[4] In July 1870, the weather was very hot in New York City and the Nathan family were staying at their country home in Morristown, New Jersey.

Benjamin Nathan regularly commuted from New Jersey to New York City and on occasion would spend the night at his townhouse on 23rd Street.

Benjamin Nathan, along with two of his sons, Frederick and Washington, arrived unannounced to the townhouse on the night of July 28.

The mayor and Nathan's widow offered a reward and the New York Stock Exchange opened that day with the flag flying at half-mast.

[5] The press and the public largely considered his son Washington Nathan as the prime suspect, though his motive would have been unclear.