Lost Capitol Hill: Florence Kubel and Her Two Scandals (Pt. II)

I recently wrote of the scandal that raced through Washington’s papers when Representative Lafferty wrote a letter to Miss Florence Kubel without having been properly introduced, and how this managed to tarnish his name badly. It was a scandal that could really only have happened at the time, but unfortunately for Miss Kubel, it wasn’t the last scandal that she was involved in – and the second one was much tougher to live down.

Florence Kubel, walked away unscathed from the first scandal, and within a few years, she met John Semer Farnsworth, who was a midshipman at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. They soon decided to get married, and set a date for November, 1915. Farnsworth was, however, assigned to the battleship USS Michigan, which was due to sail, and no ship waits for any man, even if it is to get married, and so the young couple decided to move up their wedding date to October 20.

For the next 12 years, all seemed well with the Farnsworths. While Farnsworth launched his career, his wife was “much sought as a guest at all the season’s social functions.” (Washington Post, Feb 6, 1916) and she followed him from DC to China; back to DC; and on to California, having four children along the way. Even after the war, he stayed in the Navy, and became an aviator, following in the footsteps of Florence’s brother, who had served in the air service during the war.

Florence Kubel Farnsworth in 1916 (washingtonpost.com)

Unfortunately, Farnsworth began to have money problems, which he attempted to solve by borrowing from an enlisted man – unacceptable in its own right – and then refusing to pay back the money when confronted.  In 1927, thus, the Navy decided that they had enough, court-martialed him, found him guilty and dishonorably discharged him.

This hardly solved Farnsworth’s money troubles, and he came by a new way of making money: Espionage. Relying on old friends, who would allow him to read – and even borrow – secret documents, Farnsworth would make copies and sell them to the Japanese. Eventually, friends of his became suspicious, and he was placed under surveillance, and arrested.

Farnsworth was eventually sentenced to 4-12 years in prison, in spite of a long drawn-out court procedure that went all the way fifth circuit court of appeals, and ended up serving 11.  When he was released in the late 1940s, he moved to NY, where he died a few years later.  Florence Kubel Farnsworth stayed in the DC area, and lived to the ripe old age of 82. Her obituary speaks of her four children, 21 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, but makes no mention of her husband.