Valley Girl Views: Wilkes Barre's "Millionaire For A Day" Presents Statue to Milton

While researching the Milton Fair, I saw that one of the headliners was "Butch" McDevitt "Millionaire For A Day". That seemed like a... well, lets say unique, headline attraction. So out of curiosity, I started to research who this Millionaire For A Day was.. I'm telling you, my curiosity leads us to all the best stories. And it came right back around to Milton too, as McDevitt presented his statue to the town of Milton in 1915.

John Jay McDevitt was born June 2 in 1875, in the area of Wilkes Barre. As a young man, he hopped from job to job, trying the roles of Milk Man, Coal Miner, and many. many more. But at the age of 22, the newspaper alerted him to his true calling. The city needed a bright young man to be elected Mayor. McDevitt knew he was just the man, so he ran for office.

And he lost. Which might have dissuaded other men, but not McDevitt. He just ran for lots of other offices. And a few years later he won an election to become the constable. When it was time for reelection, he chose to not only run again for constable, as a democrat, but also, at the same time, run for Mayor, as a Republican. I'm not exactly sure how that is even possible, but by now he was well known for his sense of humor, and no one was taking any of this too seriously.

Again he lost the Mayoral race, but he was reelected as constable, leaving him to be a democrat for a few more years.

I don't know what all McDevitt ran for in 1911, but somehow, to the great surprise of the Democratic Committee, he won the democratic primary for County Treasurer.

He didn't spend a cent on his campaign. In fact, he was paid throughout the campaign by his opponents,, because he regular spoke for them.

Well, McDevitt winning certainly didn't sit well with the committee. One, McDevitt was Irish. The Democratic Committee could not possibly have an irishman run on their ticket, not in 1911. Two, they knew full well McDevitt would never win the election. They wanted to put a candidate on the ticket that might actually win.

So they bought him off.

McDevitt demanded $5,000 (More than $135,000 in today's money) AND the right to endorse the Republican Candidate. When the committee found that a tad unreasonable, he raised his price to $6,000, and he wanted a position in the commissioners department if their chosen Democrat won.

This was not some quiet, backroom, deal. McDevitt told the press all about it, and claimed that he had arranged it to if the Democrats won, he had arranged it so that his brother would work the morning shift in the commissioners office, and "at noon the McDevitt brothers will change shifts", assuring that A McDevitt brother was always on the job.

The Democratic Committee gave McDevitt $1,500 in cash (more than 40,000 today), and promised him another $1,000 if their democratic candidate won.

To the press, the Democratic leaders, with no apparent shame, (Apparently this was legal until about 1937, when someone decided maybe we should have a law to keep this sort of thing from happening) said they only paid McDevitt $500 to withdraw from the ticket. McDevitt was outraged. Or, at least pretended to be.

"I would ruin myself politically to sell out at that low figure, and the fellows that are putting that story around are miscreants of the lowest type whose aim is to being about my downfall in the world of politics."

He then said he was headed to the court house to look over the positions in the commissioners office, one of which was to be his if the Democratic ticket was elected.

The Democratic candidate did win, and McDevitt pocketed an additional $1,500. But he never did get a job in the commissioners office.

If you haven't caught on yet, McDevitt was an incredible character. And we have only barely gotten started with his antics.

A few weeks after he quit the race for treasurer, he figured he was entitled to a banquet in his honor, for being nominated to begin with. Since no one was offering to host one for him, he threw it himself.

The Williamsport Sun Gazette reported:

"Yesterday in a leading hotel here, the banquet took place. Mr McDevitt was entertainment committee, host, toastmaster, and guest. At the table he acknowledged the applause of imaginary admirers by gravely bowing, ate his dinner in state, then as toastmaster, called upon himself, greeted himself with applause as he arose, made a speech, and applauded himself as he sat down. After McDevitt's speech, there was a silence for a period of several seconds, and then McDevitt game himself three lusty cheers"

The Carlisle newspaper printed part of his speech:

"It is a rare privilege to have such an honor bestowed upon me by myself, and I appreciate the consideration of the candidate, so I pay tribute to myself and feel elated in knowing what it all means, and I assure you, Mr McDevitt, no one appreciates the honor bestowed upon you more keenly than yourself."

For a banquet with so few attendees, it was well covered, in newspapers all around the state. But his hometown paper summed it up best:

"The Campaign has produced many results - and one revelation. The revelation is John J. McDevitt of Wilkes Barre Pa. It was worth all this bother to find that we posses Mr. McDevitt."

So what's next for McDevitt? He still has a pocketful of money, and there are no new elections coming up, this week at least.

McDevitt decided to become a "Millionaire For A Day", with a plan to spend every cent he had in one day, and he'd do it in New York City.

"“You see, I have no particular reason for going to New York, but I feel that as the ‘well-to-do’ take trips to the metropolis, it is up to me to get in the swim."

In December of 1911, a reporter was trying to track McDevitt down for an interview about this Millionaire For A Day Plan. He finally found McDevitt in Canaan Corners. When asked why he would be there, McDevitt replied:

"I publish a little magazine called McDevitts Scrap Book, and its just as well for me to leave Wilkes Barre every month about the time it gets out. By the time a fellow I write about in my own inimitable style gets to here from Wilkes Barre, his wrath has cooled off."

Millionaire For A Day

On the windy cold day of January 12 1912, McDevitt and 57 newspapermen, a personal physician, a secretary, a valet, and five servants set out for the train station. He had done his research, and decided on a course of action that he felt best reflected how millionaires live.

He did not get up until noon, because rich people do not get up before noon.

He took a bath and had his valet give him a massage.

He dined in a fine hotel in Wilkes Barre, and tipped the waiters $2 (50 today) each

As he left the hotel, he was greeted by a large crowd, including as many as 57 members of the press.McDevitt reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of nickels, and threw them into the crowd.

At 1:15 McDevitt was in a limousine, which drove him in style the entire one block to the train station.

McDevitts train included a Pullman car & two additional cars, to carry him and his newly acquired staff. It also had a baggage car - which carried McDevitts single suitcase.

Crowds greeted McDevitts train as it passed through New Jersey, and made several stops where the "Millionaire For A Day" made speeches. Press photographers were everywhere, snapping his photo.

When he arrived in New York, he hired an expensive cab to take him to the Waldorf-Astoria.

There he went to lunch, ordering every single thing on the menu. Including 18 types of cheese & 11 cocktails.

Then he set out to cross off the rest of his list of Things Rich People Do:

He had his newly hired Physician release regular bulletins to update the public on the status of his health
He instructed a valet to have a lit cigar ready to present to him at all times
He tipped a shoe shiner $5 to shine one shoe, and a similar amount to another shoe shiner for the other shoe.
He attended a play, which in a totally unplanned coincidence, was about a fake millionaire.
At intermission, he went backstage and presented the lead actor with a baton studded in (fake) diamonds

At the end of the day, Butch McDevitt was broke. Or nearly so. Wen he arrived back in Wilkes Barre, his secretary informed him he had $1.58 remaining. McDevitt handed $1.50 to the porter, and gave his last 8 cents to a newsboy.

In February, McDevitt declared he would run for Congress. He made a trip to Washington to meet with Taft, and on his return claimed Taft was for him, and had given him $40 towards his campaign. His statement also included:

"Say for me that the next representative form Luzerne County will be your royal highness. I need the money, I like the place, and I have decided to respond to the voice of my people. So prepare ye way for John Jay McDevitt, ‘millionaire for a day.'”

Next, in October of 1912, McDevitt announced he was having a statue made so that the people of his town would remember him forever. He planned to not only commission, but also to unveil, the statue himself.

He did however, need the cities permission to have it placed in the city's Public Square Park. If that could not be arranged, he would purchase a small parcel in the center of city and have the statue erected there. Neither of those plans panned out, so in March of 1913, McDevitt wrote a letter asking Scranton to provide a location for his statue. That failed as well.

By now a publisher had come offering cash in exchange for a book about his life, so McDevitt once again had a pocketful of money.

On February 3 1914, McDevitt hired 30 uniformed police officers to accompany him, and his statue, on a train to Washington DC. He also brought along a fifty piece band.

His "bronze" statue was loaded into a six-horse truck. The statue was actually plaster of paris, painted in bronze. Four coal miners carried the statue up to the train. McDevitt had the statue stood up on the rear platform of the observation car so that people could wave as it went by.

When McDevitt arrived in Union Station, nearly 7,000 people were waiting to greet him. A group of policemen on bicycles and a 25 piece section of the marine band led the way to the Sterling Hotel, with a moving truck and two piano movers taking the statue to McDevitts hotel room. He had been granted a permit to parade with the statue, but was informed he could not leave it on the street or in any public building overnight.

At the capitol later that day, McDevitt was informed that each state was only allowed two statues in the Capitol, and Pennsylvania already had those spots filled. Also, his request for a permit to give a speech on the capitol steps was denied. McDevitt and his statue took the train back to Wilkes Barre.

In April of 1914, McDevitt, having had "almost all kinds of experiences" over the past few years, had never known how it feels to be a Vaudeville headliner. So he decided to take his "celebrated statue" to Harrisburg to try out the vaudeville boards.

The Harrisburg Telegraph reported that "When Butch McDevitt does a thing, he does it right, and this weeks stay in Harrisburg will undoubtedly be decorated with several kinds of pyrotechnics". By this point I'm thinking they were not referring to actual fireworks, but purely the flair of this mans personality.

McDevitt planned to do a monologue of his "well known philosophy".

His plans for Harrisburg also included having his statue installed in the State Capitol, in one of the niches that are designed to hold statues of great men. Once again, he and his statue were rejected, and they both returned to Wilkes Barre.

In August of 1915, Port Chester NY agreed to provide a site for the statue, if McDevitt paid $5,000 for it's long term maintenance.

“The only difference between Napoleon and myself is that Napoleon led an army and I did not. Some people say I am crazy, but the only difference between eccentricity and insanity is $100,000, and I am darn near broke. I am the most successful failure that ever lived.”

In other words, the statue wasn't going to New York.

New Yorks loss could have been our gain. Because that's when McDevitt came to Milton, for the Milton Fair. I was extremely disappointed to learn that my home town joined the list of those who declined to make a home for the statue.

Finally, in September of 1917, McDevitts former hometown, Highland Pa , with a population of 492 people, announced they would take the statue. But I don't think that worked out either, because in 1931 McDevitt was offering the statue to the King Of England.

McDevitt's antics continued for many more years, with him running for every political office possible (including President, but Woodrow Wilson won that year instead) he had two or three more big train adventures, including a special "McDevitts Romance Train" that he chartered for a trip to find the love of his life (he was late, and missed his own train.), he did vaudeville when he was broke and had his statue "garnished" for wages owed to his crew... and so many other stunts that I could write every day for weeks about this man. As a matter of fact, newspapers ran stories about him every single year of his life from 1912 to 1951. And many more long after.

McDevitt was not independently wealthy, and he was a completely inept business man, with many failed businesses. He was frequently broke. So how did he fund all of his antics? No one really knows for sure. He was an excellent public speaker, and he did have that book contract, the book was published at some point, it was reprinted just a few years back. In 1912 there was also a movie released titled "Millionaire For A Day". That seems like an awfully big coincidence., especially because part of it is also set in Willkes Barre, but I found no evidence of a real connection. In 1921 he ceased publishing his Plain Talk magazine, after being beaten so badly he had to be taken to the hospital.

In 1949, McDevitt was invited by the Scranton Times to join a trip on the luxurious General Motors "Train Of Tomorrow". It was the least the paper could do, I'm certain McDevitts antics.sold enough papers over the years.

John J. McDevitt passed away on February 3rd 1951.

Having not been born myself until nearly 60 years after he appeared in Milton, today I feel slightly sad that I never got the chance to hear this man speak.. Maybe if I had been there, I could have persuaded the town to accept his gift, and Milton would have a bronze painted plaster of paris statue in the town park today.

As it stands, no one seems to know what happened to the thing.

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