Henry Woodhouse
Encyclopedia
Henry Woodhouse was an Italian
-born US
aviation
enthusiast, magazine publisher, speculator and forger of historical documents.
, Italy
. According to his own later account, Woodhouse's father died before he finished school. The young Woodhouse had to settle his father's debts using unspecified means. He later pursued academics in France
, Britain
, Switzerland
and Belgium
and studied languages, economics
, sociology
and aeronautics
. The schools he attended were never mentioned by name.
In 1904, Casalengo moved to USA and got a job in a restaurant kitchen in Troy, NY. He got into a fight with the head chef and killed him with a kitchen knife. Casalengo maintained that the other man had accidentally impaled himself on the knife. He was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison and sent to Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York
. He was released in 1909.
papers are dated May 28, 1917) and began to use the name Henry Woodhouse. In 1910 he wrote magazine articles about aviation and started to gain fame as an expert on the subject. With support of Robert J. Collier, he founded a successful magazine Flying and became its managing editor. He later expanded to other publish other magazines such as Naval Aeronautics, Air Power and Scientific Age. In 1915 he helped to found the American Society of Aeronautic Engineering. At the outbreak of the World War I
, he supported the national defense movement and served on committees dedicated to preparedness.
As his wealth and connections increased, Woodhouse began to speculate in real estate
and with Middle-eastern oil
. He claimed that had advised various explorers and aviation pioneers, though his exact contributions are unclear. In the 1920s Woodhouse became a collector of antiques, celebrity signatures and historical documents. He also used his organizational talents to support art galleries.
Woodhouse copyrighted titles like Wings and when book and movies of the same name were published, he claimed copyright infringement
. In the case of Wings he settled for $25,000.
. When the members of the club began to split over disagreements about the funds of the Manufacturer's Aircraft Association in 1917-1918, one member, J. C. Mars, accused Woodhouse of being a murderer and a draft dodger. In 1920. Woodhouse sued the club to stop its merger with the American Flying Club. When other members of the Aero Club tried the same merger in 1922, he sued again, claiming that he held the proxy votes of 404 members—but he could not present their signatures in court when ordered to do so. During this court battle, the New York Times wrote an article about the man he had killed. With his reputation damaged, Woodhouse lost his case and the Aero Club then became the National Aeronautic Association
. Woodhouse threw his support to a minor rival organization, the Aerial League of America.
and the Black Sea
and to the exploitation of the oil field
s of Mosul
. Woodhouse owned 1/6 of the capital stock. He was also a director of Turco-American Corporation that had options to build the city of Ankara
. Woodhouse supported the French foreign policy, which wanted to return the defeated sultan to his throne to keep the Ottoman Empire together. His plans fell apart when Kemal Atatürk ousted the sultan. The Ottoman Empire was thereby fragmented and the Mosul oil fields became part of Iraq
.
and George Mason
. He planned to build a large Zeppelin airport on the grounds, the George Washington Air Junction. By 1935 he had to sell the land to pay for unpaid taxes and foreclosure
s of mortgages
. Much of this land is now Huntley Meadows Park
.
to the Library of Congress
.
However, some of the signatures and documents he sold were Woodhouse's own forgeries. He forged documents that were supposedly from historical Americans and even forged signatures of famous people he had personally met. The historical people included many of the presidents and the signers of the Declaration of Independence
.
Woodhouse joined forces with W. Lanier Washington and began to sell items with the Washington family crest. His other associate was a painter named Hart, who painted fake portraits.
Even if the quality of the forgeries was not perfect, many collectors bought them. Afterwards experts noticed that they were modern forgeries. Signatures of Abraham Lincoln
, for example, were hesitant, revealing the writer was copying or tracing the original, not writing it naturally.
to the gallery's education courses and that she intended to become a fortune teller, which, at the time, was illegal in New York. The suit was decided on favor of Bourkoun and Woodhouse had to sell the last of the Washington Junction land to pay for her compensation.
Henry Woodhouse died on January 6, 1970 in his home in New York City
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-born US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
enthusiast, magazine publisher, speculator and forger of historical documents.
Earlier life
Henry Woodhouse was born Mario Terenzio Enrico Casalengo on June 24, 1884, in TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. According to his own later account, Woodhouse's father died before he finished school. The young Woodhouse had to settle his father's debts using unspecified means. He later pursued academics in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and studied languages, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and aeronautics
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
. The schools he attended were never mentioned by name.
In 1904, Casalengo moved to USA and got a job in a restaurant kitchen in Troy, NY. He got into a fight with the head chef and killed him with a kitchen knife. Casalengo maintained that the other man had accidentally impaled himself on the knife. He was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison and sent to Clinton Prison in Dannemora, New York
Dannemora (village), New York
Dannemora is a village located primarily in the Town of Dannemora in Clinton County, New York. The population was 3,936 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Dannemora, Sweden, an iron-making town where early settlers came from ....
. He was released in 1909.
Success begins
Soon after 1909 he supposedly received US citizenship (although his naturalizationNaturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
papers are dated May 28, 1917) and began to use the name Henry Woodhouse. In 1910 he wrote magazine articles about aviation and started to gain fame as an expert on the subject. With support of Robert J. Collier, he founded a successful magazine Flying and became its managing editor. He later expanded to other publish other magazines such as Naval Aeronautics, Air Power and Scientific Age. In 1915 he helped to found the American Society of Aeronautic Engineering. At the outbreak of the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he supported the national defense movement and served on committees dedicated to preparedness.
As his wealth and connections increased, Woodhouse began to speculate in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
and with Middle-eastern oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
. He claimed that had advised various explorers and aviation pioneers, though his exact contributions are unclear. In the 1920s Woodhouse became a collector of antiques, celebrity signatures and historical documents. He also used his organizational talents to support art galleries.
Woodhouse copyrighted titles like Wings and when book and movies of the same name were published, he claimed copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
. In the case of Wings he settled for $25,000.
Aero Club
In 1911 Woodhouse joined the Aero Club of AmericaAero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Glidden and others to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic...
. When the members of the club began to split over disagreements about the funds of the Manufacturer's Aircraft Association in 1917-1918, one member, J. C. Mars, accused Woodhouse of being a murderer and a draft dodger. In 1920. Woodhouse sued the club to stop its merger with the American Flying Club. When other members of the Aero Club tried the same merger in 1922, he sued again, claiming that he held the proxy votes of 404 members—but he could not present their signatures in court when ordered to do so. During this court battle, the New York Times wrote an article about the man he had killed. With his reputation damaged, Woodhouse lost his case and the Aero Club then became the National Aeronautic Association
National Aeronautic Association
The National Aeronautic Association of the United States is a non-profit 501 organization and a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , the international standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics. NAA is the official record-keeper for United States...
. Woodhouse threw his support to a minor rival organization, the Aerial League of America.
Oil speculation
In 1920-1922, Woodhouse had a hand in forming of an oil syndicate the Ottoman American Development Company, that - through his connection to admiral Colby M. Chester - gained rights to construct and operate a railroad from AnatoliaAnatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and to the exploitation of the oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
s of Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
. Woodhouse owned 1/6 of the capital stock. He was also a director of Turco-American Corporation that had options to build the city of Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
. Woodhouse supported the French foreign policy, which wanted to return the defeated sultan to his throne to keep the Ottoman Empire together. His plans fell apart when Kemal Atatürk ousted the sultan. The Ottoman Empire was thereby fragmented and the Mosul oil fields became part of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
George Washington Air Junction
In 1928-1930, Woodhouse bought more than 1500 acres (6 km²) of land south of Washington D.C., much of it being the ancestral lands of George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
and George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
. He planned to build a large Zeppelin airport on the grounds, the George Washington Air Junction. By 1935 he had to sell the land to pay for unpaid taxes and foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
s of mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
. Much of this land is now Huntley Meadows Park
Huntley Meadows Park
Huntley Meadows Park, the largest park operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority , is located in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, Virginia, south of the city of Alexandria. The park features a visitor center, a beaver-created wetland with boardwalk, wildlife observation platforms, and...
.
False documents and signatures
Woodhouse collected artifacts and antiques that were connected to the history of the United States. In 1930 he acquired a famous oil portrait of Ulysses Grant. In 1936 he donated many documents on George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
However, some of the signatures and documents he sold were Woodhouse's own forgeries. He forged documents that were supposedly from historical Americans and even forged signatures of famous people he had personally met. The historical people included many of the presidents and the signers of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
.
Woodhouse joined forces with W. Lanier Washington and began to sell items with the Washington family crest. His other associate was a painter named Hart, who painted fake portraits.
Even if the quality of the forgeries was not perfect, many collectors bought them. Afterwards experts noticed that they were modern forgeries. Signatures of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, for example, were hesitant, revealing the writer was copying or tracing the original, not writing it naturally.
Last years
In 1953-1958 Woodhouse was involved in a lawsuit with former employee Tamara Bourkoun, who claimed that she had worked in Woodhouse's galleries for 46 weeks had not been paid. Woodhouse claimed that her compensation was a tuitionTuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
to the gallery's education courses and that she intended to become a fortune teller, which, at the time, was illegal in New York. The suit was decided on favor of Bourkoun and Woodhouse had to sell the last of the Washington Junction land to pay for her compensation.
Henry Woodhouse died on January 6, 1970 in his home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.