SCHS: Photo of Week: East End’s Corn Doctor | Witchcraft | Trick or Treat at Haunted Museum, 10.24th

In 1932, “Doc” Frank Tuthill, an eccentric 68-year-old resident of Quogue, mysteriously disappeared. Affectionately known as the “Corn Doctor” (he was a chiropodist or foot doctor), Tuthill was also known as a “walking bank.” During the Great Depression years, he was frequently seen in and around East End hamlets wearing two coats, one over the other, all year round no matter the weather or season. Inside the pockets of his coats he carried with him tens of thousands of dollars in cash because he didn’t trust the banks. He also carried multiple revolvers to protect himself.

On a summer day in August of 1932, Tuthill drove his dilapidated Model T Ford roadster to a Riverhead pharmacy for a soda, and while he was there he was called to the phone and heard to say: “I’ll be there at 10 o’clock this evening!” and hung up. As Tuthill set out for his appointment later that night, he told his rooming house landlord that he had $10,000 in cash and several guns on his person, and if he didn’t return by the next day, the landlord should call the police.

Two weeks later, Tuthill’s bullet-ridden body was found in Hampton Bays, with the pockets of his coats turned inside out and his money stolen. Area residents Victor Downs and his wife Mitzie were accused of robbing and murdering Tuthill. Though sensational trials ensued in the Riverhead courts, no one was ever effectively prosecuted for his murder.

Shown here are the Corn Doctor’s British Bulldog revolvers alongside a photo of Frank Tuthill, Donated to the Suffolk County Historical Society in 1951, these two guns were among several that Tuthill always carried with him, the larger one being his favorite for many years.

by Wendy Polhemus-Annibell, Head Librarian

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