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How Timothy Dexter Turned Ridiculous Ventures Into Riches

Khalid Elhassan November 22, 2024 13 min

Dexter - Timothy Dexter — Timothy Dexter. New England Legends

3. A Faked Death

Timothy Dexter’s gravestone. Fur Affinity

An exception to Dexter’s refusal to acknowledge his wife’s existence was when he faked his death to see how many people would show up for his funeral. The turnout was good, and about 3000 people attended the mock wake. Odds are it was not because of love and respect for the deceased, but because the funeral featured plenty of free food and booze. However, Elizabeth Dexter did not seem sufficiently sad to suit her hubby. So he fell upon her with his cane, until funeral attendees rescued her.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.