Keely motor fraud revealed by estate lawyer (1899)

In January 1899, The Philadelphia Press published an investigation concluding that John W. Keely's motor was a 'delusion and deception' resulting from trickery. The supplied passages do not support the event title's claim that an estate lawyer revealed the fraud or that Keely's widow knew nothing of it; the only sourced January 1899 fraud revelation is the newspaper's investigation.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. John Ernst Worrell Keely, an American fraudster from Philadelphia, claimed to have discovered a new motive power. He consistently refused to discuss the principles of his motor or produce a marketable product. Keely died at his Philadelphia home from pneumonia on November 18, 1898. The Philadelphia Press subsequently investigated his workshop.

Investigation. On January 19, 1899, The Philadelphia Press published an article detailing an investigation of Keely's workshop. The newspaper contended that the investigation had proven Keely's motor to have been 'a delusion and deception' and that its alleged mysterious forces were the result of trickery.

Estate Context. Keely died at his home in Philadelphia from pneumonia on November 18, 1898. His will was admitted to probate on December 1, bequeathing his estate to his widow, Anna M. Keely, who was appointed his executor. The will did not refer to his motor.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.