Unlucky in Love

Like most collectors, I periodically search online auction sites for interesting tokens, medals, and obsolete currency, and recently the illustrated token caught my eye. Although it is a maverick (a token on which the issuing merchant’s location does not appear), I correctly assumed it would be easy to identify. As I quickly learned, very little is known about the life of Louis Dumphier other than what is found in Buffalo, New York, business directories and newspapers.

Saloon Owner 

The earliest directory listing for Dumphier appears in the 1870 edition, where his occupation was given as ship carpenter. He doesn’t show up again until the 1884 directory, which lists him as a saloon owner at 85 and 87 Canal Street. After that, his listings are intermittent, but always as a saloon owner. He relocated frequently, and I noticed five addresses for his establishment. The last listing was in the 1902 edition. Dumphier died on February 2, 1919, at the age of 61.

The Buffalo Theatre is only listed in directories of the early 1890s, and I have to wonder if it was actually a theatre, as we understand the word’s meaning. Its address, 85 and 87 Canal Street, was the same as Dumphier’s saloon in 1884. His saloon and the theatre are listed at that address in the 1893 directory. In an 1892 newspaper article concerning one of his many marital problems, the establishment is referred to as a “concert saloon.” His only advertisements were in 1891, and Dumphier refers to his business as a “variety theatre” with free admission.

Failed Marriages

The interesting part of the story is not Dumphier’s directory listings but the newspaper articles concerning his marriages. The earliest one announced on May 12, 1885, that Dumphier’s wife, Elizabeth, had sued him for divorce. Thirteen months later, he married Kittie McDermott, and this part of his life reads like a soap opera. 

The first indication of trouble in paradise emerged in May 1889, when Dumphier was charged with assaulting his wife. He pleaded not guilty and was discharged. Two years later, on July 10, 1891, a lengthy article titled “Two Dizzy Rings” in the Buffalo Inquirer described what was termed “a lively scene in Police Court,” when Mrs. John Humphrey “of Alhambra Theater fame” was charged with grand larceny. The event was described as follows:

“It seems that Mrs. Humphrey, who claims to be an actress, was singing and dancing nightly and at an occasional matinee at Dumphier’s place, and that the proprietor became quite intimate with her. Dumphier, it is said, engaged a handsome and luxuriously furnished room on Seneca Street, and the pair are reported to have spent many happy hours there together. Mr. Dumphier himself admits this. He became enamored of his rival’s wife, and gave her a ring of elegant pattern and valuable setting. But it seems that in some way Mrs. Humphrey got her present confused with a large cluster diamond ring belonging to Dumphier and as she liked them both she kept them and refused to part with either one.

In Police Court this forenoon Mrs. Humphrey swore that Dumphier gave her the cluster ring for a birthday gift. Several witnesses on both sides were sworn and Judge King held the prisoner to answer to the grand jury of the September term of the Court of Sessions.

The Judge ordered Mrs. Humphrey to turn the ring over to Special Jordan to hold as evidence. She was at once enraged, but sullenly gave the ring to the officer. ‘Here take this one too,’ she cried fiercely at the same time throwing the cheaper ring into Dumphier’s face. It struck him straight in the eye, but he said nothing and the Judge began to storm and threatened to send Actress Humphrey to the workhouse without further trial.”

Intent to Kill

Dumphier and his wife, Kittie, were granted a judgment of absolute divorce in February 1892, but if you thought that was the end of the matter, you’d be wrong. Soon thereafter, he married Annie Humphrey, and an article titled “The Dying Statement” in the May 7, 1892, Buffalo Commercial reported that his new wife had shot him at his saloon. Dumphier said, “I consider my condition critical and am about to die and have no hope of my recovery from the effects of my wounds.” 

He further added,

“I was standing on the outside of the bar, and she shot me twice. I had just come into the bar from the wine room and was standing there when she came in and said ‘you son of a _____, I will shoot you,’ and she shot me once and I fell. She shot me again while I was lying on the floor.”

This wasn’t Annie’s first attempt to shoot her husband. Two weeks earlier, she had fired a shot at him but missed. The gun had reportedly been given to her by her ex-husband, John Humphrey.

Annie was jailed, and at the hearing she pleaded not guilty and was released on $1,000 bail. Despite his dire prediction, Dumphier survived the shooting and was released from the hospital after a two-week stay. The two bullets were still in his body when he returned home. Surprisingly, he refused to prosecute his wife, and even more surprisingly, they remained together. A year later,
he appeared in court on a charge of assaulting Annie and was fined $25.

Happy Ending

In February 1895, Annie appeared in court and was given a suspended sentence for the shooting. She walked out of the courtroom arm in arm with her husband. Evidently, the couple managed to live together peacefully after that.

And so, we come to the end of our story. The token’s obverse inscription reads BUFFALO THEATRE/LOUIS DUMPHIER on two lines around the rim, with an ornament in the center. The reverse has the denomination, 5, within a circle of stars. It is struck in brass on a 29mm planchet. As the information above indicates, it was struck during the early 1890s.

I welcome readers’ comments. Write to me at P.O. Box 2866, La Plata, MD 20646. If a reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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A version of this article appears in the August 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org)