◆ THE WARDENCLYFFE DOSSIER / SEIZURE & INVENTORY / ARTIFACT 091
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ARTIFACT 091 — FEDERAL SEIZURE INVENTORY
ORIGINAL: O.A.P. FORM 27-A · 6 PP. CARBON, 3 COPIES
ISSUED: WASHINGTON D.C., 7 JAN 1943 · 6:30 AM EST
EXECUTED: HOTEL NEW YORKER, ROOM 3327, NYC
LEAD: W. GORSUCH, OAP · F.B.I. ASSIST: A. FOXWORTH, J. HALLORAN
DECLASSIFIED: 14 MAR 2016

The Office of Alien Property Seizure Log — Room 3327

HOTEL NEW YORKER · 7 JANUARY 1943 · 7:48 AM EST
SEIZURE OF EFFECTS PURSUANT TO §50-A, TRADING WITH THE ENEMY ACT
Archivist's Note

This is the federal seizure log of the effects of Mr. Nikola Tesla, executed on the morning of his death in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, New York City. The order of seizure was signed at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on the seventh of January 1943 by Mr. ██████████, Assistant Attorney General, pursuant to §50-A of the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended; the United States having entered the war against the Axis powers some thirteen months prior, and the deceased having had — in the years preceding — an unspecified correspondence with persons in Germany regarding a class of apparatus the Bureau characterized as "death ray–related."

The execution party comprised four men: Mr. Walter Gorsuch, Office of Alien Property (lead); Mr. A. Foxworth, F.B.I. (senior agent); Mr. J. Halloran, F.B.I. (assistant); and Mr. ████████, Junior Solicitor, OAP. They arrived at Room 3327 at 7:48 a.m., having been preceded to the room by the maid Mrs. Alice Monaghan (6:00 a.m., breakfast tray), the hotel physician Dr. Corbett (6:14, to pronounce death), and the manager Mr. Bayne (continuous from 6:18). The seizure and inventory ran from 8:02 a.m. to 12:11 p.m. and produced seventy-eight identified items.

The form below is the cover sheet (page 1) and inventory schedule (pages 2–4) of the resulting OAP file. The full chain-of-custody addenda are catalogued separately as Artifacts 092 through 106. The Aperture Notebook itself, removed from between the deceased's hands at 8:14 a.m., is preserved as Artifact 002.

A note on the addendum: the pencilled paragraph on page 4 was written by Mr. Gorsuch on the train back to Washington that evening, after he had read — alone, in the dining-car of the 8:10 from Penn Station — the final pages of the Notebook. It was not, in 1943, made part of the official file. It came to the National Archives in 1964 among Gorsuch's personal effects, and was returned to the seizure file in 1971.

— W.G., Office of Alien Property, transcribed Feb. 1943; addendum integrated 1971; declassified 2016
CHAIN OF CUSTODY: OAP (1943–1947) → NARA WAREHOUSE (1947–1978) → NARA CATALOGUED (1978) → DIGITAL (2016) FOLIO 091 / 112
RESTRICTED
SECTION 50-A
DECLASSIFIED · NARA · 14 MAR 2016
Office of Alien Property
Department of Justice — United States of America
FORM 27-A · SEIZURE LOG & INVENTORY · REV. 1942
▸ Seizure Log — Effects of an Enemy Alien (or Person of Interest) ▸ Pursuant to §50-A, Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended
File No.OAP-3327-T-43
Authorization No.A.A.G. ██████ / 7 JAN 1943 / 06:30 EST
Subject (deceased)TESLA, NIKOLA — naturalized 30 July 1891
D.O.B. / D.O.D.10 JUL 1856 / 7 JAN 1943, c. 11:01 PM
PremisesHotel New Yorker · Room 3327 · 481 8th Ave., NYC
Date / Time of Execution7 JAN 1943 · 07:48 AM — 12:11 PM EST
Lead OfficerGORSUCH, WALTER · OAP · Wash. D.C.
Assist (F.B.I.)FOXWORTH, A. (sr.) · HALLORAN, J. (asst.)
Junior Solicitor██████████ · OAP
Witness, hotel mgmt.BAYNE, ROBERT · Hotel Mgr., New Yorker
Witness, staffMONAGHAN, ALICE · maid (39yrs.); declined to remain
Total items inventoried78 (seventy-eight)

Statement of Cause

The premises and effects of the above-named deceased are seized this day pursuant to Section 50-A of the Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended, and to executive authorization issued at 06:30 EST this date by the office of the Assistant Attorney General. The seizure is effected on grounds of national security, the deceased having in the years 1937–1941 maintained correspondence with persons in the Reich regarding a class of apparatus characterized in unsubmitted manuscript ("Teleforce," 1934) as a long-range directed-energy weapon. The deceased's papers and effects are to be inventoried in full, conveyed under seal to the OAP warehouse facility at Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, and held pending determination of disposition by the Department of Justice and the War Department.

Premises as Found, 7:48 AM

The deceased was found supine on the brass bedstead, fully dressed save for shoes, hands folded on the chest. The hotel physician (Dr. Corbett, of 86th St.) had pronounced death at 6:14 AM, attributing the cause to coronary thrombosis. No autopsy was ordered. The deceased's personal effects were on the writing-desk by the window, in the wardrobe, and in a single steamer trunk at the foot of the bed. A small grey pigeon was observed on a wooden perch on the writing-desk; the bird, on examination by this officer, also appeared deceased. The bird was not entered in the inventory; the senior F.B.I. agent (Mr. Foxworth) instructed that the bird be left where the bird was, and that the maid, on her next round, might attend to it. The maid did so attend at 1:00 PM.

RESTRICTED
SECTION 50-A
▸ Inventory Schedule — Items 1 through 38 ▸ Items removed from writing-desk and wardrobe
#ItemDescription / ProvenanceExh. No.Qty
01Leather notebook, brownBound octavo, 188 pp., approx. 4½ × 7 in. Found between the deceased's hands. Title page: "The Aperture, 1861–." Hand of deceased throughout. Last entry, dated 7 Jan. 1943.3327-A1
02Wax cylinder, EdisonStandard 4-min., labelled "Czito recording — 13 Nov. 1903 — KEEP." In paper sleeve. Ed. Mfg. Co., West Orange.3327-B1
03Phonograph, Edison StandardLoaned to deceased by H. Hutchinson (Ed. Mfg. Co.), 6 Jan. Hand-receipt attached.3327-C1
04Notebooks, steel-bound (5)"Knob Hill observations," "Wardenclyffe diary," "Pine St. summer 1888," "Madison Sq. lectures," "Pat — Christmas 1899."3327-D – H5
05Letters, leather case (1 case)Approx. 240 letters. Outermost label, in pencil: "K. — 1893–1925." Ribbon-tied bundles, chronological. Sender: Mrs. K. Johnson (327 Lex. Ave.).3327-J~240
06Letters, sealed envelopes (4)On the writing-desk, addressed in deceased's hand, dated 7 Jan. 1943. Recipients: M. K. Pomeroy (W. 46 St.); J. Czito (Brooklyn); S. Kosanović (Yugoslav Embassy, Wash. D.C.); a fourth addressed to "Sleepy Hollow Cemetery — for the grave of Mrs. R. U. Johnson."3327-K4
07Wedding ring, plain goldInscribed inner band: "M. T. — Đ. M. — 1855." In small leather pouch, bottom of trunk. Property of deceased's late mother.3327-L1
08Silver thalerMaria Theresa, 1780 restrike. Property of deceased's late father (Rev. Milutin Tesla).3327-M1
09Brass collar & tagEngraved "PAT · GOERCK ST. · 1885." Worn-leather strap.3327-P1
10Loose papers, drawer 1Approx. 60 pp. Sketches, equations, fragments of correspondence, hotel receipts.3327-Q~60
11Loose papers, drawer 2Approx. 40 pp. Drafts of "Teleforce" memorandum (1934, unsubmitted). Pencil revisions in deceased's hand.3327-R~40
12Diagrams, rolled (in tube)4 sheets, large format. Engineering drawings of Wardenclyffe primary, dated 1901–1903. Final sheet annotated: "FINAL YIELD: 1.2 MILLION. THE DOOR REMAINS."3327-S4
13Photographs (loose)11 photographs. Subjects: Wardenclyffe tower (3); a horse, identified by note as "Macak, 1860," though the photograph itself is undated and the horse appears to be of a later period; a young man identified as "Dane," approx. 12 yrs.; the Hotel St. Regis at snowfall, undated; and six unidentified.3327-T11
14Pigeon-feed, in tinApprox. 4 oz. mixed grain. Tin marked "BIRD'S — 5¢."3327-U1 tin
15Wooden perch, hand-carvedApprx. 8 in., olivewood. Made (per H. Hutchinson note) by Ed. Mfg. Co. apprentice, delivered 6 Jan.3327-V1
16Pocket-watch, gold, PatekStopped at 11:01. Inscription, inside lid: "To N.T. from G.W. — Niagara, 1895."3327-W1
17Misc. clothing, wardrobe2 suits (black, grey); 6 shirts (white); 4 collars; 3 ties (black silk); 2 pr. shoes; 1 winter overcoat; 1 hat (homburg).3327-X~19
18Toiletry, basin shelfComb, brush, soap, razor, strop, tooth-powder, towels (2).3327-Y~8
19Hotel napkins, drawer18 cloth napkins, hotel issue. Folded, stacked in drawer 3 of writing-desk.3327-Z18
— items 20 through 78 continued on attached schedule (pp. 3–4) —

All items above were photographed in situ by F.B.I. staff photographer (Sgt. M. Reilly) prior to removal, sealed individually in O.A.P. evidence sleeves bearing exhibit numbers as shown, and conveyed by O.A.P. wagon (3 trips, 11:20 AM, 11:45 AM, 12:08 PM) to the Bush Terminal warehouse, Brooklyn, NY, where they shall be held pending determination of disposition.

The deceased remained, throughout the inventory, on the brass bedstead. The hotel mortician (Mr. C. T. Frank, of New Yorker staff) attended at 1:00 PM, after the seizure party had departed.

RESTRICTED
SECTION 50-A
▸ Certification & Signatures ▸

We, the undersigned officers of the Office of Alien Property and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, do hereby certify that the seizure and inventory recorded above were executed in our presence, in the manner and at the times stated, on the date and premises specified, in accordance with the authorization of the Assistant Attorney General and the provisions of §50-A, Trading with the Enemy Act, as amended.

W. Gorsuch
WALTER GORSUCH
Office of Alien Property — Lead Officer
A. Foxworth
A. FOXWORTH
Federal Bureau of Investigation — Senior Agent
J. Halloran
J. HALLORAN
Federal Bureau of Investigation — Asst. Agent
R. Bayne
ROBERT BAYNE
Hotel New Yorker — Manager (witness)
Train back, 8.10 from Penn. Read the notebook in the dining-car. Ate nothing. The waiter asked twice. I gave the soup back.

The notebook is not what we were sent for. The notebook is something we were never trained to find. The notebook says — and I write this because I shall not, in any official memorandum, be permitted to say it — that the deceased did not invent a weapon. The deceased opened a door. The deceased opened it eighteen times. On each occasion a man went through. On the nineteenth occasion a small grey bird came back. The bird, says the notebook, was the price.

The bird was on the perch when we arrived. The bird had stopped, says the notebook, at the instant the deceased did. The bird was buried by the kitchen porter that afternoon in the staff garden behind the 8th Avenue side of the hotel.

I did not write this in the official log. I shall not write it in any report I file with the office. I write it here because Foxworth, on the train, said to me — quietly — "Walter. Whatever you read in that book, you forget by Trenton."

I shall, by Trenton, have forgotten it.

I shall not, in any year of the rest of my life, forget it.

— W.G., dining-car of the 8.10, somewhere between Newark and Trenton, 7 January 1943.
Cross-references

Walter Gorsuch (1908–1971) served the Office of Alien Property from 1939 until its dissolution in 1966 and the National Archives thereafter until his death. He did not, as he wrote, ever speak of the Tesla seizure. He did, however, retain a single carbon of the inventory and the pencilled addendum among his personal papers, which were donated to the National Archives by his widow Marjorie in 1972.

The "Aperture Notebook" referenced as item 01 above is reproduced in full as Artifact 002. The sealed envelopes (item 06) were posted from the OAP office in Washington on 11 January 1943 in accordance with the deceased's request, save for the envelope addressed to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which was delivered by hand by Mr. Gorsuch personally on 16 January 1943. The kitchen porter who buried the small grey pigeon, a Mr. Salvatore D'Angelo (later Sergeant D'Angelo, U.S. Army, Italian Campaign 1944–45), did not, in his remaining thirty-three years, mention the burial to anyone.

For the seventy-eight-item inventory in full (pages 3–4 of this form), see Artifacts 092–094. For the chain-of-custody addenda, including the 1947 transfer to the Bush Terminal warehouse and the 1978 transfer to NARA, see Artifacts 095–106.