108. Robert Herman August (Rob, Bob) W. Born 24 Jan 1852 [in Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.], baptized by Pastor Friedrich Schmid 14 Mar 1852 with his aunt Maria Gartner as witness; died in Haverstraw, NY, 15 Apr 1930. Married: 23 Nov 1881 in Brooklyn, NY, to Albertine (Tina) Seiler-Lemcke; born in New York 14 Jun 1853, died of pneumonia in Stony Point, NY, 4 Feb 1905 buried in Mount Repose Cemetery. Nothing else is known about Albertine except that she apparently had some musical talent and played the piano. Extant photographs of her were all taken in Tompkinsville, Staten Island, NY.
Children: 4, nos; 140-143.
Rob, as he was known in Ann Arbor and later in New Mexico, received his primary education in the parochial school attached to the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Further education took place in Germany, where he probably arrived in 1868 and remained until at least February 1870. Initially he stayed with Adolph and Mina Widenmann (nos. 75 and 89, respectively) in Biberach, while attending secondary school. He subsequently moved to Stuttgart and took an apprenticeship at his uncle Karl Heinrich's (no. 88) drug company, Schmidt & Dihlmann. His conduct and rambunctious Americanisms while in Stuttgart were distasteful to his hosts, however. For example, he is supposed to have won a wager that he could engage the King of Wurttemberg in conversation by walking up to him on the street and asking for a light for his cigar, and he and two American friends caused a minor scandal by painting the Victory Column red, white, and blue.

He returned to the US in 1871 and settled in New York City, where he remained for two years, purportedly employed by the Bremen Steamship company until the Panic of 1873 ostensibly deprived him of this job. Rob returned to Ann Arbor, but departed the following year for Atlanta, Georgia, to seek his fortune in the south.

He experienced some difficulty finding work but finally obtained a position in a factory, only to lose it again when the business went bankrupt. After another extended period of unemploy ment, he met Richard Peters, an affluent plantation owner and sheep and goat breeder, who had also contributed heavily to the reconstruction of Atlanta after the Civil War. One of Rob's jobs also brought him to Canton, Mississippi, as is shown by a letter addressed to him there and dated 5 August 1875, by one Marie (not his sister, as American historians have claimed). Apparently Rob was primarily engaged in endeavors to find suitable locations in conjunction with Peters's plans to expand the goat-breeding enterprise, either in Colorado or New Mexico. He may also have been searching for an opportunity to start a business of his own, perhaps financed by Peters.
Rob's address by 1 Jan 1876 was c/o Post Office, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and as of March 1876 it was c/o Bartels Brothers in West Las Animas, Colorado. Whatever Rob was doing at this time, it could not have been especially lucrative, for he was destitute and shoddily dressed when John Henry Tunstall met him in Herlows Hotel in Santa Fe, NM, on 6 Aug 1876, a meeting that was to be fateful for Rob in particular. The two men soon became close friends.

Tunstall (born in London 6 Mar 1853) had embarked from England to work at, and perhaps later acquire an interest in, a mercantile business in Vancouver, Canada, in which his father had already invested heavily. Becoming dissatisfied with conditions in Vancouver, however, John began looking about for an opportunity to start an enterprise of his own. He investigated the sheep-raising business, first in Canada and then in California, only to tum his attention to New Mexico and cattle raising. When he met Rob he had already begun to establish his own little empire, accumulating land and cattle with funds sent by his father from London.

In addition, he also opened a general store in the little town of Lincoln. This move put him into direct competition with local representatives of a corrupt organization called simply "The Ring," which thoroughly controlled the economic life of the entire territory, by means of violence where expedient. As the store prospered and the cattle ranch expanded, Tunstall began to pose a real threat to Ring interests, engendering an explosive situation, a condition exacerbated by his failure to understand the codes of conduct prevalent in the American west at that time. Quite apart from the Ring, however, the Territory of New Mexico had for several years been in a state of near anarchy with constant violence as a result.

Such was the state of affairs when Rob, on Tunstall's invitation, moved to Lincoln in mid-February 1877 to work at the store and on the ranch, most likely in the capacity of all-round hand. However it also seems to have been Tunstall's intention to include Rob in future business plans. At the same time Tunstall hired a young man named Henry McCarty who, under the aliases of William Bonney and Billy the Kid, became a legend in the US, thereby bestowing a fame of sorts on the entire affair and its participants. 

Rob was at some time appointed Deputy Marshal, but exactly when and for what reason are unknown. Furthermore, John Tunstall in letters to his father dated 11 Apr and 27 May 1877 first appointed Rob and a lawyer, Alexander McSween, his trust-ees in case of death and then gave Rob sole power of attorney.

The Ring's initial maneuvers against Tunstall consisted in rustling livestock, most of which was retrieved by Tunstall's men. But the situation continued to deteriorate during the remainder of 1877, with several confrontations between Tunstall's party and the Ring, the latter represented in Lincoln chiefly by James J. Dolan. When horses and mules were stolen from Tunstall's ranch in October 1877, Rob and two Mexicans in his pay set out to retrieve them, but in a confusing aside to this business the two Mexicans were shot, both mortally, in an encounter with one of the rustlers on 2 November. Rob's part in this skirmish remains tolerably obscure; there is the possibility, as yet unsubstantiated, that a plan to use the two Mexicans as tools to eliminate John Kinney, a notorious killer and rustler, simply backfired. If so, Rob qualifies as the family's only known murderer.

Sheriff William Brady took the next step. Under the pretext that McSween and Tunstall were partners with common assets, on 8 February 1878 Brady attached Tunstall's store and its contents against funds that the Ring's men in Lincoln claimed were owed to them by McSween. On the 11th Rob and a group of Tunstall's men, all heavily armed, returned to the store and persuaded the sheriff's men to hand over several mules and horses, which they then drove back to Tunstall's ranch.

Dolan had recently taken over a business and store that for years had operated by selling inferior goods to the army, foodstuffs to fictitious numbers of Indians, and to farmers farming goods at exorbitant prices and land to which the store owners did not have legal title. In the latter case, the store then bought the farmers's produce at extremely low prices and foreclosed when the farmers were unable to pay bills due. The lands and accouterments thus gained were subsequently "recycled," to use a modern term. Many of the thieves on the loose in the region at the time were received their pay from Dolan.

On 13 Feb 1878 Sheriff Brady, acting on the Ring's behalf, sent a posse to Tunstall's ranch to attach his cattle under the same pretext that he had used at the store, only to find the building fortified by Rob and several others. Rob attempted in his capacity of Deputy Marshal to serve warrants against two criminals accompanying the posse, but had to relent when he failed to obtain help.

Wishing to avoid violence, Tunstall, Rob, and three others left the ranch on the morning of 18 Feb 1878, taking several horses and a wagon with them but leaving the cattle at the ranch. Another and larger posse meanwhile revisited the ranch. Failing to find Tunstall, they ignored the cattle and immediately gave chase, catching up with the Tunstall group about 5.30 P.M. By this time the Tunstall party had split into three parts, the wagon having taken one route while Rob and two others chased a flock of wild turkeys (astonishing but true), leaving Tunstall alone. The posse fired a few shots at Rob and his two companions, and then made for Tunstall whom they shot to death in cold blood.

This murder touched off what has since been known as "The Lincoln County War," an event that to date has been the subject of over 1,000 writings and more than 40 films. The remainder of Tunstall's party made it safely to Lincoln, arriving late that night. Two days later Rob, using his title of deputy marshal, enlisted the aid of thirty soldiers from nearby Fort Stanton to serve the warrants he held for two members of the posse that had murdered Tunstall. He failed to find the men but managed to repossess Tunstall's store. At the same time he began writing what was to develop into a flood of letters, first and foremost to Tunstall's father in London, John P. Tunstall, advising him of the circumstances surrounding his son's death and then keeping him current on developments; but also to various American and British officials in Washington in an effort to have the entire affair examined by nonpartisan investigators. 

On the basis of subsequent historical research, it would now seem evident that even the governor of the territory, Samuel B. Axtel, was in collusion with the Ring and misusing his authority to prevent the arrest and indictment of the killers. On 9 March he issued an illegal proclamation revoking Rob's appointment as Deputy Marshal, dismissing other officials who did not side with the Ring, and appointing as sheriff of Lincoln William Brady, a man known to be closely attached to Dolan. 

Rob's letters, along with those of more prominent members of the community, did bear some fruit in April 1878 when Frank Angel was sent to look into the matter, ultimately resulting in the removal of Axtel; but none of the murderers was ever brought to trial. Rob (among others) provided Angel with a long deposition dated 6 Jun 1878, in which he outlined the events leading to and the circumstances surrounding Tunstall's murder. He also authored Billy the Kid's affidavit, which bears the same date but of course the Kid's signature.

Rob now engaged in a newspaper polemic, writing well-formulated and extremely frank and pOignant articles accusing both the Ring and Sheriff Brady of having been the cause of Tunstall's death. Both his actions and his writings made him less than popular with the Ring, whose members repeatedly threatened his life, at one time perhaps even offering, clandestinely, a reward of $500 for his death. Ring-friendly newspapers attacked him viciously. 

In the middle of March Billy the Kid and other former employees of Tunstall formed a band called the Regulators" with the avowed purpose of finding Tunstall's murderers. More killings followed, including that of Sheriff Brady and Depu ty George Hindman on 1 April. The fatal shots were fired from a corral adjacent to Tunstall's store, where Rob, too, was present-ostensibly feeding a dog. (When later asked at an inquiry why he was in possession of two pistols and a rifle, he replied that the dog was vicious!)

He and three others-none of them apparently among the guilty-were arrested that afternoon and interned in the stockade in Fort Stanton, but without warrants. On 4 April Lieut. Col. Nathan Dudley assumed command of the fort and immediately released all four in default of legal documents. Three days later Rob and Marshal John E. Sherman, Jr., arrested Jesse Evans (a notorious criminal and one of those for whom Rob had held warrants), but within hours Dudley had procured warrants for Rob and seveen others, who were now rearrested and held at the fort pending investigation in connection with the murder of Brady. Here they remained until 18 April, when a grand jury ordered the release of four, including Rob, and indicted the others.

Violence in the area and even in the town of Lincoln continued. On 2 May Rob, McSween, and seven others were again incarcerated, this time by Sheriff John Copeland on Dudley'S orders, only to be released two days later for lack of evidence. Several skirmishes took place in and around Lincoln between Tunstall's and Dolan's followers, costing several lives, as law-enforcement broke down completely.

Indeed it was thought for awhile that Rob was among the victims. In a letter of 1 Jun 1878, Secretary of the  Interior Carl Schurz writes to Rob's father August: "This morning I received the distressing news of your son's death, and I hasten to offer you my heartfelt sympathy." He adds that he is telegraphing to Marshal Sherman to arrange for shipment of Rob's remains to Ann Arbor. 

Rob was quite alive, however, and on 12 June left Lincoln for the last time, traveling under military escort to La Mesilla to testify against Jesse Evans. This he did on 2 July. (On searching him in the courtroom an attendant found a pistol concealed in his pocket.) But when the army detachment returned to Fort Stanton, leaving Rob without protection, he found himself virtually a prisoner, afraid to leave the town. Thus he was still in La Mesilla during the "Five Day Fight" that took place in Lincoln from 15 to 19 July 1878, and ended with the deaths of McSween and four others, for all practical purposes terminating the Lincoln County War.

While in La Mesilla Rob attempted to save as much of Tunstall's property as possible, but failed utterly, at least partly because he had mortgaged all of Tunstall's assets, only to have the bondsmen foreclose when he was unable to pay Tunstall's or his own debts.

Rob kept up his correspondence with Tunstall peTe Oohn P. Tunstall) during his stay in La Mesilla, which he finally left toward the end of September or the first week of October 1878. After a brief visit to Whitmore Lake he made his way East to ship out for London, reaching that city by January 1879 and staying until June with the elder Tunstall, who quite likely also funded the trip-but who perhaps ended by inviting Rob to leave. While in London he probably appeared before British officials, as John Tunstall was at the time endeavoring to obtain British governmental aid in securing an indemnity from the American government.

It would appear from letters written after Rob's return to the U.S. that some kind of promise had been given to award Rob a certain amount in the event that John Tunstall's efforts were successful. Neither Tunstall nor his descendants ever received a penny, however, either from their son's estate or in the way of an indemnity.

After a stormy sea voyage, during which he suffered from seasickness, Rob arrived in New York City on Saturday, 28 Jun 1879, in the middle of a typical New York heat wave with temperatures ranging at 96°F (ca. 37"C). Two days later he left for Whitmore Lake, stayed there while working with his parents until at least January 1880, and then by the beginning of August was back in New York, residing at R. A. Maison Inns, Room 8, 132 Front Street. 

He now held a position with a coffee and tea brokerage firm. In a letter to Tunstall pere dated 15 Feb 1881 he however mentions that the coffee business had folded and that he was working for "a manufacturing and exporting establishment." (It was perhaps to this firm that he was referring when on 7 Nov 1892 he wrote in the Nyack Evening Star that "it was I who, in 1882, first introduced American tools, machinery and agricultural implements in Southern Brazil.") .

In his letter of 15 Feb 1881 to Tunstall Sr. he mentions "our" claim on the British government and the idea of buying his father's old business, evidently hoping that Tunstall would help him with an investment. He was then living at 36 Broadway, also in downtown New York. During all this time he had maintained a correspondence with Tunstall in London, chiefly on the subject of the hoped-for indemnity. He also mentions plans to marry Albertine, a close friend of his sister Mary (no. 109) and an acquaintance of many years' standing. In a subsequent letter (15 Nov 1881) he provides us with the only description we have of her:

“My wife to be, is not one of the American girls you good old English so much delight to read about and criticize, but a thorough little housekeeper and, besides a splendid musician.”

Bob's name turns up again in The Wine and Spirit Review of 25 Apr 1884, which reveals that on 19 April of that year he was in Louisville, Kentucky, representing the "New-York Export-import firm of Wm. Foerster & Company." He presented a detailed quotation for the exportation of whiskey to Hamburg for aging and reimportation. 

Bob's and Tina's first two children were perhaps born in Brooklyn, where the couple had found a small house. Where their daughter Albertine caught scarlet fever, the doctors recommended moving to a healthier climate, so Bob (as he was called in New York) moved to a new home in Nanuet, in upstate New York, about 25 miles north of New York City. Here the child nevertheless died of the disease (see below, no. 141).

At an unknown later date he obtained employment with Alfred Dolge & Son, a piano manufacturer at 122 East 13th Street, New York City. Although he became a successful salesman, he nevertheless resigned in October 1894 to go into partnership with William Strich and Zeidler, also piano manufacturers. As this firm's representative he attended the Cotton States and International Exposition held from 18 Sep to 31 Dec 1895 in Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA. On 25 October he delivered, on behalf of the New York State commissioners, an opening address to welcome the New York Press and the National Editorial Association.

Just how long this partnership-if such it really was-lasted is unknown. It is possible that he later (perhaps at the turn of the century) held a leading position with the nearby Haverstraw Light and Fuel Gas Company, but proof is lacking, nor do we have any dates. 

Bob was also quite active in New York politics. By 25 Jan 1892, when he was elected chairman of a Democratic convention held in New City, he had also become widely known for his vehement opposition to Tammany Hall, a collection of politicians who, even more corrupt than the New Mexico Ring, throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century wielded dictatorial power in the New York State Democratic Party. He attacked both Tammany Hall and the Republican party's penchant for protectionism in a series of well-written newspaper articles published during 1892.

At a riotous meeting held 23 Sep 1893, in New City he was elected delegate to represent Rockland County at the state Democratic convention, which opened 5 Oct 1893 in Saratoga with 380 delegates and about 3,000 spectators. The next day saw Judge Isaac H. Maynard nominated to continue as Judge of the Court of Appeals, despite it being widely known that he had earlier falsified election returns. 

The nomination had hardly been seconded when Bob strolled up an aisle leading to the podium, asked the chairman for permission to speak, and promptly launched into a tirade denouncing Tammany Hall in general and Maynard's nomination in particular. Pandemonium broke loose. Quiet was ultimately restored, and a new vote resulted in Bob constituting a minority of one, his few supporters having thought better of things and deserted him. 

Newspapers throughout the country carried stories of this event, making Bob somewhat of a hero, at least in certain New York State circles, and particularly in New York City. Interviews and articles about and by him followed the initial news, explaining his actions and often praising his courage in facing up to the "machine" alone. The New-York Times in particular carried extensive coverage, and at least one parson in New York City used him as an example of moral courage. 

The following year he was elected chairman of a "Democratic Committee of Fifty" whose efforts resulted in Maynard's defeat in November 1893. The Committee then evolved into the Democratic Reform Party, a splinter party with Everett P. Wheeler as its candidate for governor and Bob a member of the campaign committee. He now went barnstorming, giving speeches in cities and towns throughout the state. The split in the Democratic Party resulted in defeat in the gubernatorial election of 1894. Their main purpose, Maynor's downfall, was accomplished, however, so the Reform Democrats (as they now called themselves), unable to find a niche in the Democratic Party and feeling that they had ample support, perpetuated themselves in 1895. They allied themselves with the Gold Democrats to form a party of their own in 1896 with John M. Palmer as presidential candidate.

Bob gained the party's nomination for Representative in Congress, only to be thoroughly defeated in the presidential election of 1896. The party itself became defunct, bringing Bob's political career to a definite end.

It would appear from the scant evidence available that he at this time frequently changed jobs while eking out an existence by farming on an extremely small scale. He was unemployed by 1906 when he decided that his daughter Elsie and son Dolph should work to support him (see below, nos. 142, 143). Removing his children from school, he sent his daughter Elsie to work at Borden's Milk Company and turned responsibility for the farm over to his son Dolph.

Bob's applied pedagogics was anachronous even then, with an emphasis placed on early nineteenth century German culture, including the practice of speaking only German at home and writing in the Gothic script then used in Germany. He taught both children the quick draw with a Colt .45 (11.4 mm.). Moreover, his fear of reprisal by the New Mexico Ring persisted, and he went armed with a pistol for the rest of his life, even in peaceful little Nanuet.

His final public appearance was an effort in April 1920 to have the Eighteenth Amendment ("Prohibition") to the American Constitution repealed by filing a petition with the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, contending that the amendment had not been properly proclaimed and therefore was invalid. Chief Justice Smyth denied the petition, upon which Bob appealed the decision, first in the District of Columbia and then twice at the United States Supreme Court, each time with the same negative result. Unfortunately, no material has emerged to illuminate how he came by the funds necessary to embark on a venture of this sort. (For a detailed account see The Federal Reporter, Vol. 265 [St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1920], pp. 998 ff.)

Though no longer active publicly, he continued to correspond with politicians and businessmen. By way of example, in 1929 he wrote to Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York congratulating him on winning the recent gubernatorial election, offered a few observations concerning an appointment to the Conservation Commission, and applied for an appointment to the Board of Trustees at Letchworth Village to replace a recently deceased member. His letter, which has not yet been found, was answered on 10 Jan 1929 by Guernsey T. Cross, the governor's secretary. As far as is known, he did not receive the appointment. 

By 1919 he and his daughter, with whom he was still living (see below, no. 142), had moved to a wooden bungalow at 42 Willow Road in Haverstraw (now part of Stony Point), a couple of miles west of Route US 9W. Here both remained until their deaths in 1930 and 1982, respectively.

Whereas little or nothing has been written about his activities in New York, Bob's name appears frequently in many works on the subject of the Lincoln County War. Most historians have been unkind in their treatment of him, calling him a noisy braggart and blusterer who had been out of his depth in New Mexico. Not a few of his contemporaries shared this opinion, and various actions and utterances on his part could readily lend support to such a contention. One can hardly say that he fared well in either New Mexico or New York, his moments of courage notwithstanding, while contemporaries in Ann Arbor felt that he had deserted his family in its hour of need.

Few if any members of the family have been as enigmatic as he was. He successfully concealed his true provenance by claiming that he was from Atlanta, GA, fooling his contemporaries in both New Mexico and New York, and even later historians. He preached democr acy in speeches and articles but practiced nineteenth century German absolutism at home. He was well liked by many contemporaries but detested by others, including McSween and his wife Susan, allies in his cause, while his own daughter (no. 142) could find nothing kind to say about him even in her late nineties. Contradiction and paradox seem to be the two most prominent aspects of his character and life, making it extremely difficult to arrive at any assessment.

Several photos of Bob exist, including one taken in Stuttgart in 1870; two more taken in Ann Arbor (or perhaps New Mexico; there is some uncertainty) in the later 1870s; a third shot at a studio on Baker Street in London, probably in 1879; a studio portrait made in New York City in 1893; two family snapshots taken in Nanuet in August 1898 on the occasion of Dr. August Widenmann's visit (see no 104); a snapshot taken in 1906 at Stony Point, NY, with Bob on horseback and the Hudson River as a background; and in Haverstraw in 1928, just two years before his death. A copy of the photo taken in London hangs on a wall in the County Court House Museum in Lincoln, NM.

He wore the typical thick moustache of his day, was tall and lanky, measuring about six feet (over 180 cm.), and smoked cigars. He spoke fluent German and French, but the precise extent of his education is unknown. His two children have averred that he excelled in horsemanship and was a crack shot with both rifle and pistol. 

Of the many authors who have dealt with this subject, the following can be especially recommended: Larry D. Ball, The United States Marshals of New Mexico and Arizona Territories, 1846-1912; Maurice Garland Fulton, Maurice Garland Fulton's History of The Lincoln County War, edited by Robert N. Mullin; William A. Keleher, Violence in Lincoln County 1869-1881 ; Frederick W. Nolan (editor), The Life & Death of John Henry Tunstall; Robert M. Utley, High Noon in Lincoln. Violence on the Western Frontier; John P. Wilson, Merchants, Guns, & Money: The Story of Lincoln County and Its Wars.

 Fulton's book contains some of Rob's polemical articles; Keleher includes long excerpts from his deposition to Angel; Nolan has several of his letters; Nolan, Wilson, and Utley have all printed an early photo of him (undated but probably taken in his early twenties); and Ball provides a concise description of Rob's part in the Lincoln County fray-and a rather naive comparison of Rob with Wyatt Earp. Only Nolan, in his second book (mentioned below), has thoroughly researched Rob's background in Ann Arbor and his later activities in New York; the other authors have wandered far afield in these areas. Nolan's work is unquestionably the best to appear to date concerning the war and its participants. 

Rob's granddaughter, Josephine Ali (no. 166), possesses an old scrapbook of newspaper clippings covering his political adventures in New York and induding several of his own newspaper articles. He was quite adept with a pen, especially when it came to lambasting an opponent, while later articles written for New York papers also evidence research and mastery of his subject.

Bob is mentioned briefly in DeAlva, Stanwood Alexander, The Political History of the State of New York, Vol. 4: Four Famous New Yorkers, pp. 144-281, and John Bennett (editor), The Political History of Rockland County, p. 82. The most comprehensive biography yet to appear is afforded in Frederick Nolan, The Lincoln County War: A Documentary History esp. pp. 428-33, 491£. Portions of Nolan's biographical material were supplied by the present writer in an unpublished essay titled "Lincoln County Enigma: Robert A. Widenmann" (1984).

(Source: Robert J. Widenmann: A Genealogy of the Widenmann Family. Brønshøj, Denmark, 1997. N.p., pp. 27-35)