08/25/2021
Meet William Maxwell, Masonic imposter. He is described in the 1903 booklet, “Album of Masonic Imposters” as having changed "his name and the Lodge he claims membership in, as easy as a rapid change artist in a vaudeville show." The description also suggests that Maxwell knew what cities and towns to avoid, stating, "Since we first published him he did a big business where our circulars do not reach."
In January 1898, Maxwell - whose real name appears to have been George Fleming - was arrested in Seattle, Washington, and convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. The January 23, 1898 edition of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer carried a front-page article about Fleming titled "Bled Masons for Eight Years: George Fleming Confesses to a Long Career of Crime." In the continuation of the article, on page 7, an illustration of Fleming makes it clear that the "William Maxwell" pictured above and the George Fleming convicted in Seattle are the same person. Fleming claimed a number of different aliases and boasted of having made of career out of defrauding Masons and taking their money. By way of showing how successful he was at posing as a Mason, Fleming claimed to have duped Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who was then the Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England out of $150 while dining with him in Paris.
The 1903 Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska mention Maxwell and their encounter with him, calling him "one of the most dangerous frauds at large." Arrested in South Omaha, Maxwell was found to be carrying forged receipts for dues from Thomas Cecil Lodge #375 in Pikesville, Kentucky. On December 23, 1902, the Omaha World-Herald reported that William Maxwell, “an elderly man confined in the city jail pending information regarding his antecedents is considered a smooth article.” He had secured financial loans from several Masons of around $5 each (roughly $150 in today’s value). On February 16, 1902, the Grand Lodge issued a circular with a front and side view of the man to all American and some foreign Grand Lodges.
A brief entry in the Omaha Daily Bee for January 28, 1903 reads, "William Maxwell, the alleged Masonic fraud, has left for parts unknown." It is unclear where Fleming/Maxwell went after leaving Omaha or when he died.
