times (New York): 2, 13 Dec. 1909, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/12/13/101750000.pdf
- "READS LIKE A ROMANCE - A Massachusetts Man Claims to Have Made an Arabian Nights' Flight Through the Air", Ocala Evening Star (Ocala, Fla.): 1, 15 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84027621/1909-12-15/ed-1/seq-1
- "120 MILES AN HOUR - MASSACHUSETTS MAN CLAIMS THIS SPEED FOR AIR SHIP - His Machine Is 125 Horse Power and Weighs 1,550 Pounds, Ascended 4,000 Feet", Grenada Sentinel (Grenada, Miss.): 6, 17 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85034375/1909-12-17/ed-1/seq-6
- "REAL FLYING MACHINE", Watchman and Southron (Sumter, S.C.): 6, 18 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93067846/1909-12-18/ed-1/seq-6/
Christmastime 1909
- "AIRSHIP FLIES HIGH ABOVE WORCESTER - Flashes a Searchlight for More Than Two Hours, Circling About 2,000 Feet Up. IS PROBABLY TILLINGHAST'S - He Recently Declared He Had Flown to New York — Shape of Craft Could Not Be Made Out.", New York Times (New York), 23 Dec. 1909, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/12/23/101909962.pdf
- "VISITOR FROM SKY - Appeared Last Night Over Worcester, Mystifying Entire City - THOUSANDS SAW AIRSHIP", Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram (Richmond, Ind.): 5, 23 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86058226/1909-12-23/ed-1/seq-5/
- "MYSTERIOUS FLYER STARTLES TOWN WORCESTER With Monstrous Searchlight Circles Around City and Silently Disappears", Daily Arizona Silver Belt (Globe, Gila County, Ariz.): 1, 23 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87082863/1909-12-23/ed-1/seq-1/
- "UP IN AIR AT NIGHT - Residents of Massachusetts Town Given Rare Treat - AEROPLANE MAKES CIRCUIT - Travels Over Wide Area, Giving Wonderful Exhibition - VIEWED BY MANY THOUSANDS - Believed to Be the Tillinghast Machine, Constructed by a Worcester Manufacturer", Evening Star (Washington, D.C.): 5, 24 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1909-12-24/ed-1/seq-5/
- "HUNDREDS SEE NIGHT FLIER - Airship Lights Visible to People of Many Eastern Towns - CARRIES GREAT SEARCHLIGHT AND POISES OVER BOSTON", The Bee (Earlington, Ky.): 1, 30 Dec. 1909, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87060004/1909-12-30/ed-1/seq-1/
Early 1910
- "IS AVIATOR TILLINGHAST HOAXING NATION? NEW ENGLAND THINKS HIS FLYING MACHINE WONDER IS STRAIGHT - An Expert Mechanical Engineer and Successful Inventor Who Is Not Given to Practical Jokes — The Marvelous 'Feelers' On His Secret Machine", The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, Wash.): 1, 6, 3 Jan. 1910, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085187/1910-01-03/ed-1/seq-6/
Reading
- Greenwood, Barry (2009), "A CHRISTMAS VISIT", Annual Report of the Town of Greenland, N.H.: 3-4, http://digital.unh.edu/fedora/objects/greenland:0077/datastreams/APPLICATION-PDF/content?download=true
References
- ↑ "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZYX-SYM : 10 February 2018), Wallace Elmer Tillinghast, 05 Sep 1872; citing Cranston, Rhode Island, reference 142; FHL microfilm 1,822,430.
- ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV4-8LC7 : 13 December 2015), Wallace E. Tillinghast, 1930; Burial, East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, United States of America, Peleg Wood Lot; citing record ID 8758474, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Per 1910 news report, IS AVIATOR TILLINGHAST HOAXING NATION?, see #Newspaper_Reports.
- ↑ "Rhode Island Town Marriages Index, 1639-1916," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8VP-ZJD : accessed 14 March 2019), Wallace Elmer Tillinghast and Minna Sophia Rose, 27 Aug 1907; citing Providence, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, town halls, Rhode Island, and Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence; FHL microfilm 179.