Nottingham took up residence in the old Curtis House at 216 West Curtis Street but was forced out due to the 1903 floods. He had been staying with J.F. Blake at 2009 Harrison but had returned to his room at the old Curtis house on July 31. Nottingham was found dead in his room later that night. Originally, it was believed death was caused by a combination of old age and alcoholism--Nottingham had sadly been a heavy drinker and taken the habit back up after the flood. Luckily, the coroner thought the death seemed suspicious and saved the stomach. A chemical analysis showed that Nottingham had more than enough morphine in his system to kill him. Focus now shifted on who had done the deed.
Frank Brown could've had a storied life and career. A lawyer, Brown even served as a deputy attorney for the city of Topeka. In 1898, Brown was arrested for passed forged checks and embezzling money. In Topeka alone, Brown passed more than two dozen fraudulent checks. Famed Topeka attorney A.H. "Hib" Case noted that "[Brown] is not insane. But when he is drinking, his mind is gone." Brown also lived in the old Curtis house which was run by his mother, Sarah. Newspaper articles from 1900 to 1913 had several instances of police going to the Curtis house because Brown was bootlegging, gambling, or just contributing to societal nuisance.
William Nottingham and Frank Brown spent July 31, 1903 together drinking and carousing around town. Around noon, Nottingham returned to his room where he ate lunch and retired to bed. Brown returned home shortly after but soon left to go back downtown. Nottingham was found dead around 5 p.m. Brown, meanwhile, appeared over the next day in different saloons and gambling houses with more money than he had ever been seen with. It is known that Nottingham had $200 on him and a search of his room yielded no money. It was theorized that Brown gave Nottingham the morphine while they were riding together in a carriage before Nottingham went home. Brown then disappeared and wasn't heard from in at least two weeks.
Nottingham was buried in the G.A.R. section of Topeka Cemetery.
There is no evidence that Brown was ever arrested or convicted of Nottingham's death. Brown did return to Topeka and, as noted above, continued being a nuisance to the people of Topeka. He continued to pass forged checks occasionally, bootlegged, gambled, and even posted advertisements violating a city ordinance. Even as late as 1921, Brown was arrested for manufacturing 5 barrels of moonshine which his then 84-year-old mother had to bail him out for. Sarah Brown was aunt to Vice President Charles Curtis and lived at 216 Curtis, one of the first houses built along the Kansas River, from 1875 until her death in 1931. She is buried in the Curtis Family Cemetery in North Topeka. Her obituary mentions Frank as living in Washington, D.C.
