Richard Albert Canfield
Encyclopedia
Richard Albert Canfield was a prominent American businessman and art collector involved in illegal gambling throughout the northeastern United States during the late 19th and early 20th century. One of the earliest to develop the modern day "resort casino", the solitaire game Canfield
is named is his honor.
, Canfield worked in various jobs prior to running a small faro parlor in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
which eventually led to his arrest. Despite this, he soon established a gambling parlor and had been a well-known gambling operator in Providence, Rhode Island
before moving to New York in the 1880s. During the next twenty years, his high stakes gambling resorts would become popular in New York's underworld until repeated raids by New York district attorney W.T. Jerome
during the early 1900s would force Canfield to close his casinos in 1904.
In his later years, Canfield owned and operated a successful glass making business and continued adding to his art collection (a personal friend of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Canfield possessed the second largest Whistler collection in the world prior to his death).
In December 1914, he was seriously injured in a New York subway station and eventually died from a fractured skull sustained in the fall. After his death on December 11, he was cremated and his ashes brought back to New Bedford and was interred in the family plot in the Old Section of Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford
.
Canfield (solitaire)
Canfield is a solitaire card game with a very low probability to win. According to legend, it is originally a casino game, named after the casino owner who is said to have invented it. In England, it is known as Demon.-The story behind the game:...
is named is his honor.
Biography
Born in New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, Canfield worked in various jobs prior to running a small faro parlor in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:...
which eventually led to his arrest. Despite this, he soon established a gambling parlor and had been a well-known gambling operator in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
before moving to New York in the 1880s. During the next twenty years, his high stakes gambling resorts would become popular in New York's underworld until repeated raids by New York district attorney W.T. Jerome
William Travers Jerome
William Travers Jerome was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Biography:He was the son of Lawrence Jerome and Kate Jerome. He attended Amherst College but left in 1881 without graduation...
during the early 1900s would force Canfield to close his casinos in 1904.
In his later years, Canfield owned and operated a successful glass making business and continued adding to his art collection (a personal friend of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Canfield possessed the second largest Whistler collection in the world prior to his death).
In December 1914, he was seriously injured in a New York subway station and eventually died from a fractured skull sustained in the fall. After his death on December 11, he was cremated and his ashes brought back to New Bedford and was interred in the family plot in the Old Section of Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford
New Bedford
-Places:*New Bedford, Illinois*New Bedford, Massachusetts, the most populous New Bedford**New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park*New Bedford, New Jersey *New Bedford, Ohio*New Bedford, Pennsylvania...
.
External links
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition - Richard Canfield
- Richard A. Canfield: America's First Casino King by Byron Liggett
- Richard Canfield at Find-A-Grave