James P. Hamilton, Republic of Texas minister to Great Britain, wrote a letter to Monroe Edwards on November 23, 1840 informing the swindler that he knew his letters of introduction from famous Americans were forgeries and that he was a fugitive from Lone Star justice.

Rather than return to Texas where a prison cell was waiting for him, Edwards went to New York.  Convicted of forgery in a sensational trial, he was sentenced to a long stretch in Sing Sing.  Beaten by guards for an escape attempt, Edwards soon died of his injuries.