\ - jl w v C ^ L tyatnzll Itttoetaitg SIthtatg attjara, UMn $nrk FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY DATE DW& JUL 2 3 1947 HG336.U5 C °B96 ""^^ Ub '*v 3 ~3 & as .u CONTENTS. Col. H. C. Whitley— Sketch of the life of. 15 Pete McCartney— King of Western Counterfeiters 43 Feed Biebusch — The Great South-western Koniacker 63 Bill Gurney — alias "Big Bill," the Queersman 78 Bill Dow — The wholesale New England " Boodle Carrier " 90 Jim Boyd — A lively member of the Coney Ring 103 Wm. Brockway — Connecticut Forger and Plate-printer 112 Thos. E. Lonergan— Operative, U.S. Secret Service, West. 122 " Old Lame Sam " — and his mysterious Cane. (Sam Brown) 125 Sam Felker — or, Treason in the Detective Service 130 Startling Romance in Crime ; a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 144 I. C. Nettleship — Chief Assistant to Col. H. C. Whitley. 109 " Cranky Tom " Hale— Forger, and Counterfeiter 105 The Maniac, King— and his grand New York fiasco 174 "Doctor Blake" — The exploits of a hypocritical thief 189 Wal' Crosby — Bank Burglar and Coney-man 198 Wm. W. Applegate— Chief Operative S. S., N. E. District 213 The Widow Roberts — a noted Cincinnati Coney Woman 217 Frontier Smugglers — on the Derby Line, Canada 23» "Mysterious Bob" — an extraordinary Criminal 241 The Skeleton Witness. Fate of a Counterfeiting Family 246 A Brace of ripe "Confidence Men" 252 Harry G. Blanchakd — Operative S. S. Division, Detroit 259 Jewel and Silk Smugglers — from over the seas 265 John Williams — Smuggler, Burglar, and Thief 271 A. B. Newcomb— Chief Operative, S. S., N. Y. District 278 Diamond cut Diamond. The Detective vs the Jew 286 The Female Spy of the Rebellion; Lady Monteith 290 Charles E. Anchisi — Operative U. S. Secret Service 301 The Fort Wayne Gang. A wholesale smash-up 304 Staten Island Gang. . U. S. Rev. Stamp Counterfeiters 316 "Easy Roberts," of Ohio — the Sanctimonious 326 Simeon B. Benson — Chief Operative S. S Dist. of Penn'a 338 The Great Philadelphia $5 "Boodle Game" 342 Col. Henry F. Finnegass — Chief Operative S. S California 353 Mary Brown — a shrewd Female Counterfeiter. 359 Eli Brown, of Chicago, and the "Woman in Yellow" 367 Grand Raid on the New York Centre St. Coney-men. 374 Smuggling Extraordinary ....An effective recipe 380 Mad Lulu,— the Counterfeit Engraver's Wife 389 Ex-Mayor Adams, and "Old Kelley," the Miser. / 400 Players at the "Sawdust Game" How not to do it 404 The Tempters and the Tempted. Manufacturing Criminals 412 Joshua D. Miner — the Autocrat of American Coney-men 420 A BRIEF GLOSSARY OF TERMS in the vernacular of criminals, used in familiar converse among counter- feiters, middle men, thieves, receivers of stolen goods, and their confede- rates — (some of which expressions occasionally find place in certain of the succeeding narratives) — is inserted here, for the information of the reader who may not otherwise comprehend the signifieation of the pecu- liar phrases described by a British author as " Rabble-charming words, which carry so much wild-fire wrapt up in them." All there, to be on time, on hand, " up to the mark." Almighty Dollar, the power of money ; a trite Yankee expression. Acknowledge the cokn, to make a full frank confession. All eight, sound; one who may be trusted, sure. Beating, to over-reach; to get the best of^to defraud. Beat out of, black-mailing ; extorting of money. Big gun, a prominent man, a noted person, or leader. Big thing, a very good prospect; a promising scheme. Bingo, whiskey, brandy, or other strong drink. Biz, business; occupation; object; trade; calling. Bleed, to cheat, over-reach, victimise, or extort money from. Bloke, a detective, or police officer; a minor Judge. Blowed, exposed, peached on, betrayed, turned up. Bogus, counterfeit bank notes, or false coins of any kind. Bone okchakd, a cemetery ; a grave-yard ; burial-place. Boodle, counterfeit notes, placed in bundles or parcels. Boodle-game, a cheating-process, described on page 342. Boodle-cakkieh, the bearers and sellers of " boodle " funds. Boozing-ken,. a low drinking-house for thieves or counterfeiters. Bounty-jumper, one who takes a military bounty, and then deserts. Brass, self confidence, bold impudence, "cheeky" assurance. Bracelets, a figurative expression for iron hand cuffs. Brads, money — dollars and cents — "dust," "chink," &c. Bush-whackers, Southern and Western bush-fighters. Caught napping, detected, or surprised unawares. Cave, to yield, give in, come down at last. To own up. Choker, a dominie, a white cravat. A "parson," also. Chaff, to talk nonsense ; to deceive, or gammon. Clean out, to rob, take from forcibly, or to search the person. Cooked, fixed up desirably for the occasion. C. 0. D. Express-men's term : '■ Collect On Delivery." Confidence man, a charlatan, cheat, or imposter. GLOSSARY. V. Coney, counterfeit notes, of any denomination. Coney man, one known as a bank-note counterfeiter. Coney dealer, one who deals in, passes, or handles counterfeits. Collar, to arrest, or seize with legal authority. Come down, owning up to having committed wrong. Cop, or Copper, a U. S. Detective, or Police officer. Copped^ arrested or secured by a "Cop," or Detective. Cove, a man ; as an old or a young " cove." Cop the borax, to jump with the U. S. Military bounty. Crack, to break into a bank, store, or dwelling. Cracksman, a burglar; one who breaks a bank, &c. Crib, a house — or store — designed to be entered. Cross-drum, a country tavern, upon the road. Cue, a sign, or signal adopted between two persons. Deal, the act of delivering counterfeits from one hand to another. Dealer, the party who issues bogus notes to his patrons. Dead-broke, out of money ; short of ready funds. Dead-beat, a "dead-beat" is an utterly worthless fellow. Dead open-and-shut, a pretty sure thing; a clear fact. Dead to rights, caught, with positive proof of guilt. Dead-wood, the material for certain conviction. Doss ken, a lodging-house, of a low character. Decoy, a disguised person, used to ensnare criminals. Dodge, a quick artful trick, device, or manipulation. Draw the wallet, taking your money liberally to foot a bill Divvy, a division; or dividend of profits, or plunder. Drawn fine, reducing matters to a nice point in trade. Driven to cover, compelled to seek seclusion, for a time. Dried up, concluded, finished, completed — done. Drum, a bad house, boarding-place, or small tavern. Driven to close, forced, at the end of a flight, or race. Easy, pliable; approachable; bribeable; purchaseable. End of his tether, the final conclusion of one's plotting. Fast, or fast man, gay ; worldly ; reckless ; dissipated. Fence, a buyer, or receiver of known stolen goods. Fine work, ingenious operations of Detectives, or artisans. Fixed up, arranged to suit the managing party. Fiasco, a dead failure; a total miscarriage. Fight the tiger, playing at Faro ; free gambling. Flush, having plenty of money, or business on hand. Fly, sharp, quick, knowing, experienced, posted. FLY-cor, a ready, quick-witted officer or Detective. Game, a sharp trick, or device, with sinister design. Given away, to turn one over to the law, or to officers. Gobbled, snatched up, suddenly; aptly secured by Cops. Go-between, a person communicating as a medium between criminals. VI. GLOSSARY. Going in, thrusting one's self into "a free fight," for instance. Going back on him, turning traitor on one's accomplices. Go foe him, to pursue an adversary with sharp intent. Gone over, sent to the Penitentiary, or other prison. Goner, a used-up, convicted, finished individual. Graft, or work, to operate secretly. "Work a job," &c. Habitues, the every-day visitors to any given place. Hang fire, to delay, postpone, procrastinate. Hang thr jury, to induce one or more to " disagree" in a verdict. High-heeled bouts, triumphant, confidant appendages ! Hoisted with his own petard, caught in one's self-laid trap. Hunky-dory, on the right side ; every thing agreeable. Hush-money, cash paid to quash a prosecution, or evidence. If it takes a leg, threat of a desperado, in search of revenge. In a jiffy, on the instant; in a moment; at once. In durance, in confinement; in custody of a jailor. In quod, in prison ; committed, permanently. Inside Track, the weather-gage ; a clear advantage. In the hock, in the act of commission ; on the spot. In the ring, in a clique, or clan of conspirators for evil. In the toils, within the secret control of an officer. Jersey Lightning, a peculiar New Jersey drink ; "blue ruin." Jig is up ! The race is run. The game is concluded. Job, a plot in crime; or the attempt to unravel one. Job out, to partition or distribute counterfeits among coney men. Jumping bail, to forfeit one's bail, before or pending a trial. Ken, a house, a booth, or small hotel for criminals. Keep your eye peeled, to be wide awake, constantly. Kid, a boy ; a child ; or a young criminal associate. Knock under, to waive one's opinion; to succumb. Koniacker, a counterfeiter, or coney man. Land-office business, a heavy, prosperous trade. Lay, course of action ; assumed position ; or dodge. Leg-bail, to escape, or run away from court or prison. Little game, the ruse, object, or design of criminals. 'Lighted, "spotted;" alighted on; detected; found out. Little joker, the " best card " known in the pack. Limbo, a prison; "in limbo," confined in jail. Locate, to place in position ; or fix upon, decidedly. ' Lush-drum, a disreputable resort for criminals. Make it, to appropriate ; to gain a desired point. Make his pile, to gain a coveted sum of lucre. Make connection, to unite surely, with confederates. Moll, a female confederate, or mistress. Muss, an emeute ; snarl ; quarrel, or squabble. Muddle, a foggy state of things ; "mixed" up. GLOSSARY. vii. My Uncle, the pawn-broker, or "pledge" retainer. Nabbed in the hock, caught in the very act. Nary red, out of pocket; " broke " of ready funds- No heeltaps, leaving no drink in the glass. Nolle prosequi, deciding not to prosecute any furthe-. Nolo contendere, don't wish further to contend. Non-plus'd, astounded; perplexed; dumbfounded. One too many, an overmatch ; too strong to contend with. On the level, meeting a man with honorable intentions. On the tapis, on the carpet; what is uppermost in conversation. On the make, anxious, or intent on gain, no matter how. On the square, open and above-board; dealing honestly. On the qui vive, excited, watchful; looking sharply about. Old settler, an experienced rogue, or operator." Out op joint, disarranged; supplanted; something going wrong. Pal, an accomplice, friend, or partner in crime. Peddler, an itinerant counterfeit money-seller. Piped down, followed ; shadowed ; run down by detectives. Pipe off, to follow or dog a suspected person's tracks. Plant, to conceal, or bury ; also, a planned swindle. Play baby, to whine; "squawk;" or assume innocence. Pious lay, the sanctimonious assumption of base hypocrites. Pull, to catch, arrest, collar, or seize a criminal. Pulled, caught, or arrested by a Detective, or officer. Posted, well informed of what is publicly transpiring. Pluck,, courage; stamina; a stout heart; ready valor. •Prison-bird, a criminal who has once been in prison. Put 'em through, subjecting persons to a thorough searching ordeal. Put-up job, a plot contrived to effect some given purpose. Put away, sent to the State Prison, after conviction. Put the collar on, to arrest a criminal, and "iron" him. Putty won't stick, any attempted deceit that miscarries. Puzzle-coves, hard-headed lawyers and attorneys. Pumping, extracting information by nice questioning. Put a head on, to punish; to bruise. (A new cant term). Quod, a lock-up, or prison ; a place of detention. .Queer, base or worthless ; counterfeit money, commonly. Queer cole maker, the manufacturer of bogus bank-notes. Queersman, a regular professional counterfeiter. Quietus, death; repose; rest; final acquittance. Ring, a band of " speculators: " or a criminal clique Right bower, the second-best card in euchre; next to the white " joker." Roping-in, bringing about a "deal," between "informers" and criminals. Roped in, a criminal who is " hoisted by his own petard." Rough customer, an unmanageable or pugnacious prisoner. Royal road, the supposed easiest direct highway to success. Vlll. GLOSSARY. Eun his eig, reached the end of his game, or course. Bun into the gkound, overdone; carried to useless extremity. Ruffles, handcuffs, used upon prisoners by Detectives. Euse, artifice, or stratagem ; a shrewd counter-plot. Bum 'un, a good one; a queer fellow; a jolly boy. Sawdust swindle, a fraudulent game, described on page 404. Seeing the elephant, up to the latest dodge ; knowing; not "green." Six-shooter, one of Colt's pistols. A six-cartridge-revolver. Shadowed, followed stealthily ; dogged by a.Detective. Settle one's hash, to finish a man ; close his business ; used up. Smell a mice, to suspect a design covered up plausibly. Sham abkaham, to play ill ; to pretend to be sick. Snifter, a full glass of toddy, or whiskey. Shove, to push off, or pass counterfeit money publicly. Shake, out to " shake down; " to extort money from individuals. Sold him out, handing over a pal to the authorities. Sound, "square;" honorable; trustworthy. "Oneof us." Spotted, sighted and watched; under surveillance. Spouting man, one" of the fancy, racing, or gambling fraternities. Spring the trap, to finish up the contemplated arrest of any one. Squeal, to turn on an accomplice; to inform, or "peach" on a pal. Stiff o' bingo, a glass of liquor; a full allowance. Strike a lead, to make a discovery pointing to good results. Stock, counterfeit notes, bonds, bank bills, or scrip. Stuff, the term used among counterfeiters for bogus money. Stall, a blind; a decoy. "To stall," is to act a false part. Straw bail, worthless, irresponsible, trumped-up sureties. Stool-pigeon, one who is made use of as a guy, or dummy. Sub rosa, "under the rose." Secretly; confidentially. Suited "to a hole," pleased to a nicety. Just what one wanted. Spondulics, cash; "putty;" "rhino;" "nails;" ready chink, etc. Turned up, abandoned; or turned over to the authorities. Toes up, gone under ; dead ; laid out ; Jiius. Throw up the sponge, to yield; submit; give over contending. Tumbled to the job, one partially " roped in," who flees from his new pals Up in a balloon, gone hopelessly into thin air ! A fiasco. Up to snuff, smart; posted; not easily caught, or cheated. Ultimatum, a final and unalterable proposition. Up the spout, at the pawn-broker's; commonly meaning "gone up." Went through him, searched him thoroughly— or similarly robbed him. Worked, an undertaking, or "job"' mancevured by Detectives. Wokked back, finding stolen property, and "going" for the reward. White-eye, New England rum ; Indian " fire-water." Working up, following up a suspected person, or criminal job. Weak-kneed, or timber-toed ; scary ; cowardly ; easily alarmed. Wooden surtout, a coffin; its nails are termed the "buttons." THREE UNITED STATES DETECTIVES, (WHOSE portraits are given in this work,) DISGUISED IOB AN EXPEDITION. Who are they ? [See page 82, PREFACE. Crime, shielded beneath the garb of outward apparent virtue, stalks abroad unblushingly at noon-day, in the midst of society, or riots under cover of darkness, in- its secretly guarded haunts of infamy. No commu- nity is free from its contamination, in a greater or less degree ; and, in pro- portion as communities enlarge in numbers, so within their borders are the facilities for the commission of crime enhanced in its various phases, as well as in enormity. Peculiar shades or kinds of crime nourish, and die out, in different lo- calities ; and carefully collated statistics show that one phase may prosper — for decades of years — in a particular section of country, under given circumstances, while another species of crime may succeed, for the time being, in another quarter. Murder, burglary, robbery, counterfeiting, incendiarism, garroting, defaulting — all have their period and temporary locality, from time to time, as the years roll round — while the criminal offenders, for a term, go unwhipt of justice. Within the past few years, through the skillful and well-directed efforts ■ of the officials selected by the United States' authorities as the instruments to drag forth to the light the cunning perpetrators of many of the crimes alluded to — the number of accomplished first-class rogues and operators at large in this country has been very considerably diminished ; and more especially has this desirable result been effected, within a comparatively recent period, thanks to the ingenuity, the prudence, the courage, and the zeal of the force attached to the United States Secbet Sebvice Div'n. Among the prominent villains who have for years preyed upon the pub- lic, (in the West and South-west, more signally,) and who have been cap- tured, convicted, and confined in our penitentiaries, through the persistent efforts of the U. S. Detective force, are many of the chiefest of this cate- gory of sinners, who have passed their lives, from boyhood, in the infamous business of counterfeiting, or in the work of circulating counterfeit money. For the most part, therefore, the pages which follow will be found to be devoted to a history of the career of noted Countebfeitees in America, who have been brought to grief, and who have been righteously disposed of for the time being, upon conviction — whereby the communities they have hitherto long persecuted, have thus been relieved of the curse of their evil practices and baleful influence. X. PREFACE. The object of this volume of "Memoirs," is chiefly to lay bare to the view of the masses the infamous yet ingenious modus operandi of the skillful counterfeiters in this country ; and, through the medium of its pages, to inform the people regarding the subtle shifts and cunning devices to which this dangerous fraternity resort, in prosecuting the varied 'ram- ifications of their nefarious operations. The desire is to warn and place upon their guard the community at large, who, in every sphere of business life — from that of the humblest laborer or mechanic upon whom, through the shrewd machinations of this vil- lainous tribe, base imitations of the National Currency are so frequently imposed — to the banker, the merchant, or the millionaire, who receives his tens of thousands in the public securities ; among which are so often dis- covered the worthless Notes or Bonds handled and accumulated, or laid away in good faith as to their genuineness. The country has been flooded with these counterfeits, notwithstanding the vigilant efforts of the Treas- ury Department, under whose efficient and able administration so much has been accomplished, in the way of putting forth the most exquisitely engraved and artistically executed notes and bonds that have been pro- duced in the world. To aid in instructing the people regarding the wily arts of these base imitators, and to show up some of the worst of these wicked criminals — so far as the limits of a single volume of veritable record is adequate to effect it, in this direction — has been the aim in the preparation of these pages ; in the performance of which undertaking, the author has had no occasion to "draw upon imagination" for the contents of this work. Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed! The thrilling narratives which fol- low, are but faithful transcripts of the official accounts set down at length in the records of the Secret Service Department ; and the names, the dates, and the facts set forth are real — in all their romantic, astounding, and pe- culiarly interesting details. The almost incredible histories herein embodied, it is admitted would present a palpable odor of the sensational plot of extravagant romance, but for the proof of their actuality, borne out by the official record. And it is confidently assumed, of the selections made from the mass of cases that have been successfully worked up by the officers of the Department from which these accounts have been carefully compiled, that no criminal record ever furnished such remarkable instances ; while it is equally certain, ex- traordinary as these tales appear, that "the half has not been told," nor could all the particulars be crowded into many volumes. The successful Counterfeiter, though a Pariah in principle, brings to the execution of his task rare mechanical skill, and first-class artistic tal- ent. So well versed in judging of its character are the majority of money- PREFACE. 11. handlers in the United States at the present day, that the indifferent or second-rate engraving of a bank-note quickly condemns it, under the eye . of the experienced bank official, the broker, or the merchant. And, al- though many poorly executed counterfeits of the National Currency are palmed off upon the unwary or inexperienced, yet it is the good imitations that succeed, advantageously, to the extensive originators and distributors of the forgeries. Among the criminals whose careers are set forth in this work, it will be observed that some of them have for years moved in good business circles, and though for a long period under surveillance, have strangely eluded con- viction. In the instance of Miner, recently arrested and arraigned in New _ York city, the trial of the first often indictments found by the Grand Jury, terminated in a technical verdict of " not guilty." The report of the evidence produced by the Government, however, against this notorious individual, is accurately given in this work — from which the unbiased public may judge of the merits of the extraordinary result in this trial! Among the skilled mechanical experts mentioned hereafter, the case of the notorious Peter McCartney may be cited, who is notably one of the best engravers in this country, and who earned the unenviable sobriquet of " King of the Counterfeiters," years since, in the West. This individual personally informed the author, a few monthssinee, that the now well- known IT. S. $5 "greenback"* which has readily deceived hundreds of good judges, and thousands of which have been circulated, all over the land — was engraved by his hands, unaided, and completed in thirteen days from the hour he sat down to produce this dangerous and -admirably executed counterfeit bank note. Verily the application of such talents and accomplished skill were worthy of being devoted to a better cause ! The fraternity of Counterfeiters, until within a few years, have contrived as a rule to keep the secrets of their traffic and evil practices so well, that only with the utmost difficulty, and after long pursuit of the object, have the leaders in this iniquitous work been either surprised or betrayed. But the "eternal vigilance" and continuous watchfulness which have charac- terized the shrewd conduct of the Secret Service Department, in latter times — pre-eminently under the effective management of its present able Chief, Col. H. C. Whitley, and his accomplished leading Deputies— have successfully unearthed and brought to justice many of the most notorious characters engaged in this business, that ever cursed any civilized country on earth — as the veritable and authoritative narratives to be found in this volume fully attest. "*Thi3 note (from the captured plate,) with several others printed at the Treasury Depart- ment for that valuable work, will be found in " Heath's U. S. Coomtekfeit Deteotok," published at Boston. Xll. PREFACE. The publication of the details of these exciting and curious instances of crime has been feebly objected to, as possibly tending to open the eyes, and offer warning to undetected rogues still at large ; and it has been sug- gested that there be those who may profit in iniquity through the means of such an expose" of the tricks of their foul profession, as this work, in various ways, contains. In answer to this hint, it is sufficient to assert that the skillful expert in crime rarely, if ever, attempts the-accomplishment of his discovered designs for evil a second time in the same manner, or through similar means. And it is equally true that the skilled Detective or official expert who pursues the offender, never adopts the same mode to hunt down different objects of his game. If he be competent to the fulfillment of his appointed duty, his- fertile brain and the continually enlarging and varying experience in his profession prompts him to devise new modes of pursuit, fresh plans to compass his end, original ways and schemes to bring about the object he seeks, and.novel plans for the capture of criminals. The circumstances at- tending the commission of each separate instance of crime are so widely at variance, in all their bearings, that what might apply advantageously to one case, would prove utterly futile towards success in another. So, the exposure made of past acts of condemned criminals, and the manner in which they may have been successfully hunted down and disposed of, as in the instances we have quoted, or the modes adopted in the past to entrap or secure them — will hardly be applied to future cases that may occur. The writer is enabled to place before the public the thrilling, romantic and curious narrations in this work through the courtesy of the United States authorities, who have kindly accorded him access to the official records. The perusal of these pages, by all classes of the community, it is believed cannot but result in benefit to the people of this country, and afford them valuable information upon the interesting subject thus intro- duced to their notice, which in no other veritable way can be communi- cated ; inasmuch as each and every sketch herein contained, is a truthful and unvarnished tale from real life — in our very midst. That good will result from the recital of these startling but actual in- stances of the refinement of crime, in our community — that the infor- mation embodied in these singular narratives will serve to put the people upon their guard against the dangerous practices of the cunning counter- feiter and forger — and that all who read these accounts of the daring, subtle, stealthy deeds of these vultures and rogues, will rise from perusing these " Memoirs " better prepared to contend against the evil of the dan- gerous phase of crime exposed in this volume — is the earnest hope of the authorities who sanction the publication of these notable cases, and the sincere belief of The Author. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF COL. H. C. WHITLEY, CHEEP OF THE TJ. S. SECBET SERVICE DIVISION. As a fitting introduction to the " Memoirs " which form the main contents of the present volume, it is deemed appro- priate to devote the first few pages to some account of the eventful and fortunately successful career of the official who presides at the head of the Department of the Secret Ser- vice, and whose peculiar fitness for the responsible position he occupies is assured beyond cavil, from the accomplish- ment of the tangible results that have accrued, during his administration of the delicate and important duties entrusted to his hands by the United States Government. The increase of crime among us as this country has grown in age, has involved the necessity of instituting new, and of enlarging the province of our older police systems ; with a view to protecting society from the sinister or ma- licious designs of the unprincipled and reckless — who grow with the growth and strengthen with the strength of all nations. The prime object of this Division is to prevent the' com- mission of crime, to hunt out its perpetrators, and to bring to justice discovered offenders against wholesome law. To 14 COL. H. C. WHITLEY. carry out this laudable purpose more effectually than had eventuated under the old system of local or state police organizations, it was a few years since deemed advisable that our National Government should inaugurate an elabo- rate plan of detection — similar to that supported advan- tageously in European countries ; as tending to sound public economy, and affording the requisite means materially to aid all minor police bodies in restraining crime, and in bringing to light the horde of lawless offenders who were battening upon the community. While the duties of Chief of such an oi'ganization are most onerous and arduous, the merely physical requirements of his position are of but minor consideration in compari- son to the requisite qualities of head and mind and heart which he should possess, in order to carry out, judiciously and appropriately, the objects aimed at through the opera- tions of the work he is appointed to superintend. In selecting a chief for an institution thus contemplated, the Government would naturally seek for an individual pos- sessing rare qualifications : — in more respects than one ; and " the right man in the right place," would hardly be found, on brief notice, to assume this responsible position, the com- plicated and burthensome duties of which can scarcely be over-estimated. The incumbent of this important place becomes at once, from the nature of his official position, " a shining mark " for covert assault. The shafts of envy, of malice, of compet- itive ambition, all are levelled at his head — by outsiders, criminals, or aspirants, who are eternally upon his track to displace, malign and crush him. His couch is far from being a bed of roses, indeed ! It matters little, in respect of the fierce opposition which inevitably pursues him, how able may be his administration CHIEF OF P. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 15 of the duties of this peculiar office, how upright his motives of action, or how efficacious may be his course of manage- ment. Be he " chaste as ice or pure as snow, he cannot escape calumny, " and that, too, persistently. The more zealous or successful he may prove in .suppress- ing crime and capturing criminals, the more formidable are his assailants, the more numerous his enemies, among the lawless — and the more earnest and determined become his self-interested revilers and competitors. But, if he possesses the attributes of true moral courage, and is competent, .in talent, habit, and rectitude — as such officer surely should be — to pursue the even tenor of his way in the path of right, he does not fail to secure the confidence of his government. And, while loyally and firmly discharging his arduous round of duty to that acceptance, he enjoys its support to a degree that amply serves to protect and sustain him, without concern regarding the stealthy attacks of villifiers — despite all at- tempts of the vengeful, the envious, or the ambitious — amidst the busy, irksome experience of his responsible calling. Experience has verified — even in this country, already — that it was not an easy task at first to obtain the services of the person best fitted for this honorable and important post, and it can only be fairly determined that a subsequent effort, in this direction, has proved successful, from the re- sults thus far attained under the management of the present head of this Division, whose history we now proceed briefly to sketch. Some twenty-two years ago, a rugged but not stoutly built boy, then fourteen years of age, found himself without permanent occupation, away in the state of Ohio, upon what is well known as the great " Western Reserve." He was in high health, and had enjoyed the advantages of a fair common-school education — his parents having cared 16 SKETCH OF COL. H. C. WHITLEY, for him in this respect, especially; but they were not possessed of over-abundant means, and at an early period of life, the son chose to strike out for himself, and sought bis support through his own personal exertions, rather than to become burthensom,e upon his friends. This lad was born in Maine. Coming of Scotch descent, remotely, he embodied in his physique the hardiness of that notably rugged race as well as, mentally, the shrewd characteristics of his early progenitors. At the town of Kirtland, Ohio, however, he obtained his schooling, which proved equal to that of the average of youngsters in his sphere of life, as to ordinary acquirements. As a boy, he shared with his mates the inclination to common roguishness, and like others, was fond of the lively tricks and wholesome fun then current among lads of his years. But he had been studiously instructed by his atten- tive parents to value the principles of rectitude and straight- forward honesty, in his conduct, and he profited by this timely advice of his family. From the outset of his career in life, he despised wrong, as he steadily avoided evil-doing ; and entertained a healthy horror of crime — in all its forms or -details, from his childhood. He was ambitious to excel his companions in study as well as in performance. He was athletic in physical strength, notwithstanding his apparently spare form and light build, yet he managed to keep in advance of his compeers, at school, and in all the rude sports and petty trials of strength he encountered in those days of his youth, he did not fall behind his associates in prowess, daring, or the accomplishment of his aimed-at purpose.. He had worked among the western farmers in his neigh- borhood from time to time, at three dollars a month in those early days — and he thought of bettering his prospects, CHIEF OF U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 17 upon opportunity. When he had just passed fourteen, there came into Kirtland one fine spring day, a stranger who accosted him in the road. He was out of school, at recess hour, at the moment, and had concealed his shoes between two stones, near by ; preferring — like other lads about — to run barefooted, whenever he could. " What is your name, boy ? " asked the stranger. " Hiram C. Whitley," responded the lad. " What are you doing ? " " Nothing. Attending school, only." " Would you like employment ? " " Yes," said the boy, quickly. " Come with me, then." " Where ? " inquired young Whitley. " I'm a drover," said the man. " Assist me to get these cattle through the town ; and if you like, you may go with me, further." Without stopping to secure his hidden shoes, even, the lad accepted the strange drover's offer, and left Kirtland, his friends and companions behind him at once, and started out to seek his future fortune, in excellent spirits. The enterprise he thus embarked in took him directly across the Alleghany Mountains on foot, in company with the drover, to Chester County, Pennsylvania. Here he re- ceived sixteen dollars for his services. They were six weeks on the journey, — and he subsequently crossed those moun- tains, to and fro, seven times in a similar way. After his first trip, he returned to Ohio in eight days on foot, and ■expended one dollar and a half, only, upon his back trip, the people declining to take pay from him on account of his youth. He continued hard at work, being naturally indus- . triously disposed. In those weary journies, they travelled six or seven hundred miles at a time — often seventy to 18 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, eighty miles in twenty four hours — on foot, always. But this style of exercise and almost continual out-of-doors habit, served to harden him in flesh and muscle, until four years of such physical experience rendered the boy a sturdy young man, who could endure fatigue and rough usage with- out faltering or complaint. He loved the fresh mountain air, his health improved, and he toiled and went and came until he was eighteen, when he crossed the Alleghanies on foot for the last time. He soon afterward left the West for Massachusetts, where he had relatives ; and settled temporarily in the town of Canton, busying himself again for a few months with farm- ing. Thence he tried his hand at sea and having made a few successful fishing voyages from Gloucester to the Banks and the Bay of St. Lawrence, he returned to Boston, not vastly improved in purse, at last. He had travelled con- siderably, and his money had melted away. He essayed the business of house-painting, for a time — but disliked the work, and relinquished this for the opportunity which offered to engage in one or another enterprise, which afforded him, in the end, neither satisfaction or pecuniary emoluments, to any extent, and when twenty-three years' old, he left New England for Kansas. This in 1857. At this period, in that new Territory, the experience of our subject was an almost continuous series of enterprises and expeditions involving hazards most dangerous, and fa- tigue as well as perils that would have daunted and driven back a less determined man. He had not yet had the training that was needed for one to cope with the prejudices of the people he found there ; and one of the first errors he committed upon reaching that then far-away but " liberty- loving soil," was to become involved in aiding and abetting the Missouri authorities in returning to the custody of their CHIEF OF U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 19 masters, (under the requirements of the old Fugitive Slave Law,) some runaway negroes he discovered escaping from the South, and who were then being run into Iowa by the anti-slavery people, under the lead of John Brown, and his friends. But the Fugitive Slave Law disgraced the American Statute-book, and he honestly then believed that he was following the right in lending his assistance to the Govern- ment in returning to bondage, agreeably with the provisions of that obnoxious law, those who were fleeing from servi- tude. In this . belief he was wrong ; but he did not think so : and for once he lent his aid to the authorities on that occasion, and labored to arrest and send back to their owners certain fugitives he encountered, or followed up — thereby causing himself serious trouble, and drawing down upon his head the odium which inevitably attached to this mistaken course — a course he has since regretted, but which he at that time deemed rightful and proper, unfortunately. After returning from a trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1859, he took sick in Kansas, and left that State, proceeding to New Orleans, where he went into the hotel business, and continued in that, with indifferent success, for a time, when he turned his attention to trading, upon the Mississippi and Red Rivers ; in which latter occupation the rebellion found him, upon its first breaking out. He was not a politician, nor had he ever identified him- self, in any way or manner, with Southern interests, save in the single particular above noted. And in this, he simply aided in what thousands of others contended for (at that period) to wit : the maintenance of the law. This law was a blot upon the American statute-book. But it was there, for a time, and he, like many other well-meaning but mis- guided men, believed in the supremacy of the law, and 20 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, favored its execution, while it existed. But, when the South turned its hand openly against the Government, and put in peril the life of the nation, he was among the first to see how this- terribly threatening result had been brought about ; and none saw more quickly or more clearly than he did, what influence this accursed Fugitive Slave Law had exerted, directly and indirectly,, in producing the frightful outbreak that ensued ! I The opening of the rebellion found ■ him trading upon Red River, in the boats that plied from point to point, and to or from New Orleans. He was well known along the River, and the business he was then pursuing aided him essential- ly in the plans he at once adopted, both to avoid being forced into the Confederate Service and to afford him oppor- tunity to aid the Union side, afterwards. He was never in any way connected with the rebel interests, nor did his pre- vious education, his habits, his desires, or his intentions ever incline him to favor that side, from first to last. On the contrary, at the very outset, he espoused the Union cause ; and, from the beginning, all his conduct has been approved by the U. S. authorities, and commended by those who have directed his movements while he has been in the military or civil service of the United States. When New Orleans was captured by the Union authori- ties, and General Butler occupied it, our subject was at Shrevesport, on Red River, pursuing his trading avocations in the steamers, as above alluded to. Upon hearing of this fact, he at once determined upon reaching the Crescent City at the earliest moment, intending to offer his services to the Government in such capacity as might prove acceptable. The Confederate " Committee of Safety " had then just been formed, and it was a difficult matter for any one to move about, in the rebel country, without passes, or credentials as tc CHIEF OF U. S. BECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 21 their character. The rebel authorities had seized the steamer " Starlight;," then on the Red River. He contrived to se- cure this steamer's yawl-boat, and iu that frail bark, with two friendly negroes to assist in the desperate enterprise, he proceeded 700 miles down Red River and the Mississippi, to New Orleans — where he first saw the U. S. gun-boats, thereabouts, lying at anchor iu the stream. He had no faith in the rebel cause, and he took care to rid himself of Confederate money. He took his funds in gold and U. S. scrip, succeeded in reaching New Orleans in safety — and immediately reported to Maj. Gen. Butler, then commanding the Department of the Gulf, who referred him to the Provost Marshal for Louisiana, Col. Jonas H. French, of Mass. ; who shortly placed the new-comer upon active duty in connection with his department. The suggestion was made by Whitley that the " New Palls City, " a steamer lying a mile below Alexandria- (on the Red River,) might possibly be captured from the rebels. This boat was a good one, and the attempt was entered upon, he having proceeded clandestinely to Alexandria for this purpose. Whitley found the undertaking hazardous, and could have succeeded in it, but for the fact which he learned, at length, that he could procure no engineer to take charge of the steamer, after cutting her out ; and so this scheme was abandoned. Gov. Moore, of Louisiana, had meantime issued orders forbidding all persons from crossing the River. A Committee on passports was instituted. The utmost watchfulness was exerted over the movements of every one, and especially towards any who were suspected of bearing in their veins any loyal Union blood. Thus it was found ex- ceedingly difficult to pass amongst the rebellious belligerents unchallenged, if a man even secretly entertained any but the most radical " secesh " opinions and designs. 22 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, Mr. Whitley applied to a friendly grocer for the purchase of a bill of stores, with which he proposed to cross Red River and the country 30 or 40 miles beyond, to Little River. The stream was heavily flooded. Incessant rains for days together had swollen the waters to a fearful extent, and the crossing of the country was then a difficult task. It was concluded to take the goods around by Black River (which runs from the Red to Little River.) But the grocer had sold the goods well, and he was desirous to sell more, and he came to Whitley's aid. " I am a member of the Committee on passports," he said, " and you shall not be detained for lack of a pass." Whitley bought a skiff, found two negroes to row him to Black River, showed his pass, gave the sentries tobacco, at different points, and finally encountered an old gent, who was in authority as commander of a body of rebels, who actually proposed to make him his Lieutenant. This ar- rangement he nominally accepted, and was furnished with the necessary credentials to pass on along the rebel lines — wherever he chose to move. Whitley was to raise men for this command upon Little River, but proceeded ' forward quietly (towards the Union lines, which he hoped and aimed to reach,) until he was out of range and out of sight, by means of his ruse ; when he put for New Orleans, at his best convenient pace, forgetting to return to Red River again, to report progress to his self-constituted superior officer, there ; he on the contrary getting back to the Union lines again in safety, and reporting in person to the Provost- Marshal, to whom he duly recited various hints he had learned during his brief absence in the rebel camp and country. From this time, he went regularly into the employ of the Marshal, as special Detective, in the Union service — to which cause he had always been unfalteringly attached, from principle, as well as education. CHIEF OF U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 23 Among the most efficient aids the U. S. government had ill Louisiana, for the capture of the " Thugs," and the famous corrupt old " ring," at New Orleans, was found in the person of Mr. Whitley. He was kept continuously on active duty there, and constantly making important captures of persons, and seizures of property of rebel offenders, under the general direction of the Provost Marshal of the Gulf ! Department. ' At this period, Col. Jonas H. French, of Boston, who had accompanied the command of General Butler from Massa- chusetts to New Orleans, held the office of Marshal; and through his able administration of the duties of this highly important post, the business had become admirably sys- tematized, and was being operated to rare advantage, as well as with excellent discrimination, in all its details. The appointment of this gentleman to that office proved a stroke of excellent good policy, and he acquitted himself in the discharge of its manifold and complicated duties, to such universal acceptance, that he won the highest credit while occupying the position, and fully verified the good opinion of the Commanding General, for his tact and skill in managing this difficult branch of the internal police of the Department there. But the Marshal sought new men and fresh assistants, constantly; and Mr. Whitley came to him under circumstances that struck him at once as promising additional advantages and aid in his office. He appointed Whitley, and placed him on duty, directly, upon learning his previous history ; and the new man proved all that he had looked for, subsequently. In that position he was eminently successful, and at once took a leading position as an accomplished Detective, in the Police Service, of which Col. French was also Chief, in Louisiana. The State Prison at Baton Bouge had been destroyed by 24 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, the fire of the contending armies, and most of the dangerous prisoners in that institution had thus been set at liberty ; among whom were several convicted murderers, burglars, and other notoriously desperate characters, previously sen- tenced for years, or for life, for their crimes. Prominent amongst these suddenly released- wretches, was one Pedro Capdeville, a Mexican outlaw and consummate rascal, one of the roughest and most reckless land-pirates ever known in the Southern country. He had been incarcer- ated under a life-sentence, and was a powerful, inhuman, graceless scoundrel, whom everybody feared, and none cared to encounter, in a conflict. This man was innately bad. He was captured, and put into the chain-gang, after getting out of prison, but soon escaped. He then assaulted a citizen of New Orleans, robbed him of $600, and left his victim for dead, upon the pavement where he ruthlessly struck him down. The man recovered, however, and orders came from Col. French to pursue and capture Capdeville once more, at all hazards. Whitley was first on this stalwart and merciless mur- derer's track. Other officers had failed to hunt him down, and were really disinclined to tackle him. But the Marshal gave Whitley his instructions, and he went for the brute ; resolved upon taking him — alive or dead — in obedience to superior orders. Whitley soon tracked Capdeville to the place where he occasionally lunched, and entered the restaurant one day, where he discovered him. He did not know the villain clearly, but contrived to make out his identity shortly, and calling for refreshments, watched him a few minutes, and calculated his chances in this enter- prise. He saw at a glance that the escaped murderer was a powerfully built man, and felt convinced in advance that he CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 25 would prove an ugly adversary to cope with. But his natural firmness in purpose, his own self-reliant good courage, and his indomitable will, in all such emergencies — served him well upon this desperate occasion, as it had done be- fore, and has often done since. His man was before him. He was bound to secure him. It was next to impossible to get assistance, at this moment, in this undertaking, from among the men at hand — all of whom knew and feared the convict fugitive. His associate, at this moment, was a thief whom Whitley knew. He spoke to this man, and told him quietly he was after Capdeville, and that he had better move off. He then approached Capdeville, told him he wanted somebody else, whom he thought he, at first sight, resembled, and requested C. to accompany him to the Station, to give such information as he could, regarding the other suspected party. But C. declined to go, of course. Whitley then closing upon him, frankly told him he was an officer, and called upon C. to surrender, when the rascal instantly drew his bowie-knife, lunged fiercely at W., and sprang for him, with an oath and another furious" knife-blow. Whitley drew his revolver and fired on the wretch, who whirled about, bolted out into the street, and fled. His pursuer followed him vigorously, shot at him as he flew, and ran him down, inflicting two shot-wounds upon his body.. No one dared to interfere to stop him, as he went. He was well known and thoroughly feared. Whitley sprang upon him, bore him down, secured him, and then with the aid of two street Policemen, ironed and took him away. His two wounds were deemed fatal, and Whitley had him sent to the Hospital, where he lived twenty-four 'hours, only — after this, his last desperate struggle. He was credited with the murder of ten different men, whom he had fought and vanquished ; but he met his deserved fate at last, at the 26 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, hands of Whitley, who proved an over-match even for this stout-limbed reckless fiend, and who had been thus beaten, at length, and finally disposed of, to the great satisfaction of the citizens of New Orleans and vicinity. Mr. Whitley was duly appointed by Gov. Shepley, (mili- tary governor, of Louisiana) to the post of Major of the Seventh Regiment of Louisiana Volunteers. This command was composed of Creoles and rich colored men of New Orleans, who were among the wealthy and respectable citi- zens there — and were all good men, of character and posi- tion in society. In the capacity of Major, he continued up to the close of the rebellion, and during his term of service he started to recruit another regiment of Union Volunteers, (the 13th U. S. Colored Infantry) of which, almost entirely through his personal exertions, four companies of this regiment were raised. The Major was then re-commissioned by Gen. Banks (in '-63) and was with the Baldy Smith Commission till the close of its duties. The four companies mentioned were subsequently consolidated with other regiments, and Major Whitley then-left the U. S. recruiting service. During Gen. Banks' administration of the Gulf Depart- ment, the guerrillas outside of the picket lines became exceedingly troublesome, and officers or orderlies on duty, alone, were not infrequently killed by these pests, who se- creted themselves in ambush, around New Orleans. Some of them robbed a plantation" down the coast, between Baton Rouge and the city, and during the raid actually stole some personal property belonging to Major Whitley, himself. And one day he went in search of the midnight marauders. At three o'clock A. M., he started out, at the head of four- teen Illinois Cavalrymen, and soon struck the tracks of these rebs — just back of Baton Rouge. CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 27 He rode up to a house, discovered an escaping rebel, and ordered him to halt. He refused, and was quickly dropped from his saddle. Then dividing his little forces, they went in further search of the offenders. At the head of seven men, just after daylight, as the sun rose and glinted its light upon their arms, he discovered and surprised seven of the guerrillas. They fired upon him and his men, instanter, and they returned the assault sharply. The skirmish lasted for several minutes, but Major Whitley retired from the fray with his men unhurt, after killing six of this base crew and capturing the seventh man, whom he took prisoner into Baton Rouge, where he was delivered over to military au- thority. These " bush-whackers " were the roughest of hu- man creatures, ill-dressed, ill-fed, and unseemly in their ap- pearance ; but they were universally well mounted, and were among the hardiest and most determined men in the rebel service ; and were selected by their secesh commanders es- pecially for their reckless character and courageous disposi- tion. But the lesson taught these men, in this instance, had the effect of dispersing the other portions of this gang, around New Orleans. They were beaten by equal numbers, and they left the vicinity, after this occurence. Major Whitley was highly successful during his New Orleans career. He had for several years previously been " roughing it," in one locality or another, and he brought with him, when he entered the Service of the Gulf Department, a goodly experience, which served him materially in the course of the discharge of his duties in the new position, there. The Commanding General of the Department appreciated his services, and his immediate superior, Col. French, es- teemed him as foremost among his most valued lieutenants. During the progress of the Red River Expedition, Major Whitley was one day out upon duty with the cavalry, and 28 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, while they temporarily halted, he rode forward a mile or so, alone. Coming upon a little party inclined to trade horses, he drew up to drive a bargain for his own rather used-up nag, and suddenly found himself surprised by two fierce guerillas, in the yard of the plantation where he stopped. He chanced to be roughly attired, and appeared like one of the prowling rebs who infested the neighborhood, or who hung upon the Union flanks, as scouts. The foremost of the new-comers upon the scene at onee accosted him with — " hallo, stranger! What yer 'bout, yere ? " " Skulking from the Yanks," said Whitley — instantly taking in the situation he found himself in. "They're all round us, yere — thicker'n flies 'round a treacle bung-hole." " Who ar yer ? Whar yer from ? " asked the butternut, rudely. " Berwick's Bay," said the Major. Two more guerillas came up, at this juncture — from among Bailey Vincent's men ; and the latter queried and eyed the Major — who talked " secesh " glibly, and advised the rebels to be on their taps. Then he suggested that he and they should start off together, and dodge the Yanks, whose van guard would shortly approach, and " were too many for 'em." The proposed horse-trade was abandoned — the men mounted, and pushed away, and the Major quiet- ly watched his opportunity to bolt, and escape from their unwelcome company; leaving the scared rebs to wonder whither he had gone, and how he had thus left them, sud- denly, to " go it, alone ! " The Department of the G-ulf had been most admirably managed by Gen. Butler, and he made no enemies and en- countered no opposition to his administration of affairs there, save among the rebels of the South and their sympa- thizers in the North. When President Lincoln appointed CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 29 General Butler to that important post, he performed an act that the entire North approved and applauded. He was "the right man in the right place," so everybody admitted — and his conduct of affairs in that postion will ever remain a crowning triumph for him, among those who will take the trouble to learn what he did, how he did it, and what were the results of his course in New Orleans in the end. When President Lincoln thought fit to relieve him, there, and change the Commander in the Gulf Department, al- though he was pre-eminently honest in purpose and rarely committed grave errors in his administration of public affairs, yet we are constrained to believe that this change was a mistake — and we do not doubt to-day, that Mr. Lincoln himself realized the truth of this, when its correc- tion could not consistently and appropriately be made — to the President's regret. The sound statesmanship of Gen. Banks, and his many cultivated qualifications are not to be questioned. But there was " a fitness of things " involved in this important action of the late lamented President; and, though in all the public positions in which Gen. Banks had previously to this appointment been placed, he had acquitted himself with high "credit, yet, in the instance now spoken of, there can be no doubt that Gen. Butler's policy in New Orleans had proven singularly successful ; and it would have been better for his fame as well as for that of his successor, had he been per- mitted to have remained at the head of the military Depart- ment of the Gulf, where he had from the outset acquitted himself so loyally and so creditably. And we make this allusion with a full knowledge and high appreciation of the superior executive and administra- tive qualities of Gen. Butler's immediate successor. But that position was an exception to general rule ; and the 30 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, policy of Butler there was, in our humble judgment, the best that could apply to that entirely exceptional community. It was an absolute necessity that a change of public policy, at that time, should be avoided. And no man knew or could know, so well as Gen. Butler did, exactly what the exigencies of that critical period demanded. After the close of the war, Major Whitley went from New Orleans to Boston. His health had been impaired, and he sought rest and recuperation in the climate of New England once more. In Boston, he embarked in the brokerage business for a few months. But he found the " sharks " engaged directly or indirectly in that calling were bent upon beating out of the field all " interlopers " or new comers in the trade. And he relinquished that business, after less than a year's experience in it, leaving behind him a young man to wind up his affairs, appropriately, which required some time to effect, justly to himself and those he had traded with. During this period, he acquired a knowledge of certain men and business " transactions," which afforded him a further insight into human character, which, in after years, proved valuable to him in the course of the duty he was about to be called upon to enter, once more, in the service of the U. S. Government. He was appointed a Lieut. Col. by Gen. Banks. He had acquired many warm new friends in Massachu- setts, and collecting the recommendations tendered him by old ones, he made application for the post of Detective Officer in the U. S. Revenue Department. Proceeding to Washington, he presented his credentials, but found some eight hundred applicants had got there before him. Upon examination, Hon. E. A. Rollins, then Commissioner of Internal Revenue, selected Whitley as the man best ac- credited, and suited for the vacancy that was open. He was duly appointed, and sent to Kansas, where, he had CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 31 had a busy experience years before, where he had still many friends and numerous enemies, as he knew ; but his success in discovering and breaking up the fraudulent " Whiskey ring " there, and numerous illicit distilleries, also, was re- markable. While busily engaged in this duty, Gen. Meade, (who commanded the U. S. Military Department in Georgia,) at Atlanta, telegraphed to Washington, (April 13, 1868,) as follows : — "General Grant, Washington. I desire to have sent me, without delay, an experienced Detective, to aid in detecting the Ashburn murderers. He should report to me in person. Can such a person be sent ? (Signed) Geo. G. Meade, Maj. General. To this, Gen. Grant answered, " your request will be com- plied with." A second despatch from Gen. Meade was then sent to Gen. Grant — saying that "H. 0. Whitley, now in Kansas, is very much wanted here, in connection with the Columbus murder." And again urging the sending of Col. Whitley to Georgia, forthwith. This noted criminal case is well known, generally. Mr. G. W. Ashburn was a member of the Georgia State Con- stitutional Convention, and being an outspoken exponent of radical principles, fell a victim to the malice of a band of desperadoes (dozens of Columbus, Geo.,) where he then resided. Forty of these people, armed and in disguise, entered his domicil at midnight, and ruthlessly murdered him ; — having literally riddled his body with pistol-balls. The crime was so shockingly flagrant, that the U. S. Govern- ment took the case in hand, directly. It was worked up by Col. W., and the evidence of guilt was so completely fas- 32 tened upon nine of the leading citizens of Columbus, that nothing but Legislative intervention (before the trial of the murderers was completed,) saved the guilty parties from conviction. The State Legislature, voted to adopt the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, while the trial was in progress before a military commission — thus taking the accused out of the hands of the military authorities. After some necessary delay in order to close up certain matters he was engaged upon in Kansas, Whitley went to Atlanta, worked up this notable case successfully, but under great difficulties, and thus added fresh laurels to his rapidly rising fame, as may be learned from the official report made of this very extraordinary and knotty case — which had pre- viously baffled qll the attempts of his predecessors, in the unravelling. Officers of all kinds had tried to ferret out its intricacies, and for the most part had given up the pursuit, until they could have fresh aid. Col. Whitley so managed the investigation as to give entire satisfaction to Gen. Meade and the Government, and proved himself equal to a task that many others had relinquished as hopeless. Prom Georgia, he went to Illinois, to, look after the illicit whiskey stills that were established there, at various points — many of which he broke up and turned over the offenders, in these cases, to the law. Thence he proceeded into Virginia, upon similar duty ; where the manufacturers had both neglected and refused to pay Internal Revenue duties. At this time, Commissioner Rollins appointed Col. Whit- ley Assistant Assessor, with full powers, to act in Virginia. Just below Lynchburg, illicit whiskey distilling was being carried on, largely — in the 5th District — and the business was so profitably prosecuted that any interference with their operations made hot work for the U. S. officers who afc. CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 33 tempted to reform this abuse. With five chosen men, he went forth into the Mountain District, and found the rivers swollen to torrents. The residents said it would be fatal to attempt to cross the River. But the game they sought was upon the opposite side. The officer and his men plunged into the angry waters, and swam their horses over, safely. Amid the war of the elements, during this storm and freshet, the busy distillers were not looking for the arrival of the officials. But Whitley pursued his way among them, surprised the offenders, and in a few days struck thirty-one large copper stills, in operation, captured and destroyed the entire lot, and also thousands of gallons of whiskey, arrested twelve or thirteen illicit manufacturers, and seized one large Tobacco factory, which was forfeited to Government. He sprang from his horse, upon occasion, and with his own hands cut and broke up the stills, when lie found that neither white men or negroes would aid him, for fear of future consequences at the hands of the owners. In Virginia, his experience among this kind of gentry was indeed busy ! As he returned (during one of these official raids) to the town of Liberty, the people came down upon him. Lawyers declared that the course he was pur- suing was illegal. He arrested the former U. S. Ass't. Assessor, who had been conniving with the offenders to cheat the Government ; and the mob demanded that Whitley should give this man up. He stood beside his captured prisoner, at bay — for the threatening crowd would have readily appalled a man of lesser courage. But he knew he was right, and it is not in his nature to yield a single point, in controversy, where he feels assured of his posi- tion; while he never acts rashly or unadvisedly. "He is my lawful prisoner," said the Colonel, calmly but decisive- ly, to the representative of the threatening crowd. " If 34 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, they dare persist to attempt his rescue," he continued, placing his ready revolver at his prisoner's head, " I will shoot him, on the spot ! " The excited throng fell back. They saw the flash iu the determined officer's eye, and they knew he " meant business," though his words were few, and his man- ner cool, defiant and manly. They gave up the contest. The best men in the place came to his aid, and then assisted in securing and conveying the culprit away. While thus engaged as Assistant Assessor in Virginia, Col. Whitley was appointed Chief of the U. S. Secret Ser- vice Division. Hon. Mr. Delano, who had now succeeded E. A. Rollins as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was very desirous that Col. W. should continue in his Depart- ment. The Col. had succeeded in raising and saving to that Department over a million dollars of revenue ; and Mr. Delano wanted him to remain. But, a week after his appointment as Chief of the Secret Service Division, he learned the fact, officially, and he accepted this post, from preference. He found that the Division was but loosely organized, and that a great amount of counterfeit money was afloat, all over the country. He went to work in earnest. He re- organized his force — appointed new men — dispensed with the services of a majority of the old ones, who were not, in his judgment, up to' the times, and generally " turned over new leaves " in the arrangement of the affairs of the Department, at whose head he had now been called to officiate. He sends no man where he is not ready to go himself, if he thinks the occasion requires his personal attention to aid in carrying a point. He is a genial man among men, and always a steady worker. His facial lineaments are quietly disposed, and a glance at his portrait, (see frontispiece,) CHIEF OF U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 35 will convince the observer that he does not lack in personal bearing thab self-possession, courage, firmness, and shrewd- ness which are needful characteristics in the man who occu- pies the position to which he has been elevated by the Government. He seeks out for his Aids and Deputies, the most capable and efficient operatives he can find in the country, who are competent to the duties of the peculiar business for which they are chosen, and he requires that they shall be honest, temperate, morally upright, and of good general standing in the community, as well as skillful, shrewd, apt and industrious. He holds them to a constantly strict ac- countability, in all their movements and transactions, and by a well-arranged system of gradation as to merit, they are remunerated and promoted, from time to time. And to his admirable system in all things pertaining to the Secret Service, is attributable a large share of its success, up to the present time. An attribute possessed in a most extraordinary degree by Col. Whitley, is the remarkable magnetic power he exhibits over those with whom he is brought into familiar or earnest conversational contact. Completely the master of his own mind — in this respect — determined in will-power, pecu- liarly communicative of the subtle sentiment he entertains, and mentally resolved to carry his point in any personal or ■ individual controversy he may enter upon, his success in inducing confessions or admissions of guilt from the numer- ous criminals he has arrested in the past three years, has been wonderfully fortunate. Once the culprit is fairly within the circuit of this curious influence, and the Chief will conquer him. It may require time, application, and repeated efforts to accomplish the purpose, satisfactorily — but in the end the accused " throws up the sponge ; " and nine times in 36 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, ten his convincing, toiling, persistent, eloquent interlocutor will vanquish hi in, and subsequently use him and the infor- mation thus adroitly and skillfully obtained, if need be, to confound him and his guilty confederates in iniquity. Few persons possess this useful and wondrous gift of con- trolling the passions, the inclinations, the thoughts, the secrets of other men : and none are more strikingly gifted, in this direction, than is Col. W. "Col. Whitley is five feet ten in stature, compactly built, but is not, apparently, the vigorous, athletic person he is, in reality. A casual observer of the Chief would not 'say that lie was a powerful, rugged, resolute man — who feared nothing, and who in a hand-to-hand conflict would be likely to come off .victor, invariably, among the " rough custom- ers " his duty calls him to deal with. But he is not an agreeable adversary to encounter, phys- ically, as scores of able-bodied criminals can testify, whom he has found it necessary to attack, oftentimes at disadvan- tage, in close quarters. He never loses his marvellous self- possession. He is quick-witted, stout-handed, and keen- sighted in all his movements. Eeady, apt, experienced, and determined, he never flinches in the midst of peril, and never flies from danger. Especially sanguine in tempera- ment, and always peculiarly hopeful in expectations, in his " bright lexicon, there's no such word as fail," in any enter- prise he fairly undertakes. Success he considers a duty — and he has thus far been fortunate, at least, in the perform- ance of this duty. Among the details of the system adopted by Col. Whitley, is the important plan he has instituted of working in har- mony with the heal Police and Detective forces of the country, at all points ; from and through which organizations his Division has from time to time received valuable assist- ance, officially, as he frankly, and gratefully admits. CHIEE OP U. S. SECBET SERVICE DIVISION. 37 The U. S. Secret Service is entirely free from the influ- ence of politics. No man is appointed upon this force be- cause he is, or is not, an attache', to any particular party. But his absolute fitness for 'the post of a subordinate in this service, constitutes his claim to consideration by the ap- pointing power, in every instance. Men who are in this employ are of course altogether diverse in talent, and differ in qualifications, to share the different phases of duty in this Division. But they are never questioned as to their political preferences or prejudices, and these are not taken into ac- count in selecting them. A brief recapitulation of what has been accomplished in his Division in the past three years — since Col. Whitley was appointed Chief — may appropriately be inserted here. The aggregate value of the captures and seizures made by the Department, during the three years' term of Col. Whitley as Chief of Division, has been very large — includ- ing materials connected with counterfeiting, smuggling, In- ternal Revenue defrauding, illicit distilling, and other ir- regularities. A detailed statement of these seizures would occupy too much space for insertion here ; but we have summed up the leading items, in gross, from the records, to show in a general way what has, thus far been effected. Of the most important and dangerous grade of counter- feiters — as the manufacturers, engravers, wholesale dealers, coiners, and printers, two hundred and seven have been apprehended. Of the lesser grade — circulators, shovers, and minor operators, two hundred and ninety have been taken, Of Internal Revenue cheats, stamp-renovators, etc., three hundred have been captured. A total of seven hun- dred and ninety-seven in the counterfeiting line. Of Reve- nue defrauders, cigar sellers without legal stamps, whiskey sellers without stamps, smugglers of jewels, diamonds, 38 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, liquors, &c, &c, U. S. Mail and Bond robbers — besides many false pension-drawers; and for illegal voting", forgery,- and other cases worked up by the attaches to the U. S. S. S. Division, over four hundred more. These culprits have been turned over to the Courts, and conviction has almost uni- formly followed these arrests. A large number of dangerous counterfeit plates, dies, presses, illicit stills, etc., have in the same period been dis- covered and seized — to wit, over seventy sets of plates of the National Currency, of the fractional currency, of greenbacks, and of U. S. Bonds, as well as forty-six sets of gold and silver coin-dies. Among these, three sets of 12 plates, eight sets of $5's, five of |10's, four of $20's, one of $100 greenbacks and national notes. Two unfinished 150, 7.30 note-plates, one of $1000 U. S. Bond plate, one of $1000 Legal Tender, new issue, unfinished. Two $1000 R. R. Bond plates, and numerous parts of plates, corners, figures, heads, &c. ; many of them admirably executed, and any of them so well doue as to render impressions from these spurious plates and dies most dangerous for ordinary circulation. Some thirty-four costly printing presses have been seized, in the hands of counterfeiters, three transfer, and one perforating press. Cigar and tobacco factories to the number of over eighty in all. One Match Factory, three Breweries, where the Internal Revenue laws were being violated, have been seized. Half a million of cigars and fifteen thousand bundles of cigarettes, also, from among these last named concerns. Several arrests of diamond and lace smugglers have been made, and the value of goods oaken from them reached over $50,000. Fourteen sets of plates for counterfeiting tobacco, beer, proprietary, and check stamps. Counterfeit and cleansed Internal Revenue stamps representing upwards of $200,000, CHIEF OF U. B. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 39 and over $700,000 in counterfeit paper money, gold, silver, and nickel coin ; and |29,000 in stolen U. S. Bonds we're recovered and returned to the owners — during the three years since Col. Whitley has been Chief of the Division. The total number of. persons arrested in three years, the majority of whom have been convicted and punished by imprisonment, fines, or forfeitures, (through the agency of this department) has reached the enormous figure of one thousand two hundred and twenty individuals — including manufacturers of counterfeit money, capitalists, boodle-car- riers, shovers of the queer, ordinary dealers in bogus money, attempting to pass it, false coin-makers, dealers therein, pro- curers of plates, engravers, die-sinkers, smugglers, Internal Revenue defrauders, cigar and tobacco cheats, whiskey stills without license, old Stamp changers and cleansers, U. S. Mail robbers, possessors of counterfeit notes and fractional currency, etc. And among this horde of criminals and their confederates, some ~of the most notoriously adroit and liitherto successful counterfeiters ever known in America have been secured, convicted, and confined in the different prisons of the States, all over the country. The efforts of the Chief of the U. S. Secret Service- are most earnestly sustained by Hon. Geo. S. Boutwell, Sec. of the Treasury, with whose Department this Division is directly connected. The relations qf the Division are most intimately blended with those of that department, and the legal advisor of the Secretary, Solicitor B. C. Banfield, has devoted his untiring energies to the furtherance of the plans and the system of conducting the internal arrangements of the Secret Service, as adopted by ' Col. Whitley. The Secretary of the Treasury has shown a steady determination to crush out the crime of counterfeiting the National cur- rency which has so long been rampant in this land, and to 40 SKETCH OP COL. H. C. WHITLEY, bring to justice the base violaters of law and order, who for years have thus followed up their vile practices upon the community. That the course of Col. W. has been sanctioned and ap- proved by the administration, is evident from the increasing confidence reposed in the Chief, and the cordial readiness with which, he is supported by the President and leading members of his Cabinet, who cheerfully accord him every facility in the prosecution of his duties, which the utmost strength of governmental power can afford him, in further- ance of the details of the important charge committed, with- out trammel, to his hands. That this unlimited confidence in the capacity of Col. Whitley by his Government is not mis- placed, we have ample evidence through the results that have eventuated, thus far, in his official career, which have proved so colossal in proportions, and so effective towards the general good. The work of counterfeiting our National Notes and cur- rency is now virtually, stopped, in a wholesale way, for the present. The men who have been been caught, and the vast amount of counterfeiting materials which has been secured, puts the criminals and their valuable tools beyond the causing further harm, for a while — at least. And it may at this hour be safely affirmed that but little counterfeit money is now in circulation, and that no new bogus notes have re- cently been seen. Thus much for the results of Col. Whitley's administra- tion as Chief, up to the present writing. It certainly is~a most creditable exhibit, and is so esteemed at headquarters, as we have good reason to affirm. He has not " loitered by the way," in the discharge of his duties. No man could have done so much, in the brief space of three years, unless he had kept himself and his men busy. The amount of CHIEF OP U. S. SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. 41 benefit which has also indirectly accrued to the Government, through this formidable result, is almost incalculable. The union of a Fouche''s power of organization and com- bination, with the executive capacity of a Vidocq, are rarely to be found united in one person. Yet, in view of the extraordinary ability displayed by Col. Whitley, since he entered upon his present duty, in all his operations and man- agement, the originality and the variety of the- plans adopted in the Secret Service, the boldness of their application leading logically to conclusive results, we recognize in the present Chief the potentiality of such a character, and its prospective developement ; and it is not improbable that we may learn, in the not far-distant future of his history, that his really brilliant success, thus far, is but the beginning of an official career that will culminate in rendering him pre- eminently foremost in his profession, in .this country. MEMOIRS UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE DIVISION. PARTICULAR NOTICE." THE SECOND, OB COMPANION VOLUME TO THESE "MEMOIRS OF THE U. S. SECRET SERVICE," (Liberally Illustrated,) WILL BE ISSUED IMMEDIATELY BY THE PUBLISHERS OF THIS WORK; BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE $sxpcmmm 4&t giteta ujfiMa §£$mtmmt f and especially comprising Intensely thrilling' records of the doings of the United States Secret Service Division, Is Shadowing, huntlnq- sown, and arrestlnq many noted members of "THE KTJ KLUX K L, .A IST, 5 ' (and K. G. C's.) The above authentic, startling work will be sent by mail, post-paid, to any address, on receipt of the retail price, $2.50, by the publishers, or by W..H. CHANDLER & CO., 21 COENHILL, BOSTON. 44 THE KING OF WESTERN COUNTERFEITERS, "pete McCartney." The notorious, adroit, and wondrously successful rogue whose likeness faces page 51, and who is most familiarly known by the name of Pete McCartney — though he has borne half a dozen aliases, " Joe Woods " being one of his more prominent temporary titles — comes of respectable parentage, and is a fine looking man, of pleasant address, who possesses natural talents of no mean order, as his truthful history, as far as it has been gathered, abundantly indicates. His real name is John P. McCartney. He is nearly six feet in height, strongly framed, of good features, with black beard and hair now slightly tinged with gray, and at this writing, he is about forty-five years old. His grayish blue eyes and cold expression of countenance mark him as a subtle cunning personage, when scrutinized by the careful observer ; but his quiet, gentlemanly manners among strangers, and bis even though taciturn habit, render him an object of interest, frequently, when he is apparently least aware that curious eyes are studying his character. Pete is of Irish descent, attractive in conversation, of 45 46 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. fair education, one of the most skillful engravers and plate-printers in this country, and a most resolute, deter- mined, untiring fellow, in any undertaking towards which from inclination, or for profit, he once fixedly turns his attention. Prom his youth upward, McCartney has, how- ever, devoted his talents, his energies, his years and his mechanical skill to the art of counterfeiting ; and his career has been most curiously successful in this direction, during the past more than quarter of a century. Pete McCartney's field of operations has been limited to the West, principally, where he long since won the title of '• King of Counterfeiters," in that region. His exploits are famous, his daring notable, his continuous success un- paralleled, and his ability to elude detection altogether aston- ishing. The local Police in the West have time and again been baffled in their search for this shrewd criminal, and the United States authorities ( under former management,) failed to secure the arch plotter, or bring him to answer, although over thirty thousand dollars had been expended by the Government in prior attempts to circumvent and cap- ture this notorious and accomplished " koniacker," who led the tribe of counterfeiters in the great northwest, for years and years. It was left to the ingenuity of the present Chief of the United States Secret Service Division, and his accom- plished Deputies, at last, to bring McCartney to account ; and his final arrest by Col. Whitley and his aids, resulted in administering a damaging and effective blow to the interests of counterfeiters in the United States, who everywhere were more or less directly leagued with him and his immediate confederates in this crime. McCartney is considered one of the best " cutters " in America. He is a good chemist, and a first-rate plate- printer. For many years he carried on his nefarious prac- PETE Si' CABINET. 47 * tices in company with his friend and pal, Fred Biebusch, another famous western " coney-man ; " and in all the minutiae of the art of engraving, die-cutting, or printing bogus plates, Pete was a leader — universally acknowledged. But, despite the notoriety he gained, long years elapsed dur- ing the period he enjoyed immunity from arrest, and im- mense amounts of money were lavished towards effecting the suppression of his secreted operating establishment, and the capture of this dangerous manufacturer of bogus money, — but without results. At length, Col. Whitley having been appointed Chief of the Division, went systematically and - energetically to work, and followed the trail of this dangerous man — enjoining it upon his subordinates that Pete McCartney must be overhauled, and that his extensive and infamous traffic in the manufacture and circulation of " coney " must be stopped. It was not an easy task, but his men went to work under his instructions with a will, and the result will shortly appear. McCartney had already been arrested several times, and had been temporarily held by the local western police ; but he contrived to escape from confinement, and had never yet given the authorities the opportunity to arraign him. He persistently broke jail, bought his way out of jeopardy; and in one way or another managed to keep at liberty (with but slight interruption) for over twenty-five years — during which term he engraved, printed and put into circulation tens of thousands of dollars in value of bogus notes and coins. In 1866, he was arrested at St. Louis. He chanced on this occasion to have in his possession some eight thou- sand dollars in good money ; and, as he himself asserts, " escaped as easy as falling off a log ! " He affirms that he 4a UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. found no difficulty, on that occasion, in purchasing his way out of peril. " I was flush," he says. " They had a pretty sure thing on ine then, and I was well known. But I left the jail, the city, and over eight thousand dollars behind me, there — one night — and I hav'n't been there since, to make inquiries as to what was thought about my French leave-taking of St. Louis and the hospitality of its municipal officials." In 1867, Pete again found . himself in close quarters at Springfield, 111. " The prison where I was then confined," he asserts coolly, " was a mighty poor structure. I had no trouble in going through that jail. It wasn't a comforta- ble place and I didn't like my quarters. So I stepped out early one morning, and left." This is true. At daybreak Pete's cell was empty, and he was on his way into the in- terior again in safety, for the time being. Upon another occasion, (during the rebellion,) he was under arrest, and, attended by a guard of soldiers, was manacled hand and foot en route from the west towards Washington — whither orders had been given to conduct him — and for safe-keeping to place him in the Old Capitol Prison. McCartney watched his opportunity. " I didn't want to go to Washington," he said to the writer of these Memoirs, who met him a few months ago. " I didn't like the look o' that arrangement. I could manage the boys out West. I had managed them frequently. It cost me a heap of money, to be sure, from time to time ; but I was always a cash man, you know, and money will fetch 'em. In Wash- ington, I thought it was different. And besides I hadn't just, then a pile of the ready by me. So I watched the guard, and made up my mind I'd rayther not go to Wash- ington. And I didn't ! " As the express train was being whirled along the Penn. pete McCartney, KING OF WESTERN COUNTERFEITERS. [See page 4.5. PETE m'cabtnet. 51 Cent. Railway at a speed of thirty-five miles the hour, bear- ing McCartney and his guard among its passengers towards the Old Capitol Prison, he desperately sprang from the car, though he was ironed at wrists and ankles, and dashed out upon the track without an instant's thought of the probable jeopardy to life he might encounter by this bold rash act. The alarm was instantly given by the suddenly roused guard, the train was stopped as quickly as possible, the scldiers returned where all hands expected to find the reck- less prisoner a mass of broken bones — at the least — upon the track-side, but no McCartney could be found, nor did that party of officials see the color of his face, subsequently ! He had again made good his escape from custody. " And how did you manage this affair ? " we inquired, when Pete had himself quietly given us his brief account of this startling episode in his career. " Easy enough," he said, with a smile. "You see,"- he continued, " I was bound to get out o' the hands of those fellows. I knew the 'Old Capitol' was an ugly prison- house, and it wouldn't do for me to go there. I was also aware there was risk in jumping from the cars, when the train was flying along at such a rate. But then we have to take risks as we meet with them. And this was no worse than the peril that' loomed up before me in Washington. Though I was manacled, hand and foot, I took my chance — and bolted. I was hurt, of course. __ But I fled to the woods, waited till all was quiet, and the train had gone, struggled along for hours, skulked and secreted myself, and with a stone finally smashed the iron shackles from my limbs. - 1 suffered for want of food, and from the bruises I got — but finally found daylight, and got among friends, once more in safety." Constantly upon his guard, and ready upon emergency 3 52 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. skillfully to meet plot with plot, and cunning by cunning, the wily operator contrived to elude the grasp of those who sought to circumvent or secure him. " I have amassed a deal of plunder," he declared to us, " but I have paid away over $70,000 first and last,in good money, to escape the clutches of the law." He managed his business with system. " I always had bogus money in plenty," he asserts, " when others had none. And thus I controlled the market for ' coney,' you see, very frequently. They had to come to me for it. I could always supply the right men (and I had a choice) with counterfeit notes,in quantity — for I engraved and printed the notes, or wrought the dies, myself." For some time McCartney kept a Daguerreian gallery (under the name of Warren) in a western city. His expe- rience in the use of chemicals was in this way improved. After quitting the Photograph business, he purchased a livery stable., at Rolla, Mo. There came to his place, " on the sly," one day, a man whom he quickly- recognized as a former acquaintance, who knew all about Mac's Springfield experi- ence, and who wished to hire a horse and carriage. " I saw through this at a glance," observed Pete. " This fellow was after me. I told him I would drive the horse to his hotel at once. He went back, I took what loose money I had in the till, jumped out at the back window, and left Rolla and my would-be patron behind me. He did not pull me ! " McCartney's tracks were followed up, however, and from time to time he was arrested — but as often escaped, in some mysterious and inexplicable manner. He was always ready to pay roundly for his liberty, when cornered ; and once or twice he gave up counterfeit plates and money he controlled, when such a show of repentance or desire to make restitu- tion would best serve his own purposes. But it was a dif- PETE m'cabtnby. 53 ficult thing to induce him to expose his confederates in crime. Some of them were known counterfeiters, and all his associates were marked scoundrels. But they were too vigilant, and too experienced, to place themselves in a po- sition where legal 'proof could be adduced to convict them ; notwithstanding the police well knew they were guilty ut- terers of forgeries almost innumerable. Once McCartney was taken, prior to the appointment of the present Chief. " I was not then dealing in coney," said Mac to us. " But I knew where there were large amounts of counterfeit notes and plates of National Banks, and I offered to give up all I had concealed, or which I could get — of money, plates, dies, &c, and I would agree to live anywhere that Government might designate, and would pay the expenses of one of its own officers to watch me, for one year, if they would promise not to pursue me further, but give me the chance to follow some honest business, and -give up ' coney ' traffic, of which I was tired. But the men then in the Secret Service didn't want me to go out of the coney trade. This was evident to me. They would agree to any- thing, but would perform nothing, satisfactorily — and so I paid — and run away from 'em. I had done this before, and I repeated it. They couldn't catch and hold me — and they didn't." "I went to Missouri, then to Minnesota, then up and down the west. I lectured in many places on the art of de- tecting counterfeit money, and did well. Then I shoved a good many notes, as 1 travelled — and the officers got upon my trail again. I knew it. I watched them, while they watched me. I practiced dentistry, a while : but this was too slow for me. I found that everybody was down on me. Government officers, police, lawyers, all hands. I had no peace for long at a time — anywhere. And I wanted to get out of the business. But I couldn't see my way." 54 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " Detective Felker and his crew, I knew, were inclined to deceive me. I was really acting ' on the square ' with them. They couldn't hold me, but I was desirous to get out of the line of life I had so long followed, if I could. I found that they did not incline to help me out, though they were profuse in promises, which they never fulfilled. They didn't want me to quit the coney business. They had a soft thing of it," continued McCartney. " They were on their make, contin- ually. They put up jobs on me, and cheated me with prom- ises. They said if there were no counterfeiters, there would be no work for them to detect. They made capital out of it, and didn't care to have me relinquish the traffic, any how. Pelker more than once told me this, frankly. But I had promised my wife I would quit it, and I was ready to do so. They wouldn't let me." All this assertion on Mac's part must be taken for what it is worth, however. McCartney got out of the hands of the then Detectives, nevertheless, when lie found they de- ceived him (as he avers) and at last his case was taken in hand by the new Chief, Col. Whitley. He was tracked, and watched, and hunted down, at length. Detectives Apple- gate, Lone'rgan and Eagan were put upon his trail, and one day in the fall of 1870, McCartney proceeded to Portland, Ky., where he intended to remain quiet for a time, with a view to the future. He went about the neighborhood and selected an old house occupied by a man to whom he paid a bonus to give him possession, and he moved into it. The occupant sus- pected the stranger, and reported the fact to the Chief of Police at Louisville. The local officers looked into the case, and shortly afterwards, Detective Bly found a quantity of counterfeiter's tools there, a printing press, rolling-ma- chine, and full sets of plates for manufacturing bogus PETE m'cartney. 55 " greenback " notes. They arrested " Alexander Bill " there, a noted rogue, whom they took to Louisville jail, and Col. Whitley, learning of this arrest, forthwith directed Detective Eagan, of the Secret Service force, to examine further into this matter. McCartney's wife had also been arrested. But Pete was non est. at the time the Louisville police entered the old hoUse. When Eagan arrived, he found that Mrs. McC. had been discharged by the U. S. Commissioner, and he brought her away. She then joined her mother, in Illinois. When McCartney had heen arrested at Cincinnati, in company with one " Charley Johnson," no coney was found upon Mac, but over $400 in counterfeit notes were dis- covered upon Johnson-*- in 20's, $5's, and fractional cur- rency, with a set of $20 Greenback plates. They were both locked up in jail — but when Eagan arrived there, McCart- ney (as usual,) had again escaped ! The . busy Detective was not a little disappointed at this result, when he felt assured he had so nearly secured the game he had for some time sought. But he returned to St. Louis, under instruc- tions, still actively on the scent. At a late hour one evening, Eagan learned that McCart- ney was in the town of Venice, 111., a small place near St. Louis, opposite the island where Pete's friend Fred Biebusch* had hid himself, after jumping his bail. Pete had escaped from the jail at Cincinnati very quietly, and was not looking for a visit from Col. Whitley's men at this moment. But he was then in the charge of the local police, and Eagan dropped in upon him at Venice, and had him, before he had time to make another move for escape. McCartney at once offered to deliver into the hands of his capturers a large amount of counterfeit notes, plates, *See page 63 for the history of this noted koniacker. 56 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. dies, &c, among which were complete sets of plates for all denominations of the National Currency, from fifty cents to fifty dollars ; together with $60,000 of the " queer," all ready to be put upon the market ; and afterwards offered fifty, sixty, up to eighty-five thousand dollars, if they would release him. But Pete's offer was declined. He was taken by the Detectives to St. Louis, then to Springfield, Ill's., and was placed by his escort in close quarters again, where the U. S. Marshal took care he should be so guarded as that another escape from his old prison-house should not readily occur — as he believed. Upon a brief interview between Col. Whitley and Mc- Cartney, however, about this time, the following incident occurred; which tends to show how easy it is for even the skilled Detective to be sometimes at fault ! As the Chief was about to quit the cell of McCartney, the prisoner said, pleasantly, " You won't leave me here, I suppose, Colonel ? " " Yes, for the present," replied the Chief. " You're safe here, now." " Oh, I can get out of this place easy enough. I have done so before, and I can do it again." " I guess not," said the officer, with confident emphasis. " Where are you stopping, Colonel ? " asked Pete. « At the hotel." " Your number ? " " Room twenty-four." "Thank you. I will call on you, at ten." The Chief smiled, accepted the pleasant jest, bade Mac " good night," and left him. He had forgotten the boastful words of the coney man and was sitting in his apartments, writing, when just .after len o'clock, he heard a low rap at his door. " Come in," he said. PETE m'cartnet. 57 And to his astonishment, in walked Pete McCartney, with a quiet " good evening, Colonel ! " The Chief sprang up, seized his arm, and drew his re- volver, with the natural ejaculation, " McCartney ! How are you here ? " "Put-up your shootin'-iron, Colonel," said Mac. "I merely called to pay my respects. Come ! I am going back, of course," concluded the counterfeiter. And ten minutes afterwards, Pete re-entered his prison- quarters again, voluntarily, where he remained in subsequent security. No one ever knew how Mac had effected his temporary escape, nor would he ever explain the modus adopted by him in this instance to enjoy his " little joke." " I merely wished to show that some things could be done as well as others," remarked Pete, in rehearsing this event. When Bagan had tracked McCartney to his lair, the per- sistent pursuit which had been kept up, inordinately alarmed him. Pete is a man of iron nerve, great daring, and con- summate coolness, on all occasions, and has shown himself ready at all times for exigency. But he was now anxious to make a show of repentance, and to so compoi't himself that the Government would let him up, or let him off, easily. So he sought an interview with Eagan, and proposed, through his wife, to meet that officer in a retired place, when he would place in his hands a large amount of plates, counter- feit money, etc. But he was not to be personally molested, on the occasion. After some negotiations, it was agreed that Eagan and Pete should meet in a certain secluded corn-field, at mid- night ; Eagan should come alone and unarmed ; McCartney would be armed, but would do him no harm, if he kept faith with him. Pete's wife, a beautiful and devoted woman 58 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. and undoubtedly a valuable assistant, by the way, in his counterfeiting labors — was to act as guide to Bagan ; and when the " two high contracting parties " met, Mac was to make propositions to be submitted to the Chief, regarding the coney, the plates, etc., and was not then to be molested. The programme was carried out, to the letter. McCart- ney was first on the spot, in the darkness. Eagan pro- ceeded with the wife, unarmed but watchful, and then and there McCartney agreed to place in Eagan's possession cer- tain valuable counterfeit plates of different denominations, and " coney " to the value of at least $50,000. Two men in McCartney's interest escorted Eagan to the corn-field, and 'stood with loaded weapons pointed at him during this inter- view, while the single Detective (unarmed, by agreement,) stood facing him, (on the other side of a rail-fence,) as Mac held his musket towards his breast, and they talked this matter over, in the darkness. At the close of this meeting, Eagan retired, declining to enter into any promises as to the future. But shortly afterwards, the programme submitted in the corn-field at midnight was consummated, though not upon the terms dictated by McCartney at that interview. He was soon afterwards secured by the U. S. officers, and compelled to make a surrender of all the counterfeiting materials within his knowledge, which, it was found, ex- ceeded |65,000 in nominal value, and numerous counterfeit plates, dies, &c, &c. The capture of this large amount of bogus money, and the obtaining of the spurious plates mentioned, was a very important move, and the result was highly creditable to Messrs." Applegate, Eagan and Lonergan, who so shrewdly managed this dangerous and subtle offender, throughout the trying scenes attendant upon this interesting adventure in their experience. PETE m'caetnet. 59 The primary arrangements thus entered into for the recovery of this money and materials were absolutely neces- sary, inasmuch as no one but McCartney could put into the hands of the authorities this vast amount of property. He alone knew where it was. He had himself manufactured and secreted it. And he had no " confidences." He proposed this thing himself. " I offered to give up to former U. S. officers more of this coney than they ever saw," said McCartney, " if they would deal fairly with me. They couldn't get it, otherwise. They would promise, but always cheated me. Col. Whitley and his men never promised anything. They did not deceive me, therefore, and 1 felt that they were working with differ- ent motives. They never demanded pay of me, and I never paid them any hush-money, as I did others. But nil these men knew very well that they could get no bogus money out of me unless I was inclined to help them. I have nothing to say against Whitley or his men. But the other crowd were unprincipled, grasping, and utterly deceitful — from the start — promising everything, and performing nothing. They put up jobs, and went, back on me, more than once." McCartney, a few years since, married a daughter of John Trout, a noted counterfeiter, now in the State Prison at Jackson, Mich. Her mother, Mrs. Trout, was a smart and skillful counterfeiter, also, who is now at Decatur, Ills. The wife of Pete is a handsome woman, some years his junior, but a shrewd aider and abettor of her husband. Mrs. McCartney's sister married Ben Boyd, another famous coney man at the south-west, who has latterly given up the business, it is believed. Pete has children, to whom he is devoted, and his family are greatly attached to him. At Springfield, in the winter of 1870, after- Mac's final 60 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. arrest, Col. Whitley was present at an interview where the prisoner's wife was admitted to see him, on one occasion. He observed that she passed something slily into Mac's hand, while there. It proved to be a small bar of lead or pewter metal. On a previous occasion, Pete had contrive'd to melt up the foil from the tobacco-parcels he was allowed to use, with which he manufactured a key to the lock of his cell, and thus escaped, upon that occasion. The bar of lead was intended for -a similar purpose, undoubtedly — but Col.' Whitley had him searched when Mrs. McCartney left, and thus this design was then frustrated. After another interview with Pete at Springfield, Col. Whitley arranged with him to go to Decatur, 111., where the prisoner told him he had buried a large quantity of coney, which he would deliver to him. He took him from the jail, and Pete said he would like to see his wife before they left. " Go to her," responded the Chief. " The cars start for Decatur at such an hour. Meet me at the Depot." " I will not fail," said Mac. The Col. went to the station, McCartney saw his wife, and was there to jo r in the Chief, promptly as he had agreed. They went to Decatur together, and acting ' on the square ' throughout this journey, he led Col. Whitley to a cornfield where he dug up several tin cans ; which, upon opening, were found to contain over $60,000 in well executed bogus money, and a set of 15 counterfeit plates upon National western banks. They then returned once more to Spring- field. From this point McCartney proceeded with Col. Whitley to St. Louis, Mo. They walked out from the latter city into the country some six miles, and approaching an old house, Fete crawled under it, and came forth with several sets of dies for gold and silver coins, which he had himself made PETE M'CABTNEY. 61 and concealed there. With these, and his prisoner, the Chief returned to Cincinnati, where McCartney had secreted about five thousand dollars more in counterfeit money, which he turned up, with several unfinished portions of other bogus plates. Then they went to Springfield, once more, where after some negotiations with friends who were inclined to aid him, he procured good bail for $5000, as required by the U. 8. Court, and was released from custody, until his trial should take place. He was shortly afterwards re-arrested, and taken to Louis- ville, Ky., where the U. S. District Attorney had another case against him. He laid in jail at this place some time, but finally- obtained bail there, and was again set at liberty. His trial at Louisville came up first. Mac put in an ap- pearance, in response — but, fearing the result, he jumped his bail and left. And at the writing of this history, (Jan'y '72) the whereabouts of this accomplished expert is un- known. One trait in this man's erratic character deserves mention. Notwithstanding all that has been accomplished by the Chief and his Assistants, through McCartney's, disclosures, nothing could ever be wrung from him that would implicate or point out who may have been his accomplices. Some of them are well known, and several have been ferreted out. But Mac would never, even remotely, peach on his friends. In reply to repeated queries in this direction, he constantly evaded answers, and little is known of his associates, except what has been arrived at, through other sources, the Reno boys, Joe Miller, alias Kincaid, Perry Randolph, Ben Boyd, &c, in consequence of their arrests. He has not hesitated to talk very freely concerning himself and his own numerous exploits, and he has turned over to the Government from time to time, in consequence of the pressure brought to bear G2 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. upon him by Col. Whitley and his men, an immense quantity of spurious _money, and other material of great value to the koniacker and his pals. But he cannot be charged with treachery to his friends of the craft, whatever else may be laid at his door. When arrested at Cincinnati, Mac had $3,500 of good money in his possession. Upon demanding this, it was not forthcoming. A portion of the amount (1.400) was pro- cured by Col. Whitley and returned to the prisoner, subse- quently ; but the remaining $2,000 McCartney steadily de- clares " he has been beaten out of, by the local police," there. " They shook it out of me, and said it had been stolen from the desk," he adds. " But I will get it, yet." They also declared that I was only " a stall," and that " my release was part of the arrangement previously made, for another purpose. Now the fact is, I walked out of that jail ^without hindrance at the opportune moment, and if I could see the man who held the keys, I could identify him. But I don't know who he was." Though the career of others whose stories follow will be found more exciting, more romantic, or more striking, no one. among those we describe possesses a keener spirit, or a more subtle disposition than does Pete McCartney. And, although his last arrest by the U. S. Detectives, under Col. Whitley, has proved so important, by itself, but little is really known in further detail, as yet, of this extraordinary man's actual character. THE GREAT SOUTH WESTERN " KONIACKER," FRED. BIEBUSCH. This notable character's career is marked by success during a course of unpunished crime that finds parallel rarely in the history of coney men, in this or any other country. For nearly thirty years, Fred Biebusch steadily followed the traffic of the " queersman " in the west and southwest ; and his vast line of operations alike extensive, bold and profitable, were extended over the whole country from Illinois to Texas, with wondrous good fortune, and without apparent check, until within a recent period. His personal head-quarters he established at St. Louis, Mo. .His secret agents were scattered in every direction throughout the south-west. From time to time he was placed under arrest, and ovev fifty times in the course of his erratic life he was in the hands of the local Police authori- ties. But he contrived as often to escape unharmed and un- convicted; and followed up his illegal vocation with re- newed zeal, on each occasion that he so fortunately (though 63 64 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. frequently at heavy pecuniary cost) obtained release from the toils of the authorities. The portrait of Prod Biebusch will be found among our illustrations. He is over fifty . years of age, of German parentage, born in Prussia, came to America in 1844, and is a broad-shouldered, powerful man, of hard physique, but not bad looking. In the course of his counterfeiting trade, his sales were enormous at first hands. He personally dealt only at wholesale, and his cautious custom was to negotiate his transfers in heavy sums. He individually re- ceived the good money, in these transactions, and the coney passed through the hands of women, " kids " or the estab- lished go-betweens in his trade, of whom he was continually watchful, for he never reposed over-much confidence in these people. The extent of his operations and the profits Biebusch ac- cumulated, enabled him, in a few years, to control a very large sum of ready money, and whenever the exigency arose, he was ready to " draw his wallet," and pay roundly, to escape arraignment before the Courts. He disliked the atmosphere or contiguity of all legal tribunals ; and, like the owl, he preferred night to day, whenever he had occasion to be professionally abroad. In the old days, when State banks were in existence, Biebusch flourished wonderfully. It was his habit, in those times, to " job out " most of the counterfeit stock printed upon various State banks throughout the country by Driggs, Piper, Lew Sleight and others, who sent forth hundreds of thousands of dollars through Biebusch's agency ■ — he ac- cumulating large commissions for standing between them and the smaller dealers, at that earlier period. After a while he became the pal and right hand man of Pete McCartney (whose history we have already given) and received from FRED BIEBUSCH. 65 Pete, not infrequently, one or two hundred thousand dollars' worth of the " queer" at a time, disposing of it for circula- tion in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, and the Territories. Biebusch was also the confidential business manager for Ben Boyd and Bill Shelley, the engravers, and employed both these notorious artists to cut plates for him. He amassed wealth rapidly, and though often trapped and caught, he contrived to get out of the clutches of those who nabbed him from time to time, so frequently and so readily, that it was not uncommon, upon Fred's release from custody, to hear the query propounded, " How much did he put up this time, to get out o' quod ? " The record of this coney man's criminal career, his numerous escapades, his manner of managing the various arrests to which he was subjected, and the uniformly suc- cessful results that attended both his business and his inter- ests, for three decades of years, are certainly very curious^ as well as interesting. Whatever genuine skill, sharpness, ingenuity, or the ready outlay of money, when needful, could accomplish, Fred Biebusch availed himself of. His whole life has been given up to crime. His arts, his genius, his time, his brains, have all been devoted to the one vile purpose of manufacturing and circulating counterfeit money. He furnished the capital for engravers and print- ers, he helped to get up plates, and to establish presses, to secure paper and ink, and in general to fin.d and supply the right agents and shovers of the queer, everywhere. He was a wonderful man, as cool and subtle as he was daring and unprincipled. And fortunate indeed is it for the community at large that such an accomplished cheat and forger has met witli his deserts, for the present, at least, at. the hands of violated justice and law. Like, bis quondam pal and longtime associate, Pete 66 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. McCartney, Fred Biebusch, at an early day in his experience, adopted a systematic plan in all his business matters. Upon being arrested, he always promptly gave bail to appear for trial in the future. Arrest never gave him the slightest uneasiness. His bondsmen were always ready, and it mattered nothing how many counts against him were em- bodied in an indictment, he was always prepared to furnish good and sufficient sureties to satisfy the Courts. After furnishing bail, he looked about him, and ascertained who were the witnesses likely to appear against him. These he ■would buy up and send away long distances, at his own ex- pense. When the trial came on, these witnesses were not forthcoming, and Biebusch came boldly into Court, challeng- ing proof of the allegations made against him, defiantly, and the government would find they had no case, for its witnesses could not be "found ! This plan did not uniformly succeed, however. Then fol- lowed a resort to the other lever. In more instances than one, " weak-kneed" District Attorneys were found to enter a nolle prosequi just at the nick of time ; and Fred would quietly walk out of custody, a poorer but a wiser man ! Under the former management of the Secret Service De- partment, as soon as the Division was fairly under weigh, originally, Biebusch, who had for years thus aptly man- aged his " delicate little affairs " in the south-west, cast about him to-sound the subordinates engaged upon the U. S. force, with a view to ascertain who among them he could buy up — if occasion demanded. And having obtained such information in this direction as satisfied him that he was all "hunky-dory," in certain quarters, he rested — to • await subsequent developments, looking towards his own interests. Under the early management of the Division, Biebusch was several times placed under arrest, but as often, FRED BIEBUSCH. 67 through his shrewd management with men and money, the lively koniacker went off " Scot free," always in cheer- ful spirits ; and it is a commentary in no wise flattering to the organization and internal management of the Division (at that period) that when the residence of Biebusch was searched, upon one occasion of his being .subsequently arrested, several letters from former members of the force were found, proposing to Biebusch, for a money considera- tion, to assist the counterfeiter again to escape the grasp of . the law ! Some of these letters might be published, but we have not space for them here. This fact i§ patent, however. Upon the appointment of Col. Whitley as Chief, an im- mediate reorganization of the Division ensued. The faults of the old system of conduct, and the shortcomings in the former management were authoritatively brought to his no- tice upon his assuming the direction of affairs, and he at once set about reforming the crying abuses that had obtained in the Division in previous years. He resolved that such knaves as Biebusch, McCartney, Bill Gurney, John Hart, Tom Hale, and other notorious coney men should be van- quished, and the nefarious trade they were pursuing secretly, yet so perniciously, should be broken up. To this work he addressed all the energies of his own mind, and to this object he zealously directed the untiring vigilance of his subordinates. Upon his final arrest, which was brought about through the persistent efforts of Col. Whitley and his aids, it came out that Biebusch was the possessor of a handsome fortune, accumulated through his unrighteous mode of business-life ; for among other property that he owned, it was ascertained that he held notes of hand, upon call, for monies loaned to some of the most prominent citizens of St. Louis, to an aggregate of $60,000. 63 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. In 1865, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary in Mo., but through some strange influence he was pardoned by the Governor. He directly resumed his old business, and went on as briskly as ever in the coney traffic. It was his boast that he " could paddle his own canoe in safety forty-nine times in fifty, and clear the break- ers, sure." The other chance he did not hesitate to venture' upon, and the hour of his downfall finally approached. When at length he was arrested by Col. Whitley, he re- sorted to all the old dodges he had so successfully played in other days — but without result. He offered money liber- ally to escape the punishment that loomed up prospectively before him : he bought up witnesses against him, and spir- ited them away at his own cost ; and finally when placed upon his trial — he came into Court, again anticipating a triumph, but only to meet there, on this occasion, an appa- rition that totally dumbfounded him. One of his own former tools had suddenly turned up against him ; upon con- fronting whom, the heart of the counterfeiter sank within him. His late confederate (Bill Shelley) appeared upon the witness stand, and Biobusch saw that the jig was up with him, at last! He bolted from the Court room in. despair, and jumped his bail, at the last moment. It occurred that Shelley had a few months previously left the west, where the repeated arrests, under Col. Whitley's orders, of his coney-dealing associates, had alarmed him — and he had come to New York, where he still worked at his profession as plate-cutter ; continuing in the employ of Bie- busch, but at a goodly distance from that worthy's western field of operations. One day the Chief ferreted out the lurking-place where Shelley quietly pursued his work. He pounced upon the engraver without warning, and surprised him in the midst of his labors. FRED BIEBUSCH. 69 " Who are you doing this work for ? " enquired the Colonel, bluntly. "You do not use these plates yourself, I know. Who employs you ? And why are you thus en- gaged ? " •' Because I am a poor man, and I have no other means to get bread for my family," said the frightened Shelley. The Chief looked about the poorly appointed apartment where this ingenious but miserable man toiled early and late to earn a sustenance for those he loved and was bound to provide for, and his heart was momentarily touched with sympathy for the misguided man before him, whom he was confident could not but be the tool of others more guilty than he was. " Tell me who employs you, Shelley," urged the Chief, as he seized the unfinished plates and tools, and informed the worker that he was his prisoner, also. And to the official's surprise poor Shelley informed him he was then at work for Fred Biebusch, by whom he had been employed at the west for a long time prior to his coining to New York. Shelley was then taken into custody, his counterfeit effects were secured, and Col. Whitley held him to answer in the future. He subsequently voluntarily confessed the part he had taken in certain transactions in connection with Biebusch at the West. And Fred being then under arrest and his trial approaching, Shelley was sent to St. Louis as a witness against him. Several of the other Government witnesses had been bought up, and sent away by Biebusch. But this man, one of his old confederates in iniquity, he did not have' the opportunity to tamper with. The Chief had sufficient testimony in reserve to corroborate the statements of Shelley, and when the latter showed himself in Court, it was too much for his old employer. He saw " the writing 70 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. on the wall," instanter. The game was up! He fled — and forfeited his bail. But Col. Whitley followed upon his trail, forthwith. Every avenue of escape was watched, or blocked. His men sought him in all directions, and within another week, the United States Detectives, with the earnest aid of the St. Louis Police, who are rightfully entitled to a share of the credit in eventually bringing Biebusch to justice — the wily, determined, and cunning koniacker, was once more cap- tured, and this time effectually. He was secured, and com- mitted to prison without bail. His trial was soon commenced, in the U. S. Court at St. Louis. Biebusch set up the worn-out stale defence of his accusation being a " put-up job ; " but his past fearful record and the mass of facts adduced by the Government as to his long career of crime were plainly proven, to the satisfaction of Court and jury. Despite his wrath and the desperate defence he set up, Biebusch had now reached the end of his tether, and he saw that the present Chief and his Assistants were too many for him. Col. Whitley bears no malice in his breast towards the men who thus fall into his hands. This disposition is en- tirely foreign to his nature. But he has entered determinate- ly upon a " war of extermination " against the base counter- feiters who have so long cursed the land with the prosecu- tion of their vile practices. He realises that for the accom- plishment of this laudable purpose he now occupies the responsible position in which he has been placed by his Government ; and he is resolved to carry out the object of the administration, in good faith, and to the uttermost of ■ his ability. . Towards the penitent tools employed by the leaders in this crime against the community, he is disposed to extend all proper leniency. And evidence in support FRED BIEBUSCH. 71 of this inclination is found in the course he has deemed it wise to pursue towards those who have shown their contrition and a willingness to reform. In the instance of Shelley, who was arrested as already stated, and who ex- pressed a desire to obtain some honest employment whereby he might provide for his wife and children, the Chief placed in his hands the following letter — which enables him now to earn a livelihood in a respectable manufacturing establish- ment in New York city. " To whom it may concern : The bearer of .this letter — William Shelley — was for a long time engaged iu the nefarious calling of engraving counterfeit plates, for which offence he was arrested by me. But it appearing that his testimony would be exceedingly useful in a case then upon _trial against a notorious and wealthy counterfeiter, and still further that he would ever after refrain from crime and earn an honest livelihood by his trade, I have thought proper to aid and encourage him — so long as he adheres to his good resolution. And I have no hesitation in saying that I consider him entitled, thus far, to credit; and trust that no one will hesitate to employ him. H. C. Whitley, Chief of S. S. Div., U. S. Tread y Dept.' The day of the final trial of Fred. Biebusch came round at last in October, 1870. He was under twenty thousand dol- lars bail, and over a year and half had expired since the celebrated kouiacker of St. Louis had been arraigned under the allegations preferred against him by Col. Whitley. He had.not been idle in all that interim. He had sought out the Government witnesses and "cooked" all he could find access to. Not a stone had been left unturned, so far as he 72 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. was concerned, whereby he could obtain or contrive an ap- parent advantage in the forthcoming ordeal arranged for him, and he entered Court, with able counsel, to meet the charges against him with the same defiant spirit that had on similar prior occasions marked his conduct before the tribunals of justice. But on the first day of this trial, he discovered that he had a different style of opponent to battle with from those he had previously encountered. The new chief had woven about the guilty man a web of evidence he had not counted upon, indeed ! And Biebusch quickly saw that for once he had " reckoned without his host." He fled as we have stated, and a week passed ere he was recaptured. Chief of Police McDonough, of St. Louis, went for him, and aided by U. S. Detective Eagan, the skulking criminal was tracked to a retired spot near St. Louis, above Bissel's Point, known as Cabaret Island. With a dozen armed men this place was surrounded. Shots were freely exchanged, and after a lively hunt and skirmish, Biebusch was smoked out of his retreat, and taken once more into custody. The occasion of his jumping his bail a week previously to this last arrest, was found in the fact that Col. Whitley produced as a witness against him the noted Bill Shelley, one of his confederates. When Biebusch saw this man in Court, whom he fancied he had " fixed " for certain, the criminal wilted. Detective Fayman submitted his evidence, and U. S. District Attorney, Chester H. Krum, of St. Louis, was bound to convict the jnan who had so long persecuted the community there, since he was convinced that he had positive evidence that rendered this a " dead-sure thing," on Biebusch, this time. On the second day of the trial, Biebusch did not appear. The Marshal, called him, in open Court. The lawyers PBED BIEBUSCH. 73 looked at each other, the Judge looked at the lawyers, the crowd looked at the confused court-attendants — but Fred, was not forthcoming. He had stepped out. The jury was discharged. District Attorney moved that Biebusch be called,upon his bond. . The bondsmen were then summoned to produce him — but the- bird had escaped, and his bonds were forfeited to the Government. After his temporary escape, he lived. on Cabaret's Island in a hut,, secreted by day, and venturing out only in the darkness to the Point. He was seen one night to meet his wife in a cornfield, watched, tracked, and discovered. The officer ordered him to surrender, but he started to flee again, and six shots were fired at him without effect. He mounted a high fence, and was just springing this, when he was grappled and brought down, and for the last time placed safely in quod. He said at the conclusion of this arrest, " I wanted only time to fix up things again. I could have done it. I ran away from the Court because the U. S. Detective force had secured evidence that I couldn't get at, in time, and which I could not rebut. I couldn't get another continuance, either, and I thought that was my only show. They've got me ' dead to rights,' they think, on this occasion. But we shall see. I've got friends yet, and I sp'ose I can give bail again. I am not hopeless — bad as the chances look. But the new Detectives can't be ' worked ' like the old ones — .that's a fact." When the final trial was resumed, the Government . offi- cials set forth that they were prepared to prove that Biebusch was guilty of selling counterfeit $20 greenbacks, and $5 bogus notes ; with having spurious plates in his possession ; with passing fractional currency ; with employing one " Bill Shelley " to engrave bogus plates ; and with disposing of 74 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. other large sums of counterfeits, in the western country. Biebusch had been hunted down, systematically, and when " pulled " he resisted, fought the officers, was floored and ironed. He was then searched and " marked " money found on him, which he had received from one McOabe for coun- terfeits he had sold him. This in February, 1869. Prior to this, it was averred that he had employed and paid Bill Shelley to cut counterfeit plates, for three years, or more, etc., etc. Shelley gave his evidence ■ clearly and without faltering. He swore to the facts above briefly enumerated, and volun- tarily stated that he had had no promises of reward, or of leniency towards himself. His object was to tell the truth — as he had previously stated to Col. Whitley and his officers — in justice to himself and the U. S. Government. Having made a clean breast of it, and reiterating that he had not been under restraint, or in any wise prompted or induced to give his evidence, save from a sense of what was right — at last — he retired, and Biebusch plainly despaired of further escape from the event which shortly overtook him. In the midst of this trial, originally, one of the jury- men was approached covertly, by Biebusch (as a final re- sort,)with the offer of $1000 cash, if he would hold out on the verdict, against an " agreement." " I want to hang the jury," said Biebusch to this man, "and thus turn the tables upon John Eagan and the rest of the U. S. Detec- tives." But this dodge failed him. The juryman was found impracticable for his purpose. He could not bribe him. At the last trial, it was aimed to impeach Shelley's evidence, by the defence ; but this did not succeed. A large amount of damaging correspondence between Biebusch and his pals was shown up by the Government ; testimony cor- roborative of Shelley was brought forward in abundance by ' ■ , ';iW BILL GUB.NEY, ALIAS " BIG BIU," THE QUEEKSMAN. [See page 78. PEED BIBBUSCH. 77 Col. Whitley ; the U. S. District Attorney, Mr. Krum, de- livered an able and exhaustive argument to the jury ; Judge Treat charged clearly and fairly ; and within one hour from the tjme they took the case, a verdict of guilty upon all five of the indictments was returned against Fred Biebusch, the most noted koniacker ever known in the great south-west. The prisoner was at once sentenced to fifteen years con- finement in the State Prison at Jefferson, Mo., and entered upon his gloomy incarceration Dec. 13, 1870, at the age of forty-seven. If he serves out this rightful sentence, Bie- busch will be sixty two years old at its expiration. He had beaten the local and U. S. Detective forces, previously, more than fifty times, in thirty years! He did not suc- ceed in purchasing or defeating those he defied, at last ; and, through the present organization of the U. S. Secret Service, another dangerous rogue has thus been righteously disposed of. BILL GURNEY, ALIAS " BIO BILL, THE QUEEKSMAN. In the month of August 1870, there suddenly appeared in the eastern cities an admirably executed counterfeit $20 note on the National Shoe and Leather Bank, of New York. The intelligence of this discovery was telegraphed all over the country to business men, bankers, and others interested, putting the public upon their guard against this dangerous and well contrived imposition. Col. Whitley, of the U. S. S. Service, arranged directly a plan to reach a probable source, in his estimation, of the issue of this counterfeit. He despatched one of his Detec- tives to communicate with a notable " koniacker," known to him, surmising that this party knew something about it. The dealer he suspected was an " old settler " in the traffic, however, and it was no easy task directly to approach him, without exciting suspicion. Yet it was highly desirable that steps should be taken to stop the continuance of the issue of this counterfeit — which was being largely circulated in other places, and which was soon heard from as having been imposed upon the com- munity in other cities. The Chief looked about him, and 78 BILL GURNET. 79 having- given the requisite instructions to a chosen agent calling himself " Jake Buck," that individual found a man lately out of the State Prison, who formerly chanced to have been concerned directly with the Chief's suspected party, in the uttering and circulation of counterfeit money. " Jake Buck " applied to the ex-state prison bird, to know if he could sell him some coney. " No," says the the other. " Are you in the business ? " " I would like to buy a little," says Jake. " I don't sell any myself," responds the other, cautiously ; " but I think I might find a man who will accommodate you. I will see, and let you know to-morrow evening." " All right," says Buck ; and the two acquaintances sepa- rate. Next evening they meet again — on the same busi- ness — the ex-prisoner having meantime applied to the party in whose service he formerly " shoved the queer " exten- sively, and who remembered his old customer, who had been " pulled " three years previously, for that offence. " Out again ? " says the big rogue, upon recognizing his former patron, who sought the former at his residence. " Yes," replies the small coney man, " an' I'm dead broke, sure's yer live." " And what next ? " asks the big dealer. " Nothin'. ' I don't know. Dam 'f I don't think things look rather glum for a chance. Yer see I hain't got a brad to my name." " Cleaned out, eh ? " says the big dealer. " Busted. Now if yer like to give an old pal a start ag'iu, I'll try it on. What's up ? " The dealer assures his old friend that he feels disposed to help him, and at length places an admirably engraved new counterfeit $20 note in his hands, to commence operations upon. This note he takes to his new-found acquaintance, 80 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Buck, at their appointed second meeting, and the latter buys it, at half its represented value, say $10. " When can you supply me with some more ? " asks Buck, admiring the excellent imitation. " Day after to-morrow," says the ex-prisoner. " Let it be a hundred, then," adds Buck. And the go-between in two days more brings five $20's like the first, which Jake Buck readily gobbles, at forty cents on the dollar. They smoke and drink and separate again ; but not until Buck has agreed to take $500 of the queer from the ex- prison bird — though he now haggles a little at the price. " Say thirty cents on the' dollar," suggests Jake. " So be it," responds his companion. And when they meet again, by appointment, Buck pays over the one hundred and fifty dollars in good money, and takes his twenty-five new $20 counterfeit notes, which he is quite sure have all come from the same original source that the first one started from. He has been managing all this time to work himself into the ex-prisoner's, confidence, and he has succeeded, ad- mirably. " It goes devilish hard," says Buck, " atween ourselves. I thought it would go like hot cakes, it was drawd so fine. I can use a heap of it, if I could get the coney cheap enough. Spose you put me to the ' queer cole maker ' himself, and let me try my luck with him." •' Come to the ' break o' day drum ' in B Street, to-morrow night," says the other, confidentially, "and may- hap I'll p'int him out to yer." Within twenty-four hours, Jake Buck meets the wholesale dealer of the queer at the liquor shop in B Street, and makes his acquaintance. But this personage is an old sin- BILL GUENET. 81 ner, and it is only after a lengthened interview, (during which he ascertains to his apparent satisfaction from Jake that he too has but lately left prison,) that he gives him encouragement. But having informed the big dealer that he was " copped " two years previously, as a " boodle carrier," and showed him plainly that he was " up to snuff," the former appoints a time and place to deliver him a bundle of " new stock," at twenty cents on the dollar. He thus purchases $500 more of the queer for $100 good money, directly at first hands, and goes his way. A week afterwards, he finds the dealer again, and arranges for a fresh pile. The dealer in the counterfeits then agrees to deliver him $3,000 of the bogus notes for $18 per hundred. The time named is evening, the place of meeting at the Tenth Street Terry, on the Bast River. And " Jake Buck," (who is really one of the Chiefs Detectives,) reports progress forthwith at head-quarters. At the appointed hour — having thus managed already to have purchased several hundred dollars' worth of trash directly from this leading vendor's own hands, he repairs to the Ferry House, to receive $3,000 more, of the same sort, in the same denomination of $20's, of which his temporary pal, (the recently released prisoner) has also procured and sold to him several smaller similar sums ; and the Chief, with another Assistant, happens to be opportunely near by the spot of this last appointed meeting. But the big dealer knows the Chief and his Deputies, and he isn't to be " caught napping." He's too chary a bird for that ! So he comes to the Perry House and looks cau- tiously about him. He sees " Jake," but there are other strangers round. He recognizes none others whom he has seen before, however — for the Colonel and his other man simply represent a plain looking parson, and a slightly in- 82 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. ebriated mechanic, who are evidently waiting there, in the throng, to cross in the next boat. He observes the half-drunken man, the cove in the white choker, and Jake, with a cigar in his mouth, (see illustra- tion on page 8) but they are not together. He is anxious to get rid of his $3,000 bogus, and to finger the $540 good money that Jake is to pay him " on the sly." He advances — "Jake Buck" tips him the wink, a preconcerted signal between Jake and his Chief passes, and the next moment the big dealer is stoutly grasped by the sleek parson and his aids, who clap the iron ruffles upon his wrists, and he is a fast prisoner, in the hands of the U. S. Secret Service De- tectives — very much to his surprise ! The counterfeit $3,000 are found secreted in his breast coat pocket in a neatly closed parcel, and thus the Chief has the famous " Bill Gumey" one of the heaviest coney men in America " dead to rights ; " and the prime source through which have come the cunningly engraved $20 notes then lately " shoved " on the market is discovered, beyond peradventure. Bill Gumey is a wily old dog, however. The police had had their eyes on him for years, and he has several timea been pulled — but escaped. He had managed like Pete McCartney and Fred. Biebusch to elude conviction or im- prisonment in one way or another, and for a long time to keep the authorities at fault regarding his secret infamous work. But the U. S. Detectives finally got upon his track, and this notorious villain was at last driven to cover, and on this occasion was fairly " nabbed in the hock ! " The ex-prison bird, who had been carefully watched, meanwhile, was also secured that night ; and thus two shrewd counterfeiters — the greater and the less were safely lodged in limbo, by means of the cleverly contrived but effective ruse of Col. Whitley and his operatives. BILL GURNEY. 83 This capture of Bill Gurney, one of the most notoriously shrewd and artful koniackers in the United States, was highly creditable to the officers of the Secret Service. But he was yet to be tried for his crime, and he was possessed of sufficient ready means to employ the best of legal counsel. " It's a good job for the ' puzzle coves,' " said Bill, hope- fully. " But it's a long way yet to conviction." And though this bully coney-man was safe in hand, for the nonce, he cheerfully accepted the forbidding situation which he so unexpectedly found himself placed in, and determin- edly set himself to plotting for an early or ultimate release. The innumerable legal difficulties that attach to the con- viction of this class of criminals — especially those among the tribe who possess ample ready means, for example — are entirely misappreciated by the honest community. Oc- casionally — though but rarely — a learned Judge is met with who indirectly takes the extraordinary ground that " the testimony of Detectives, as a class, should be scruti- nized with great caution, inasmuch as from their occupation or calling, and living a life of deceit, their statements on the witness-stand are «ot entitled to the same weight as that of men taken from the ordinary good classes of society." Now it is a fact not generally known, perhaps, that the U. S. Detectives have no possible contingent pecuniary or other interest in convicting a counterfeiter. They are paid a stated salary for their services, and are tolerated in the employ of the Government only so long as they do their duty promptly, honorably, and efficiently. There are no special rewards in the system, as at present conducted, and their pay is in no wise contingent on the number of convic- tions secured. They stand or fall upon their merits and capacity, alone, and attain to promoted rank in this service only in just proportion to their official deserts. 84 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. It is simply impossible to convict counterfeiters, as a rule, without the aid of their confederates. The lesser criminals in this secretly conducted business can alone obtain the con- fidence of the greater villains. And thus it becomes an absolute necessity to make use of the minor offenders to aid the cause of justice in bringing the leaders to account. The criminal who has had a dozen illegal transactions with his confederate — undertakes the thirteenth in the same good faith which attended the first twelve offences — and finds himself within the grasp of the law through the defection of the man with whom he has long confidently been practis- ing his wrong against the- community. Can the use of such " living witness " against the evil-doer, (though a confeder- ate in lesser degree,) be deemed a doubtful move, in any sense, so far as the rights of honest and innocent men are concerned? There can be but one answer to this query. The leading jurists of this country have justly admitted it as a settled rule of evidence that " where the necessities of the case compel the use of an accomplice as a witness, the course is justified ; since the principal offender could not otherwise be brought to justice." In the instance of the arrest of BMP Gurney, a plan was adopted by Col. Whitley (as we have already shown) based upon the theory that to make certain of the capture of this great rogue, resort must be had first to the use of one of his accomplices in guilt, and then, in furtherance of that plan, to bring into the case one of his own subordinates, in dis- guise, " to consummate the proof of his crime," and bring the commission of the deed directly home to the chief crim- inal. The success of this ruse, in the use of his accomplice, is already well known to the public. Wm. M. Gurney is now in the prime of life, in years. He is a large, heavily built man, with hard lineaments and BILL GURNET. 85 sinister expression of countenance. He looks the comely scoundrel in feature and form. And bis truthful portrait, facing page 77 in this work, affords evidence that he would readily pass for an extraordinary personage, in common socie- ty, where he was not known. His commanding, well-developed form and easy address, served him to good account in his intercourse with the public, and his wide spread acquaint- ance witli men and women whom he esteemed to be of the right stamp for his purposes of evil, enabled him to drive a " flush business " in his reckless profession, for a lengthy period, and to goodly profit. But his avarice tempted him to take risks, at times, (as in the instance quoted,) which wiser heads in his line of traffic most studiously avoid. His parentage was respectable, and Bill was reared in Saratoga County, in the vicinity of the spot where the fashion of the land now pass the summer months. When a boy, he amused himself by perusing stories of the won- derful exploits of Jack Harold, Paul. Clifford, Claude Duval, and Jack Sheppard ; and thus imbibed a taste for the daring life of this sort of outlaw. At an early age he asso- ciated with canallers at Albany and Troy, and here he first commenced his experience as a " shover of the queer," in a field where counterfeit money was readily circulated, and at a period when one State bank bill would pass as -readily as another — good or bad. He grew to manhood, and in a few years Bill became one of the leading " queersmen " in New York state. He made the acquaintance along the Erie Canal, at this time, of almost every " koniacker," " boodle-carrier" and dealer, large or small, in this part of the country — and as he developed into riper manhood, and reached full six-feet-two in stature, he took the lead in the " coney " business, and for years in- dulged himself in luxury and ease upon' the profits of his thriving counterfeiting trade. 86 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. At length Bill found his way to the metropolis, naturally. The field of his operations could thus be enlarged, and he grew avaricious as he grew in years and enjoyed his en- hanced opportunities. In New York lie associated with the leading sporting men, or the most prominent and polished of criminals. These men thought themselves " posted " in the art and science of crime and intrigue ; but Bill soon showed them a trick or two they had not, previously to making his ac- quaintance, been up to. Jerry Cowsden, Ike Weber, cranky Tom Hale, Bill Over- ton, and their chums and pals were then upon their " high- heeled boots," and did a flourishing business — in their way. But Bill Gurney " came, and saw, and conquered ! " The cutters and printers and circulators wanted a leader, and the " koniackers " who were then driving a lively business in a smallish way, were not averse to hailing a chief among their fraternity who had the pluck, the stamina, and the " spondulics " at hand to assume the position of head of the gang. Bill saw his chance, he had the " brads," and he "went in." Soon after his appearance among these new found companions, plans were laid to put upon the market a hundred thousand dollars in counterfeit notes upon the Fishkill Bank. The press for printing this large sum of " coney " was es- tablished in New York city. The plates were cut, the paper procured, but only a few thousand dollars were got upon the market. Charley Brockway, alias the " curly headed kid," went back upon his friends. He located the " boodle," and " squealed " on his pals. The result was the whole concern was nabbed, and two or three of the operators were " sent over." Bill, as usual, ostensibly kept " out of this dirt," however. BILL GURNEY. 87 When the rebellion broke out, he saw a glorious haul in prospective, at once, when the Postal and Legal Tender U. S. notes appeared. He put up his money on it, and the grand results of his efforts at this time were immensely profitable. He got out fair counterfeit plates of the fl's the $2's the $10's and the $20's. These succeeded finely — but the specially successful note was the Legal Tender $50, which proved the most dangerous Counterfeit, as well as the most accurate imitation, of all that ever were got out in this country. This last named note is defective in the vignette head, where, the buttons of the coat of Hancock are incorrectly placed, and upon the left hand corner of the back the re- peated numerals " 50 " are run together irregularly. But bankers, brokers, merchants, railroad-men — everybody took this note without challenging ; and a large quantity were shoved, in all directions. The $50 legal-tender was a prime success, and the coney men everywhere were jubilant over this nicely accomplished imposition, of which not less than half a million dollars got into market. Bill was arrested by the former U. S. Detectives, but he was released, about the time this counterfeit was discovered. He then went to work to introduce another capital bogus issue, after the original U. S. Compound Interest note, of the higher demonination of $100. This undertaking en- tailed a heavy outlay of ready cash, but Bill was equal to the emergency. " Young Ned," a pal, who stole the bach impressions of this note from the U. S. Treasury, and who knew all the " koniackers " far and near, was no longer needed: Bill and his companions feared him, and so a plot was entered upon to " put him out of harm's way." He was poisoned in Washington, and died an awful death. His secrets and the confidences of the busy tribe who had con- OS UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. sorted with him, were buried with him. In this case, Gur- ney was again arrested (for the fifth or sixth time, in New York,) but soon found himself at liberty, once more, through some gerry-mandering process known only to himself and those who then held him in custody. For a time he disappeared, and it was thought Bill had gone into retirement, under an alias. But he had long in- dulged a taste for gambling, and he " fought the tiger " fear- fully, for months — when he awoke one day to find himself " dead broke ! " He had lost his. handsome fortune, at play, and was without funds as well as minus friends. In this strait, he went back to his old trade, but the tide of hjs luck had turned. He botched whatever he undertook, lost caste, gambled, tried first one thing and then another, but all failed him. He first pushed the famous Newburgh National $10, upon the market, but it was poorly executed, compara- tively, and involved all who attempted to shove it in dire trouble. Several of his associates were nabbed by the U. S. Detectives on this work, and two or three were sent to the State Prison, on conviction. Just before he was ar- rested by Col. Whitley, Bill made a fortunate strike, how- ever, and got in funds, once more. He had laid out the programme for some stupendous operations, and would have been down upon the public shortly, heavily, had his career not been fortunately checked, and this base man removed from the chance farther to impose on and wrong the public, as he had done unblushingly for years and years. He was taken, as we have stated ; .$3,000 in counterfeit money was found upon his person at the capture, by Col. Whitley and his men ; the Chief had thus " a dead sure thing " on this no- torious offender; he was taken before the U. S. Commis- sioner, and in default of being able to procure the amount of bail required ($20,000) he was placed in jail to await trial. BILL GURNEY. ^ 89 This attest of Gurney placed in the hands of the Govern- ment the counterfeit $20 plate upon the National Shoe and Leather Bank ; which will be more fully referred to in a fu- ture article, in the important case of Joshua D. Miner. Gurney married a beautiful and accomplished lady of the highest respectability some years since, and she is devotedly attached to him, as he is to her. She did not know him, however. Yet he has always treated her kindly ; and the misfortune that befel her in uniting her fortunes with those of the gambler and Counterfeiter — though innocent of any knowledge of his base profession — is now intensified by his subsequent sad but deserved arrest and punishment. Bill was convicted, though he boasted his ability to beat the Chief " bloke " of the Secret Service. The jury found him guilty, without leaving the box. Eg was sentenced by Judge Woodruff, of the U. S. Court, to ten years' imprison- ment in the King's County Penitentiary, and to pay a fine of $3,000 ; to be committed until paid. Thus ends, for the present, the history of this remarka- ble man, who has filled a large space in the annals of coun- terfeiting, in New York State ; and who is now, luckily for the peace and welfare of the people — through the active zeal of the Secret Service — placed where they will realize, at Ms hands, no farther trouble for half a score of years to come. THE WHOLESALE NEW ENGLAND "BOODLE CAREIEE," BILL DOW. More than twenty-five years ago, a sharp-eyed, handsome boy of sixteen or seventeen was " beating the bush " in New Hampshire, anxious to make his way, whenever opportunity presented, like most keen young Yankees one meets with in that money-loving country, where Washington Irving credits this sort of biped with being especially partial to the acquisition of the " almighty dollar." He had " boxed the compass " pretty effectually, thereabouts, and had passed his time in various attempts to earn his livelihood — in stables or markets, and generally about the town of Concord, until he finally settled himself for a while as an attendant in an eating saloon there ; where, through economy and industry, he contrived to put by a few dollars for " a rainy day." The ambition of this young man was to keep out of debt, and work along quietly as he approached his majority, hoping to light upon some chance (for which he was con- stantly upon the watch) whereby he might " strike a lead " that would better his fortunes, and enable him to live easily in the future. 90 BILL DOW. 91 He conceived a peculiar fancy for horse-flesh, in his young years, and was desirous to become possessed of an animal he could call his own. In the restaurant, he not infre- quently met with strangers and travellers passing up and down the country, who halted temporarily at this eating- house as they went, and who often left behind them question- able looking bank bills, which he subsequently discovered in his master's money-drawer. The restaurant-keeper did not object to take these spurious notes ; but, on the contrary, received and passed them off, and smiled at the young man's expressed solicitude on the subject. " It's as good money as any," said his employer. " Don't be tflo nice ! It all goes, and it answers our purpose. Let it slide." And thus the boy's eyes were first opened to the chances before him. If these bogus rags could thus readily be passed in that establishment, he mentally argued that there was a bigger field of operations to be easily found, if one but took a little time to " prospect for it ! " And as the young man thought this affair over at his leisure, he concluded he would now purchase the horse he coveted, at the earliest convenient moment, and then turn his attention to something promising larger pecuniary results than were attainable in the meagrely rewarded service of a drudge, in a country eating-saloon. He had previously formed an , acquaintance with a New York horse-man, who came to the saloon in Concord fre- quently, and he had seen him and others " shoving the queer " there so often, that he fancied it wasn't a difficult process -*- while he felt assured that this lively business would pay. He got more intimately conversant with these " gentlemen from New York," and finally left Concord, went to the great metropolis, where crime is so commonly 92 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. cloaked and smothered in fine linen or sanctimonious hypocrisy ; and, with a few dollars of his hard-earned good money '(mixed with a generous sprinkling of the bogus he had gathered,) from one of the very 24th Street horse men who had first incidentally opened his youthful eyes to the facility with which this thing could be done, he bought and paid for a good stout cob of a horse ; with which — and a liberal supply of fresh " coney," furnished him by parties in Houston Street, whom he found no difficulty in approaching, at that time — the young man went forth upon his first journey in a pilgrimage that has led to ruin wiser heads and stouter hearts than even this keen young Yankee then or subsequently possessed. But he was hopeful, spunky,' cau- tious, and well informed ; and he entered upon the prosecu- tion of bis new vocation, with zeal and determination now to " make his pile." At Mike 0' Brien's, who was then in his prime, in New York, the young man made the acquaintance of the noted " Dock Young," afterwards convicted for robbing the U. S. mail coach on the highway in Maine, and who was sent to the State Prison there, for this offence. The boy's early education, after quitting the saloon, was thus obtained in the association of " cracksmen " " coney men," and their " pals." But lie was unusually smart for his years — bright, intelligent, good looking and daring ; and he soon made up his mind that the dealer in the " queer " rather than the " shover," was the party who piled his gains with the greatest ease and celerity. But the way up to this elevated position among the "coney" fraternity was a .tortuous road, and one that he fouud " hard to travel," before he reached the apex of the then far-away hill-top to which he aspired. •And so for more than a dozen years, he went and came as shover, circulator, boodle-carrier, or cracksman, before he came to be a wholesale dealer. BILL DOW. 93 This youth was the afterwards notorious Bill Bow, a faithful likeness of whom will be found at page 128, whose numerous exploits as " cracksman " and counterfeit dealer, throughout the length and breadth of New England, mark him as one of the most skillful of coney men that ever flourished in America. It was Bill's custom, after a varied experience in his newly adopted secret trade, to visit New York city, and thence to take away from five to ten thousand dollars of bogus bills, at a time, upon the State Banks then in opera- tion. These sums would last him but a little while, when he would return and get another bundle of " stock " which he distributed himself, or spread abroad through his confi- dential agents, all over the Eastern country. Large bills he could not use to advantage in that region, and so he carried one's and two's and three's, most frequently. He obtained this stuff through Bill Gurney from Josh. D. Miner ; then, as in later days, a big wholesale dealer in the coney. As a cracksman, afterwards, Bill Dow got familiarly ac- quainted with Mike O'Brien, Jack Rand, Charley Brockway, Langdoh W. Moore (alias " Charley Adams,") Tom Shot- well, et als., and with these worthies he was engaged for years in his iniquitous trade, sub rosa. Tom Shot well, known as "Blacksmith Tom," furnished the burglarious tools. He was a good mechanic, and was constantly in Bill's confidence and employ. Dow paid all the bills, at length, for he accumulated money rapidly. As a leader in the nefarious work, it fell to his lot to " locate " the jobs, of which he was the grand manipulator, first and last, prior to the operations of the cracksmen, with whom he was thus in villainous association. Bill grew to be a very handsome man, and at 35 to 45 years of age his polished address, gentlemanly bearing, and 94 UNITED STATES SECRET SERYICE. genial manners drew about him many personal friends, among the good and bad who chanced to cross his path pro- fessionally or socially. In his personal appearance, in middle life, he resembled a wealthy country gentleman, though he was evidently " a man of the world," as well. When, in the course of his busy career, a bank was to be " cracked," Bill was always near by the scene of operations, on the watch to " pipe off," personally. In the manipula- tion of the " queer," he never trusted the " kids — " but always received and u planted the stuff," himself. After cracking a " crib," or bank successfully, and getting away with the " plunder," Bill would lay for the " reward " which he knew would shortly be offered for the recovery of the money. Then he would " work back " the notes, through the police, or certain " easy " detectives ; and take his com- missions, or share (after indirectly negotiating sharply) for the return of the lost funds. This course he adopted, be- cause the stolen notes were for the greater part the issues of the bank thus robbed ; and such large sums of the same kind of good money were far more difficult to get rid of without detection, than were even so many counterfeit notes. At the close of such a transaction, Bill would pay off the " kids," the blacksmith, and his pals in the enterprise, and " go in " again upon a fresh hunt. Bill went to New England, where he readily found plenty of " boodle carriers " anxious to assist him and take the " stuff" into the interior, at figures that paid him gener- ously, and afforded them large profits. " Hod Bonney " of New Hampshire, was one of his chief boodle men. These agents parcelled the bogus notes out to " peddlers," or itin- erant dealers, who " shoved " it every where in the country towns, liberally. Bill travelled in all directions, to oversee this work, kept up the supply regularly, and meanwhile was BILL DOW. 95 continually on the watch for fresh chances to crack a country bank, at an opportune moment. On one occasion he succeeded in relieving the Concord Bank of some $300,000 in good money; and at another time he made a big " lift " at the Wolf boro', N. H., Bank. The amount of money he and his confederates thus ob- tained was so great that none dared to keep it. They got alarmed. " Blacksmith Tom " was afraid to hold it, and it was quickly secreted in glass jars and buried. It was sub- sequently recovered and mostly restored, through the active exertions of the New York city police. When the famous counterfeit $ 50 legal tender note came upon the market (already referred to in a previous article) all the " coney men " rushed to New York to obtain bundles of this admirable specimen of the " queer " — which is the best counterfeit note, of any denomination, ever produced in America, and which deceived all sorts of money judges, for a long period. Bill Dow, Tom Hale, " cranky Tom," Bill Gurney and others, formed a secret co-partnership for the purpose of using these large bogus notes to purchase jewelry and fine watches in Boston and Philadelphia. They first bought a choice watch of the Waltham Co., by express, " C. O. D.," for which they forwarded six of these spurious $50 notes in payment. These notes went through, the watch was sent to New York, the bills were deposited in the Bank, paid out again, and the fraud remained undiscovered. The six notes were never heard from. This incident is cited to show how exquisitely nice was this imitation note. No one then sus- pected it. But the facts herein stated were all subsequently ascer- tained, and Detective Newcomb, now of Col. Whitley's force, worked up this case, and found the three hundred 96 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. dollar Waltham Watch in Bill Dow's possession. He seized it, took it to the Company, sought for the notes, but could not trace them ; and was actually compelled to return the watch to Dow, as his property ! Bill told the details of this story himself, and the tale was subsequently confirmed by Detec- tive Newcomb, as above, in all particulars. Sixteen more of these same $50 notes were " shoved " in one day, in New York city, by Tom Hale and his " moll," at the dry goods stores. And Bill Gurney also (about the same time) bought jewelry largely in Philadelphia, C. 0. D., with these same notes, and with similar success. But Bill Dow found this counterfeit, though it was so finely got up, of too large a denomination for his New England trade. He therefore continued his practices there with the smaller ones. He had made a pile of money, and he went to Mike O'Brien's place at High Bridge, N. Y., to rus- ticate a while. But he soon moved off again, quietly, and undertook the cracking of the Bank at Wolf boro', N. H. He rarely dealt in bogus coins. This stuff was too cum- bersome to transport. But he came and went to and from New York, and procured his paper " stock " at East and West Houston Street, (where it was openly sold in large packages to him and others.) These places were well known as the coneymens' head-quarters. " Deals " by tens of thousands were made there, daily. A loaded revolver lay upon the table at the dealer's right hand (between him and his customer) as a reminder that during the transfer, good faith must be observed in these transactions between buyer and seller. This was the only precaution used. Once the " stock " was out of the dealer's hands, he had no concern about it. But among these thieves in council, honor was observed ; or an explosion followed suspicion of an attempt to play false with the providers of the stuff. BILL DOW. 97 The "coney" team was as common at one period for years, in New England, as was the peddler's cart ; and it was looked for in' its rounds quite as regularly and much more anxiously, in certain quarters. These " shovers of the queer " • put forth myriads of counterfeit notes, and the whole country was surfeited with them, while Dow was rioting over his gains, and pushing things to extremities. Though he did not realize it, he was' hastening to ruin, " with a flowing sail." His last big " deal " at Springfield (where he shoved over $10,000 in bogus bank bills,) did his business for him, effectually. Bill had long been watched by the police, and the U. S. Detectives got upon his track at length, in earnest. He had studiously " kept his eye peeled," nevertheless ; and, like other of his accomplished pals, he had so managed as to elude detection, with great adroitness. But, during the rebellion, he run a new rig, furiously, and at last a snare was deliberately laid by Col. Whitley, for his capture, which was carried out to successful conclusion as follows. Wm. W. Kennock, one of Chief Whitley's Detectives, went forth, under instructions from head-quarters, to hunt this offender down. Upon tracking Dow,, after careful search, he " lighted " on him at the town of Hookset, N. H. Kennock directly assumed to represent the professional " cracksman," and upon getting into communication with Dow, he pretended that he had himself just made a good thing upon a distant country bank, and had come to New Hampshire to lie by a while, until the affair should cease to be talked about. He soon contrived to ingratiate himself into Bill's affections and confidence, and by dint of careful conduct, and the information he possessed regarding the ways and manners of both the queersman and the burglar, the disguised official got a hold upon Dow's " tender spot," and they quickly affiliated. 98 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. But, among Dow's bad qualities, be had long been possessed with a love of liquor, and he never " shirked his tod " among boon companions. His newly made ac- quaintance, who passed, (on this occasion) for one " Jim Drake," indulged Dow's failing in this particular, and " treated " him liberally, whenever Bill was inclined to drink — for he was well aware that New England " white- -eye," like " good wine, will loosen the tongue " wonderfully, at times ! They drank together. Bill poured it down freely, and " left no heeltaps," until " Jim Drake " had pumped many of Dow's secrets out of him, while he filled up his inner man with the " ardent " he loved so well. " You don't say you dodged the ' cops ' after that little affair, so handily ? " mumbled Bill, as the liquor began to tell on him. " Yes," responded Drake. " An' I made for the ' cross- drum ' lively, you can bet. It was a ' big thing,' and a hellabulloo followed, next morning." " 0' course," muttered Dow, knowingly. " Take anotlier ' snifter,' Bill," suggested Drake, pouring out half a tumbler full of the bingo, and passing it to his victim, who was already pretty full, and very communica- tive. Dow didn't need urging, nor did he observe that his com- panion only pretended to imbibe. The "fly-cop" who had this koniacker now in hand understood his biz ' ; and he "chaffed "him right pleasantly — the while manceuvering to draw him out, and gather from him various important hints that he succeeded in obtaining, ere Bill was aware that he had " blowed " upon himself, essentially !■ Dow did not get so drunk that he could not carry himself. He talked with easy familiarity, believing that he had found a new man who was as deep in the mud as he was in the BILL DOW. 99 mire ; and whom he could manipulate perhaps to advantage on some future occasion — for Drake appeared to him to be a right jovial fellow, who was thoroughly posted. Thus Detective Kennock (alias " Jim Drake " ) wormed himself into Bill's favor fairly, and got upon the scent of more, than one of Dow's prospective "jobs" then in con- templation. A prominent confederate of Dow was the notorious Jim Boyd, who was a Deputy Sheriff and Canadian mail agent.* Messrs. A. B. Newcomb, Del Omo, and Kennock wece the U. S. Detectives who worked up the Springfield job, in which Bill was concerned. Kennock was the man who sprung the trap and " put the collar " upon Dow at Hookset, N. H. Alf Tenney of Lowell, was another notable companion of Dow's. Tenney was an " old dodger," and was too sharp to be " cleaned out " by the Eastern police, though he was watched and waited for, a good while. He too was a con-~ stant frequenter of the tap-room and the " boozing-ken " — and met his fate finally, as will be seen, hereafter. Detective Newcomb took Bill Dow from Hookset to Bos- ton, and placed him in charge of the Chief, Col. Whitley, who awaited his arrival there, after having been notified of his arrest, by his operatives. Then the Colonel proceeded to an interview with his prisoner, who at once " knuckled " to the Chief, whose men had run him " to close." Dow caved ! The Chief had hardly been in conclave with him fifteen minutes before he " acknowledged the corn," owned up fairly to having been in the coney traffic a long time, and offered to make disclosures valuable to the Government. " You've got the ' dead wood' on me, Colonel," said Bill, *Jim Boyd was subsequently arrested by Col. Whitley's men through a cleverly managed ruse, which is explained in another chapter of this work. 100 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. despondingly. " I know it, and I knock under. You've beaten me, and I won't contend. You're right, in the course you've taken. I don't complain." " Will you plead guilty of being a counterfeiter?" asked the Chief. " We've got this thing on you, dead sure — and you can't escape me now, Bill." " I know it. I own up. I don't want any trial. I sub- mit, and will give you valuable information in reference to this iniquitous business, hereafter." The Chief believed Dow was repentant. He had a wife, who was innocent of his evil doings, and Bill exhibited a contriteness that seemed real ; while he solemnly promised never again to mix in this nefarious work. Col. Whitley put faith in his contrition and promises, and taking into con- sideration certain favorable extenuating circumstances in Dow's case, he explained the matter to the Court, when the offender was arraigned to answer to the allegation the U. S. authorities had against him. The Colonel did not believe that Dow was " a hardened criminal," in the usual acceptation of that term. He sin- cerely hoped that this young man would reform, in future years, and thus he was induced to urge the imposition of no unduly harsh sentence upon his prisoner. The Court considered the fact that after his arrest Bill had given Col. Whitley highly important information in reference to the counterfeiting business in New York city, and in view of all the circumstances attendant upon the case, Dow was sentenced to the State Prison for two years, at Charlestown, Mass., without a trial — upon the man's pleading " guilty, and nolo contendere." The hope is indulged, that after the expiration of this lenient sentence, Bill may reform, altogether, in accordance with his voluntary pledges solemnly given to Col. Whitley, and that he may yet live to become an honest citizen. FRED. BIEBUSCH, THE GREAT SOUTH-WESTERN KONIACKER. [See page 63. A LIVELY MEMBER OF THE CONEY FRATERNITY, "JIM BOYD." Among the sharpers and adepts in the counterfeiting line, the subject of this " memoir " held high rank in the estima- tion of his associates ; and few men of his tribe have had a more varied and lively experience than has Jim Boyd — the Canadian " koniacker." He was an expert in the details of his infamous occupation, and so cunningly managed his af- fairs, in conjunction with his numerous notorious compan- ions in iniquity, that the local police were kept at a distance for years, and were unable to settle their gripe upon this accomplished, dangerous, and wily operator in the " queer." He had been frequently hunted, and every conceivable plot had been entered upon, with a view to capture this shrewd rogue. He snapped his fingers at the officers, and boasted that " city, state, nor U. S. ' coppers ' could contrive to get ahead of Jim Boyd's time ! " Bold in his plans, subtle in their execution, persistent in his wickedness, and defiant in all his schemes — he went on with rare success, unchecked in his studied machinations — for several years. 103 • 5 104 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. His real name was James Boyd, Jr., but he passed undei the cognomen which heads this article, and for a period he held the office of Deputy Sheriff, at Frelingsburg, Canada. He was also nominally a Detective, informer, merchant, traveller — each in turn — and was mail-carrier, and said to have been at one time a deputy post-master at the town mentioned, where he had resided from his youth upward, although born in Massachusetts. In this vicinity, the people had become aware that a large amount of counterfeit money was in circulation from time to time, and every now and then, fresh batches of bogus notes found their way mysteri- ously about, among the trades-men. But Boyd was not suspected, though from the increase of the coney men in that region after a while, one of the streets in the town of Frelingsburg was christened " Coniack " Street. At an early period in his life, Boyd had heard a good deal about counterfeiting, and he conceived that this profession, if well followed, pointed out a right " royal road " to speedy fortune. He possessed a money-making turn of mind, and thought he saw the way clear to mass up wealth, through this lawless means. He married at a very early age, and was exceedingly ambitious to get rapidly ahead in pecuniary condition. His first venture in this direction was in the butter trade, and he began to earn an honest living through this channel, in which business he was moderately fortunate. But this slow road to wealth was unsatisfying ; and having previously known more than one of his friends who had come to possess large means, in a brief space of time, he felt con- vinced that the secret of their success lay in manipulating the bogus money with which the country over which he travelled was flooded. He looked about him, and from his somewhat prominent position and large acquaintance, he JIM BOYD. - 105 found little difficulty in getting the " inside track," in a short time, among the men who were zealously " shoving the queer " in his neighborhood. Jim was sufficiently secretive in his natural habit, and upon entering on his newly chosen vocation, he quickly be- came an adept in the business. He bought and sold large sums of " coney," upon his own private account. He en- joyed rare facilities, too, for putting these false notes upon the market, in various ways. For some time Boyd had a good run of luck, and thousands of dollars in spurious bank notes were shoved by this cunning knave, whose avaricious- ness and recklessness grew with his steady success. But at length he went too far, and exposed his hand. He left the Colonial limits of Her British Majesty's dominions, and frequently crossed the border, and renewed the details of his business upon the soil of the United States. He went and came, shoved the queer at every opportunity, smuggled goods over the line upon occasion, but kept up his hotel at Frelingsburg in respectable style, at which house he had a goodly company of guests, the American Consul being at one time a resident at his house. He was obliged to visit New York city, to procure his " stuff," in quantity ; and when he left, he passed up the Hudson, usually, to Albany and Langsingburg, where he had friends. Thence he journied to Springfield, to Boston, Lowell and Salem — and then north to Lawrence, Manchester, and via White River Junction to Canada. All along his route, he scattered the counterfeits among bis long-time agents, who shoved it wherever they could put it off, and constantly to good ac- count, so far as his profits were concerned. Emboldened by success, he became careless, but always continued anxious to make the most of his chances. Every effort was put forth to catch this man, but he eluded the 106 UNITED STATES SECBET SERVICE. officers who were put upon his track. He did not appear the desperate man he proved to be. He was quiet, plaus- ible, and pleasant in his intercourse, and was warmly attached to his wife, though at one time she caused him serious trouble,.through her scandalous conduct. He finally got into the habit of receiving his counterfeit stock by • express, and returned the pay by mail — when he did not go to New York in person. Col. Whitley made himself acquainted with the ante- cedents of Boyd, and put a couple of Detectives after hi in. But latterly Jim did not come down, in person, to New York so often as in earlier times, as it was found — at length — to be a difficult matter to induce him to cross the border ; for he was made aware, through his friends, that he was being narrowly watched. He continued to sell butter, and to venture upon long journies, however — at times — always keeping a sharp " lookout for breakers," yet never- theless ever anxious to drive a trade in coney, whenever he could do it safely, and especially when the purchaser he met was in want of large sums ; upon which latter operations he made a good thing out of his transactions, with but little trouble, in selling to the right man. And the " right man " came along, one day. In the course of the search for Boyd, two or three of Col. Whitley's Detectives were put upon the scent. ■ One followed* his track through New England, another went through New York, to the border. Messrs. Anchisi and Delomo were engaged in the working up of the case. Delomo proceeded on this duty as one " Monsieur Leroy," and Anchisi passed as " Charley Bon ; " both Canadian Frenchmen. At Read- ing, Mass., one E. J. Ober was discovered — and, by dint of management, this man was found to be a friend and corre- spondent of Boyd, in whom Jim placed entire confidence. JIM BOYD. 107 " Charley Bon " got into this Ober's favor, and offered to Buy $500 of the queer of him. After a little, Ober told him that he obtained his coney of Boyd, and showed Bon the last letter he had received from the Canadian dealer, which ran as follows : — " Can procure you what you want, but not till end of month. Any kiwi you want. Let me know how much stuff you desire, and the denominations you wish. J. Boyd." " Charley Bon " (Anchisi) agreed to take his five hun- dred in $10's and $20's National Currency, and Boyd soon arranged to meet Bon at White River Junction, to deliver this sum. It stormed, and he did not appear, on the ap- pointed day ; Monsieur Leroy had meantime got acquainted with Ober, and took a letter from Ober to Boyd, saying : " The bearer is all right. He is the friend I wrote you about. Whatever he does in relation to business will be ' all on the square.' " E. J. Ober. Anchisi learned that a new $2 counterfeit National note would soon be out, (as it did, in May following.) He met Deloino (alias Mons. Leroy) and they went to Lowell, to- gether, and met at Ordway's " boozing-ken " near the rail- road station, in the city of spindles. Here Alf Tenney, another noted New England counterfeiter and shover was encountered, and made " a deal" with Anchisi, alias Charley Bon. Bon assumed the role of a " fence " on this occasion, and was roughly attired. He got acquainted with the bar-keeper of Ordway's drinking-shop, and one day there came in a stranger, named McLaughlin, an ex-state prison bird, who thought he recognized him. 108 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " Who's that ? " he enquired of the bar tender, suddenly eyeing Anchisi. " That ? Charley Bon," said the young man. " Do you know him ? " " Yes, indeed," says McLaughlin. And crossing the room, he seized Bon's hand with an earnest gripe. " Charley," he exclaimed, " don't you remember me ? " And then in a low tone he mentioned how they had been in Sing-Sing prison together, and how Bon had got out first — a few months previously ! Bon fell in with this mistake, at once, and they had a drink together, for " auld lang syne." Thus the Detective's disguise was assured. This man introduced Tenney, Ordway, and Clarke (Bill Dow's travelling agent) to Bon, and all got acquainted readily ; as " birds of a feather," &c, &c. At last it was arranged that Detective Delomo, who represented " Mons. Leroy," should proceed with Ober to Canada, to get the coney direct from Boyd's hands. He reached Boyd, but he hadn't the money with him. Leroy wanted $5000 in National Notes. For this large sum it was necessary, Boyd said, to go to New York. After some chaffing, Boyd agreed to go down to New York city, and deliver Leroy the coney there. This was precisely what his customer had long been operating for. He thus had him upon Yankee soil, and would eventually know where all this money came from ; as well as to work the job up that they had in baud, so far as Boyd was concerned. The appointed place of meeting in New York was at the Revere House, where Leroy was to stop. At this point a report was made to Chief Whitley, and the balance of the plan to get a " dead sure thing " upon Boyd, was at once JIM BOYD. 109 consummated at Secret Service headquarters. Delomo got his good money with which to buy the bogus (at twenty cents on the dollar) which notes were duly marked by the Chief, and then " Mons. Leroy " once more appeared at the Revere House, where Boyd had already arrived with the counterfeit stuff, which he had obtained in New York of Frank Gleason. Gleason was the worst scoundrel of the two, but we shall come to him by-and-by. Boyd was the man the Chief was after now. Gleason was " shadowed " directly, however, and was known to be in association with Boyd. At a meet- ing in a lager-beer saloon in Pulton Street, Boyd sold to " Mons. Leroy " $1,700 in counterfeits, and arranged to deliver the balance of the ordered $5,000 in the evening of same day ; saying that " his man had not succeeded in get- ting so large a sum down, at once ; since he had to go up town so far for it." Shortly afterwards, Boyd went out, and the Detectives followed him to Barclay street, with the Chief in company. At the opportune moment " the jig was up " with Mr. James Boyd! He was collared upon the sidewalk, ironed, the marked good money that " Leroy " (Detective Delomo) had paid him for the $1,700 bogus was found upon him, and he was borne to the Chief's office " in a jiffy," not a little cha- grined as well as astonished that his quondam friend " Mons. Leroy," who spoke such excellent Canadian French, who had helped him tote more than one heavy firkin of but- ter to a customer, as they travelled together, and who as- sisted to put those admirably fitting but not over-ornamental iron ruffles upon his wrists, was none other than ■ Louis Delomo, a very clever Detective in Col. Whitley's Division of the D". S. Secret Service ! It may safely be affirmed that the ex-hotel keeper, ex- sheriff, ex-koniacker, ex-etc, etc., was nonplussed and com- ' 110 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. pletely crestfallen. Still, he put the best possible face upon this dash of ill luck in his career. Upon his arrest, Boyd was soon brought into contact with the Chief, at his office. The case had been consummated with entire success, and the prisoner saw that there was no escape before him, on this occasion. The marked money was taken from him, and upon a brief conversation with the Colonel, the hitherto lively, busy Canadian — who had had an unusually " good time," so he averred, thus far in life — " squealed " before the Chief, and owned up that the U. S. S. Service men " had him foul," at last. He confessed his offence, and declared himself willing to make certain reve- lations that would be of advantage to the Government. Col. Whitley then made an effort, in conjunction with this arrest, to capture the bigger sinner of the two, who he was well satisfied supplied Boyd and others with these counter- feits, without limit — to wit, Frank Gleason. Heat once sent Boyd to the Revere House, advising him to " sham Abraham," (be ill) and send for Gleason to call upon him — which advice Boyd at once appreciated, and in accordance with his voluntary promise he carried out his part of the arrangement. Jim went to bed, apparently sick, at the Revere Hotel. He summoned Gleason to his bedside, and the Chief took the precaution to have one of his Detectives secreted within ear-shot of what subsequently might ensue in conversation between these two " pals." Gleason had not been informed of Boyd's arrest, and he only knew from the messenger that his friend Jim lay sick at the hotel, and desired him to come down to him. Gleason was too old a rat to be caught with this kind of cheese — most probably ! At any rate, he didn't go there. He sent another man, and this part of the programme did not work " all serenely," as it was hoped it might. JIM BOYD. Ill Boyd was then placed in jail, being unable to obtain the requisite amount of bail to satisfy the Court. And at this writing, he remains there — his trial not yet having taken place. So far as his offence is concerned, Col. Whitley has got him " dead to rights " unquestionably. And thus one more dangerous counterfeiter and large dealer in the queer, is removed from the sphere of his long-time damaging and dangerous operations. THE CONNECTICUT FORGER AND PLATE PRINTER, WILLIAM BROCKWAY. About a score of years since, say in the year 1850, the proprietor of a modest printing-establishment in the beauti- ful " City of Elms," Conn., was employed by the New Haven bank to strike off all its notes, from time to time, from plates furnished by the Bank itself, upon paper also supplied from the same source. This work was performed (in those days) invariably in the presence of two of the Directors of the Bank, who stood by the press while the issues were thus being worked off, who brought the plates to the printer from the bank-vaults, and who as scrupulously noted their return to the safe again ; where they were locked up until they were similarly required for use. There was no risk in this performance, and thus no one save the officers of the institution had access to these valua- ble plates. The paper was peculiar in fabric, and so it was difficult to counterfeit this Bank's issues ; which were signed, in the old-fashioned way, by the president and 112 WILLIAM BROCKWAY. 113 cashier, individually, as a farther safeguard against unlaw- ful deception. There was a single apprentice employed in this office, by the afore mentioned printer, who, as he advanced in years gave promise of becoming a rare good workman — skillful, tasteful, artistic, and deeply interested as lie was in his pro- fession — whom his master at length consigned to Prof. Silliman of Yale College, to study the art of electro-chemis- try ; the expenses of which acquirement the master willing- ly defrayed. The boy became a proficient in this important science, and the knowledge he thus obtained served both himself and his employer to excellent account, in after years. The young man's name was William Brockway — the subject of our present sketch. He was modest, reticent, clear-headed, quick-witted, and " knew a hawk from a hand saw, every time." He lost no opportunity during the term of his studies with Prof. Silliman, to gain all the knowledge of this science then attainable, and he left his instructor an accomplished chemist and a very clever student, to return to his labors again devotedly in the printing office. The boy told his astute but not so well informed employer how some things could be done, in the course of his busi- ness, which vastly pleased him. And so it was agreed be- tween them, one day, that when next the New Haven plates came to the office to print more Bank notes from, the at- tempt should be made to get up a plate of their own — from the original — in a way that William suggested would be quite feasible. Delighted with the idea, the old knave and the young one watched for the future coming of the plates, attended by the careful sober Directors, with considerable solicitude, for both man and boy saw in their scheme a heap of money in prospective, if the plan conceived should not miscarry in the attempt to execute it. 114 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. The Bank note paper arrived one day, and then came the burly, staid Directors, with the $5 plate, which they cau- tiously placed upon the press, and then they stood by to count the sheets, and see that only the ordered and recorded number of impressions came forth, as had been their usual custom. The boy worked the press, and a very good workman he was, too. On a sudden (as per arrangement previously made between master and apprentice,) the old man called the attention of the two Directors to the other side of the room, ostensibly to examine the last lot of paper the Bank had sent in, which, he said, was inferior in quality. The two men turned away for but a moment or two only to find, on looking at the paper, that it was all right, while the young man deftly took out from beneath his apron an impressible plate, which he slipped in upon the genuine, and out again as swiftly — and thus secured a copy in soft metal, of the original plate — as perfect as the other. He placed this transfer beneath his'apron while the backs of the two Directors were for the moment turned towards him, when they returned to the press, to note that William was getting along regularly, and no questions were asked. They took their . $5 plate back to the bank, subsequently, locked it in the big safe, and having thus done their duty as members of the august board of which they were honor- able and honest — but innocent members — they slept the sleep of eminent gravity and peace, while Bill Brockway and his master chuckled over the. ingenious " little game " they had so sharply played, upon brief notice, at the Bank's expense ! The impression Brockway had thus obtained of the genuine plate was quite perfect in its transfer, and Bill electrotyped it, directly. He had lately learned the details WILLIAM BUOCKWAY. 115 of this process. He copied it, with a second transfer, electrotyped this, and had a fine copper-faced plate that worked to a charm, precisely like the original. The two conspirators now had plate, press, and ink. They lacked only bank paper, to complete their contemplated job. The printer procured this by degrees, and finally got sufficient to work off twenty thousand impressions of the $5 note — equalling $100,000 in money ! This huge amount was nicely prepared, and then the notes had only to be signed fairly, and their fortunes were made. Brockway was a good penman, and at it they went. In a few days, the pile was ready to " shove." And within a few weeks, the whole of it found its way into markets in different directions. It was so precisely like the genuine (of the old style of Bank notes,) that it was not questioned, but passed as freely from hand to hand, in trade, through the banks — and especially at a distance — that the enter- prise proved a prime success, and even the New Haven Bank people themselves received these notes for a time, unchallenged. But the forged signatures of the officers at last roused suspicion. These notes were then examined, compared with the genuine, and the impressions were pronounced to have been taken from the genuine plates, sure. There were now found a good many of them. How had they been printed ? was the query. The original plate was in the Bank vault, intact. The mystery was inexplicable. The two watchful Directors had "performed their duty faithfully, and no one had had access to the genuine plates, save themselves. It was a very strange result. And finally it was determined that an -exact copy of the $5 plate must have been obtained by the printer ; nobody could say how, or when. The Bank thenceforth did their printing in their own 116 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. establishment. They redeemed the spurious notes, (for they were evidently from the true plate which at that period was not so elaborately executed or printed as those at the present day,) and the affair remained unexplained, and un- explainable. There were but two or three persons in this secret. The printer swindled Brockway out of his share of profits, in the foul undertaking, but gave him the $5 plate, at last. Bill then got out a five on the North River Bank, and one of $2 on the N. Y. State Bank. This last was poorly exe- cuted, and the shovers of it got into trouble, directly ; Brock- way himself being among the parties indicted by the Grand Jury for uttering this forgery. $250 reward was offered for Bill's arrest, and the Police run him out of New York into the Jersey woods, back of Bergen Hill ; where he skulked for several days, and well nigh starved to death. He was caught, and was almost famished, when taken*. Upon his capture, he was fed and secured in quod, where he subsequently gave up all the counterfeit plates he had. But the New Haven Bank officers would not believe the tale about the transfer plate, until it was placed in their hands, and informed of the name of the young man in whose pos- session it had been found. He was convicted soon after- wards upon the $5 North River Bank plate charge, and sent to the State Prison for six years. This was Bill's first appearance publicly as forger and counterfeiter. He got out of prison years afterwards, and went to work at his old business, immediately. Since then & variety of ex- ploits are credited to him — among the chief of which was his stated connection with the, great United States 7.30 Bond counterfeit, of which $90,000 in value found their way, through the hands of our first American bankers, di- rectly back to the Treasury at Washington, before any one suspected that exquisite imitation of the original. WILLIAM BROCKWAY. 117 How had this work been accomplished ? Nobody could answer. ~~ Indeed no one could positively say whether or not these Bonds were genuine ! It fell out one day that two returned Bonds at the Treasury bore the same number upon their faces. But none could determine for a time which was which, so admirably were both finished, in every particular. It has taken three years to decide this knotty question, al- ready. And to-day there are current more good theories than one, as to the probabilities. Jay Cooke, and others who had received and sent these $1,000 counterfeit or spurious Bonds back to the Treasury, legally contested the question of their alleged falsity, and after a lengthened hearing in the Courts, the Government ob- tained a verdict in its favor. They were thus pronounced counterfeits, though the other side claimed that they must have been printed from the genuine plates, through some surreptitious means, if they were irregular. But the depos- itors of the bonds were compelled by the decision of the Court to " pocket this loss," at last. When Brockway was arrested and charged with having had some connection with this monstrous fraud, it' was argued that he must have contrived in some way to have got into the Printing Department of the U. S. Treasury, where he deftly played the same game that he was known to have practiced in New Haven. It was also alleged that he had in this, or some other inexplicable way, obtained an impression of the original plates, from which he had printed these perfect imitation Bonds. But nothing appears clearly ever to have been known about all this complicated transaction. Still, Bill was " pulled," and the Detectives went at him, hopefully. This occurred in 1867, before Col. Whitley was appointed 118 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Chief of the U. S. Secret Service Division. Brockway was the only man known in the c mntry who possessed the ability to accomplish this kind of feat in counterfeiting ; to wit, the accurate transferring of the face of a plate, by electro- type process, from which the fine steel-plate engraving could be so nicely reproduced. But he was arrested, and very soon afterwards was " turned up " by somebody, and went clear. Did he buy his way out of this dilemma ? He had ample means to do this. Could he have so planned his affair ? With whom ? And how did he escape ? " That is the question ! " He did go free. It was said that there was no positive legal proof forthcoming to condemn him. Yet a plate, (said to have been the actual one from which these spurious Bonds had been printed,) was, through some unknown process, produced ; and then Brockway was permitted to go about his business. Whether the prisoner turned this plate out, or whether somebody else did it, has never been satisfactorily shown, nor has it been settled that this plate, however obtained, was the plate from which the Bonds in question were printed, at all ! He" gave bail for $20,000. When his sureties were called for, his wife promptly drew from her bosom forty $1000 U. S. Bonds, and stood ready to back the bondsmen who signed Bill's bail. But the whole matter became involved in fog, and thus it " hung fire " for months. Then it was dropped, and Brockway went his way. The reasons for this action are best known to those who had the management of the case, and whom Brockway charged with having profited pecuniarily by this result in Bill's favor. 'This counterfeit, or copy, of the true plate for $1000 was traced, and when sent to the United States Treasury, was in a damaged con- dition. Then it was that the difficulty arose as to its actual WILLIAM BKOCKWAY. 119 genuineness. It was carefully and critically compared with the original, but it was so battered that no decided opinion could be arrived at, nor could anybody divine why it was thus disfigured — which to say the least of it was very ex- traordinary. Why, and- by whom had this plate been so bruised and defaced ? Brockway having been seized in New Jersey, he was transported to and from Newark several times, which cost him some 15000 or $10,000 during the course of the examination into the mystery. But finally " Charley Adams," who was an old " pal " of Bill's, was arrested down in Maine, was convicted of burglary, and sent to the State Prison, there. " Charley " declared that Brockway could have saved .him — but his old chum declined to come to Adams' aid, and he went up. For this neglect, the latter was very bitter in denouncing Brockway. Upon the Jay Cooke trial, the Jury decided the Bonds were " counterfeit." On this verdict being rendered, Brock- way was again arrested in New York, and committed to Ludlow Street jail, in default of furnishing bail on that occasion in the required sum of $30,000. Wm, Brockway had two aliases, and was known to the authorities and the coney fraternity as " Billy Spencer," and " Long Bill." When he was arrested in 1870, Bill had his own "story of this very foggy affair, which he declared to be a course of persecution towards him, throughout ! He asserts that certain parties picked him up, and from the start, attempted- to " beat him" out of a pile of hush-money, in consideration of the payment of which he was to be set at liberty. He says' he lived in Philadelphia, and was arrested there in '67, and taken thence to Taylor's Hotel, in Jersey City, whence he was afterwards removed to and from Newark, nominally for trial, on a charge of being a counter- 120 UNITED STATES SECEBT SERVICE. feiter. - But, as there could be adduced no proof against him, he was discharged. He got bail, readily, on that charge, and about the middle of 1870, one of his former accusers, (wliom he names,) came to him and informed him that he " could save him serious trouble, if he would give him $1,000 in cash." Ho declined, and was arrested again, but he was afterwards notified that " he was not the man " they wanted. This same ex-officer met. Brockway six months afterwards, and offered, if Brockway would give him $5,000, that he would show B. how to get out of his scrape. He had a valuable secret, he said, which he would sell to Brockway, etc, out of which, with his genius, a fortune could be realized. But Brockway adds that he refused to have anything to do with any such proposal or " secret." All this, and more of the same sort, is charged by Brock- way upon the heads of others. In conclusion, he stoutly avers that he has had no connection with any of these transactions, and affirms, with a show of apparent injured innocence, that " no man, alive or dead, could say truthfully that he is now connected, in any manner, with counterfeiters or coney dealers." His case is a very curious one. He is talented, sharp, taciturn, and knows how to " keep his counsel," despite all that is charged against him. He is unquestionably a pol- ished rogue. If all that is stated so freely about Brockway is true, he ought long since to have been " put away." But his case is an interesting as well as a melancholy instance of the prostitution of rare talents to the basest purposes. That the allegations preferred against him for years are mainly true, no one who has studied the facts in the evi- dence that has accumulated against him can doubt. That he may have been the victim of the rapacity of WILLIAM BROCKWAT. 121 parties some years ago, whom be openly denounces and charges with attempts at subornation of witnesses, of offer- ing to accept bribes, of cheating him with fair promises they never intended to perform, of " beating him " out of thou- sands of dollars, and " crying for more," of leeching him and wronging him at every turn, for their own aggrandize- ment — there is a deal too much of plausibility. And the end may not as yet have been reached ! Brockway is a plausible but innately determined person, and has given the police, as well as the U. S. authorities, an immense amount of trouble. It has come out, in the course of the tedious, tortuous examinations and trials to which this arch deceiver has been subjected in the past three or four years, that he has been the intended victim of a series of ex- periments at black-mailing, unpaValleled in criminal annals. He has studiously battled against these attempts, and steadily refused to submit to the unrighteous and selfish de- mands of those whom he declares have thus persecuted him. Plenary proof is furnished that plans have been laid thus to "clean him out" of his ill-gotten gains ; but he has stoutly refused to succumb to the pressure brought to bear against him, in past years ; and hence much of the fierce enmity he has incurred, in certain directions. That he is a precious knave, and one of the guiltiest ras- cals in the land, as forger and counterfeiter, there is not the slightest question. And that most of his assertions in re- lation to the villainous course pursued towards him, by those upon whom he so fiercely turns, in his adversity, are equally true, it may now well be believed. At the same time he has escaped conviction, latterly, and is now at large ; though he is not known to have offended, recently — and it is supposed he has given up his old trade, it is to be hoped — altogether. THOMAS E. LONERGAN, OPERATIVE, U. S. SECEET SERVICE. Among the portraits which are scattered through this volume, are several engraved from photographs of lead- ing Detectives in the United States Secret Service ; which pictures represent these gentlemen, fairly au naturel. The brief account in our present chapter relates to Thomas E. Lonergan, now resident at Chicago, 111. Mr. Lonergan has been highly successful in his official experience, and in some of the most important captures of counterfeiters in America, he has taken an active part in the success resulting. He is a native of Lockport, 111., where he was born, in 1844. He was educated at the University of Notre Dame, Ind., which he left in the year 1861, at the breaking out of the rebellion, at which time he entered the Union army as a private soldier — joining the 90th Illinois Volunteer Infan- try, of which he was appointed Sergeant Major. After serving creditably in the Union army at the South, Mr. Lonergan passed examination for and received an appointment to West Point Military Academy, from the " Army of the Tennessee " in October, 1863. He was rec- 122 THOMAS E. LONERGAN. 123 ommended by Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, for Captain in any Illinois Regiment, but was wounded at the battle of Mission Ridge in November '63, which resulted in the partial loss of his right hand, and his unfitness in conse- quence for future military service. He was discharged from the field in April, 1864, and upon returning to Chicago, he received an appointment to a clerkship in the Post-Office at that city, but resigned that position to enter the employment of Allan Pinkerton, of the " National Detective Agency." Mr. Lonergan was ap- pointed Superintendent of Pinkerton's Chicago office, and transferred to and opened his office at Philadelphia, in the month of June, 1866. In the fall of that year he assumed charge of Pinkerton's New York office. Resigned in July, '67," and then assumed the editorial chair of the New York Era, and the Professorship of Military Tactics at the Peo- ple's College, New York. He resigned these places in May, 1868, and accepted a post on the editorial staff of the Chicago Republican, where he remained until he was appointed Chief Operative in the Western Division of the United" States Secret Service (in February, 1870,) and was placed in charge of the Chicago District, by Col. H. C. Whitley, the present Chief, where Mr. Lonergan is now officially established. This energetic officer has proved an able and efficient Assistant in the Department in which in latter years he has been engaged ; and since energy and application will ac- complish any thing that, can be done in this world, his ap- preciation of this theory has induced him to apply his talents in earnest towards achieving excellence in his adopted role — for " no talents, no circumstances, no oppor- tunities," says Goethe, " will make a two-legged animal a man, without energy." 124 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. Mr. Lonergan is, at this writing, in the prime of manhood, of good features, well made frame, though not oversized, and in the course of the performance of his duties has proved himself a shrewd, careful, discreet and enterprising aid in the detection of criminals ; while his general success has been quite equal to that of his compeers, among whom he is justly and favorably esteemed. He is now less than thirty years old, but in the course of his career as Detective, he has worked up individually, or in conjunction with associates in the Service, several very important cases of criminal offenders where conviction and imprisonment have followed upon the arrests made by him ; and at this time he enjoys the confidence of his superiors in an eminent degree, as well as the good will and favor of the business community, whose best, interests he looks after so carefully and so well. In the pages of our present volume, further on, will be found under the caption of " Mi Brown, of Chicago," an interesting account of a most curious case worked up through Mr. Lonergan's management, to the details of which inci- dents the reader is referred more particularly for the charac- teristics and skill of Mr. L. as a Detective officer. "OLD X.-AME 8A.M," AND HIS MYSTERIOUS CANE. SAMUEL BROWN. The residents and passers-by in the Bowery, on Hestor Street, and along the byways adjacent thereto, will not have forgotten a limping, oldish man, who perambulated that vicinity regularly for a long period, until within a year or two — slightly palsied, but- decently attired, like a farmer or up-countryman — leaning upon his stout cane, which he invariably carried with him, as a support for his at times nervous and tremulous limbs, and who was familiarly known as " Old Sam," of — nobody knew where, precisely ; though it was asserted by those who knew him best that he had a domicile somewhere in New Jersey. This eccentric in- dividual is the subject - of our present chapter, and his his- tory will be found an entertaining one. He was generally known by the sobriquet of " Lame Sam," and his every-day innocent manner of speech, and the pleasant smile that almost constantly pervaded the benig- nant expression of his features, notwithstanding his halting and apparently irksome style of locomotion, could not but 125 126 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. be remarked by those who so frequently met him, in the course of his regular diurnal peregrinations. " Lame Sam " was not a saint. To watch him upon a Sabbath, when he wended his way to church, for example, while he wandered through the city route, or when he went into the suburbs (as he often did) for a change of air and scene — it might readily have been imagined that the " good old man " entered the sacred edifice to " sit beneath the droppings of the sanctuary," with right good purpose ! But his designs were always pre-eminently selfish, never- theless. Sam attended church, as he performed other acts in his strange life, with sinister motives. And he rarely did anything without intending, at least, that in the end it should redound to his pecuniary profit. He was secretly an arch rogue, though he was constantly being mis- taken for " a good old soul," a sage, a well-to-do country- man, or "any other man" save what he really was — to wit, a shrewd, close-mouthed, wary scamp of the first de- gree ; and the pal, sub rosa, of that notorious counterfeiter, burglar, and safe-blower — Wal' Crosby ; of whom we shall write more in detail in another chapter. Old Sam had "run his rig," for years. He had syste- matically " shoved the queer " wherever he could find an opening in his journeys, and he was utterly devoid of princi- ple, malgre his good honest looking face ; a glance at which would ordinarily impress upon a stranger the idea that butter would scarcely melt in this old fellow's mouth. He had followed his quiet business of passing counterfeit money so long, and with such remarkably good luck, that from his accumulated savings he was able to purchase and pay for a very decent farm in Quakertown, near the Pennsylvania line, which yielded him, for a considerable period, a not indifferent percentage of return for his investment. THE NOTED BILL DOW. H . E. "BOODLE-CAKKIEK" [B« W «• OLD LAME SAM. 129 Lame Sam was ingenious. A " smart old cuss," some of the knowing ones caHed him. And he was continually " on his make." But he followed his base calling so plausibly, so cunningly, so piously, and so carefully withal, that no one thought he was aught but what he seemed — as he walked about the town or city, seeking whom and what he might " pick up.", And thus he went and came, and limped about, an object of friendly sympathy, wherever he made acquaintances, while few suspected him, and none knew th$ rogue who travelled in old Sam's clothes — until one day Chief Whitley got upon his track, and followed out a little plan he laid to bag this tough old boy, who had so long enjoyed his leisure and his tricks, at the expense of the people amongst whom he journeyed. The thick, stout cane Old Sam continually carried about with him was a very serviceable staff, and " really he couldn't get on without it, he was so lame," he declared. It was his constant companion, everywhere. It was a valuable support to him, indeed, and it was so handy that he never forgot it, day or night. But one day a Detective, under orders from Col. Whitley, " shadowed " this gray old sinner, and learned a new " dodge," before he quit the trail of honest, plain, respectable looking " Lame Sam." The Detective called himself " Simon Rugg," for short- ness, during this little enterprise. A great deal of bogus money had been circulated in New Jersey and down in Maryland, in small sums, and the attention of the Chief had been called to this grievance. So Mr. Simon Rugg was sent to look for the " shovers of the queer " in that local- ity, and directed to return a report, as usual, at the earliest ?*>portunity. * Old Sam was in the habit of travelling upon brief trips of 6 130 TOUTED STATES SECEET SERVICE. a day or two at a time, and with very little luggage. His big straight cane was always in his hand, however, and he was very careful to place it where it would not be mistaken for another's. For without this, how could he get along with his business ? He couldnH, indeed ! Mr. Simon Rugg was not long in discovering old Sam's partiality for this clumsy looking staff, and the circumstance interested him. He travelled with Sam. Met him on the road. Saw him in the country taverns, in the Bowery, in the beer-saloon ; drank with him, chatted with him, and got acquainted with him. And one day Mr. Rugg saw old Sam quietly shove a ten-dollar counterfeit note upon a poor hotel- keeper. He watched him, and saw the respectable looking old gentleman try the same trick in another place, and another. And Mr. " Simon Rugg " went for " Lame Sam," ac- cordingly. The ancient reprobate was at this time upon his old stamping-ground, in New Jersey. Rugg had " spotted him " at the little hotel, first. He went into that establishment just as the old gent left, where he inquired if Sam had spent any money there. "Yes," responds the landlord, "fifty cents. He's a cussid ole miser — never stays over night." " What money did he give you ? " asks Rugg. " A ten-dollar note." " Have you got it now ? " says Rugg. " Yes. Here it is." And the hotel man produces it. " It's a counterfeit," says Rugg, quietly. " A what ! " exclaims the tavern-keeper. " A ' dead-beat,' old fellow. Not worth a penny." " Dammim," begins the landlord ■> — " Quiet, now, my friend. I am a United States Detective OLD LAME SAM. 131 — in the Secret Service. Leave it to me. Take care of your money till I return." Out goes Rugg, and overhauls old Sam, down the road same distance. The old man has just come out of the country store near by, where he had made the proprietor a similar visit. " My darter," said Sam, " wants me to bring her three yards o' blue cambric, if yer've got good cambric." " Yes, we have," says the storekeeper. " How much is it ? " asks Sam. " Sixty cents, sir." " Ain't that a leetle high for it ? " " No. Cheap as a broom." " Well, ef you say so — all right." And he hands him a bogus $10 National note, and leaves with the " cambric for his darter," and nine dollars and forty cents in good money. Mr. Simon Rugg has so changed his dress, beard, hat, and general appearance, that Lame Sam don't know him " from four and sixpence ! " And besides, the young man who now suddenly approaches him, is certainly a little the worse for liquor. He has plainly been indulging in more than one draught of " Jersey Lightning," as Sam observes. " What's up ? " queries Rugg, as he tumbles upon the old fellow, pretending to be slightly drunk. " How ar' ye — ole chap, 'ic ? Ware yer goin' ? " Lame Sam halts. They sit down by the roadside, and chaff a little. Simon Rugg asks the old gent what he's got in his bundle, and learns where he just purchased the cam- bric. Sam points him back to the store — for Rugg '? wants to get some cotton and thread for his old 'oman, and is a stranger there." Then he takes out a good $ 10 note and induces the old fellow to break it for him. Old Sam sees 132 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. his chance again, and gives Rugg two $5 counterfeits, for the good $10, for his new acquaintance is too drunk to know a bad bill from a hole in the ground — so Sam imagines ! Simon insists that Lame Sam shall return with him to the store ; and then they will go along the same road together to the next village ; which proposal Sam agrees to. Just as - they are starting, Rugg notes the familiar old cane again. " It's a cur'ous cane — this 'ic is," says Simon, hiccough- ing out the sentence, and gently taking it from Sam's hand. Then he turns it over, and twists the big round handle, to find that it turns upon a screw. He actually wwscrews the head, and discovers a string attached to the inside of the handle. Old Sam is on nettles by this time, but he's a wily dog, and he manages himself admirably. Rugg pulls this string, (which has a button at its lower end) and out tumbles a roll of bank notes ! He continues to tug away, and out tumbles another, and another — a dozen small snug rolls of ten and five-dollar bills. _ In his affected drunken surprise and fun, Rugg is seem- ingly delighted — while Lame Sam is all amazement, at this expose". " Why, yer rich — rich, old fellow ! " exclaims Rugg. Sam gathers up the rolls. " Do you think they're good?" queries Sam, his wits com ing quickly to his aid. Rugg looks them all over, and pronounces them " good, o' course, 'ic — o' their kind." But he sees at a glance, that every one of them are recent counterfeits. " It's very extro'nnary," mutters Sam. " I've hed that ar' cane now, more'n twenty year. My dead father left it to me ; an' I never thought to look at this cur'ous arrangement of the handle, afore — never ! " OLD LAME SAM. 133 " Twenty 'ic year ? " says drunken Simon. " Well — an' you've had it 'ic all the time ? " " Yes — never goes out o' my hands." "I notice — 'ic — that' these bills hain't bin printed, 'cording to their dates, 'ic — more ner three years — 'ic — ole man," gulps Bugg. This was a poser ! But Sam picked them all up, and said, " Well, let's go an' get what you want at the store, an' we'll come back together." " So we will," responds Simon, stumbling to his feet. " I muss git the cotton for the ole 'oman." And away they trudged. As soon as they enter the shop, Rugg says quietly to the proprietor, " Did this old fellow buy some cambric here to-day ? " " Yes — an hour ago," responds the store man. " What did he pay for it with ? " " This," answers the shop-keeper, turning out the $10 Newburg bill, instanter. " It's a counterfeit," says Rugg, coolly. " No," exclaims Sam ; " that can't be. I'll take it right back where I got it, if that's so. I'm a ole man, an' my eyes is none o' the best. How they do take advantage of a poor ignorant ole creetur, whenever they can ! " And the tears came into the ancient hypocrite's peepers, as he contemplated the extent of this outrage. Sam fumbles his pockets, and gets out ten good dollars, and in apparent deep distress, he is about to depart, when Rugg (who has suddenly become sober !) asks old Sam if all his money is like this, which, it seems, is just like that which has been wormed out of the hollow cane. To which Sam says he " railly can't say, his eyes is so bad he .can't see." 134 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. "Well, let's go to the hotel, an' take a drink," says Simon — which Sam agrees to — though he would very much like to get rid of this man. Arriving at the tavern, Rugg calls the landlord. " Where's the $10 note ? " " Here," replies Boniface. " Did this man pass it to you ? " " Yes, that's the man." " What change did you give him ? " " Nine dollars and a half." The next moment Simon seized Old Sam and " went , through him." He first found the . landlord's nine dollars and a half in his pocket, then his own good marked $10 note, for which Sam had given him two counterfeit $5's, besides the reserve funds found (over $400) all counterfeit, rolled up within the cane ! " Where did you get this money from ? " asked Rugg, now thoroughly sober. " I brought it from home. I've been to see my sick darter," commences Sam. " That's played out," exclaimed Rugg, throwing off his disguise of beard. " I'm a U. S. Detective, from the Secret Service Division. You're an old liar and counterfeiter. And you're my prisoner ! " The Detective lost no time in placing the " irons " upon the aged culprit's wrists, and after a brief journey by rail — the cost of which ride Old Sam congratulated himself did not tax Ms pocket — Mr. " Simon" Rugg " had his prisoner ■ before the Chief, at his New York head quarters. However we may account for the peculiar influence or mental power which Col. Whitley possesses over such hardened criminals, upon these occasions of arrest, the fact remains that, as a rule, when once they find themselves thus in his power and presence, the victims cave. OLD LAME SAM. 135 Old Sam looked into the cold, stolid face of the Chief, who addressed but a few chosen words to him, when the latter " squealed," and " freed his mind." He then informed Col. Whitley that he procured his counterfeit money of Wal' Crosby, the coney dealer, and owned up to having carried on the business of " shoving the queer " himself for many years in New York and vicinity, in New Jersey, Maryland, and other places. Lame Sam pleaded guilty upon being arraigned before the U. S. Court in New York, and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment at King's County Penitentiary, where he is now serving out his time. Thus one more dangerous coney man was disposed of, whose habit had been, according to his own acknowledgment to Col. Whitley, to palm off large sums of worthless, coun- terfeits upon the unsuspecting public, every year : and he had done this continuously for nearly a quarter of a century more or less. Good-bye, " Lame Sam." May you live to repent, reform, and be happy ! And if you should ever chance to meet with this reference to your eccentric history, let us commend to your careful consideration this truthful axiom ; that " honesty is- not only the deepest policy, but the highest wisdom; since, however difficult it may be for integrity to get on, it is a thousand times more difficult in the end, for knavery to get off." TEEASON IN THE DETECTIVE SEEYICE SAM FELKER,— EX-DETECTIVE. In the tortuous course of duty imposed by the circumstan- ces surrounding their official life, Detectives meet with ob- stacles which are not conceived of by the public, who hear so little of their* actually intricate labors. But among the difficulties these officials encounter, none have proved more obnoxious and disheartening than the studied opposition that is occasionally found in instances where self-constituted, or ex-detectives thrust themselves between discovered criminals and the official operatives — for pay — in the interest of offenders. In our present chapter, we give a brief exempli- fication of this unfortunate state of things. The traitorous career of the notorious individual whose name heads this chapter, has been marked by a series of the strangest of developments, indeed. Under the old regime he was employed for a time in the Secret Service (not under the auspices of Col. Whitley,) and in the course of a brief period he exhibited himself be- yond question one of the most finished rascals ever in 01 136 SAM FELKER. 137 out of the penitentiary ; while he was a graceless traitor as well, towards those who harbored or upheld him for a sea- son, in his well disguised course of criminal infamy. There is some ground for the truth of the assertion that the man who is constantly treading upon the margin of the precipice of crime, or just touching the edge of the crater, as it were, may find himself the subject of temptation. But he who is placed in the position of an official Detective or legal informer against the unrighteous acts of counterfeiters, cracksmen, thieves, and their confederates, and who forgets his duty to society in this position so flagrantly as to " go over to the enemy," or to join such criminals, in further- ance of their iniquities, may truthfully be set down as the vilest of the vile — par excellence. Felker was not unpretentious in his claims to being a good Detective, at Chicago, some seven years since. He was a smooth, polished conversationist, and a genial man ; but he became subsequently, directly or indirectly, involved in such a maze of crime, as to have drawn down upon him the heavy hand of the law, with emphatic import. It is charged that he loved his own pecuniary interests more ardently than he ever did the interests of the Govern- ment. He stood ready to remove or to destroy the evi- dences of a prisoner's guilt, if the criminal or his friends possessed the means to pay roundly for this service. He was more than suspected of having been a personal friend and secret associate of the Reno gang, who, it will be re- membered so long flourished amidst their evil deeds in the State of Illinois. The case of the Reno boys must be familiar to every one. They were charged with having robbed the Adams Express Company, in 1866 or '67, of a heavy sum. When they were discovered and escaped into Canada, and the extradition 138 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. process was being executed, (which would return them to United States' jurisdiction,) Felker opposed this movement against the robbers, with great earnestness, for reasons that none could then understand. The case was then in the hands of Allan Pinkerton, the well-known head of the " Western Detective Agency," whose success in his peculiar line, is well appreciated in this country and the Canadas — where he has " driven to cover "first and last, a host of thieves, burglars, forgers, and other offenders. The crime of the Reno boys was of such a startlingly bold character, that the people in the West were aroused and be- came exceedingly indignant at the course he adopted on that occasion. The thieves were nabbed, and were subse- quently very justly hung by the populace. But it soon became evident these villains were at work with accomplices — who moved in a respectable sphere of society. Just prior to the Adams Express robbery by this gang, somebody was observed hanging about the office, watching, as it has since been determined, for the Company's valuable packages then about to be shipped ; and this party, from the description given by competent witnesses, corresponded very accurately with the person of Felker. His sudden turning up to the rescue of these robbers, his having received at that time several of the bonds actually stolen on that occasion — and his promising to assist the thieves out of their dilemma, through his official influence — point very decidedly in the same direction; and leave no doubt of his actual com- plicity in that " heavy transaction " with the Reno boys, before and after the fact. He was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the noted robbery of the Farmer's Insurance Company in '65, and placed in irons, charged witli this offense. He escaped punishment at that time, after expending a heavy sum of SAM FELKEB. 139 money, (about 18,000,^) as he did — in the right direction In the instance of the notorious counterfeiter, Hank Hall, brother-in-law of Joshua D. Miner, several times picked up by the police for manufacturing or dealing in " coney," the course of Felker was absolutely disgraceful ; for no sooner would this rogue be caught and reported, than Sam Felker would indirectly find his way to his aid, and for a considera- tion, get the culprit eased off, or released. The unblushing effrontery of this man, even while he temporarily held his position as self-constituted Detective, was notable. He might almost have been deemed insane in his utter recklessness, but for the " method in his madness " exhibited, and the success he enjoyed in forcing those temporarily within his power to disgorge. He did not hesitate openly to boast that he " was in the Detective business to make money out of it." He tried his hand at the blackmailing business upon a New York cigar dealer ; but failed in carrying out his design, the merchant defying him. And Felker dropped out of the job he essayed to put up on this " spunky " individual, who proved " one too many " for him. In the attempt to discover the murderer of the Joyce children, in Bussey's Woods, a few years ago, this adven- turer took a hand, when large rewards were publicly offered for the arrest of the offenders. This shocking, double crime, is still fresh in the recollection of the people. Two children, a pretty girl and boy named Bel' and Johnny Joyce, of Roxbury, Mass., remarkable for their beauty and guilelessness, were inveigled into the woods one afternoon, and never returned alive. Their gashed and mutilated dead bodies were discovered a few days afterwards, and both the friends of the murdered pair and the authorities offered large rewards for the capture and conviction of the assassins. 140 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. In the midst of the search, Felker came upon the scene, and through his artful and insinuating persistence, his bold management, and the encouraging hopes he held out to the parents, contrived to worm out of them a large sum of money — pretending this was necessary to carry on the search, and that the result of his labors was certain to dis- close the perpetrators of this direful deed, while Felker knew nothing whatever about the affair, in any shape or manner, as it proved. He tried the blackmailing process upon Mrs. L. Moine, the anxious and devoted wife of Jed. L. Moine, who was con- victed of breaking the bank at Clearfield, Pa., and twisted three thousand dollars out of that woman, nominally, " for his services" in the case; pretending that his influence would set all right with the Governor, and the authorities. This fraud was fastened upon him, and he compromised the affair with Mrs. Moine ; though Felker was then indicted by the Grand Jury for the offence of extorting money under false pretences, but escaped punishment. In the case of the infamous " Charley Adams," convicted in Maine for the robbery of the Lime Rock Bank (in con- junction with his pals,) Felker's hand found its way, as ho ascertained that several thousand dollars were put up for the purpose of freeing Adams — the grand object being to get Charley out of the jurisdiction of the Maine Court, and transfer this scoundrel to New York city, where Felker boasted of his ability to manage his affair to Adams' ad- vantage. Bill Brockway — whose career we have already noted in this volume — was then under arrest for complicity in the famous 7.30 U. S. Bond counterfeits ; and Felker set up the plea that Adams' evidence was absolutely necessary upon Brockway's trial, in New Jersey, or New York city. Thus SAM FELKER. 141 Adams would have been taken out of the hands of the Maine authorities, had Felker's plan worked as he plotted to have it, and both these knaves would probably have escaped the justice that in the end was meted out to only one of them. Brockway was let up, (as we have shown,) at that time, but Adams was not given up by the Maine Court, and went to the State Prison afterwards, as he deserved. Thus Pelker did not make " that frog jump " as he intended and hoped to do ! A dastardly attempt was subsequently made to take the life of Allan Pinkerton, of the " Western Detective Agency " at Detroit, Mich. George Barry, the noted assassin, openly charges Felker with being connected with this foul plot. Barry confessed that he was urged to this infernal job by Felker himself, who supplied him freely with money, and promised " stool-pigeon " testimony to clear him of complic- ity in this base act, provided he (Barry) "would give Pin- kerton his quietus." The cause of Felker's personal bitterness towards Pinker- ton, was found in the fact that this accomplished officer op- posed Felker in his continuous plots of villainy in the North- west ; for he was largely instrumental in blocking Felker's schemes to protect the villains who rioted in that region for a time ; and whom Pinkerton pursued unrelentingly to jus- tice, first and last, in spite of Felker's efforts to shelter the knaves. Among these criminals so hunted down, the Reno brothers were conspicuous ; and their final arrest was the " last straw " that broke the camel's back in Felker's es- timation. He resolved that Pinkerton should be put out of the way. The assassin who undertook this work directly was twice captured, but escaped. A third arrest was more successful. Then Barry confessed the conspiracy, and swore that Felker 142 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. had put him up to it. Felker was then indicted for this serious and wicked complication, and a tedious trial fol- " lowed. The Jury were " burst," however, through some unaccounted-for, but fairly suspected reason, and a disagree- ment caused Felker's discharge — fortunately for his skin. The celebrated Nathan murder case arrested Felker's notice, and excited his natural cupidity. A large reward was offered for the discovery of the guilty parties in that instance, and Felker " went in to win " in that affair. He found a different style of men to deal with in New York, however. They knew him, and he made very little head- way towards pocketing the reward proposed — though he made loud pretensions as to his ability to produce the guilty perpetrators of that crime. But he refused to part with the information he declared he possessed, unless the whole of the reward were paid him. This excuse was a very shallow one, and the authorities declined to treat with him. He went his way, leaving them as ignorant as he unquestionably was himself in regard to the probabilities in that important, but as yet never explained brutal murder. We have cited the above case to show that dishonest, scheming, unworthy men, occasionally contrive to work themselves temporarily into the confidence of the officers of the Service. But the instance quoted is altogether an unusual one. Felker's career was simply infamous ; and through, his subtle cunning (not his talents by any means,) he managed to bring down odium upon the business for a time. As the Secret Service department is now organized and conducted, there is absolutely no opportunity for a recur- rence, of the abuses we have referred to. The first intima- tion of the prostitution of a subordinate's office in this direc- tion, under Col. Whitley's administration, would be the SAM PELKER. 143 signal for such offender's official decapitation. It being perfectly well understood that the present Chief would rather detect a defective officer, than a criminal. The men now employed upon the force are well known for their uprightness and general integrity. We give this sketch of the career of a " traitor in the camp " only to show the shadowy side of the subject. There are no Felkers now in the U. S. Secret Service, it is believed ; and we trust he is the last of his tribe who will thus disgrace the pro- fession. THE STARTLING ROMANCE OF CRIME A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. It is probably true that New York city is annually the scene of more crimes than are committed in any other five cities in the United States. Yet, in other places, colossal offences occur, and great criminals flourish, in spite of all effort to prevent or suppress the evil-doings of the wickedly inclined. The cloak of piety and the outward garments of " eminent respectability," hide a multitude of iniquities ; and very few instances of well dissembled charity and righteousness which parallel in depth the following veritable occurrence — are found even in the annals of the romance of crime. A fine brown-stone mansion in th Street, not a mile above Union Square, was two years since the almost palatial residence of a man who enjoyed all the luxuries of life, and who dwelt in fashionable style, among his genteel neighbors, unknown — save from the fact that he had for a considera- ble period occupied this elegant establishment, and had moved in society as a very honorable and gentlemanly per- 144 A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 145 sonage, who lived well, paid his debts promptly, enjoyed his handsome, income, attended church with punctilious regulari- ty, dispensed charity becomingly, and had a beautiful young wife to whom he seemed decorously and warmly attached. Eleven o'clock has just struck, upon a cold starlit night. The sound of the last stroke had scarcely pealed away from the aristocratic neighborhood of the great church in whose tall steeple the bell was suspended that told the hour — when the 'night stillness was again broken by the movement of carriage-wheels, approaching the front portal of the great mansion described. It was a stately house, and, with its heavy-lined brown-stone frontage, rose grim and sombre against the clear, dark sky, — an architectural giant — in the wealthy neighborhood where it stood. The carriage halted, the liveried footman descended from beside the well-fed coach- man, and opened the door of the handsome vehicle, as a flood of light from the broad hall of the house gleamed outward across the flagged pavement, and a lackey from within came down the steps to assist the gentleman in the coach up the ample marble stoop. The occupant of this carriage had been dining at the Club ; whence he had been thus borne home. The footman stood respectfully at the opened door of the vehicle, but the fashionable and wealthy diner-out made no apparent effort .to alight; He was sound asleep. The high-mettled horses were impatient, and restive. The driver was obliged to speak to them sharply to keep them quiet. A heavy footstep sounded on the walk, and the night watchman came up. He stopped a moment, looked furtively at the waiting attendant, and inquired, " What's the matter, David ? " " Nothing," replied the footman. " What you waiting for ? " 146 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. The attendant pointed to the inside of the vehicle, but vouchsafed no further explanation. The watchman looked in at the door, and asked — "IaitD ?" The footman nodded in the affirmative. "Is he hurt?" " No," said the other. The watchman moved away, muttering in a low tone — " Drunk, eh ? Poor fool ! " . The " poor fool " inside the elegant carriage stirred, opened his dull eyes, looked up, and said — " Got home, Davy ? " " Yes, sir." " W'y din't je sezzo — 'en ? " grunted the gentleman. " Wossar mar'r wi' yer, Davy ? " " Nothin', sir. All right. 'Ere we are. Take my arm, sir." And with the aid of the hall servant, the well-dressed, but weak-kneed gentleman, was with difficulty helped up the steps into the lordly house. The heavy black-walnut door was closed, the carriage disappeared, and the slightly inebriated proprietor of the stately mansion rolled sulkily into the well-lighted drawing- room, where sat his wife and little daughter, who bad been anxiously looking for his coming three or four hours. The husband and father was Mr. Theodore D :, who had resided in this stately dwelling in that highly genteel neighborhood sufficiently long to make hosts of fashionable friends, who entertained a very favorable opinion of him; for his outward appearance had been that of the courtly gentleman, and his " high-life follies," and occasional fits of over-indulgence in worldly dissipation, were either unknown or were leniently winked at. A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 147 But D had been failing in health for some time, notwithstanding the bold front he assumed, and the reckless manner in which he occasionally passed his evenings at the gay and festive board. His real character was totally un- suspected by his neighbors ; and he passed for " a marvel- lous proper man." His address was pleasant, his intercourse with all who met him polite and affable ; but for all, Theodore D was a plausible, arrant hypocrite, and in his secret life, a first class scoundrel. Sanctimonious and moral to a fault, he was, nevertheless, so far as public observation went. And, even towards his handsome wife, so scrupulously decorous and attentive was this deceiver, that even she never dreamed that D was not precisely the upright worthy man he always seemed. He had been a member " in good standing " of the church, too, for years, and was looked upon, by outsiders, as a bright and shining light of truthfulness, integrity, and honest piety ! A radical change was pending in this rich man's fortunes, at the time we speak of him, however. Certain glaring facts had fallen under the eye of the Chief of the Secret Service Division, in the course of his round of observation of men and things in New York, and Col. Whitley felt it incumbent upon him to place a watch upon this saint's movements. But at the end of a few months, it. was found that Mr. D had fallen into a threatening decline in health, which terminated in confining the man of wealth entirely to his house, and finally to his own bed-chamber — where he at last lay a hopeless, helpless consumptive. His constitution was totally wrecked. He had battled with this disease manfully, and everything that medical skill could do for him, had been accomplished. But now the end approached, in this man's shameful career of crime. 148 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. His wife was his constant attendant, and tenderly she bent over the stricken form of him she loved so affection- ately, whose secrets had never been entrusted to her, and who believed, in her confiding soul, that if ever there existed an honest, faithful Christian, her suffering husband assuredly was one. She had implicitly trusted him, and believed him, when he assured her that his absence often at evening, or far into the night, was occasioned by urgent calls of " business down town," or at the club he honored with his patronage and presence. She knew he had in latter years got rich rapidly through the channels of "speculation" to which he sometimes alluded. But she knew very little, and cared less, about the details. And so the months or years flew by, and finally Death " came knocking at the door " of the stately mansion in • th Street. At this time, the Chief, having through careful investiga- tion satisfied himself as to the real character of this man beyond a doubt — prepared one day to wait upon the in- valid in the way of business. That very day (as the Chief learned during his investiga- tions) the sick man's wife had been reading the morning paper, and chanced upon a paragraph in reference to a new counterfeit that had recently been discovered current in New York. She had made a purchase at a fashionable establishment, and had received in change for a $100 note some of the very bills described in this paper. She ex- amined her porte-monnaie, and found one $10 note that looked suspicious. She handed it to her sick husband, who pronounced it bad, directly. " This is provoking," said the lady. " I really wish the wretches who make or utter these base notes might be brought to condign punishment. I will return it where I got it." A WOLF IN SHREP'S CLOTHING. 149 " No, no — " said the husband, nervously, " never mind. It is only ten dollars. The merchant can't afford to lose it." And he at once tore it into shreds, somewhat to the lady's surprise. " If I had my way with the scoundrels, who put forth these base counterfeits," she continued, severely, " I would imprison every one of them — and would soon rid the com- munity of their baleful presence." The invalid husband turned away nervously as the lady flung the shreds of the torn note into the fire. But the wife remained in ignorance of the cause of his renewed uneasi- ness. " There's this satisfaction about the business," continued the lady. " The miscreants are being caught every day ; and I hope the Detectives won't stop in their laudable pur- suit of the knaves until every one of them are caged, as that infamous Clark has been." " Clark, did you say ? " exclaimed her husband, wildly, turning his pallid face towards her. "Yes; and Pierce, and two other accomplices — all ar- rested for counterfeiting. And served them right, too." Mrs. D then read the account of the capture of these notables aloud, and soon after left the room, while D was writhing in a fit of mental agony, which his innocent wife neither suspected or dreamed the cause of! As soon as she had gone out, he seized the paper in his trembling but feeble gripe, and devoured the account of that notable arrest of coney men. " Clark gone up ! Pierce arrested and ruined ! Carpen- ter secured ! Eippon, the dolt, in duress ! " exclaimed the alarmed invalid. " What next, for God's sake ? " "Have they 'squealed' too? A word from either of these men pronounces my doom ! I am at their mercy, and 150 UNITED STATES SECRET SEEVICE. the officers of the law are plainly on the qui vive ! I am too sick to flee, or " Here he stopped short, and listened with bated breath and shivering limbs, as if he could hear the footsteps of the hounds which were so surely upon his track ; though he did not then know this fact. " I have one friend left yet," he continued, with more composure. " I have gold — ay, in plenty. Money is a friend indeed, iu time of need. I know it. I have proved it ! And money I possess in plenty. It has saved me often — it shall protect me now ! " A summons at the front door, at this moment, was an- swered by the hall servant, and a tall, straight calm-visaged man was met at the portal, who entered the lordly mansion, without ceremony. His cold blue eye and sharp features indicated rare firmness and resolution in their stolid expres- sion, but his polite manner even towards the menial who admitted him, was unexceptionable. " I would see Mr. D ," said the caller. "1 think it will be impossible, sir," replied the flunky, but civilly. " You are not perhaps aware that my master is very ill — quite low, indeed, in health; and he receives no one but the doctor and his own wife, latterly." The stranger knew that D was sick, but he did not think him so far gone. " My business is important," persisted the caller, " and I must see Mr. D ." " It may be that you will be admitted, sir. But he is very sick. He has fallen away of late to a skeleton, almost. Your card, sir, please ? " " No matter. Say, with my compliments, that a gentle- man would speak with him." The servant went out in a brown study. He had been A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 151 forbidden to announce callers, even — his master was so ill. And while he meditated, upon the stairway near the invalid's chamber-door as to what course he should adopt to put this man off, the stranger passed by him ; and without further ceremony entered the sick chamber of the emaciated and played-out invalid, who lay extended upon his luxurious but weary couch, so near death's dreary door ! The entree of this unexpected guest surprised the rich man, vastly ; but the peremptory and cool manner of the cold intruder's speech alarmed him most. " I did not expect to find you thus prostrated," said the 6tranger, calmly. "But your 'evidently low condition ren- ders it the more imperative that I should utter what I have to say without circumlocution, Mr. D ." " I do not understand this freedom," said D . " You will comprehend me, in a moment," remarked the stern, though gentlemanly visitor, gazing into the glazed eye of the prostrated wretch before him. " I was aware that you were too sick to run away," con- tinued his caller, " for I have made myself acquainted, con- stantly, with your condition and movements, for the past few weeks. If I had not been certain that you could not escape, I should have sooner looked to secure you — as I have others of your friends, of late." " Who are you, sir ? " demanded Mr. D. " That is not material, just now, sir. What I am here for, at this hour, is to demand of you the $10 counterfeit plate you have in your keeping. It is here, and I must have it." " What do you mean ? " demanded D , with em- phasis, and evident alarm. " Just what I say, sir. Will you produce this spurious plate ? Or shall I search for it here ? " 152 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " Sir ! " continued D ■ " 0, that style won't answer with me" persisted the stranger. " I am no * kid,' and we must come down to square talk, now. This 'squeal' among the 'queersmen' brings this foul business straight home to you. You have played your cards well, but you have a losing hand this time. I've got the ' right bower,' and the ' little joker ' behind him. And you are euchred, as sure as you are still a living man!" " Do you know me, sir ? " demanded D , with proud gravity. " I do," said his tormentor, coolly. " You are Theodore D , who owns and occupies one of the finest man- sions in New York ; who passes among the multitude of this city for a saint ; but who is one of the foremost dealers in counterfeit money — one of the largest and most unscrupu- lous of the coney fraternity in this country ; and one of the cunningest and most adroit knaves this region has ever yet been cursed with. You have inveigled and ruined young men without number, who, but for your example and influ- ence, might have lived honest and virtuous lives. You have eluded the gripe of the law, because you are wealthy. Your riches have been accumulated through a system of cheatery unparalleled. You have bribed those whom money might purchase ; you have covered your baseness with the garb of pretentious sanctity ; you have sung and whined and ' stolen the livery of heaven, to serve the devil in ; ' you have de- ceived the poor, and wronged your fellow men, outrageously; and you have inwardly chuckled over the success that has thus far, unluckily for the community, followed your long life of secret iniquity. You have sent forth, broadcast, from Maine to Louisiana, your base counterfeit notes, coins, and revenue stamps, and you have played the villain, to the THOMAS E. LONERGAN, CHIEF OPERATIVE, -WESTERN DISTRICT, U. S. Secret Service Division. [See pa^'e 122 A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 155 last. And now, Theodore D , your hour is come ! Do you comprehend mo clearly, sir ? " "I am helpless — sick — oppressed — broken down," moaned the guilty culprit, " and you can thus abuse with impunity a dying man, who cannot retort upon you." " That dodge won't answer, either. The counterfeit plate, I repeat. I must have it. Where is it? I know you — do I not? " " What do you know of me ? " asked D , in trembling accents. "I know all about you, Theodore. I have traced the proof of all I assert straight to your bedside. I have you tight and fast. And you can not escape my clutch, be sure of it." " And the others ? " queried D , waveringly, " Are all ' piped down.' So it is well that you make a clean breast of it, Theodore. It is too late to dally, now. You can neither rebut or dodge or fly from the evidence I have accumulated against you." " And you alone possess this evidence ? " " So far — yes," said the visitor. " I am rich, sir." " I know it, Theodore." " I can buy my way out of this, eh ? I have done so be- fore now." - " I do not doubt it." " You are the Chief of the U. S. Secret Service ? " " I am," said the stranger, frankly. " What is your price, to observe silence in this matter, Col. Whitley." " The wealth of New York would not tempt me." " You mean this ? " " Look in my eye," responded the Chief, firmly. 7 156 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. "I have never yet seen the man I could not buy, in emergency," insisted D . " Lawyers, judges, detec- tives, all. Every man lias his price. Your's may be a high figure. But I am rich, I say, Colonel." " The counterfeit plate, then, is my price," repeated the Chief, " and this I demand." " My wife and child," began D , in a bitter tone, en- deavoring to enlist the Colonel's sympathy. " This disgrace will kill them ! " " Don't try that dodge with me," said his bold accuser. " You villains peril the peace of your families, every hour you live, while the penitentiary stares you at the same time in the face ! But still you go on madly in your infamous rascality, and when you're trapped, attempt this played-out dodge, for sake of sympathy. I have nothing to do with your wife, or child. It is you who have thus fearfully wronged them, and you and they must suffer the penalty of your error." • " You are speaking to a dying man,- Colonel Whitley," continued D , as tears came into the wretch's eyes. " I think so ; else you would not remain in this fine house another hour, be sure of it. But, though you failed in health and neared the grave day by day, for months just past, you continued on in sin. And not content with this, your mercenary disposition prompted you to deputize an ac- complice to follow up your guilty course of conduct, when you could no longer personally pursue the accursed traffic of counterfeiting. But it is too late to speak of this, now. The plate I must have. And, since you are so nearly in your grave, if you will give up that, and all else you possess of bogus notes and scrip and stamps, why, then, you may die like a Christian, if you can, and I will interfere no farther. This is my duty. This is my ultimatum. This and these I will have." A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 157 " Now, then, Colonel — I submit. 1 am betrayed. I shall soon pass away. But what you ask for, can not be pro- duced on demand, at sight." " How long time do you ask ? " " Two days, at farthest." " So be it. Bear in mind that you can make no move here that I shall not be cognizant of. My subordinates have their instructions. You are watched, day and night. Keep' faith with me, and all will be well, so far as your secret is concerned. In two days — remember ! Good-bye — Mr. D " concluded the Chief, rising to leave. At this moment the wife entered the sick room, and was evidently surprised to meet a stranger there. The unrepen- tant yet cunning hypocrite pretended that the gentleman " came on business from his down-town counting-house," and lied the matter through very easily, as it was his hourly habit to do with the gentle partner of his fortunes. The Chief left the elegant mansion, and as he hurried to his headquarters, he murmured to himself — " I've seen a good many keen, shrewd, graceless villains, in my time, and not a few deceivers and scoundrels of this cunning tribe. But never yet this rascal's equal in depth, — or in magni- tude of plausible saint-like seeming, concealed in so base a heart ! He can't live a month, at the best. He is worth over a quarter of a million of dollars, every dime of which he has accumulated through knavery, and years of counter- feiting ; and now, when his lamp of life goes out, he leaves it all to his wife and child, the world will know nothing of his iniquities, and he will be buried with Christian honors, by weeping friends, while the pastor who presides over the fashionable church he has so long attended, reciting the beautiful passage in sacred writ, will exclaim, ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord ; — they rest from their labors, 158 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. and their works follow them ! ' The good clergyman be- lieves in this hypocrite, too : and deems him a saint. And so D will depart ' with all the honors.' "Well, the sooner the world is ridded of this wolf in sheep's clothing, the better for us all ! " Within a week the clergyman's visits to this man's bed- side became more frequent and devoted. In ten days after the Chiefs visit, the man of sin and wealth had abandoned all hope of ever rising from his soft but wretched conch again. And four weeks from the day when he delivered into the Chief's hands the counterfeit plate and other valu- bles he demanded — Mr. Theodore D , of the great brown-stone front in th Street, bade adieu to earthly things, and shuffled of this mortal coil calmly, quietly, and apparently resignedly, to the very last — like any honest manly Christian ; and " none knew him but to praise him " in the throng that gathered round the costly silver-mounted casket that at length held the poor remains of this life-long dissembler and cheat ! Hands of friendship and love — his former friends, and mourning wife — showered snow white flowers around the coffin. The body was taken into the church and the funeral obsequies were of the most approved character in the sphere in which D -had so long moved " a bright ex- ample of true honor, worth and piety," (as his deceived pastor described deceased ! ) and whom he innocently declared " had gone to join the blest in heaven — after a life of integ- rity, charity, Christian benevolence, and honorable conduct, such as marked the career of "few models of true piety, within the scope of his observation or acquaintance," etc., etc., etc. How much this man of God really knew about his late wealthy base-hearted parishioner ! The organ peeled a mournful requiem over the " dear A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 159 departed dead." The loving wife and golden-haired gentle daughter looked their last upon the worn thin face of the now forever silent husband and father — who had been so devoted to their welfare, whatever had been his errors. The casket was borne out of the lofty columned church to the plumed hearse, and then to Greenwood Cemetery : where the remains were deposited in a costly marble tomb — to sleep the sleep that knows no waking, in this life of sin or joy ! A crowd joined the cortege towards its last halting-place, and among that weeping throng there" were hundreds whom the now coffined hypocrite had foully wronged in life. But among them all there were but three persons who held the dead man's secret ; and for the sake of those he left behind him, innocent of his crime — the wife and child — these three have kept the secret of his personal identity sacred. Death took the offender from the grasp of the law, in good time. His memory was thus saved from infamy. The grave has closed over his mortal part, and his guilty soul has passed to judgment. His case was an extraordinary instance of successful chicanery and persistence in crime to the bitter end. * * * * Let him rest ! I. C. NETTLESHIP, CHIEF ASSISTANT TO COL. WHITLEY. The accomplished official whose name and title heads this article, and whose portrait will be found at page 180, is now thirty-eight years old, and as will be admitted on examina- tion and comparison of his picture, with others, is the oome- liest man in the force. Mr. Nettleship was born of humble origin, in the County of Nottingham, England, in the year 1833. In his earlier years he was placed at work in a silk factory in his native town, at the liberal wages of sixpence a week ; where he labored diligently up to his sixteenth year. His father was an ardent Chartist, and was continually speaking of America, or as he termed it, " the great land of Wash- ington." This frequent friendly allusion to the country across the ocean, first induced the boy to contemplate emi- grating to the United States ; which plan he carried out at the age of eighteen. The money to defray the expense of this journey he saved from his meagre wages — which as he grew older had been gradually increased up to seven shillings per week ; and when he arrived in New York in 1851, he had half a crown 160 * I. C. NETTLESHIP. 161 in silver in his . pocket, to commence life with in the land of his adoption. An opportunity soon presented itself to him for employ- ment in Newark, N. J., whither he went at once, and was engaged for several years thereafter in this place, in the saddlery business, up to the breaking out of the rebellion ; which crippled the business greatly, from the fact that much of his trade had been with Southern dealers. In the fall of 1861, after the inauguration of President- Lincoln, Mr. Nettleship enlisted as a private in a regiment organized in Newark as the " President's Guard," which name it bore until the Regiment reached Washington, when it was changed to that of 1st or 2nd Volunteers of the District of Columbia. He was shortly detached with his Company from this regiment, and ordered to the Eastern Virginia Brigade, under command of Col. Win. Wall, of Washington. His company was assigned to duty on the Orange and Alexan- dria Rail Road, and soon afterwards was transferred to the 7th New Jersey Volunteers. Mr. Nettleship was then placed on duty as Acting Commissary of subsistence, to provision all troops passing through Alexandria, Va., to the front — and as a Secret Detective for the Military Governor of De- fences south of the Potomac ; in, which positions he acquit- ted himself with credit and satisfaction. While thus engaged, he was one day approached by a Captain in the Union Army, with the proposition that they should go into the " coney " business, amongst the rebels and the Union troops ! This young officer took Nettleship quietly aside, and exhibited to him some of the counterfeit money he proposed to " shove," and while appearing to acquiesce in this scheme, he immediately reported the facts through his Commanding General, to the Secretary of the Treasury, at Washington. 162 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Instructions came at once from the War Department to Mr. Nettleship to work up this case of intended fraud in his own way and time ; and he proceeded to New York, con- fidentially, in company with the Captain, to procure the "queer" in quantity, for the purpose he had suggested. The Captain bought the desired amount of stock of a noted dealer in New York, and from him Nettleship took one half of the supply, at cost. When this move had been accom- plished by Nettleship, he immediately placed the Captain under arrest, and had him committed for trial. This offen- der was convicted and sentenced to the Albany Penitentiary, New York State, for a term of years. A full report of this adroitly managed case was made by the Commanding General of the Department to the Sec'y of the Treasury, and at the latter's personal request, Mr. Net- tleship was permanently detached from the military service, and ordered to report in person in Washington to a then authorized Agent of the Treasury Department for the sup- pression of counterfeiting. He was thus engaged until the close of his original term of enlistment as a soldier, which occurred in 1865. Congress, during that year, passed a law, and made its first appropriation to defray the expenses of " detecting, arresting, bringing to trial and punishment, counterfeiters of the National Securities." Under this act, the Secretary of the Treasury was empowered to organize a Detective force, to be known as the U. S. " Secret Service Division, of the Treasury Department." Mr. Nettleship was at once appointed an officer in this Service, and assigned to the New Jersey District. He estab- lished his head-quarters at Newark, N. J., his old place of residence, where he continued his operations with great suc- cess, until the appointment of the present Chief of Division I. C. NETTLESHIP. 163 • was made — when Col. Whitley re-commissioned him, and left him in charge of the same District, where his labors had been so fortunately useful to the Government, for years. So faithfully had Mr. Nettleship performed the duties to which he had been assigned, thus far, that Col. Whitley en- larged his sphere, directing him to open a Branch office of the Division in Philadelphia, to assume control of operations in other States, and promoting him to the post of a Chief Operative in the service. Mr. Nettleship is known among his compeers as " a fine worker." Clear-headed, intelligent, astute in judgment, and adroit in strategy, he goes straight to his point, from the outset, with confidence in the justice of his cause, and in his ability to succeed in his various undertakings against the offenders he pursues. These qualities had been so thoroughly demonstrated in his past career, that in January, 1871, he was ordered to report at headquarters in New York, by Chief Whitley, who assigned hiin to the rank of " Chief Assistant," where he ' now remains, in charge of the Division business, in the ab- sence of the Chief himself. Mr. Nettleship has caused the arrest and conviction of a larger number of counterfeiters, smugglers, violators of the Internal Revenue laws, etc., than any other single Operative in the Service. His rare abilities have been so well appre- ciated by the United States Courts, and the Government at Washington, that Mr. N. has been honored with the offer of a U. S. Commissionship, for New Jersey — which he has thought fit to decline, for the present, since he believes he can be more serviceable to the Government in the position to which he has now been elevated. Mr. Nettleship is a man of genial disposition, and mark- edly agreeable address. Even and cordial in his intercourse 1G4: UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. with all who approach or have to do with him, he has now hosts of friends in and out of the immediate sphere where the details of his duties engage his attention. He is rather a portly man, of fine presence and goodly mien, and would scarcely be taken for the spirited, ardent and accomplished Detective he is, by a stranger. But in his long term of office, he has shown himself ever " equal to the occasion," and has lived to win golden opinions from all sorts of people, through his genuine acknowledged merits. We have presented in this volume portraits of some of the prominent Detective Officers of the force — Mr. -Nettle- ship among them — and have devoted a brief space to each of these gentlemen in the way of a biographical sketch of their private and official careers, for many years. Of the records thus given, it may be stated with truthfulness that parallels among our citizens (in the same number of in- stances,) will scarcely be found in this country, so far as good character, integrity, ability, usefulness, and individual fitness for their peculiar duty is concerned. These men may point with honest pride to their personal • records herein given, in l'efutation of the baseless theory re- cently assumed by an honorable Judge of one of our Courts, that " the sworn statements of Detectives, as a class, upon the stand, are not entitled to the same weight as that of men taken from the ordinary good classes of society ! " And we refer the unbiased reader to these records in support of our own opinion, that such men as these are assuredly en- titled to full credence, under oath, if any are. "CRANKY TOM," THE FORGER AND COUNTERFEITER. THOMAS M. HALE. In the year 1836, in Saratoga County, N. Y., there came into this breathing world an infant boy, who lived to occupy a large space in the criminal records of the land that gave him birth, who had better never have seen the light of day — so far as either the country he cursed, through his career of infamy, or himself were concerned. This youngster lost his parents at the age of thirteen years, and was adopted by a well-disposed aunt — a maiden lady, who owned a large and valuable farm-property in Saratoga County — the business of which she conducted, personally. She was as fond of the lad as though he had been her own child ; gave him a good education, became attached to him as he grew older, and at the age of seven- teen, observing that he was keen and intelligent, entrusted him with the charge of much of her thrifty business. At times, he was sent to the Saratoga Co. Bank to deposit money, and frequently to draw checks and drafts in his aunt's behalf. The good-hearted and confiding lady gradu- 165 166 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. ally increased her confidence in this boy, until he at last came to be entrusted with all the buying and selling of the establishment, as well as the collecting of all accounts due the lady. And hi the way of remuneration for his services, the aunt clothed and lodged him handsomely and* com- fortably. His name was Thomas M. Hale, and he subsequently be- came known by the cognomen of " Cranky Tom," in another kind of society into which he drifted in after time. The phrenological development of Tom's " perceptive " faculties was wonderful. His facial front exhibited this characteris- tic in a marked degree. A glance at his picture on page 206 gives but an indifferent idea of this man, who persistently twisted his face " out of joint " whenever the attempt was made to obtain his likeness, by photograph. He was really a good looking man, and his features though bold and sin- ister in expression, at times, were even and manly, in the maiii — and he passed among strangers for a very re- spectable decent sort of personage. In return for the confidence and kindness thus lavished upon the parentless boy by his aunt, the ingrate treacherous- ly turned upon his benefactress, and secretly conceived a plan to rob her. He forged her signature to a check for $300 one day ; which feat was so admirably accomplished that it passed for genuine, and he readily succeeded in ob- taining the money upon the check, from the Bank. With this amount and about $200 in addition, which he contrived to collect from debtors to his aunt, he quietly left the home of his protectress, and pushed his way direct to New York city ; where he had often heard of good opportunities for " moderate investments in cash," whereby the small capi- talist might be put upon the high road to speedy fortune. Upon his arrival in New York, he became at once de- " CRANKY TOM " HALE. 167 lighted with the busy city, and directly proceeded to work himself into an association of thieves and rogues, among whom, through his superior tact and intelligence, he shortly came to be a leader. He was noticeable for his extraordi- nary nerve and uniform coolness, as well as his judgment, adroitness and daring in planning or executing robberies. But his first advent in New York city proved short lived. Tom's sudden departure from Saratoga, and his non-ap- pearance as usual at home, aroused the suspicions of his aunt. The forged check was soon afterwards discovered, too, and measures were promptly taken for the arrest of the ungrateful and vicious culprit. This result was speedily effected. Tom was caught, taken back to Saratoga, tried and convicted of the double offence he had so wantonly com- mitted, and was sentenced to incarceration in the State Prison at Clinton, N. Y., for three years ; where he re- mained in quiet retirement, during the full term for which he was sent over — when he was released, and returned once more to the congenial climate of New York, to re-enter upon his shameful career of crime, with increased zest. Having abandoned all idea of attempting the pursuit of any honest occupation, he at once sought out his former " pals," and continued his thieving operations and depreda- tions until he succeeded in amassing some capital. He then contracted a habit and love of gambling. In this pursuit he was sometimes fortunate, occasionally winning large sums ; but, like others who attempt this folly, more frequently coming out a loser — until finally every dollar of his ill- gotten gains was swept away. Hale had long been a frequenter at No. 16 East Houston Street, a noted " lush-drum " then kept by Ike Weber, which was known as the resort of the leading koniackers of the country, from all quarters. Ike Weber was then one 168 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. of the foremost of coney men, and Bill Gurney, Charley Adams, Bill Dow, Hank Hall, Doc' Young, Little Dutch Harry, and Charley Brockway, were among his best and constant patrons ; and here, after a while, Tom Hale was installed as bar-keeper of the delectable establishment. But, from the- very outset of his career in this place, Tom had an eye open to business. It was his ambition to become the proprietor of this drinking-house and resort for thieves. He was exceedingly popular with the customers of the place, and with his past performances he was considered " sound." But he lacked the ready means to buy out the owner. Still, he turned the matter over in his busy brain, with a view to accomplish his object, sooner or later. Tom made a very good bar-tender. He was constantly "on hand," and everybody was pleased with him. Time passed away, and after a while the proprietor complained that the receipts from the bar didn't pay ! Tom was quiet and pleasant, and satisfied — so far as he was concerned — while he mentally assured himself " that things was work- ing," admirably. And one day he proposed to purchase the establishment. The owner very gladly sold out, and Tom took possession. A few days afterwards, his former employer came to Tom, and offered to go to work for him in the capacity of bar- tender. Hale was agreeable, and at once hired the " old man " to take charge of the bar. The latter applied him- self assiduously to his duties, and matters went along in this reversed position for some months, when one day Tom woke up to find that he was getting into debt, at a slaughtering rate ! The bar was a constant bill of expense to him. And the returns he now received were so meagre that he swore he was being " eaten out o' house " with the en- terprise. " CRANKY TOM " HALE. 169 " I can't stand this" said Tom, " no how." "You needn't," replied Ike, bluntly. "I'll buy you out, if you like. I've done very well as barkeeper; but dam'd •if I could ' keep a pig ' on the business, when I was proprie- tor, with you in reach of the till ! " Tom saw the p'int at once, but said nothing. He re-sold to Weber, directly, and then declared that his old employer had been taught a little dodge — through his tutorship — that ought to prove " werry walooable " to him in his future, which it certainly did ! The breaking out of the rebellion offered Tom Hale a new and desirable opportunity for the display of his character- istic genius. He saw his chance once more, and became one of the earliest and most successful " bounty-jumpers " ou record. Through his own confession, it is certain that " Cranky Tom " contrived to " cop the borax " (jump the bounty,) twenty-three different times. This afforded hiin ample ready means, and he then entered freely into the schemes of the counterfeiters. He was concerned in putting out the first bogus postal currency that ever appeared. This performance was fol- lowed by counterfeits upon the short 25 and 50 cents scrip, and in this latter enterprise he went into partnership with " pious " John Disbrowe, to supply -the West with the trash, ad libitum. The arrangement in detail was that Disbrowe should go forward in advance, and establish " agencies," and Tom should send him the stuff as fast as it could be manufactured and delivered. A plan that worked like a charm, for a while, but which the knaves " run iuto the ground." John Disbrowe was a pimp of the first water. He was ostensibly an active, prominent member of a Methodist Church in New Jersey, leader of a choir, and the head of a 170 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. nice family. He could exhort and whine, and psalm-sing " the leg off a brass monkey," upon occasion ; and passed among the innocent women and ignorant men of the society as a " beautiful man." This gave him prestige, and he was able to carry on his little game of cheatery very success- fully. He represented himself, when travelling in the west, as a commission merchant, purchasing produce for the eastern markets. Hale received the counterfeit 50 cents scrip from the man- ufacturer, Ike Weber, in New York. A trusty agent con- veyed this stuff to Disbrowe, and the latter disposed of the counterfeits to the " peddlers " or retail dealers, who '• shoved " them generously along the line of the Western Rail Roads, in every direction. One of the shovers haviug been arrested, however, he " squealed " on Disbrowe, who was shortly caught and caged near Detroit, Mich., when he " peached " on Tom Hale ; and the partnership thusi" went up in a balloon," very suddenly. " Cranky Tom " was still at liberty. Disbrowe was in limbo, (though Tom didn't know it,) and it now come to be very desirable that Hale^ should be secured — whom Dis- browe had " sold out " to the authorities. And the follow- ing little arrangement was entered on to effect this laudable purpose, and to capture the leading spirit in this gang. A scheme was concocted to induce Tom to come West, in person, with a large quantity of the " queer," which he could procure (as he had done repeatedly before) from the big scoundrel, Ike Weber, in New York. Disbrowe wrote to Tom that he wanted $3,000 in the " stuff" at once, of this 50 cent issue ; and if he would bring it out himself, he agreed to make a fair " divvy " of the funds then in his hands, and to give him good money for the bogus scrip that . he would fetch with him. "CRANKY TOM" HALE. 171 Hale nibbled at this bait, and started from New York with $3,500 in the short counterfeit 50 cent currency, which made seven thousand pieces, in all ; that filled a large-sized sack. But Tom was too sharp ordinarily to be caught nap- ping in this kind of trade, for he really possessed extraor-' dinary clairvoyant powers ; and smelling a mice, perhaps, he concluded not to go too far, and made an appointment for a certain party to meet him at a named point in Pennsylvania, near the Ohio line, where the money might be taken and conveyed by him to Disbrowe. But this agent failed to " make connection," for some reason unexplained to Hale. Tom then went forward into Ohio, himself, was arrested just over the line, and brought back in irons to Pittsburg, Pa., and there committed for trial on a charge of uttering and dealing in counterfeit money. Upon his arraignment he pleaded guilty, was remanded to the custody of the Solici- tor of the Treasury, and. then sent to New York to aid in the arrest of certain manufacturers and large dealers in bogus money, upon whose track he asserted he was able to put the authorities, from his own knowledge of them. He promised faithfully to do so, and it was distinctly under- stood that if he couldn't or didn't effect this, he was to be duly returned for sentence. When Col. Whitley was appointed Chief, he looked into this and other pending cases, and quickly ascertained that Cranky Tom had not performed his promises to the Govern- ment, but on the contrary had been suffered to run loosely at large, by connivance with the old officers, and was then actually in the coney business again, and rioting at his leisure in dissipation upon the profits. He had not at- tempted to fulfil his promise, even. Col. Whitley accord- ingly arrested him, and sent him to Pittsburg, Penn., where he was there permitted to withdraw his former voluntary 172 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. plea of " guilty," when a fair trial was accorded him, at the instance of the new Chief of the Division. His trial came on before Judge McCandless of the "Wes- tern District of Pensylvania, in October, 1870. Tom was speedly convicted, and sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary at Alleghany City, and to pay a fine of $2500 ; to stand committed until the latter was paid. Tor is in prison now. He began early in life, and offended often. He will be half a score of years older when he is released from this sentence, and he will undoubtedly become a better man, after this rough experience. At least his case is hopeful, yet, if he lives to pay the fine imposed on him. In the course of Cranky Tom's trial, in Pennsylvania, it was shown that he had been arrested in another district ; and a motion was made by the defence to quash the indict- ment against bim, on the ground of non-jurisdiction of the Court at Pittsburgh. But the U. S. Dist. Attorney, H. Bucher Swoope Esq. when he came before the jury, claimed that it had also been already shown upon the evidence that Hale had passed through the State of Pennsylvania with this counterfeit money in his possession ; and he asked the jury, by their verdict, to assert that that State should not be made a highway, even, for the conveyance of counterfeit money, anywhere. In this righteous theory, Dist. Attorney Swoope was ably sustained in his charge to the jury by Judge McCandless, who paid high compliments, on that occasion, to the Chief and officers of the Secret Service Division, as at present organized ; and the verdict of the jury was in accordance with the clear suggestions of Judge McCandless, who has steadily set his face against any compromises with the nefa- rious counterfeiting fraternity who are clearly guilty of this iniquity, and who come before his Court. " CRANKY TOM " HALE. 173 Tom's lawyer, in closing for defence, maintained that his client was not guilty, as set forth in the indictment against him. " What is he here for, then ? " pertinently enquired the Judge. " It is sufficient that he is here, and that the heinous charges against him are fully supported by plenary proof." The trial was concluded and the guilty offender was con- victed, justly. The specious technical irregularity suggested, as to the exact spot on which he had been arrested, found no favor in that sturdy Court, where justice and plain common sense are never outraged. Thus one more of the villainous class was " put away " for a long season. And the exploits of Disbrowe, Ike Weber, et ah., Tom's boon companions in iniquity, will soon be found recorded in succeeding pages of our " Memoirs." GRAND FIASCO OF THE MA.ISTI^C, KinSTGh. A FRIGHTFUL CONSPIRACY! The following exciting incidents took place late in the year 1869, and were the occasion of very serious alarm ; promising for a few. days to develope one of the most im- portant and revolting conspiracies ever plotted on this side of the Atlantic, and causing the most intense excitement in certain circles, for the nonce. The plot had apparently for its object (through the efforts of leading restless spirits se- cretly associated together) the absolute repudiation of the National debt, and the utter overthrow of the Republican Government ! The United States Detectives had been put upon the qui vive, and the plausible yet threatening representations which were made in regard to this colossal scheme of concealed treachery, caused a most extraordinary interest to attach to this case. The officials who had been let into the conse- quential secret of this foul scheme of seeming perfidy, were exceedingly anxious, but very reticent upon the subject of the discovery which had fortunately been made, it was hoped, 174 THE MANIAC, KING. 175 in season to avert the fatal results evidently aimed at by the conspirators. From the preliminary information accorded the authorities in reference to the infamous designs of those immediately concerned in this plot, and the apparently credible and earnest sources through which this information came — there seemed to be no manner of doubt that a most infamous and well-laid plan had been inaugurated to carry out success- fully the malicious and shocking events set forth in the declaration of a relenting member of the traitorous clan, who had originally joined the association that threatened thus to destroy the nation's credit, and bring dire anarchy or ruin to the very hearthstones of the American people. An ex-confederate officer, who had served with creditable valor in the late rebellion — on the wrong side, however — by name and title " Colonel Hauston King, of the Kentucky Artillery," appeared one day in December, 1869, in the city of Washington, before U. S. Commissioner James Black- burn, and confidentially made oath to the following extraor- dinary and astounding declarations, to wit : " I, Hauston King, being duly sworn, do depose and say that I am a resident of Elliot County, Kentucky, and by occupation Clerk of the Circuit Court of said County. I was Colonel of Artillery in the Confederate Army, and in the month of December, 1865, went from New Orleans to New York, by steamer, and upon this passage, met with Harlow J. Phelps, merchant of New Orleans. Phelps rep- resented that he was bound to New York, to be present at the secret organization of a repudiating party, looking to the repudiation of the National Debt. Upon arriving in New York, Phelps and myself met some two hundred men from all sections of the country, south and north ; and this party was organized, and commenced operations. H. J. Sneed, of St. Louis," was chosen President, and A. H. Sinclair, of New York, Secretary. The initiation fee was $150, and 176 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. the total capital to be raised was $500,000 ; and this amount was raised in four days. This money was to be used to ob- tain the genuine U. S. Government plates for printing Legal Tender notes. The plates were so obtained, and $60,000,000 were represented to me as having been printed from those plates. I have received $500 of this issue already, myself, and about $20,000,000 of this sum has been put upon the country. With this fund, the genuine plates have been secured, for making Legal tender notes, Bonds, and National Bank notes. Of these we issued the full amount of the national debt of the country. Only about four millions have as yet been • put in circulation. The plates are partly in Canada, Montreal, and part are in New York. There was a re-organization of this party on the 1st and 2d of November, in 1869, in New York city, at which I was present, when Frank P. Blair, of Missouri, was chosen President, with power to appoint a Secretary. The original stockholders numbered four hundred. The number, now, greatly exceeds this. I am the Agent for the 9th Congressional District of Kentucky. I have perfected branch-organizations in every County in said District I give this information voluntarily, and solely for the benefit of the Government. (Signed) Hauston King." This affidavit was duly subscribed and sworn to before Judge Blackburn, and attested by three witnesses in his presence, according to law. This precise and curiously explicit document had found its way into the hands of a Western Revenue Detective by the name of Hogeland, and he deemed it of sufficient consequence to go about the un- ravelling of the mystery which seemed to surround the strange proceedings, with the most earnest application, as in duty bound. It came out about this time, in the course of a cursory examination into this singular affair, that Colonel King, the above deponent, had magnanimously resigned his position as Clerk of the Elliot County Circuit Court, and had thus THE MANIAC, KING. 177 given clear proof of -his devotion to the country's best in- terest. In addition to which, he frankly confessed his own complicity in this attempted outrageous secret blow at the nation's life, which had assumed such frightfully formidable proportions, and which he had thus honorably " sold out " to the Government, at wholesale. The open declaration of well known names given in this affidavit, the details otherwise mentioned therein, the fact of this party's being a Clerk of a Circuit Court, his acknowledg- ment regarding his rebel Colonelcy, and other matters con- firmatory of his sincerity and his position, all pointed to*the entire truthfulness of his sworn statements, which seemed nevertheless almost too monstrous to be believed. In addition to all this, at the time he voluntarily sub- mitted his affidavit, Colonel King exhibited the by-laws of the secret society named, of which he acknowledged him- self the . instigator, in Kentucky. These by-laws offer rea- sons for the establishment of this association — namely, " to obtain compensation for the billions in value of property destroyed by the Radicals in the South, during the late war, and to force on the Government entire repudiation." The Order was designated by the initials K. G. C. (Knights of the Golden Circle,) and those admitted into the Circle were bound by a score of terrible oaths never to divulge the secrets of this Order. Colonel King's excellent military reputation in Kentucky was assured by authority, and he had actually been recom- mended for promotion by such Confederate notables as Gen- erals Robt. E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson ; the evidences of which he produced in the handwriting of those distin- guished secesh officials. He was backed by a very able and consistent lawyer, too, who came all the way from Greenup Co., Kentucky^ personally to endorse the Colonel, in the strongest terms that language could frame. 178 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Some time previously, the Government at Washington had had an intimation that certain Legal Tender and Bond plates had been taken from the Department, surreptitiously, and $1000 counterfeit 7.30 notes had found their way back into the Treasury — where they were promptly condemned. This fact, taken in connection with the seemingly frank and well-supported statements of the v repentant and gallant Colonel, gave color alike to the genuineness of his good faith and the accuracy of his accounts relating to this con- spiracy. The Greenupsburg lawyer, Mr. L. J. Filston, who accom- panied Colonel King, was quite as earnest (perhaps more so) as was the Colonel himself; and he did not fail, not only in the most anxious terms to endorse him, but to express his own personal alarm at the threatening prospect, repeatedly, to the authorities. This gentleman was favorably known, and it was scarcely suspected that he could have any interest in the affair, except to be of service to the Government, which was about to be involved in this horrible plot, so disastrously. The Western Detective (Hogeland) who undertook to " work up " this case, was confident that he had ■ " a big thing " on hand, and he threw himself with unwonted en- ergy and seriousness into this job - — believing that when he should have unearthed the foul plotters, and brought the' affair to a successful conclusion, that he would have accom- plished a feat that would eternally redound to his fame, and make him the " biggest gun " in the force, beyond com- parison. The busy trio who seemed thus far only to possess the details of this momentous secret, and who had in hand the loyal plot that was then in embryo to crush out the awful conspiracy and its traitorous managers — the towering Ken- I. C. NETTLESHIP, OPERATIVE, V. S. SECKET SERVICE, Chief Assistant to Col. Whitley. [See page 160. THE MANIAC, KING. 181 tucky Colonel, bis able lawyer, and tbe gallant Detective — had drawn the thing down to a veiy fine point, at length. They had prepared to throw a bombshell into the enemy's camp in New York, which would astonish him, at a very early day. But first it was necessary to lay the outrageous particulars of the conception of this destructive scheme before the Washington authorities. And so the three earn- est men repaired direct to the Treasury Department, to unbosom themselves, as we have already stated. Judge Wm. A. Richardson, of Massachusetts, chanced to be Acting Secretary of the Treasury at this hour. This gentleman is a shrewd, intelligent, sound-minded, level- headed lawyer, whose long experience on the judicial bench has afforded him ample opportunity to become a rare good judge of human nature, in a great variety of phases ; and he is not easily moved or " thrown out of bias " by ordinary tales of wonder. He patiently listened to the mysterious tale of horrors which his three earnest visitors had to com- municate, and then civilly but promptly referred the gentle- men (whose eyes stuck out of their heads in wonder at the Judge's coolness and indifference) to Solicitor Banfield, of the Treasury Department. Here the three men " told o'er their wondrous story " once again ; and the polite but incredulous Attorney for this Department of Government closed an eye, looked cautiously at the countenances of his excited visitors, and intimating that he did not see any occasion for hurrying in this busi- ness — quietly turned the trio over to the Chief of the" Se- cret Service, Col. Whitley, at New York city. " The Colonel is now in New York, at his head-quarters, gentlemen," said Solicitor Banfield, courteously. " You will find him exceedingly affable, as well as prompt, and duly experienced in all this sort of thing. Go to the Chief. He 8 182 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. will help you, in this desperate affair, I am confident." And thus the Solicitor bowed the Kentucky strangers out. With dilated nostrils and staring eyes, Colonel King, Lawyer Filtson, and the ambitious Hogeland, pushed away from the Capitol towards New York, with hastened speed ; and arriv- ing in a tired and fagged condition there, they lost no time in rushing into the presence of Col. Whitley, with their tale of wonders ; which they now repeated the shocking details of, for the third time, and backing the stirring narrative up with all the authoritative credentials, documents, affidavit, etc., to which we have alluded. Chief Whitley is not readily excited, and very rarely goes off into tantrums. He is a man of marvellously quick perceptions, however, and believes the assertion, when he says, " my instincts rarely deceive me." He patiently heard the harrowing tale, and glanced at the formidable doc- uments the gentleman produced in support of the awful narrative. He listened to the zealous argument of the talented and highly respectable lawyer, who so feelingly urged Colonel King's disclosures upon his immediate consid- eration, and quietly rising, dropped the single word "bosh!" with singular emphasis. " There are two hundred men in buckram, you say, con- cerned in this foul scheme, Colonel ? " asked the Chief. " Oh, more than that — quite twice that number, sir," said King. " And these two hundred men and more, have kept this infernal plot a profound secret for so many months, too ? " added the Chief, doubtingly. " Ah, Colonel, remember the terrible series of shocking oaths they took never to divulge the secret of the clan." " Exactly. I do not forget this circumstance," replied the Chief, with apparent credulity. But he had already smelt an enormous mice, nevertheless! THE MANIAC, KING. 183 Col. King noff appealed to the Chief to proceed, with great caution, so far as he was concerned. An intimation altogether unnecessary, by the way — for Whitley had already determined upon this course, though for a reason entirely different to that urged by King. " You see, Chief," continued King, " I'm a doomed man, if I am suspected by these wretches. A thousand daggers would be aimed at my heart, within the hour of the dis- covery that I had ' peached ' upon them. For God's sake, move cautiously. I will help you, my friend and counsellor here, Mr. Filtson will assist me, and we shall be able, with your powerful aid, backed by that of the experienced and potent official force under your control, to circumvent and bring to condign punishment this entire horde of miscreants and would-be traitors. But — caution, Colonel — 1 beseech you. I now intend at once to call upon half a hundred of the leading wretches in this city ; and will report to you',* to-morrow, the exact status of affairs, to enable you to act promptly ,'aud add to your already well-earned crown of pro- fessional laurels the brightest leaf that will ever find a place in the wreath ! " If Colonel Whitley possesses any particular tender spot, in his composition, it is certainly not located in his head. So this flattering ebullition only had the effect of causing a suppressed smile at its grandiloquence ; when he respouded to King, that inasmuch as he was doing all this work for the good of the Government, he felt it incumbent on him to in- sist upon his accepting the use of a carriage, at the Chief's expense, in which to make these numerous calls he now con- templated. This offer of Col. Whitley was thankfully accepted ; and half an hour afterwards, Colonel King was driven away in a nice hack, to wait upon the half a hundred leading conspira- 184 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. tors (more or less) who resided in and around New York — whose secret had been so wondrously kept for so lengthy a period, and who were within the next eight-and-forty hours, at the farthest, to be sent humming " up in a balloon," or elsewhere, by means of the explosion which now so threat- ened the bursting up of their nefarious scheme. The Chief took -the trifling precaution (in this last arrangement,) to place upon the carriage-box one of his own trusty Detectives, Mr. Wm. W. Applegate, in the capacity of driver of the vehicle. This Operative was appro- priately disguised for the occasion, and a more accomplished '' whip " never drew rein over a spunky pair o' cattle, than he proved. At evening, the Detective returned to report, and re- counted to his Chief the fact that he had driven Colonel King all over Gotham, from City Hall to the Croton Ac- queduct, and thence to Greenwood Cemetery and back ; but ne'er a call had he made upon any one (not to speak of " half a hundred " ) of the conspirators he had prated so loudly about in the morning ! " I am not surprised," said the Chief, quietly. " I never took any stock in this tale of horror." " It is a very singular "affair, nevertheless," suggested his Assistant, respectfully. " This man is backed by almost incontrovertible proof of his sincerity. The lawyer, the Western Treasury Agent, the documents, the by-laws of the clan, the reputation of Colonel King himself, etc." " I see it all. And this is my judgment," concluded Colonel Whitley, " formed at my first interview with these three men, and still unchanged. This king is either the cursedest liar that ever drew Ireath, or he is the craziest devil out of Bedlam ! " Mr. Applegate bowed to this sharply expressed but not THE MANIAC, KING. 185 improbable assumption of his superior, aud shortly after- wards Colonel King himself came in, to inform the Chief, in answer to bis- query as to whether he had found his associates of the " Circle," that " be had seen about a hun- dred of them, during his ride that day. And not one of them dreamed that be had sold them out to the U. S. Gov- ernments" Kijig then sat down and deliberately wrote a score of letters to friends in Kentucky (imaginary friends, perhaps,) informing them of the course he " had seen fit to take, for his country's good," concluding these epistles with the assurance that he had been rewarded by the Government with a gift of a million of dollars for the disclosures he had made, and that he would divide this plunder with them, on his return home, which would occur very shortly, etc. By means of this performance, Col. Whitley, who watched him, obtained a knowledge of the style of King's handwriting. But the Chief waited still, and kept due watch and ward upon King's movements. " This thing will keep," said Whitley to his aids. " Have an eye on this man. He'll shortly reach the end of his tether." Within two days, the ever attentive and anxious attorney, Filtson, rushed suddenly into the Chiefs presence, in a phrenzied state of excitement. " Just as I feared, Colonel ! " he said, spasmodically. " Poor fellow. King's gone up ! A martyr to his loyalty . It's just like him. The ' Knights ' are after him ! Our affair is exploded, and poor King is doomed. They'll clean him out, sure, and his well-intentioned and loyal efforts to serve his country, will send him up the spout, alas ! See, Colonel ! . They've been thrusting these threatening letters under the door of his hotel room all day long. He dare not quit his apartment. He is a goner, sure ! " 186 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. In the adjoining room at Col. Whitley's headquarters, sat the Chiefs Assistant, the jolly,' portly Nettleship, who ' was quietly smoking his Habana, and looking -over some of: the " important " documents connected with this singular case, when Whitley summoned him. They started' off directly for King's hotel, and soon afterwards discovered that gen- tleman, in a frightful mental condition, within his own apartment. > " What's ' the trouble with you, how?"' enquired the Chief, as he entered, flanked by the facetious Nettleship. " Gone up," screamed King. " It's all' over ! The thing is out —the Knights have discovered my attempt to tell their story — and I'm a dead man, ere' the sun shines on this bles'sed earth again J I can't escape ; them. They're here, there, everywhere. And I'm a goner ! Look," he con- tinued. " Read these letters, shoved beneath my door, here, by the score. Read, Colonel ! " and the terribly ex- cited man exhibited a handful of missives emblazoned with daggers, cross-bones, death's-heads, coffins, chains, and other mystic signs of the horrid Order of the " K. G. C." which really looked (at first sight,) as if the entire " Union Green- back Brotherhood of Repudiators and Scalliwags " had simultaneously started for him, without a compunction : that he would very shortly " be slaughtered and quartered, and • that his poor quivering, lifeless remains, would then be scat- tered to the winds," in due accordance with the terms of the penalty prescribed in one of the gentlest of the Society's secret oaths ! The Chief glanced at the letters, at once recognized the handwriting of the missives, and then approached Col. King, calmly, and placed his hand upon the ex-Confederate Colonel's forehead ; where he just then discovered a long red scar, running from the upper edge of the frontal towards the parietal bone of the skull. THE MANIAC, KING, 187 ! " What's thisj Colonel ? " enquired the Chief, placing' his fingei? upon the spot. *" How'd you come 'by that scar ?.";' • " Tliat's where a bullet from one of your Yank's nifteS grazed my cranium, during the war," responded King, placing his own forefinger dubiously upon his head, and turning back the hair, carefully. "I see,' ? said Whitley to Mettleship. " He's- a liihati'c. 1 said from the first, that he was either an infernal liar, or as mad as a March hare. It's so." ■ '•■I reckon you're right, Colonel," replied .his Assistant, gazing into King's troubled face. "Now," continued the Chief, sharply to the Confederate Colonel, '*what do you mean by all this bosh? These letters here are every one of them in your own handwriting ! I know it.' Do you take us all for idiots ? You're crazy. And the sooner you ? re taken due care of, the better for yourself and your friends." The Confederate lunatic — for such he really was — im- mediately " came down," and admitted the soft impeach- ment regarding the writing of the letters. He argued the matter of the existing plot, however, right sturdily, and was again backed by the eloquent Greenup lawyer. But it was too late, now, to push this thing further with Colonel Whitley. The Chief directly summoned Dr. Hammond, of Bellevue Hospital. The wild man from the West was duly examined, professionally, and the doctor unhesitatingly pronounced him insane — which proved to- be the fact, although the lawyer and the Western Detective Hogeland had been so thoroughly blinded, through all his erratic course of conduct : — from the very start — and had never qnce imagined that they had been toting round the country, and zealously sus- taining an actual madman, amidst this singular but plausible freak of distorted fancy ^ 188 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. King remained in New York some time under medical treatment. Lawyer Filtson put away, in deep chagrin, for his " old Kentucky, home," content with having expended several hundred good round dollars of his own, in the at- tempt to gain a few thousand more, probably for Ms " dis- interested services " in the enterprise he so foolishly em- barked in, and so credulously followed up to the point of its explosion by the Chief of the Secret Service. The proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel, where the mad- man stopped, was " out " two hundred dollars, by this little operation. The draft drawn by King, upon his Greenup friends, to pay his hotel bill, came back protested, and Leland pocketed the loss, with his customary business smile at such trifling " irregularities." The ardent JELoge- land, who was really a very clever officer, " retired in good order," in season to get honorably out of the scrape. Col. Whitley and Assistant Nettleship returned to their peaceful quarters in Bleecker Street, and the even tenor of their way went on again, but slightly ruffled by the startling announcement which had a few days previously been made by this trio of mysterious callers — all the way from Kentucky, via Washington, who arrived in New York city crammed to the chin with such a horrible dose of sensation, but who left town, after the laughable denouement of this fiasco, so thoroughly emptied of their conceit, that no word has since been heard of or from these doughty men — who are unquestionably now convinced of their own folly and short-sightedness, and who have learned that the present head of the Secret Service is one too many for such shallow trickery as this — and that this kind of " putty won't stick " much with him ! EXPLOITS OF A HYPOCRITICAL THIEF. "DOCTOR BLAKE." A handsome " Photographic Travelling Saloon " had per- ambulated up aud down the country, in the State of New Jersey, a few years ago — the proprietor of which, accom- panied by a smartly dressed, showy young woman, located, his itinerant vehicle at one time in the village of Toms River, where he halted, as was his custom, for a few days, ostensibly to take the pictures of the inhabitants of that pretty town and neighborhood. He was a very exemplary man to outward appearance, and his business profession was a very worthy one. His real object, however, was to ascertain who were the wealthy citizens in the thriving places he visited, and where they resided — with a view, upon favorable opportunity, to make a stealthy midnight raid upon them and rob their houses, where sufficient valuables promised to be obtained to re- munerate him for the risk and trouble of such contemplated marauding enterprise. The pretty woman, usually, who accompanied him, con- 190 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. trived to ingratiate herself into the confidence of the people, to gain access to their houses, and in this way obtain a knowledge of the points necessary to render the robbery successful. Her name was Emma Perrine, who passed, as his wife. She was one only of several of her class whom this seemingly moral and sanctimonious " photographer " had about him, from time to time. The man was known as " Doctor Blake," and his assump- tion of the "pious bay;" 'in the c6urse of his travels, he found to be the most taking and advantageous dodge — during his long career of crime. He was a fine looking personage, rather of ; 'a' ministerial "cast' ''than, otherwise, an easy conversationist, smooth and polished in manners and address, of goodly presence, : 'an admirably ready speaker, most fluent in delivery, was aptly posted in Biblical and re- ligious matters, andqtioteid Scripture like' a parson. 1 ' ' '- ' Blake was a constant and zealous attendent at the regular rjrayer-meetings in the various villages where he halted, and his photographic " Saloon " was invariably certain to be found in the immediate vicinity of all the camp-meetings in the New Jersey District. In the course of their peregrinations, Doctor Blake and his " moll " visited the town of Toms River, where Detec- tive Applegate, of the Secret Service, was at that time located ; and where his observation of men and things there- about led him frequently to scrutinize the new-comers in the place, in a quiet way. But the attention of Mr. Applegate was especially at- tracted towards Blake, from the fact that he had observed this clerical looking gentleman to be rather intimate with a man whom Mr. Applegate knew to be a " coney " dealer. He noticed at the same time, that this reverend looking Doctor Blake's advent into the village was attended with a A HYPOCRITICAL THIEF. 191 generous demonstration of counterfeit money among the traders there 1 . Prom this co-incidence, Applegate concluded that Blake was a proper subject for future closer observation. He knew the coney-man above spoken of, whose name was T. P. Smith, and after carefitl manipulation he succeeded in getting from the latter the following brief note, which will readily explain itself: — ' I- ■ i .' <' Old friend Blakie, Let the bearer, have all the stuff he wants. He's square, and all right. T. P. S." Having possessed himself of this little document, Mr. Applegate called upon Blake at an early opportunity, by whom he was very cordially received (with these credentials in his hand) in the photographic tent of the Doctor, at a neighboring New Jersey Camp Meeting, then being held at Pointville ; where, through his arch cunning and hypocrisy, Blake had imposed himself upon the Managers of this annual religious gathering, as a good Christian, a revivalist, and a Worthy brother in their denomination. Applegate found this " saint " taking an active part in the exhortations, prayers and praises that were going on when he arrived upon the ground with his introductory letter ; and the striking eloquence and earnest warnings which this sanctimonious deceiver was then in the very act of pouring out upon the ears of the gaping, listening, admiring or weep- ing ones in the throng who hung upon the honey of his words, rather took the shrewd Operative back, at first. " That can't be Blake" murmured the Detective to him- self. " That can't be the man I'm looking for. His tongue runs as smoothly as an educated parson's, and the expres- sions that fall from his lips are not those of the ripe old 192 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. sinner, surely! On the contrary, he's a very nice man, and a veritable Christian, I'm thinking. Must be so. Else he couldn't talk that way." A moment afterwards, the attentive Detective got down near the " anxious seat," by the speaking-stand, where he was more puzzled than at first, to hear the doctor invite the multitude, in plaintive tones, to." join him in prayer." And then such feeling and pathetic intonations burst forth from that man's lips as quite took him down among the rest, as the deceitful rascal appealed to the throne of grace in behalf of the ungodly and the unrepentant ! The tears burst from the pleader's eyes, and coursed down his cheeks,, as the solemn pathos flowed from his lips, and he besought the Father of Good to be merciful to the impenitent and sinful among that crowd of mourners who had not yet given their hearts to Him. The Detective had really got softened under the magnetic influence of the speaker! And when the humble exhorter at last placed his silk handkerchief to his eyes, to check the flow of tears that had been chasing each other out of those wicked peepers, and the speaker, in silvery tones, com- menced to pronounce the stirring lines — " When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I'll bid farewell to every fear, And wipe my weeping eyes," at the same moment applying his clean bandanna to his face, the Detective who was upon his trail, and who could scarcely believe that this could be the man he sought, actually found himself wiping his own visage, vigorously, (possibly on ac- count of the heat there ! ) and the next minute joining sonorously in singing the beautiful hymn above quoted — which Blake " led off" so touchingly and so artistically. A HYPOCRITICAL THIEF. 193 It was in no wise to the gentle-hearted Detective's dis- credit that his naturally sensitive spirit was thus momenta- rily swayed into sympathetic consonance with the harmony of the generally honest multitude who chanted that sweet old hymn. And, moreover, he naturally possessed a goodly share of music in his soul. It was but a transient sensation, however: And five minutes after this, Applegate satisfied himself that the saint who had so charmed ■him was the veritable Blake himself. The assumed Sanctity of the Beast disappeared, the romance of the situation passed away, and A. proceeded at once to business. The " Doctor " was slow to take Applegate into his com- plete confidence, however. He was remarkably cautious. There might possibly be a trap laid for him, he evidently fancied, in the approach of this stranger, even though he was squarely endorsed by Smith's letter. So Blake en- quired of the new-comer, among other things (after the meeting was over,) if he were handy at thieving ? Apple- gate responded that he would find, if he tried him, that he " couldn't do anything else," when Blake proposed that they should go together, on the following night, and rob Aaron Gaskill's chicken-house. Mr. Gaskill lived near the cainp- meeting grounds, and it was suggested by Blake that they should go there and steal some fowls, for their mutual sub- sistence, which Applegate seemed to agree to. Leaving Blake in his tent, the Detective called soon after- wards upon Mr. Gaskill, purchased two pairs of his chickens, placed them in a box near the farm-house gate, and told the farmer he would call for them late that night, on his return home, and desired to leave them where he could take them along, as he passed, without disturbing him. On the night in question Blake and Applegate started out on this expedition, the latter leaving Blake a short distance behind him, on approaching Gaskill's house. 194 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. *- " Quiet, now," said A. " and I'll give you a taste of my quality in this kind o' thing, in a jiffy." Then boldly scaling the wall of the farm enclosure, A. quietly sat down upon the chicken-box, drew the fowls he had paid for out, one by one, wrung their necks, and returned with four nice chickens to the side of Blake, who watched for him, outside — and who was greatly pleased- with what he supposed to be so successful a robbery. " You'll do," said Blake, encouragingly. " I reckon I will," responded Applegate. " I've been round in my time, Blakie." " Yes — you're a trump," continued Blake, " you are." Next day, Blake gave A. a counterfeit $10 note to " shove," instructing him to pass it upon one Joseph Beeves, a respectable merchant at Pointville, a really pious and worthy man, who was one of the Managers of the Camp Grounds, and who did not hesitate openly to express his opin- ion that " Doctor Blake." was not sincere in his loud- mouthed professions of religion. Mr. Applegate took the $10 " queer," put it carefully by in his pocket, entered Mr. Reeves' store, purchased some trifles, paid for the same with a good $10 note, and returned to Blake with the goods, and the change in good money. This was sufficient for Blake, who knew nothing of the Detective, or this ruse (but supposed he had passed the bogus $10 note he had given him,) and then he unbosomed himself very freely to Applegate, telling him without re- straint that " he (A.) was a man after his own heart," and letting him into many of the secrets of his base criminal life; during all of which, he had left his poor wife and her child in the miserable basement of a house in Walnut street, Philadelphia, where she dragged out a wretched existence, amidst constant toil with her needle to support herself A HYPOCRITICAL THIEF. 195 and little ' boy, ten or twelve years old ; while lie was " travelling," and whining, and psalm-singing over the country, in company with disreputable women, and robbing, cheating, counterfeiting, wherever he found the opportunity. Blake showed Applegate false keys he had, with which he could (and frequently did) enter several distilleries in various parts of Western New Jersey, and steal therefrom considerable quantities of whiskey, which he sold for cash to hotel keepers or others. He obtained an impression from one lock, had a key made in Philadelphia, and went night after night into that establishment, where he pumped liquors out of the barrels into ten-gallon tin cans which he carried in his wagon for the purpose, and bore away. The owner missed his whiskey, but could never account for this loss. The Doctor confided numerous other of his depredations to Applegate, one of which is worth mentioning, to show the varied phases of the talents of this precious " knave in broadcloth." Blake had seen in Philadelphia a valuable horse, which he managed to steal and take over into New Jersey. This animal was coal black, with the exception of a white stripe down the forehead and one white foot. Taking this horse to his Photograph tent, Blake applied a solution of nitrate of silver (" hair-dye ") to the white marks, which changed them to clear black. He then traded off this horse for another inferior beast, and §300 in cash. He then in- structed his attendant " kid," Bill Burke, to go to the stable where the stolen horse was temporarily kept, and administer to him a dose of poison, which Blake prepared for the pur- pose, and which quickly killed the animal, and he was buried, directly. Thus all traces of his crime were removed beyond the possibility of identification. Blake next furnished Mr. Applegate with fifty dollars in 196 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. counterfeit notes, at twenty-five cents on the dollar, which money A. carefully marked, and put away as evidence of this transaction between them. Blake then took Applegate to Philadelphia, and introduced him to Harry Stewart, and a number of other leading " coney " men of that city, from all of whom A. made purchasers of the " queer." Blake also introduced him to his wife, who was a beautiful and re- fined woman, whose heart was absolutely broken by the wicked acts of her faithless, reckless husband. But Blake soon left Philadelphia, and located at Shell- town, N. J., when it was deemed proper by Mr. A. that- the facts already related should be reported to Mr. Nettleship, chief Operative of the New Jersey and Penn'a District ; and it was then decided to arrest this knave, and stop him in his mad career of villainy. This was speedily accomplished. Blake was taken in his Photograph Tent at Shelltown, and thence to Trenton, where he learned for the first time that Applegate (who he had supposed was a first-class chicken stealer and " shover of the queer,") was an officer in the U. S. Secret Service ! He threw up the sponge, at once, pleaded guilty, and was sent to the New Jersey Penitentiary for ten* years, where he now remains hard at work for the benefit of the State. Meantime Detective Applegate availed himself of the in- formation obtained from " Doctor Blake " relating to his whiskey-stealing by means of false keys, and other villainies, and he has taken some pains to put the unsuspecting re- ligious people in that ilk upon their guard against the hypocritic ministrations of such lively exhorters — -with es- pecial reference to this seemingly devoted Christian Blake, who played his depraved part so well and so long, but who has now, fortunately for the residents of New Jersey, gone into healthy retirement for a term that will, it is hoped, A HYPOCRITICAL THIEF. 197 suffice effectually to reform the wretch, unless he is already " past praying for." Doctor Blake exhibited extraordinary shrewdness amidst all the scenes of treachery, cheatery, and duplicity which for years and years he was concerned in ; and few of the hun- dreds or thousands of people he encountered in various ways, in all that time, ever suspected his dishonesty. He could " smile and smile, and play the villain," continuously, and did, with singular success ; but he was finally circum- vented, and justly put away. And the capture and convic- tion of this dissembling hypocrite and dangerous land-pirate, by Mr. Applegate, was in its way, one of the most creditable performances ever consummated by an officer of the Secret Service. ee WA.L' CROSBY," BANK BURGLAR AND CONEY MAN. WILLIAM WALL. Another sturdy and accomplished rogue, who flourished for a long period in this country in the felonious secret occu- pation of cracksman, safe-blower, bank-burster, and counter- feiter at large, was William Wall — more familiarly known by his alias " Wal' Crosby," a noted shoulder-hitter, whose New York head-quarters were established at No. 61 Bowery, and whose long career of crime, for many reasons, goes far to sustain the theory of the existence of possible "total depravity " among the human race. Wal' Crosby had lived several years in New York city, where it is believed he was born, and during a lengthy period in early life, he passed his leisure in bar-rooms, broth- els, boozing-kens, or gaming houses, radiating from the place above mentioned in the Bowery, upon the numerous expedi- tions that from time to time he turned his attention to, in the way of robbery, bank-breaking, counterfeit money-shov- ing, and the like villainy ; but escaping the clutches of officials, who watched for or attempted to trap him; and 198 "WAL' CROSBY." 199 snapping his fingers at law and order, contemptuously — amidst the frequent successes that attended his aptly planned and deftly executed deeds of violence and crime. Wal' was of medium size in stature, five feet ten in height, with sandy complexion and whiskers, but originally strong in frame, and very muscular in his limbs. He made his first appearance to public notice from the " Gem," a drinking-house at the corner of Crosby and Houston Streets, New York, a resort well known to the police as a halting- place for prominent English thieves, high Tobey-men, and members of the swell mob ; where he found boon compan- ions in Ned Ferrel, Andy Boyd, Joe Gordon, and other notorious coney men and cracksmen. In the year 1866, Wal' left New York and paid a " visit of observation" to Toms River, in New Jersey, with a view to the preliminary arrangements for cracking the Ocean County National Bank there. The officers of that institution, having been warned by Detectives attached to the U. S. Secret Service, made timely provision to welcome the in- tended robbers, however, and Wal' having discovered this fact, concluded to retire again quickly to New York, and wait a more convenient opportunity, in that particular direction. Shortly after this, in company with his confederates, Wal' proceeded to the town of Bricksburg, N. J., distant west about ten miles from Toms River, where, with his pals, he was more successful. They blowed a safe in this place be- longing to the Bricksburg Land Company, and fled with their booty, some f 4,000 in money, belonging to Mr. Joseph Van Hise, and also several hundred dollars of the Land Co's funds. Thence Wal' proceeded towards New York city, onqfi more. In their retreat, after accomplishing this burglary, the 200 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. robbers were compelled to cross the country on foot> by a somewhat circuitous route, to avoid being detected ; and having en route sunk their burglarious implements, (pro- vided by " Blacksmith Tom") in the stream near Brewer's Bridge, on the south branch of Squamkum River, they put out for Keyport, N. J., and subsequently lay in the damp woods all night, from necessity, whereby Wal' contracted so severe a cold that he took seriously ill , from that night, and fell into consumption, which must eventually end his days. Still, thenceforward he continued on in his course of wil- ful iniquity, and followed the " coney " business up with re- newed zest and enlarging facilities — employing agents to shove the queer in every direction, and putting tens of thousands of base counterfeits broadcast upon the country, through his numerous pals and confederates, among whom was old " Lame Sam," whose history we have already given. He was also intimately in correspondence with Hank Hall, 61 Bowery, another prominent coney-man, and several kin- dred spirits whom he operated with, to rare advantage. The former officers attached to the Secret Service Division could not, or pretended they could not, overhaul this cun- ningly managing offender. But Col. Whitley undertook the task, in earnest, and placed Detective Applegate upon his track, with orders to take his time, and capture this man, who was then in the height of his prosperity in the counter- feiting line, and who had found this branch of traffic highly remunerative, in the previous year or two. Detective Applegate took this affair in hand, and went about working up the job with his accustomed ingenuity and earnestness. He very shortly learned, from actual observa- tion, that Wal' was " doing a land-office business " in the coney line. Thousands of dollars went out in counterfeits, daily, to all parts of the country from Wal's quarters ; but "wal' cbosbt." 201 he so ingeniously contrived all the details of his shipments or deliveries of the basej' stuff," forwarded to confederates or placed in .their hands at his place, that no legal proof of what he was doing, or what he did, was for some time at- tainable. Applegate disguised himself and went to the boozing-ken in the Bowery, one night, to take a quiet look at matters in that delectable dram-shop, where he was aware that none but roughs and thieves and counterfeiters of high and low degree did mostly congregate, but where only he could ob- tain the information he desired, to enable him to prosecute the orders of Chief Whitley — sooner or later to catch the chary bird he was in search of, and whom he was bound by hook or crook to arrest. Wall's evil deeds were known to Applegate, but it was not an easy task to bring the commis- sion of his wicked acts directly home to the author. How- ever, he had undertaken the job, and the Chief expected him to accomplish the capture of this noted scoundrel. There entered the drinking-room of Wal's establishment in Crosby Street, one evening, a smallish man, attired in a rough homely suit of frieze, who wandered about the apart- ment listlessly a few minutes, and then approached the bar, as if he intended to call for a drink. There were a dozen men of all grades and sizes lounging about, drinking, swearing and talking in suspicious tones, who observed the undersized stranger when he came in, and who were — every one — inclined to watch him, and ascertain who he was, immediately. Upon a more careful examination, some of the b'hoys recognized in this visitor one " Tim Sikes " (as he called himself,) who had frequently been in and out at the house, during the previous few weeks ; but whom none who were present, on this evening, seemed to know, except that Tim 202 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. had hinted to one or two of the gang of rowdies that he was lately " out o' quod," where he had been boarding and lodg- ing two years, at the expense of the State, " in the purty town of Sing-Sing, in a werry 'andsome granite structur', w'are they had plenty o' good skilley and biled beans twict a week, without greens, an' no dessart arter dinner — to speak of. A werry nice boardin' 'ouse, to be sure, but not the kind o' ken that he should go to again a purpus, ef he know'd hisself — which he thought he did." And then he called for a " stiff o' bingo," and took out his wallet, with thirty or forty dollars in it, to pay for his drink ; when down went Tim, upon the bar-room floor, and in less time than the fact can be told, his observant companions at No. 61 Bowery " went through " him, without a " by your leave, stranger." Tim was smart, though, physically. And albeit not a large man, he was both strong and wiry, and had taken and given many a hard knock in his time. He had been stunned (on this occasion) however, and was instantly robbed of every dollar he had about him. When he came to, he found himself minus the first copper. They had " cleaned him out." He jumped at the first of the knaves whom he sight- ed. His money was gone, but not his pluck or his apparent desire to be even, then and there, with the rough curses who had so unceremoniously floored and robbed him. In this impromptu set-to, Tim showed himself no mean customer to handle — for he contrived to punish one of the brutes to his entire content, before he quit him ; though he certainly did not escape without some sharp bruises himself, in the melee. And this was Tim's actual initiation into the good graces of the habitues at No. 61 Bowery. Instead of yelling for the Police, when he found himself thus assaulted and robbed " WAL' CROSBY." 203 — as they knew he would do if he were not really one of them, as he pretended — he pitched into the first man that appeared before him, when he came to his senses, after being felled ; and this conduct on Tim's part convinced the crowd, instanter, that he was " all right." From that hour, (though they never returned him his money,) he was all hunky-dory with the beasts and vultures who " hung round " tba-t notorious boozing-ken. The theory of this class being that the stranger must' be as bad as they themselves were, and dared not call for the police, lest he should be " copped " for some offence which they were thus sure he must be guilty of. Tim was thus placed upon a fair footing with the thieves and counterfeiters at No. 61, and went in and out there, subsequently, without suspicion, challenge, or personal difficulty, thereafter. It was a pretty severe lesson, but Tim took it all in good part, for he desired to worm himself into the affections of that crowd, and this was the best way he could adopt to prove to the scoundrels that he was all right, and " sound." It may perhaps be as well here to state, for the reader's in- formation, that " Tim Sikes " was an assumed character and cognomen, and the person who now so aptly represented the ex-state prison bird at No. 61 Bowery, was actually our keen-scented Detective friend of the U. S. Secret Service — W. W. Applegate ; a fact which possibly may have been already suspected by the reader. Wal' Crosby was carefully " shadowed " at this resort, and his movements were for some time cautiously watched by " Tim Sikes," who found little difficulty in getting ac- quainted with all the villains there, subsequently to the valiant fight he made ; during, or after which, he didn't " squeal " on his assaulters, or " play baby." He then kept his eye constantly upon Wal's movements. He saw him 204 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. make more than one " deal," and knew lie had shoved piles of counterfeits, in one way or another and at length, when the pear had fully ripened, he followed the counterfeiter one day in the spring of 1870, out into the Park at 16th street and 2d Avenue, and suddenly pounced upon his victim ; who he knew at this moment had a large quantity of the queer concealed about his person. WaP struggled manfully, and fought like a tiger for lib- erty, on this occasion. He was notoriously reckless in his desperate adventures, but at no period and on no occasion in his checkered life did Wal' Crosby ever exhibit a lack of brute courage. On the contrary, he ventured everything at times, and often " took his life in his hands " without a scruple or sign of fear of the consequences of his villainous expeditions. When he was seized in the Park, thus unceremoniously, though he was far gone in consumption, he made a powerful resistance, and it was only when the officer who tackled him had thrown him to the ground, clapped the " bracelets " upon his wrists, and dexterously secured him, that he was manageable, in this crisis. He was indisposed to yield, even then. But when he looked carefully into the face of the man who had so skillfully conquered and ironed him in the Park, and saw that it was " Tim Sikes," with whom he had been for weeks so intimate, to whom he had sold counterfeit money liberally, whom he was aware that at that very moment of arrest Wal' had about him a large sum of " coney " which (from his being ironed securely) he could not " drop " or get rid of, and then heard this same confounded Tim Sikes declare that he was none other than Mr. Wm. Applegate, of Col. Whitley's U. S. Detective force — Wal' Crosby in- continently wilted ! "CRANKY TOM" HALE, FORGER AND COUNTERFEITER. [Soo pa;;e 105. " wal' CROSBY." 207 "I knock under," he said, with an oath. "By G , you've gone and done it, old fellow, this time. You've got me where the ha'r is short ! What a cursed fool I have been, to let you walk into my 'fections, in this way." "-Come on then, Wal'," responded Applegate, civilly. " You're my meat, now. I've been a good while about it, but Chief Whitley has been after you with a sharp stick, these eight months past. ' It's a long lane that has no turn ■in it,' though. And now we'll go down and call upon the Chief, together — who will be glad to meet you, Wal', at his head-quarters." And fifteen minutes afterwards, Detective Applegate entered Colonel Whitley's private office, and introduced his prisoner. " I've brought Wal' Crosby down to see you, Colonel," said Applegate, modestly. " Here he is." " Ah, Crosby ? " said the Chief. " I'm glad to meet you here." " No doubt of it, Chief," replied Wal', coolly. " Devilish glad to see me, I reck'n." The prisoner then sat down, the " queer " was taken from his person, and he at once made a free and full confession of his crimes to Col. Whitley, who ordered him to be taken to Ludlow Street jail. As the officers were about to remove him from the Chiefs quarters to prison, Wal' suddenly appeared to realize the sad condition in which he was now placed, and he appealed to Col. Whitley in a tone that touched that usually stern offi- cer's kindlier feelings, and indicated to him that Wal' was not thoroughly bad — clean through — after all. " Colonel," said Wal', as his lip almost imperceptibly quivered for an instant, " my wife lies sick, and dying at my home. She is suffering in the last stages of consumption. 9 208 UNITED STATES' SECRET SERVICE. She knows nothing whatever of my baseness or of my life, and she- cannot long linger here. Before I go to — to prison, Colonel, I would bid that wife farewell. She will not live to know of my trial, and this meeting must be our last, on earth ! May I see her, Colonel ? " " Yes, yes," said the Chief, promptly. He could say no more, and the officers bore their prisoner away, affording him permission to call at his own house, as he proceeded iu their custody to the jail. The meeting that ensued between the innocent dying wife and unlucky Wal' Crosby, was described to the author by one of the officials who had him in charge, as the most soul- harrowing scene it had ever been his misfortune to be a witness to ; and to another like it he prays he may never again be called upon to take even the part of a compulsory listener ! Mrs. Wall, the then prostrated wife, was a beautiful woman, well educated, and naturally exceedingly sensitive in her temperament. She had never had the slightest knowledge of her husband's true character, and knew nothing of his alias, " Wal' Crosby," which he adopted and made use of only among his vicious companions. The little daughter, a bright-eyed, auburn-tressed child, was attending her mother in her sick chamber, when the door opened softly and her husband entered, (flanked by two strange men) and sadly approached the death-bedside of the woman he had sworn at God's altar to love, honor, and pro- tect, so long as they both should live ! The once blooming, handsome, but now emaciated wife, glanced feebly at this strange intrusion into her own private room, and instantly noticed the irons upon her husband's wrists ! "For Heaven's sake — William!" she faintly screamed, "WAL' CROSBY." 209 raising her head feebly up from the pillow. " What is it ? What's the matter ? Who are these gentlemen ? Tell me " " My poor wife," exclaimed the wretch, sinking beside the couch, and hiding his manacles beneath his face, upon the bed-clothes — "my poor, dear, loved, and dying wife. God forgive me. I am cursed and tortured sufficiently, in this fearful moment, for all the crime I ever yet committed ! " " Crime ? Torture ? William — what have you done ? " gasped the wife, as she fell back fainting from exhaustion through this suddenly caused excitement. " Done ? " cried the husband in wan despair, "everything chat is wicked, everything that is unlawful, everything that is unrighteous, wrong and criminal! And now, to crown my infamy, I must break the tender heart of the woman who has been my devoted, innocent wife. Oh, my God ! : ' he continued, " this is too much — too much ! " And tears of repentance, remorse, and agony flowed down his cheeks, while he sobbed and moaned with fearful violence. The weak and woe-stricken wife was well nigh daft, upon hearing this terrible announcement, and at sight of her evidently broken-hearted husband. " What does it mean, William ? " she faintly cried. " Are you mad f Am I still alive ? Is this real ? Gentle- men ! " she added, fitfully, turning to the officers, " for God's sake, tell me — is my husband a criminal ? Oh — William ! Have you thus sinned 1 "' The officers explained the sad tidings of Wal's arrest as gently and civilly as they could; and finally told their prisoner that there must be an end to this interview. They couldn't stand it. " You" will not bear him off, gentlemen," shrieked the prostrated woman, at length ; " oh, do not tear him away 210 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. from me — dorit separate him from his wife and child ! I am dying, sirs ! I cannot live, at best, but a few days, or hours ! Pray do not take my William from the death-bed- side of his wife. I cannot survive this shock ! " she feebly moaned ; and fainted dead away before her sinning hus- band's gaze ! She did not rally again to consciousness for nearly half an hour. And the inevitable separation that shortly suc- ceeded was positively heart-rending even to the ordinarily stoical Detectives. They wept like children. While the wife and husband and little girl, who at length understood the matter indifferently — embraced, and mingled their grief, surprise, and misery together, over the blighted down- fall of the wretched, penitent prisoner, and piteously moaned out the heart-harrowing sorrow of which this terri- ble event had been the moving, crushing cause ! " 1 am guilty," said Wal, with fervid earnestness. " But she and these are innocent of all. I must pay the penalty of my offence, and will. You shall have no trouble with me, gentlemen, now. But who will succor this helpless wife, who will care for this guileless child, when I am gone to when I am gone away? " he concluded, amid his fast flowing tears. The wife had sunk completely exhausted upon her pillow. The prisoner gazed mournfully in her wan pallid face for an instant, stooped gently over her bed, and pressed a loving kiss on her cold silent lips. Then drawing his child to his bosom, he fondly kissed her fair forehead — drew his manacled hands across his own eyes — and 'midst the profoundest 'grief said, " Farewell, dear wife ! We shall meet no more on God's fair earth ! Farewell ! " Then, turning to the officers, Wal' added, "WAL' CROSBY." 211 "Now, gentlemen, I am ready," and calmly followed his captors out of the chamber, and thence to Ludlow Street Prison. Wal's trial came on soon afterwards. He pleaded guilty, and was remanded, to await sentence — during which in- terim his wife died, while he was still in Ludlow street jail. His old pals all forsook him (as these gentry usually do) as rats desert the sinking ship, and everything he ostensibly owned in the way of personal property, was claimed by others. He was thus left to fight his battle out alone, while his wife and child were thrown upon the cold charity of the world. Col. Whitley personally provided for this unfortunate family several weeks after Wal's arrest, and made them comfortable up to the time of the wife's decease. The daughter was then left to shift for herself, as is usually the case amongst this class of people. Wal' Crosby was after- wards sentenced to the State Prison for seven years, where he is now confined — though he is broken down in bodily health, and will scarcely live out his term of imprisonment, since his complaint is confirmed consumption of the lungs. Wal' was the associate in counterfeiting with the leading coney men in New York — sucli as 'Si ah Bright, Bill Gur- ney, "Lame Sam," Hank Hall, Jim Boyd, Phil Hargrave, old Kate Gross, Harry Cole, Bill Stewart, of Phil'a, Mary Brown, and others. When Wal' " went up," a big gun was spiked among the coney fraternity ; and his arrest led subse- quently to the capture of several other prominent men in that business, who for years had indulged their propensity to defraud the public, and who successfully dodged the at- tempts of the prior officials in the Detective Service to bring thein to bay. Wal' was smart, shrewd, and eminently successful, at 212 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. times. He loved his wife, however, and while he was at liberty took good care of his family. Mrs. Wall died about six weeks after Wal's arrest, and before he finally entered upon imprisonment in accordance with his sentence. But when he was secured eventually — as he was through Col. Whitley's efforts, and those of his men — another grave offender and a troublesome rogue in the community, was placed beyond the power of doing the public further harm in the counterfeiting way, for the future. WM. W. APPLEGATE, CHIEF OPERATIVE, N. E. DISTRICT. Long Branch and Cape May are at this time known the world over as two of the leading summer-resorts upon the Atlantic coast — the former being now the spot to which President Grant retreats in the heated term, for relaxation from the duties of state, he having two or three years ago established his quarters there, during the summer season — and the latter having been a first-class and desirable " water- ing place," for many years past. Midway between these two notably elegant locations, there lies a quiet beautiful village, near the coast, known as " Toms River ; " a spot also the resort of numerous pleas- ure-seekers and summer* tourists, who visit this place to en- joy the fresh breezes and pleasant surroundings of a country home, for the time being, within the grateful sound of the ocean's roar, where solid comforts are attainable without the annoyances and extravagances of " fashionable " society and its contingent tinsel. Toms River is a remarkably healthy town, and its inhabi- tants ai'e a hardy, generous people, as everybody knows who has been so fortunate as to enjoy the open-handed hospital- ity of its residents. In this pretty village, the subject of 213 214 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. our present sketch was born in 1824. He comes from vigo- rous stock, his father now being in excellent health, at the ripe age of nearly eighty. William W. Applegate, whose portrait appears on page 258 is now forty-eight years old. His parents were in fair circumstances, and the son received a good ordinary educa- tion at the public schools. He worked with his father in the manufacturing of carriages, up to the age of eighteen, and having become at this period sufficiently proficient, he assumed the entire charge of the business, and continued in this calling for some fifteen years. Having thus accumulated some money, he entered into mercantile life, which he pursued five years, and then em- barked in real-estate transactions. While engaged in this latter occupation, he, one day, met witli a fine-looking, portly gentleman (a stranger in Toms River) who appeared to be in search of an opportunity to locate, or perhaps to invest in real estate property, in this region — whom Mr. Applegate managed to get acquainted with. He accosted the stranger, and found him apparently ready to open negotiations for a trade. On the following day he was called upon by this gentleman, who, instead of conversing, farther with him upon the subject of real estate, commenced to make inqui- ries concerning certain parties who had recently been hover- ing between Long Branch and Gape May — whom Applegate had casually observed — and whom the stranger seemed exceedingly anxious to find. Within two days Mr. A. succeeded in locating the parties referred to, and in ascertaining all the facts the gentleman then desired regarding them. This was performed with such shrewdness and completeness, as to excite the admira- tion and curiosity of the searcher after the information, and he immediately sought to know his informant better. WM. W. APPLEGATB. 215 He instituted inquiries in the village of Toms River, which resulted in ascertaining to his entire satisfaction that Mr. Applegate bore an unexceptional character for integrity, and was the best posted man in that section of country. He sought him out again directly, told him frankly that he was not in the real-estate purchasing vein, and concluded his final interview by introducing himself as I. 0. Nettle- ship, an Operative of the United States Secret Service Division. Mr. Nettleship had accurately discovered at once that Applegate was a man of enlarged experience, good judg- ment and tact, and was clear-headed as well as right- minded : and who possessed in a marked degree in his estimation, the requisite qualities for a Detective in the Secret Service. He forthwith offered Mr. A. an engage- ment as an Assistant, confiding important business to him, for execution, immediately. Mr. A. accepted the post tendered him, and entered upon his new field of operations with the same energy and singleness of purpose that had characterized all the previous business undertakings of his life. His entire success in this first instance, confirmed Mr. Nettleship's good judgment in selecting him for the service. ' His ability was promptly recognized at headquarters also, and, unsolicited by him- self, he was appointed a regular Operative, and fully com- missioned. After four or five years' experience, Mr. Applegate was promoted (in 1871) by Col. Whitley, to the rank of a Chief Operative, and was assigned to the New England District head quarters in Boston, Mass., where he is at present es- tablished. The peculiar qualifications of Mr. Applegate are ex- hibited in his sound judgment, and his rare astuteness in 216 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " working up " the cases submitted to his charge. In his management of the frequently complicated and intricate instances of fraud and chicanery that it has been deemed advisable to enlist his exertions to unravel, Mr. A. pursues his object with unabated vigilance and devotion, and suffers no obstacles to interfere with the prosecution to final suc- cess, of the cases he undertakes. His persistency, his steadiness of purpose, his zeal, and his tried integrity have been amply proved — and it is in no wise flattery to assert of this efficient and accomplished official, that he is scrupu- lously honest and continuously earnest in all he undertakes in behalf of the interests of the Government. The talents of this officer are of a different quality to those possessed by others of his associates ; • but none have yet been met with who is surer, safer, more industriously inclined, or more loyally disposed. And none have been more successful, first and last, than has Wm. W. Apple- gate, in the performances set down to his credit in the records of the Secret Service Division. «« • MOTHER ROBERTS," THE NOTED CONEY WOMAN, OF CINCINNATI. Among the shrewdest and most unmanageable operators in bogus money known to the police or Detective force, in this or any other country, are female counterfeiters, who have the opportunity, through association with male experts in this infamous calling, to make themselves proficient in the arts and devices of this criminal clan ; while women are by far the most dangerous, also, if once well up in the business. We have an instance in point, in the case of the charming " widow Roberts," of Ohio, who was shrewdly wooed and won, by a clever U. S. Detective ; and whose history, as fol- lows, will be found highly interesting. This woman was known in and around Cincinnati, 0., for many years prior to '69 and '70, as a widow lady, occupying a good house which she owned in that city, where she passed for a period, as a respectable, well-to-do person, who lived on her private income, drawn from no one knew where, but who moved about her own affairs unmolested and uncared for, since, whatever might be her private business (if she 217 218 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. had any,) none of her neighbors seemed to interest them- selves to institute inquiries into it. But, in November, 1870, Col. Whitley learned that im- mense quantities of counterfeit money were being circulated through the west, and especially in and around Cincinnati ; and he sent out one or two chosen Detectives, from his Secret Service head-quarters, to look into the matter, and ascertain what was being done in this direction, in the city named, where suspicions had latterly fallen upon several known coney-men who had been seen in that ilk, within a few months. One of the Operatives thus despatched by the Chief from New York city, was directed to open a Branch office of the Division at Cincinnati, which he accordingly did, and within four months from his advent into that city, he made twenty- eight arrests of counterfeiters, boodle-men and bogus bank- note shovers, most of whom were convicted, subsequently, when he closed his branch-office, and returned once more, under orders, to the eastward. Among the principal culprits who were thus captured and caged, from whom a large amount of the counterfeit stuff was at the same time taken, were Frank Bivers, Charley Johnson, Dave Punk, Joe Turner, Wm. H. Harrison, D. Driscoll, the brothers William and John Mills (the latter the son-in-law of Mother B.,) and the notorious " Mother Boberts " herself, the keenest, liveliest, most troublesome woman ever met with in America, among the coney fraternity. " Mother Boberts " was not fat, but fair, and over forty. Yet she was a solid, intelligent personage, and did not look to have passed the heyday of life, though she must now be some fifty years old. But, as a lady's age is, like the tradi- tional darkey, " werry onsartin," she may be younger. At " MOTHER ROBERTS." 219 all events, Mother Roberts was by no means passe in her contour, at the time spoken of, and was deemed a very good looking, as she certainly was a " fashionable " woman, when attired for promenade. Indeed, in the early days, when the " bishop " or " bustle," that attaches to what is technically known among the ladies as the " Grecian bend costume " first came into vogue, Mrs. Roberts sported a tremendous ornament of this description upon her stately form. But other ladies did this also, and certes her following the fashion, could not be just cause for remark, since every lady wore a hump like hers — unless it were very often a good deal bigger ! But Mother Roberts' house had come to be the regular re- sort or retreat of all the " coney men " from the east to the west. Thus everybody knew her, and she knew all the coun- terfeiters — far and near. She was a pleasant woman in conversation, smart as a steel trap, keen as a brier, always on the lookout for traffic, kept a sharp eye for the " cops," and made money rapidly and easily, in furnishing or hand- ling the bogus, without limit. Her daughter (John Mills' wife,) helped her to keep the house, and the secrets of the clan, in the performance of which latter duty, Mrs. Mills acquitted herself most creditably, for a woman. * We stoutly contend for the theory maintained by the Secret Service Operatives, that the end they seek justifies the means they adopt to carry out their lawful objects. They are compelled by the absolute necessities of the very cases they find themselves engaged in, to meet deceit with deceit, and plotting with counterplotting. And so — in the present instance — we will not tarry to argue the how and why they pursue the course they do, since their motive is to advance the public weal, and success in their schemes to secure of- fenders cannot be attained through any ordinary means. 220 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. A good-looking, well-dressed " farmer from Missouri," came up to Cincinnati, about this time, and went about the old " Queen City," looking into the great pork-houses, and iuquiring the price of hams and sides and flitches. He wanted to purchase, and would call again, and did ; but didn't buy. He made the acquaintance of a man who offered to call with him upon the " dashing widow " Mrs. Eoberts — for he was a widower, he said — and had heard of the lady before. And strange to relate (though- the fact is patent,) this comely Missouri farmer took a fancy to the lady, directly. He called again and again, at her house, and Mrs. Roberts treated him very civilly, at first, and received him very cordially, after a while. " What are you doing, over at the widow's, so often ? " queried a friend he met in the streets of Cincinnati, one day. " Makin' love to her," replied the Missouri farmer, frankly. " You don't say so ! " exclaimed his friend. " And how does she stan' it ? " " Nat'ral as life." " She's rich, they say." " So I hear," says the farmer. " Hope you'll have a good time," adds his friend, quietly, " and may you succeed with her." " v " I've no doubt I shall," says the farmer. A courtship of over two months followed this, and the lady could see nothing coming from it. But one evening, when the happy pair were enjoying a pleasant tete-Ortete in her private pai'lor (where they latterly met, by themselves,) Mrs. R. discovered, through a casual remark dropped by her friend, that he was " a sporting man," and very quickly afterwards ascertained that he was ready for almost any kind of business that would pay. " MOTHER ROBERTS." 221 " I like to make money easily," said the farmer. " I have worked hard in my time, but I don't want to do it now. And I don't mind tellin' you" he continued, confidentially, " that I've ' shoved the queer,' too, at times, in my life." " You don't tell me- that," said the widow, quickly. " Yes. You know what that term means," added her companion, " don't you ? " " No, I don't, exactly," pretended the widow. " But I've heerd my son'-ri-law, Johnny Mills, speak of it, I think." " John Mills ! " exclaimed the farmer. u Is he your son- in-law ? " " Yes. Married my daughter — when she was very young, though. Do you know John ? " " No, no," replied the farmer. " I've heer'd of him, and seen him once or twice here." The farmer knew that Mills was a counterfeiter of the first class. But he didn't care to get on too fast, among these people. The courting went on for some weeks longer, but the Missouri farmer did not yet propose. They grew more inti- mate and more confidential, however. And finally one evening, the lady in reply to a remark her lover had made, very mysteriously acknowledged to him that she, too, had done a little in the way of passing bogus money in that country ; an admission that seemed to gratify her visitor, exceedingly. " Is that so ? " he asked, to make sure of it. " That's jest so," replied the woman. " Then you're the woman I wanted to meet ! " exclaimed the farmer. " Now, then — we understand each other." " Yes — yes," continued the lady, naively. But it was some time before she would give her lover her entire confidence. He wrought upon her credulity and 222 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. good nature by degrees, however ; and at last he informed her that he was from Missouri, where he'd been doing a big business for Fred. Biebusch, Pete McCartney and others — but, through Whi'tiey and his men, all his friends had gone up ; and he was now at a loss to get the " stuff" they used to supply him with. " And the fact is," he added, " there isn't any to be had, no where round, now-a-days ; for the Secret Service men under Whitley have cleaned out the big fellers," (and he named over to her a dozen or more who had been captured) " and there ain't any coney to be found, at all. They've got our last men, lately, and ' dead to rights,' too, I reckon — Pete McCartney and Fred. Bie- busch," he concluded, mournfully. " Well, never fear," said the widow, encouragingly. " It's all right. ' There's as good fish in the sea as ever was caught.' And there's some good 'uns left yet, in the trade. Ther's ' stuff' to be had, in plenty — and easy, too. Enough to last till more can be manufactured. I know where." " You do ! " exclaimed the Missourian. " Yes. Jean get it for you." " You can ! Mum's the word, then." " Yes — and I will," she added, in a whisper. " Then you're the very woman I've been looking for," replied her friend,, seizing her hands and squeezing them em- phatically. " Now — when ! " " Right off, to once. To-morrow." " Good ! " said the Missouri man. She then proposed a plan that they should mutually join in to get rid of a lot of counterfeit stuff; whereby they could together make a heap o' money. She would carry it, and he was to pass it. . " I can do my part," said she, " so 'cute that nobody'll ever suspect me, or detect us." " MOTHER ROBERTS." 223 " How do you do it ? " enquired the farmer, eagerly. " Come to-morrow, and I'll tell you all about it," replied the widow. " At what hour ? " " Two o'clock," said she. " All right. I'll be here, certain." Agreeably with this settled arrangement, the Missouri farmer planned to confer with the woman who had so charmed him for weeks back, but who — in his innocence of heart — he just now fancied perhaps might possibly have some sinister designs upon him, he couldn't exactly deter- mine what. He therefore resolved for this, or some other good reason which the circumstances suggested, to let two friends he had in Cincinnati into his " little secret ; " and so invited them to be present at Mother ^Roberts' house next day, at two o'clock, which they promised to do, accordingly. " I may not need your assistance. I don't know what'll happen," said the Missourian. " But I kind o' fancy the old lady's up to some trick, in this appointment of hers, and I'll go prepared for whatever may turn up. Widders is mighty onsartin folk you know, boys — the best of 'em. Now one of you'll be at the low window o' the little back parlor, and the other'll be clost to the front door. Per'aps nothin' '11 happen. If not — all right. But if while I'm a talking with the widow Roberts, there, you should hear me whistle sharp, why then you two get yourselves inside o' that back parlor quicker'n flash, mind ; for I shan't whistle 'nless I want you. Understand ? " " All right," replied his friends promptly. And this part of the programme was thus concluded. In accordance with the arrangement made between the widow and her Missouri' friend — on the day after their last tete-a-tete, the latter proceeded to meet his agreeable inam- 224 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. # orata, Mrs. Roberts, to " learn how to do it," as she had promised to show him, " at two o'clock." She invited her lover at once into her private parlor, where they had been accustomed hitherto to do their court- ing. He found her rigged out in the height of the fashion, nicely dressed, with a stunning bustle on — and she forth- with proceeded to show him how. she did it ; as she promised she would do on the previous day. He stood up before her, and was not a little surprised to notice that she suddenly turned and locked the door, upon the inside of the room ! But he was more seriously startled, an instant afterwards, to observe that the lady commenced deliberately (as he supposed) to unrobe ! . But he was a modest man, and was really " scared before he was hurt," for the buxom widow simply parted her waist belt, threw open the front of her full gathered dress — and said, " Do you see it, now ? " " See what ! " exclaimed the Missourian, starting back, little abashed, and pretending that his eyesight was slightly defective. " I don't see nothin'," insisted her Missouri friend. " Look again — now, nearer," insisted the widow. " Don't you see this cord?" " 0, yes, I do," murmured the man, breathing more freely. " Now I'll show you how it's done, then." And with this, Mrs. Roberts began to draw upon the cord running about her waist, and continued to do so, quickly, when the big " hump " that served to ornament her fair proportions in the rear, came to the front — a huge " bustle," ordinarily ; but now a sort of nicely arranged sack, or reti- cule, (attached to this cord) which the wearer could move around the waist, at will. It was very neatly made, but " MOTHER ROBEETS." 225 now appeared like a sort of money-bag, or large sized pocket- book, s " Well," queried the Missourian. " What is it for ? " " Peel of it," said the widow, laughing. » Well — what next ? " he asked. " Put your hand in it," says she. And so he did — at her bidding. And instantly discov- ered that this bag was stuffed with clean bank notes. He now saw how she " did it." She exposed some thousands of dollars to him, there, in counterfeit $10's $20's $ 50's and $100 notes. He was all amaze. " Where do you get it ? " he asked. " No matter, now," she said. " I can carry my coney, you see, in this way ; and nobody suspects me, for I use this bag ordinarily as a bustle." " I see. And it's a capital arrangement — for women- counterfeiters. Otherwise, that excrescence ain't o' much account, any how," said her friend. " Oh, it's very handy," replied the widow. " And now, presto — change ! " she added, as she clasped the cord to return the counterfeit money-laden bustle to the rear — when the " Missouri farmer " stoutly grasped her hands, exclaiming — " No, you don't ! " to the fair widow's evidently intense surprise ; and immediately blowing out a shrill whistle from his compressed lips, such as would have done credit to the veriest Yankee in or out of New England. And following this demonstration, a sharp crash was in- stantly heard, as the low back window-sash was dashed in to the floor, while a tremendous blow at the parlor-door which the widow had fastened was heard, at the same moment, and two stout men — the Missourian's friends^ 226 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. burst head foremost into the room, where the widow and her lover were now in a close embrace ; though this earnest hug did not at that moment seem apparently to be a grapple of affection ! ^ Mother Roberts' beautiful son-in-law John Mills, and his brother William — two notorious coney men who had had " deals " of counterfeit money with several other dis- guised parties who were upon their track, just then, were, at the climax of this denouement of the Missourian's love- making affair, in Mrs. Roberts' house ; and hearing the crash and disturbance, sprang into the back parlor — to be collared and ironed by the two strangers who had so un- ceremoniously burst the door and window in, at the agreed- on signal of their Missouri frieud — whose peremptory order they remembered was to "get into that apartment instanter, at all hazard if they heard his whistle." And thus — after this lengthy courtship — the object of his cleverly contrived and managed ruse was successfully carried out by the " Missouri Parmer " and his twain of associates — who were all three simply well disguised Detec- tives of the United States" Secret Service Division ; who, through the means thus adopted, had managed to secure Mother Roberts and the Brothers Mills, each with a large quantity of bogus National notes upon their persons, where- by all three were subsequently convicted as counterfeiters and dealers in the queer — and were shortly afterwards condemned to incarceration in the State Prison in Ohio ; the dashing widow for one year, and the boys for three years, each — where this " nice little family " are at present still confined. Upon their examination before U. S. Commissioner Halli- day, the woman gave the required bail, $3000. The Mills brothers were unable to obtain sureties for the $5000 each, " MOTHER ROBERTS." 227 demanded by the Court, and went to jail. This subtle, dangerous woman, had several times previously been ar- rested, but always bought her way out of peril. This occurred during the time when State Banks were in vogue, however. These three important captures by Col. Whitley's men, led immediately to the arrest and subsequent conviction of several other leading Counterfeiters, boodle-carriers, and shovers of the base stuff in Ohio ; who had for years pre- viously rioted in their infamous business, in a field where the people were but indifferently well informed as to the real character of bank notes, generally, and who readily received and passed almost anything that looked like a bank bill, without scruple or examination. Among the almost thirty arrests made by Col. Whitley's deputies in Cincinnati in these four months named, was that of another skillful female operator in bogus money, known as Mary Brown, the " pal " and confidant of Mother Roberts, whose curious history we shall record in another chapter. The counterfeiting traffic in this place, (where it had been very extensively carried on for many years,) was thus broken up effectually, there — under Col. Whitley's management. As we have already said, the measures adopted were such as in the best judgment of the U. S. Detectives could only be used to ensure success. It was an exceedingly difficult matter to manage, in this instance, but the men sent out there by Chief Whitley were equal to the occasion — as it eventuated ; and the end fully justified the means employed — since, at this writing, Cin- cinnati and its neighborhood is thus ridded of a nest of vampires on the body politic, whose presence and operations in that region had so long been a curse to that beautifuf and thriving country. 228 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. It is possible, perhaps, that there be those who, by their peaceful firesides, may chance to read the stirring and enter- taining sketches of these mysterious and " generally un- known characters," who will carp at the plottings of the officials who will make use of this kind of subterfuge, or device, to accomplish their laudable purposes. And there may be some who can offer suggestions on the subject. To such well-meaning wiseacres, it may be said if you know better how to compass crime or how otherwise to catch these slippery, subtle, cunning knaves — "go in" and do it ! The nation will thank you upon discovering your supe- rior wisdom and sharpness, and you will certainly be able to take out a patent for your " improved process for detecting, arresting and convicting criminals, without playing upon their weaknesses, or seeming to practice their arts and de- ceits ; " or in other words, without fighting these wary scoundrels and crafty offenders with their own weapons. Such philanthropists and humanitarians may answer very well to help fill up the ranks of the " home guard." They would make a precious poor show in the field, however; and, in a skirmish with this arch enemy, it would be found that the most subtle strategy (of whatever kind it may be found necessary for the nonce to adopt,) is not always a match for the exquisite shrewdness, cunning, and arts of these accom- plished adepts in crime. And so, when their own guns can be turned upon them, the more certainly, swiftly, and ef- fectually is the victory over . this common foe assured. " It is idle to assume that in the suppression or detection of this class of rogues, any means should not be availed of which may result in their being positively squelched out. The senior Mr. Samuel Wcller observed, with fervent earnestness, " Bevare o' vidders ! You're never safe with 'em, ven they vunce has designs on you ; there's no knowin' "MOTHER ROBERTS." 229 vere to have 'em ; and vile you're considerin' of it, they have you!" The lively vidder Roberts persistently refused to " squeal " after her arrest. She would implicate no one, and met her own sentence with quiet resignation. Being a woman, a sort of sympathy was got up in her behalf, and the lenient term of one year in prison only, was accorded to her. " That confounded ' Missouri Parmer ' beat me, that's a fact," she said spunkily, when arraigned. " So much for trusting to the blandishments of a ' widower.' Catch me in that trap, again ! Not easy, I reckon," she concluded. The same plan will scarcely be attempted again. But if the " widow " Roberts ever resumes her traffic in coney, she will find that the Secret Service force is quite able to cope with all such offenders, though never repeating its modus operandi, in the effort to stamp out counterfeiters and their mischievous allies — which it is bound to do, first or last — to their eventual utter annihilation, in this country. FRONTIER SMUGGLERS, OPERATIONS ON THE DERBY LINE -CANADA. One of the most difficult and oftentimes the most hazard- ous undertakings in the experience of the United States Secret Service officials, is the pursuit and capture of smugglers, foreign or native ; who pass their lives along the American borders, for example, south, or north or west. While those who systematically follow this illegal business, from over the ocean, in various ways, and to a greater or less extent — landing contraband goods upon the American coast, at unguarded points, secretly conveying valuables ashore from on board the trans-atl antic French or British steamers, give equally serious trouble to officers in the Secret Service, or the U. S. Customs ; who are obliged to be kept continually on the watch for, or are ardently engaged in the pursuit of these keen and reckless offenders against the nation's laws. Col. Whitley received information from Washington, in 1870 and '71, that large quantities of merchandise were being smuggled across the Canadian line, into the United States, and especially into New England, at that period. 230 ABNER B. NEWCOMB, CHIEF OPERATIVE, NEW YORK DISTRICT, U. S. Secret Service Division. [See page 278. FRONTIER SMUGGLERS. 233 The Chief at once notified the Eastern Division, at Boston, and officers were despatched promptly to examine into this matter. It was reported that silks, brandy, furs, and other valuable goods were continually coming down from the British Colonial dominions, which entered American terri- tory without paying any duty ; and the Chief of the Secret Service — whose range of duties covers a supervision of this kind of infringement — set his Deputies at work to put a stop to it, and to arrest the offenders. Having given two of his Operatives directions how to proceed in this business, they went to Newport, Vt., at first, where they represented themselves in a capacity that warded off any suspicion of their object, in this place. They very quickly found that the smuggling trade was being carried on there without much regard to probable conse- quences, and that certain men were driving a very profitable traffic through this fraudulent means. Two gentlemen arrived in the town at about this time, who appeared to be strangers to each other, as well as in this place also. One was from New Orleans, (so he stated,) and had come up north in the hope to improve his health, and the other was a retired merchant from Boston. The modus operandi of the smugglers along the Ameri- can lines, is to bring over their goods in wagons, upon horseback, or concealed about their persons ; crossing the borders in the night, at points unprotected by U. S. officials, and taking their contraband articles to the hotels for sale to strangers who may chance ito be sojourning there. In this way the U. S. Government is constantly being swindled out of considerable amounts of customs revenue. This infor- mation the officers obtained by degrees only — the inhabit- ants being really indifferent to this offence, and rather winking at the sharp practice of the depredators. 10 234 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. At Eouse's Point, Champlain, N. Y., and other places, this state of things was ascertained to exist, and it required but little time for the Detectives sent up by Col. Whitley to obtain occular proof of what was transpiring in that region, daily and nightly. But the manipulators in. this work were cunning fellows, well posted, exceedingly cautious, and always worked in concert with others in the profession, who were ready to aid them promptly, at all times, in cases of trouble — either physically or pecuniarily. A report was made to the Chief, and a third officer was despatched from Boston, to join the other two ; and all received instructions to arrest the smugglers, and seize their contraband goods, wherever they found them violating the United States Reve- nue laws. The third Detective came upon the ground, seasonably, but made no unusual demonstrations, for a time. His asso- ciates recognized him, though he looked very little like his proper self, there ! And when the gentleman from New Orleans came to Rouse's Point, as did also the retired Bos- ton merchant, about the same time, a third stranger turned up at the hotel where these two were tarrying. This last comer was a cattle-dealer from New Jersey, and had come all the way north in search of beeves. and a few Canadian or Vermont horses he wanted, if he could find them in that excellent market for such live stock. " Where the carcass is, there will the vultures gather together." And these professional smugglers being keen- scented, readily snuff their customers from afar. So the three strange gentlemen from the south and the east had not been at the hotel but a day or two, before one Albert Cron- krite, (from just over the Canada line,) with Samantha, his wife, both confirmed and accomplished adepts in the science of evading the border Custom-house officials, made their FRONTIER SMUGGLERS. 235 appearance at the hotel, and informed the bar-keeper that they had brought down a few hundred dollars' worth of nice silks, and a quantity of fine brandy, which they would dis- pose of at a low figure. The gentleman from New Orleans happened to overhear this announcement, and at once put himself in communication with Mr. Cronkrite. " Is it good brandy ? " he asked, quietly. " The very best, sir," said Samantha, who appeared to be chief manager in this business. " 1 will buy it, then," responded the gentleman, directly. " All right. It is in our wagon. Meet me at the stable, in half an hour, and I will deliver it to you," replied Samantha, delighted. A movement was made, and the cattle buyer went out to the barn, soon afterwards, where he saw the Canadian wagon, and Mrs. Cronkrite — while Mr. C, quite within sight, stood off on one side, leaving his wife to trade. " Nice animal you've got, ma'am," ventured the drover, looking Samantha's team over. " Will you sell him ? I'm lookin' for just this kind o' horse. What's your price, ma'am ? " She didn't wish to sell. She had an appointment with another party, to whom she wished to deliver the smuggled brandy : and she was very desirous to get rid of the horse- dealer. " It's a good wag'n, too," continued the cattle man. " I'd like this team, an' I reck'n I'll take it of you." The woman got uneasy, for this impertinent and per- sistent stranger actually got inside of the vehicle, and began unceremoniously to turn over the seats. " What are you 'bout, there ? " demanded the lady. " This is my wagon, and seems to me you're makin' your- self rayther familiar here, on short acquaintance — ar'n't you ? " 236 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " Well, ma'am," replied the drover quietly, pulling out bundle after bundle of silks, and can after can of prime old Cognac, " it's a way I have, sometimes, when I'm away from home. I don't mean to be oncivil, though, ma'am. You'll excuse the freedom I seem to be taking. But you say this is your property ? " " Of course it is," said Samantha, sharply. " Your horse and wagon ? " " Yes — mine and my husband's." " An' these goods is all yourn, too ? " " Yes. And I'll thank you to come out o' that, Mr. Im- pertance ! " "Well — on the whole, ma'am, since you admit it's all yourn," said the drover, coolly, " I reckon I'll take the entire lot — horse, harness, wag'n, and contents. I'm a United States officer, acting under orders of Col. Whitley, Chief of the Secret Service. I shall seize this property, for non-payment of Customs duty, and I shall also arrest you and your husband, yonder, for violating the U. S. Revenue laws." The husband tarried to hear no more, but " put out " at a killing pace towards the Canada line, which was distant less than two miles. But he was overtaken, on American soil, ironed by the fleet-footed Detective who pursued him, and secured, as was the shrewd Samantha, also, in a very few minutes after the above explanation had been made, which enlightened this twain, wondrously. Samantha pleaded that she " was a poor weak woman," but finding this stale dodge had no effect, she showed a well-filled pocket-book, and offered to " pay big " if allowed to depart. But the officer soon convinced her that Col. Whitley's men didn't compromise this sort of thing ; and he then informed her that she and her husband must go to Plattsburgh, and settle this little affair before the U. S. authorities. PEONTIEE SMUGGLERS. 237 " I've always settled before" said this woman, very con- fidently. " Why not now ? " "Don't see it, ma'am," persisted the officer. And he turned away with the horse and loaded wagon and owners, refusing to listen to anything, from his over-matched prisoners. At this juncture, the New Orleans man put in an appear- ance. He had come to the stable to get the brandy he pro- posed to purchase of the lady ; but saw at once how affairs stood. " I've just learned that one John Higgins has a lot of good brandy at the Champlain Hotel," he said, " and he wants to sell it to me." " All right," replied the officer. " Go you and get him and his brandy, and bring all over to Plattsburgh, by first train. I must drive this load across country twenty-five miles. I'll meet you there." And thus the two strangers separated. The officer who had played the role of drover, or cattle- purchaser, took his prize with the two prisoners to Platts- burgh, and arrived there late at night. He found the U. S. Commissioner, however, Geo. M. Beckworth, Esq., before whom he presented his captives. They pleaded guilty, and were locked up over night, in default of bail required in $8000 each. The horse, wagon, and contraband goods were turned over to U. S. authority, Mr. J. Carpenter, Custom- House Collector. About midnight, up came the " New Orleans gentleman," in company with a bright-eyed, clever-looking Irishman, and several cases of fine brandy. This Hibernian had ac- cumulated eight or ten thousand dollars in profits upon his smuggling trade, and he now evinced great contrition, and pretended he was very green in it. 238 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. " Be the powers, I niver in me born days did it afore, yer 'onnor," he declared, with great concern. "Niver, yer 'onnor. An' I'll niver be caught ag'in. I've a wife an' siven small children, yer 'onnor ; an' shure ye'll not be ha'ard upon thim, in a free counthry the likes o' this — yer 'onnor. I'll never be afther touchin' anither drap ! " But it was useless. This blarney wouldn't do, and he was bound over, to answer to Uncle Sam in the future. Two days afterwards, the New Orleans man was stopping at the Derby Line Hotel, when one Warren 0. Hopkins (another smuggler) learned he was there, and called to sell him a few hundred dollars' worth of choice silks. " I heard you were to leave to-morrow," he said. " Yes," replied the other. " But I would like to get your silks ; " and he meant just what he said ! The cattle-dealer was in an adjoining room and overheard this conversation. He stepped in, as soon as the silks were brought up, and took possession of the lot, without a " by your leave, sir." " Who the devil are you ? " profanely demanded Mr. Hop- kins. " I am one of Col. Whitley's, men, of the U. S. Secret Service Division," said the drover, calmly. " I'm looking after you fellows up this way. Have you got any more smuggled goods about here ? " " I thought you was a horse man," said Hopkins. " Call me what you like, Warren," replied the officer, blandly, as he at once proceeded to put the iron ruffles upon his prisoner's wrists. " You must go with me now." He was taken before U. S. Commissioner N. T. Sheaf, and gave bail, soon afterwards. U. S. Collector Butterfield then came in, and took possession of the goods. This last seizure was made within a quarter of a mile of FRONTIER SMUGGLERS. 239 the Canada line. The friends of Hopkins heard of his ar- rest, and were greatly exasperated. They came " over the border " in squads, and the Derby Line smugglers joined him and them, declaring they would " clean out the dam Yankee informers," sure. They gathered about the hotel where the drover, the Boston merchant, and the New Orleans man had got together finally, (who were all three Col. Whitley's men, disguised) and the latter soon found they had no friends there save their ever trusty six-shooters. They remained in their apartment. The mob grew larger, and their cries grew more riotous and offensive. They yelled and whooped, at last, like so many Indian savages — and the three friends began to think affairs looked squally. At about two o'cloek in the morning, a sharp rap was heard at the room where the officers had ensconced them- selves, and a Sheriff's Deputy was announced, who had a warrant for the arrest of the three Detectives, upon some trivial trumped-up charge. The Justice deputized a man to serve this warrant, and he deputized fifteen or twenty more men to do it. But, upon finding that they had legal papers, the Detective officers submitted, at once, though they were compelled to submit, also, to the abuse and ire of the mob, until daybreak. The Sheriff arrived in the morning, and then the arrested officers demanded to be taken to jail, as a ruse to get away from the excited throng of roughs and smugglers who had gathered, and who sought for vengeance. They were at last driven to Newport, V't., where they met J. F. Allen, Esq., Ass't. U. S. District Attorney, who relieved them at once ; when all three returned to Boston. The United States Customs officer, Mr. Butterfield, de- clared it was not safe to attempt the arrest of these smug- glers, for the whole townspeople are in sympathy with them, 240 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. he avers. What of it ? Where is the utility in keeping officers in the pay of the United States who dare not do their duty ? For what purpose are the Custom House depu- ties placed along our border lines, except to look to these matters, and see that the Government is not cheated by such pests ? Why not place officers upon these important lines, who will fearlessly perform their duty as Col. Whitley's men did ? These seizures and arrests served as a wholesome warning to the smugglers in that region. Thousands of dollars have thus been saved to the government. The arrested parties were indicted, and will shortly be tried before the United States Court at Burlington, Vt., where they will have justice dealt out to them, undoubtedly. But this whole expedition to the line, as herein narrated, though entirely successful, and tending as it did to break up the business there, for the time being — was a hazardous and difficult affair to manage ; as all this kind of thing is, from the desperate character of the men engaged in it, as well as the vast numbers who are directly or indirectly in- terested in the results. It was well done, however, and there will be little or no smuggling to complain of in that region, again, for the present. "MYSTERIOUS BOB," AN EXTRAORDINARY CRIMINAL. LEWIS M. ROBERTS. Huntington County, Penn'a., was the place where this very curious character was born, so he himself avers. He has now reached the age of forty years, and his career of criminal conduct has been marked by a series of most singu- lar adventures, though little is really known of him in his earlier days. In the year 1866, however, Lewis M. Roberts, alias John B. Altic, alias Henry Harrison, alias " Bob," (by which latter name he was best known,) made his advent in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., which place he subsequently made the centre of a radius of operations, conducted with rare success and stealthy shrewdness, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia. Altogether unlike other men of his profession — for he made crime the regular business of his life — Bob Roberts (or " Mysterious Bob ") eschewed all kinds of combinations, or local associations with confederates in infamy. Never- theless, according to his own confession, he enjoyed the 241 242 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. confidence of certain noted criminals, remote from his own chosen fields of operations ; among whom where Steve Payne, Harry Cole, and Hank Hinman, the partner of Josh D. Miner ; and from these parties Bob obtained direct at first hands, or had sent to him as he desired it, the vast amounts of counterfeit notes he received, with which for a time he almost literally flooded the states we have named, wherein he drove his thrifty coney trade. Bob was known to be the most systematical or methodical manager in the counterfeiting line, in this country. He be- gan at the bottom, and worked his way up, and he knew " all the ropes in the ship." In his own affairs, directly, he established regular routes over which he travelled, alone, at stated periods, during which journeys he delivered the coney himself to customers as regularly as came the country ped- dler ; frequently going over these routes with a full supply of bogus notes of all denominations, and distributing the stuff to his patrons — to the number of over seven hundred differ- ent individuals, whom Bob supplied, for years, as regularly as the baker or the butcher makes his-rounds in the interior country towns. On the first of every month, it was his custom to visit Philadelphia, where he received his ready supply of counter- feits, in bulk. These parcels were delivered to him without any allusion to their contents, as mysteriously and quietly as he wrought himself, by a woman who always met him at pre-agreed-on points between the Quaker City and Lancas- ter, Pa. Having made these " deals," he would leave that region as silently as he came, and proceeding to Harrisburg, would supply his customers there, and thence his established route would take him up the north branch of the Susque- hanna. Here he would communicate with his patrons in the coal "MYSTEBIOUS BOB." 243 regions of Pennsylvania ; and thence his course lay direct to Pittsburg again, and on to Ohio, Indiana, Virginia — where he distributed, as he passed along, thousands of counterfeit notes. This undertaking generally consumed the entire month, almost, leaving him only sufficient time to get back to Philadelphia, where he would replenish his stock, and start out once more upon the first of the month, to go over the same ground, with similar success. This course of traffic he pursued, unmolested and unde- tected from 1867 to Jan'y., 1871, meanwhile receiving and disposing of, upon an average, fifty thousand dollars, monthly, or about two millions, annually, in counterfeit notes and currency. And the stuff he thus got rid of was as freely passed from hand to hand, and from one town to another, as if every bogus dollar he uttered had been genuine. During the months of December, 1870, and January, 1871, the city of Pittsburgh had been especially victimized in this manner. The place was crammed with these base issues. Mr. Benson, then a Chief Operative under Col. Whitley, who had charge of the Pennsylvania District of the U. S. Secret Service, worked assiduously to ferret out the source from which this flood of counterfeits had originated. He succeeded in causing the arrest of over thirty criminals engaged in this business, all of whom confessed that they obtained their supply from a mysterious person, known to them as " Bob ; " but what his other name was, if he had any, they were unable to tell. About this time, another coney man was caught, who bore the flash cognomen of the " Flying Dutchman," from the fact that he was a German, and had succeeded in his tricks so admirably, and subsequently had disappeared so often as to gain this title. Mr. Benson became satisfied 244 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. that it was useless to attempt to break up the business, while the leading spirit " Bob " was at leisure ; for, al- though he captured a couple of scores of the small rogues — the boodle-carriers and shovers — the big scoundrel was still at large. When the " Plying Dutchman " was secured, however, he " squealed " on Bob, and among other matters informed the Detective that that silently working rogue was receiving letters, by mail, under the address of " John B. Altic, Box 18," at Bast Liberty P. 0., distant some six miles from Pittsburgh. This town was the residence of H. Bucher Swoope, Esq., (known as the chain-lightning District Attorney of the West), who was then U. S. District Attorney for the Wes- tern Dist. of Penn'a. Mr. Benson conferred with Swoope, and found him ready and anxious to aid him in his scheme for detecting " mysterious Bob," who had so long and so ingeniously pursued his wicked business. And plans were laid which culminated in the complete success of this final undertaking. A close watch was set at the Post Office Box named, in East Liberty. The party who called for and took away the letters there was " shadowed," and in a short time Bob was within the grasp of the law. He was arrested, and Benson took him to Pittsburgh, where U. S. Attorney Swoope had found eighteen indictments against him, before the Grand Jury, for uttering and passing counterfeit money. The culprit was then put upon his trial before Judge Mc- Candless, of the U. S. District Court, sitting at that place. Bob saw the handwriting on the wall, now. When ar- raigned, he pleaded guilty to two of the indictments, and upon these, Judge McCandless sentenced him to the Western Penitentiary, at Alleghany City, for twenty years, and to pay a fine of #10,000. Bob is now serving out this sen- tence. "MYSTERIOUS BOB." 245 Before entering upon this long retirement from the outer world, the prisoner had an interview with Mr. Swoope and Mr. Benson ; during which he made a full confession of his numerous misdeeds, and freely detailed all the particulars of his mode of operations — for years previously — through which he had amassed a handsome fortune. At the time of his sentence he was possessed of over $50,000 in property, all of which he deeded to his wifej in fee, before he went to prison. He exhibited signs of peni- tence, and final regrets, at last, in view of the terrible pros- pect before him. He will be three score years old, upon his release from confinement, should he survive this incar- ceration ; and well might he feel depressed and hopeless as to his future, in contemplation of what was before him, at this climax in his ill-spent life ! " Bob " is not a handsome man. He is under-sized in stature (five feet five) but of stout build, dark complexion, keen eyes, and has been married some years. He has been strictly temperate in his habits, however, very penurious, and sharp — but was never an associate with cracksmen, burglars, or thieves. His evil career is ended. The smaller rascals who patronized him so liberally, have lost the provider of their former stuff, and their occupation is now gone, for a time. And thus an " ugly nest " has been broken up in that part of the country, through the exertions of the United States Detectives, and the officers of the District Court, in Western Pennsylvania. THE SKELETON WITNESS. FATE OF A COUNTERFEITING FAMILY; "THE JOHNSONS." In the year 1869, there resided in the beautiful and se- cluded village of Trenton, (about a dozen miles below the city of Detroit, Mich.,) upon the margin of the picturesque river running into the great Lake, there — a nice family who were known by name as " the Johnsons ; " the aged father and mother, two sons just attained to manhood, and two beautiful daughters, comprising this interesting house- hold. In that country, as a rule, few questions are asked or answered as to the antecedents of people who make their appearance, from time to. time, among the older residents. Everybody is welcome, and if new comers carry themselves with a decent regard for the rights of others, it is not the habit of their neighbors to criticise them, or to search out their prior history, ordinarily. Thus, when the Johnsons came from Indiana, to live in Detroit, and subsequently moved down the Eiver to Tren- 246 THE SKELETON WITNESS. 247 ton, they selected a very pretty spot, and none inquired why they came, in the first place, or wherefore they left the city for the lovely rustic home they chose to settle in, at last. What their occupation was, or how they contrived to live was not a matter of query either. They passed for very respectable people, the young men were courteous and affa- ble, the Jadies decidedly handsome, well educated, and nat- urally polite to all who came in contact with them ; and the current of their lives seemed to all outward appearance — to be running as smoothly and as serenely as was the flow of the gentle river that coursed by their door, towards the Lake. At Detroit, while the Johnsons lived there in a very se- cluded way, the chance arrest of a petty offender in the backwoods, gave one of Chief Whitley's active and watch- ful Detectives in that region a clew which aroused certain vague suspicions in his mind, and caused him subsequently to keep an eye on this apparently well-to-do, happy, innocent household. He conceived the idea that notwithstanding the seeming purity and respectability of the Johnson establish- ment, this house — if not exactly the burrow of a rabbit, was the hole of a coney ! He might be in error. Probably he was. But he thought it no harm to keep his eye open. And he did. It can be no very agreeable task for an intelligent, high- minded official, (such as Detectives in the U. S. Service ought to be) to play the spy upon the movements of those whom he may at some time in his life have looked upon with solid esteem, as being models of honorable uprightness and integrity. But duty is duty. These men are compelled to perform even this sort of unwelcome task, not infrequently, however much the work may offend their predilections. The 248 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Operative, for example, who had charge of the Detroit and Northwestern District, felt constrained to place the Johnson family under surveillance. After long and patient watching, however, no seriously suspicious circumstances or proofs against them turned up. Still, convinced that his first opinion was justifiable, he finally " took the bull by the horns," one day, and instituted a search in the house where this family resided. The move- ment was altogether unanticipated on their part, but the result proved that the watchful Detective was not in error. Counterfeiting materials, chemicals, and tools .were discov- ered there, in the trunk of one of the sons, who secretly made good his escape, just prior to this search being made. The father was at that time arrested, felonious charges were made against him, and he was held for examination. A judicious exercise of moral suasion with the venerable man, while he was in prison, induced him subsequently to procure and deliver up to the officials, a set of superior $ 10 counterfeit plates. But as no legal proof was available against him just then, he was released, on promise of future amendment. Then it was that the old people, with the daughters, removed from Detroit to the beautiful spot they afterwards occupied on the River, below — at Trenton. As it was deemed advisable not to make unnecessary stir about this matter at that time, nothing became known pub- licly of this slip-up ; and so they retired to the country, where their antecedants were unknown, and led a life of seeming quiet and respectability there. But fresh indications — which cropped out while looking up the details of a smug- gling case across the River, in that quarter, prompted the continuously watchful Detective to surmise that " the dog- had returned to his vomit." Various devices were now resorted to in order to obtain THE SKELETON WITNESS. 249 some clear proofs that the later suspicious of the officer had a tangible foundation. But the family could not be impli- cated, fairly. The surveillance was faithfully kept up, how- ever, and suspicion strengthened daily. But there were no legal grounds upon which a cause for arrest could be based. Yet once more the determined Detective ventured to take the chances. And, procuring a search-warrant, and a posse, the secluded house by the River-side was surrounded, at night, and thoroughly examined. A complete ransacking of the Johnson residence followed, but availed the searchers nothing ; and " injured innocence " was now strongly assumed by the family, who were thus " persecuted " by this persistent and unrelenting official. The daughters wept," the parents complained of this mani- festly "malicious outrage," and the beaten" officer and his men retired, in despair. They were in the act of hitching up their teams, in the barn, preparatory to leaving the premises, when the Detective said the hay-loft had not been searched, and this must be done before they quit the place. A careful examination of this spot, at its close, revealed a boot among the hay. This boot, it turned out, was at- tached to a human foot. The foot was seized, and was found to belong to the body of a man who had formerly fled from Detroit, (on the occasion of the original search of this family's house,) and drawing out this form from the hay- mow, it was found to be that of young Johnson, the son who had run away some time previously, as has already oeen stated. The whole family were now arrested, and taken up to Detroit, where they were shortly placed on trial for " felon- ious possession " of counterfeit plates and materials. They were most ably defended by legal counsel, and witli the really scanty evidence which the Government had to prose- 250 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. cute upon, the case seemed lost, while the tearful presence of the beautiful daughters caused the multitude attendant in the Court room inwardly to hope for and rejoice at the prospect of a speedy triumphant acquittal. Lovely women in tears ! Venerable parents bowed down to the earth with this unworthy persecution ! Sympathetic hearts beating audibly in the excited throng! Eloquent counsel moved to weeping, as he recounted the details of the abuses that were thus being unjustly heaped upon the innocent heads of his respectable clients ! Jury almost con- vinced that the defendants were victims of a most unright- eous conspiracy ! And Government officials, even, seem- ingly satisfied that their case had gone up but not yet, quite ! One John B. Trout, a noted counterfeiter formerly, was taken from the Indiana State Prison, where he was serving out a sentence that will terminate only with his life, and placed upon the stand as a witness for the Government. This man was in the last stages of consumption. He had lived a life of infamy, and for his time, he had been one of the most extensive and adroit counterfeiters known in the west. He knew the Johnsons ! He had dealt with them, and " could a tale unfold " regarding their character and history that none but he could rehearse. He was almost dead, and resembled a galvanized corpse more than he did a living human. He was terribly emaciated, and but the shadow of his former self. His feeble utterance was but a coarse, faint whisper, but he mounted the witness- stand, and told a tale of confederacy in guilty work with the Johnson family — all of them — that carried certain con- viction with it, and quickly turned the tables in favor of the Government. The scene was dramatic. The densely crowded Court, THE SKELETON WITNESS. 251 the pale and nervous defendants, the blooming;, beauteous daughters, like Niobe, all tears, and in the box the skeleton witness, Trout, like one arisen from the grave ; as his hissing condemning fearful whispers were caught up by the eager listeners — while he unfolded the details of a well organized and far-reaching conspiracy of counterfeiters, of which the accused had long been concerned among the foremost, in the infamy. It was too much. The case went to the jury, the Judge's charge was fair and just, they were all convicted, consigned to the Michigan State Prison, and are still there — serving out their long and weary but righteous sentences. Only through the persistent, plodding, cautious, and judicious management of Col. Whitley's men, was this apparently respectable and honest but really wicked family removed from society, where they had for years carried on their secret infamous work. And all the efforts of those offi- cials must have failed, but for the final damning testimony of the " skeleton witness — " Trout. J± BEACE OF CONFIDENCE MEN. HOLLYWOOD AND RAYMOUR. One Edward H. Raymour, who had been employed for some time in various Detective bureaux of the West, and elsewhere, upon hearing of the remarkable success of Pinkerton's and other private Detective Agencies, was ambitious to emulate these men ; but determined to bring about this desired result by .striking into an original line, peculiar to himself. Raymour hired a central suite of apartments for his " offices " upon a main thoroughfare in the city of Detroit, and procuring a showy safe, ledgers, letter-books and other formidable appropriate appliances to a detective " agency," with a full supply of stationery which he headed with stun- ning lines in black " The North Western Detective Agency," went to work and drew around him a corps of operatives, and commenced in earnest to put his contemplated peculiar plan into full operation. Then dividing his force so that they could advantageously " hunt in couples," one of these was instructed to pass 252 HOLLYWOOD AND RATMOUR. 253 alone over a designated route of territory, and finding in- dividuals who lie thought likely to nibble at this bait, his employe" arranged to sell them (at amazingly low figures) a supply of counterfeit money, which it was represented by the subordinates had been collected by their " Chief" during his travels in the Detective service. Then, after a suitable interval had elapsed, the partner — properly posted in the details of what the avant courier had accomplished — was to follow up his route, find the purchasers of the stuff he had thus distributed, and " shake " them for their pains ! That is, if they came down handsomely in response to the appeals of the second man (who thus showed them that ho was cognizant of their crime,} he would let them off; if they refused, he was to arrest them, turn them over to the Federal authorities, and, having sufficient proof for convic- tion, could claim the reward offered for securing dealers in counterfeit money. It eventuated that their nominal " Chief" did not continue to ■ supply these black-mailing subordinates sufficiently with good money to pay their hotel and travelling expenses. So they commenced to make use of the counterfeit notes the " Chief" had entrusted them with, for the purpose of de- fraying their bills, as they journeyed. This latter stuff was placed in their hands only to be used as a bait or trap to catch dupes with. But by using it in the other way, they left tracks behind them very easily to be discovered, naturally. Detective Blanchard of Col. Whitley's force " raised this trail " one day, and he followed it out so sharply that he had this whole batch of knaves and confidence men in his clutch, at an early hour, thereafter. The arrest of the " Chief " Raymour, a search and seizure of all his Detective paraphernalia, a complete explosion and exposure of the entire plot immediately followed, and the doughty " Chief " 254 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE'. of this loud sounding " N. W. Detective Agency " is at this writing believed to be engaged in making first class pegged brogans, in the Michigan State Prison Exit Ray- mour. For many years there had resided in the city of Detroit, Mich., a physician named Hollywood, who fortunately (for them) had very few patients upon his professional visiting- list. He was a man of goodly bearing and fine outward appearance and manners — and seemed to be possessed of ready means. But there was a something about this indi- vidual almost indefinable, yet to the eye of the experienced and watchful Detective, certain indications which prompted suspicions that all was not exactly right in his conduct. Many and repeated were the plans laid to entrap him, but these all recoiled upon the planners. Being arrested on one occasion, charged with complicity in a daring burglary of a jeweller's store in Detroit, with a very strong prima facie case against him, the Doctor, after a lengthy and ex- citing trial, escaped the toils of the prosecuting State officials — but only to quickly tumble into the hands of those who believed him guilty of the first named charge, but were very certain they had a dead sure thing on him, in another direction. One Lewis, an extensive " shover " of counterfeit National Currency, had escaped and taken refuge in the Canadian Dominions. The Ass't. U. S. District Attorney and Detec- tive Blanchard, were busily engaged in endeavoring to get Lewis extradited. While thus occupied, they suddenly ob- tained a clue to another offender, one Warner — a suspected partner — in whose store, upon its being searched, was found a large quantity of charred fragments of counterfeit bills that had been burned there. This discovery gave Warner a hint of " a wrath to come," HOLLYWOOD AND RAYMOUR. 255 and he concluded to own up. He " squealed " sufficiently to fix upon Hollywood as the nucleus of a very extensive counterfeiting gang in Michigan, who were affiliated with similar co-partnerships all over the Northern States. Holly- wood was cleared of the alleged jewelry store robbery, but as he stepped out of the Recorder's Court after that verdict of " not guilty," he stepped into the hands of the U. S. Secret Service Detectives, who took him before the Commis- sioner, where $10,000 bail was demanded of him on a charge of dealing in the " queer." He was committed in default of finding sureties, and was subsequently put upon trial. The jury stood out for seven hours, eleven to one, but at last bVought in a verdict of guilty. His counsel procured a new trial for him. Money was lavished freely in his defence, and in procuring a cloud of witnesses to swear him out of his peril. But equal dili- gence was exerted against him on the Government side. After long and patient labor, during the entire succeeding summer, his former confederates, whom he was very certain were safely immured in several different Penitentiaries, were found and brought to Detroit, where they were kept care- fully concealed, and out of his reach, for the purpose of bringing their testimony up at his next trial. At length the case of Hollywood was called, and the pris- oner was arraigned. The Clerk of the Court proceeded to read the lengthy indictment, during which .there filed in through a side door, one by one, his old accomplices whom he thought were dead to this world, but who now came up to confound him. They were headed by Detective Blanch- ard, who had most diligently labored to marshal this host. Each fixed a glance upon him, in passing, and then moved on. The astounded man blanched, trembled, sank back into a 256 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. seat, had a hurried conference with his counsel, and then pleaded " guilty " to the indictment. He, too, did the State of Michigan service, in Jackson Penitentiary ; until failing in his health, seriously, he was pardoned out, upon this ground by the Governor. These cases are but two of many important arrests and convictions, where the talents, energy, and determination of Detective Blan chard have been found so serviceable to the community in the Northwest. Both these men were tal- ented and cunning sharpers, whose careers were marked by a course of " confidence " experiments, for the most part, and who carried their brazen-faced schemes to the verge of impudence, ordinarily. But .they were healthily provided for, at last, and the people of Detroit and neighborhood are very well content to have been thus ridded of their presence, effectually, in the end. WM. W, APPLEGATE, CHIEF OPERATIVE, NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT, U. S. Secret Sekvice Division. [See page 213. HARRY G. BLANCHARD, OPERATIVE, S. S. DIVISION, AT DETROIT. Upon page 284 will be found an admirable likeness of the skillful officer whose name and rank heads this article — who has been for some time latterly an Operative in the S. S. Division, under Col. Whitley, and whose head-quarters are now established at Detroit, Mich. Mr. Blanchard is a native of New York city, born there in 1837. His father was master of a vessel plying between New York and Liverpool, who wooed and won his mother (a native of Ireland,) during a voyage which the latter made in his vessel in emigrating to America. Young Harry was sent to a private school kept by a lady on Avenue " D," where he remained until he was eleven years old, acquiring the rudimentary elements ; and whatever education he has since obtained has been gathered from such books as - he could pick up, studied at night, when the labors of the day were over. From the inevitable training and discipline which the wide-awake American must acquire through con- tact with men and events when thus thrown upon his own resources, and obliged as he has been to battle with the world, alone, he has profited in his experience, largely. Leaving school at twelve years of age, and feeling an 259 11 260 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. irrepressible longing for adventure, and an ardent desire to see the sights and scenes which the big world might have to present, he went to sea in the Barque " John Benson," in the West India trade, shipping as a " Royal Boy." By perseverance, hard work, and the exercise of other good qualities, he won his way to the positions of supercargo and assistant navigator ; attaining these posts, and with them a pretty thorough knowledge of practical seamanship, by the time he was eighteen years of age. Having heard of the Great West and of the broad inland seas she held in her bosom, and of the great opportunities which that virgin land presented to those who could avail themselves of them, he went to Michigan, landing at Detroit, with the world all before him, and having thirty- seven cents as a capital fund, shipped with Capt. Atwood, on the Steamer " Ariel," to learn the navigation of the Lakes, and to do whatever he might be called upon to perform, at the munificent compensation of eleven dollars a month. After three seasons' service with this ofiicer, he passed the required examination before the Inspectors, and being granted a Master's Certificate, took charge of the same boat as Master. Prom this time until 1865, Capt. Blanchard, as he has henceforth been designated, remained on the North Western Lakes, in charge of Steamers, encountering the storms, dangers, and vicissitudes which diversify the life of almost all sailors. In 1856, he received an appointment as a Detective in the Detroit Custom House, at a salary of $800 a year. In 1867, he was transferred to the U. S. Marshal's office of the Eastern Dis't. of Michigan as Chief Deputy, having in charge all the affairs of the office ; a post which he has held under two Presidential administrations, under four success- ive Marshals, and still continues to hold. Here he acquired HARRY G. BLANCHARD. 261 considerable experience as a Criminal officer, in the detec- tion and prosecution of offences against the United States statutes, which led to his appointment as an Operative in the S. S. Division. During his period of service in the Bureau referred to, and as a Deputy Marshal, Capt. Blanchard has been associated with the prosecution of many very important Criminal cases. Detroit is well known as a frontier city, being sepa- rated from the adjoining province of Canada only by a nar- row strait ; and upon the Canadian shore refugees who have by their misdeeds made Uncle Sam's territory , too hot for them, often assemble in numbers, and in their comparatively safe head-quarters, plan villainy and fit out excursions into the adjacent States. To this haven of refuge the holder of counterfeit plates and forged or bogus notes instinctively flees, when he feels that justice is upon his track, and along this frontier, organized parties of smugglers, (con- trolling large capital,) with presidents, secretaries, book- keepers, and financial and collecting agents, often operate against Uncle Sam's revenue. It used to be a matter of daily occurrence for numbers of women to cross and re- cross upon the ferries with contraband goods on their per- sons, averaging in value from $3,000 to -$5,000 a day. Capt. B. was detailed to break up this practice, which he succeeded in doing most thoroughly; so that hardly a case of this kind now occurs on the Detroit frontier once in a month. At this same period he detected the existence of one of these large smuggling companies, headed by McCafferty (of subsequent Fenian notoriety) with others who were illegally importing such great quantities of Canadian whiskey into Detroit as to monopolize the market, and to supply almost the entire retail trade, and nearly to ruin the business of the honest dealers there. By skillfully securing an accom- 262 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. plice, who, fancying himself cheated by his partners, re- vealed all their secrets,by making arrest of the receivers iu succession, and by obtaining from their jealousy the " points " against their abettors, Capt. B. succeeded in capturing and convicting the heads of the Company, as well as all their receivers, (a host in number) and this was the last of whole- sale Whiskey smuggling on the Michigan frontier. Prom Whiskey, the smugglers turned their attention -to Spices (a natural connection where they were fond of punch) who brought over barrels of nutmegs in small boats, at night. By travelling in a Canadian express car, under the disguise of a smuggler, Capt. B. gained the confidence of some of this gang, which resulted in the conviction. of one O'Mara, chief of the gang, and two other parties in Pitts- burg, Pa., and the confiscation of a large amount of goods followed. In returning to Detroit from the trial of those cases, Capt. B. took passage at Cleveland, on the ill fated Steamer " Morning Star," which was sunk by collision with the Bark Courtlandt. He remained floating on a box in Lake Erie for four hours ; sufficient to disgust almost any man with cold water, although it seems to have given him a preference for this fluid, as he never drinks anything else. A very skillfully devised plan for supplying the N. Y. market with the finest Lyons silks, by direct importations to Montreal, by conveyance thence to Sarnia (opposite Port Huron) and by transportation across the river boundary, packed in sacks and carried in small skiffs to the American side,- where they were repacked and forwarded by rail to the Eastern markets, was detected, worked up and prose- cuted to conviction by Capt. B. and Customs Officer Inslee ; resulting in the conviction and sentence of George Montjoy (somewhat notorious in political as well as criminal circles HARRY G. BLANCHARD. 263 in Philadelphia) his associates Cochran and Wright, and the realization of $12,785 in fines, and the confiscation and sale by the U. S. authorities of a very large amount of the most valuable silks. The Depots of the Detroit & Milwaukie R. R. and Michi- gan Central R. R. were destroyed by fire, originating in Petroleum stored therein, and in an attendant large loss of life. This excited general remark and remonstrance in the ' community, as to the non-enforcement of the Act of Con- gress prohibiting the sale of Kerosene Oil inflammable at a less temperature than 110° Fahrenheit. Capt. B. was de- tailed to procure proofs against all persons in his District who were violating this law. This was a work of no snfall magnitude, but by skillfully devised plans and great rapidity of movement, Capt. B. procured sufficient proofs in some three hundred cases, on which indictments were found by the Grand Jury. The parties gave bail and tested the constitutionality of the Law before the U. S. Supreme Court ; where judgment was rendered adverse to the con- stitutionality of the statute. But the effect of the indict- ments and arrests was such, that from that time to the present in Capt. B's. district no oil of dangerous explosive qualities has been or is offered for sale, and as a conse- quence accidents from exploding Kerosene are now rarely heard of. Capt. Blanchard still continues to hold the responsible position he has so long and so creditably occupied as Deputy U. S. Marshal in Michigan, but also fills the post of lead- ing Operative in the Detective Service of the United States Secret Service Division, under appointment by Col. Whitley. His rare success in detecting criminals .in the Northwest, and his continual labors to suppress crime in that region have been remarkable. Our limits do not permit us here to 264 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. enter into the details of many celebrated prosecutions which have been worked up by this officer ; but in other parts of our Memoirs, some interesting cases managed by him, will find insertion by themselves. The instances of the arrest and conviction of Norman Mitchell, Horace Chaffee, William Smith, James Duffy, Charles Clark, and other notable crimi- nals in the Northwest, may be referred to in connection with this officer's achievements. Capt. Blanchard is a medium sized man, rather slight in build, of nervous temperament, strong will, rather restless habit, but possesses energetic impulses, schooled by an iron self-command. He is now in the full vigor of ripe man- hood, and is known and esteemed in the region of country where he is now located as a good citizen, an upright man, who has earned the good opinion of his fellow men,and who now enjoys, in a large degree, the confidence of the public and of his superior officers. JEWEL AND SILK SMUGGLERS FROM OVER THE SEAS. The smuggling of jewels p,ud silks from across the ocean, and from South America, has been carried on very exten- sively, through our chief Atlantic ports, and the U. S. Gov- ernment is every month defrauded out of Customs duties, through well-contrived fraud in the "importation" of these and other easily portable valuables — to a very large extent. In the article of diamonds, it is asserted by honest dealers on this side the water that they can not import these pre- cious stones and pay the ten per cent, advalorem tax, to any profit; since the foreign cost-value is so near the actual standard price they command in this country, (and more- over because so many are smuggled into our markets,) that they are unable to compete with certain unscrupulous deal- ers, who man.age to get their goods in this line through, without paying duties upon them, at all, or, at least, as often as they can secretly effect this result. Every conceivable device is resorted to by these smug- glers, to pass their valuable goods through successfully, free of duty. In many instances, and during many years of practice, both Jews and Gentiles have fortunately succeeded in thus evading the payment of duties — and the unlawful 265 266 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. work is still going on ; though it is certain that a check has been applied to this traffic in the past two years, through the exertions of the Secret Service Division, under Col. Whitley's supervision, who within that period has secured and passed over to the U. S. authorities, almost a hundred thousand dollars' worth of jewels, diamonds, laces, etc., which he and his men have seized on the steamers, and from foreign or resident passengers who have attempted to land them here, unlawfully. A few of these interesting instances we gather from the records, for the benefit of the public, showing how this thing is worked, in certain cases. About a year prior to the laying of the last Atlantic cable, a sharp Post Office clerk in New York city, whose duty re- quired him to have oversight of the foreign letters, fancied that certain documents received by the Atlantic steamers con- tained something beside legitimate correspondence, though the suspected packets that fell under his notice were so nicely prepared, abroad, that they had the outward general appearance that all was right. He communicated his sus- picions to the authorities, however, and the suspected letters were placed in the possession of the Collector of New York. This officer had no legal authority to open those letters, or to break their seals. This act would be felony, under the United States statutes. So the parties to whom these missives were addressed were sent for, and requested to open them in presence of the. officials. The firm to whom these letters were directed, had no interest whatever in the transactions. Inside the outer envelope there was another, and within that (in each instance) there was found a quan- tity of beautiful diamonds carefully distributed over or em- bedded in two layers of cotton wool. The letters were intended to reach another individual, a travelling German by the name of Kurus, who being advised DIAMOND SMUGGLERS. 267 that his consignments had " gone up," through this discov- ery, hauled off, directly, aud advised his foreign correspond- ent to " discontinue further remittances." But, pending the reception of this countermanding of previous orders, diamonds continued to arrive by the mails from Europe (there was no ocean telegraph, then) until their value reached over twelve thousand dollars, to this same person ; all of which of course were similarly gobbled up, as they came, by the U. S. officials and were confiscated, duly. It is said by those who ought to know the fact, that not more than one tenth of all the diamonds offered in the American market (owing to their portability and easy con- cealment, en route,) ever pay any duty ! The attention of Chief Whitley of the U. S. Secret Ser- vice having been called to this abuse, he gave the subject his attention, and has succeeded with his Deputies, in teach- ing some of this craft a wholesome lesson, while his seizures, as we have noted, have been in some cases very important, and valuable. But the devices which the smugglers of this kind of property resort to are very cunningly contrived, and the variety of modes whereby such property can be concealed is so infinite, that it has proved most difficult to catch these offenders, often. We give a few cases in point, however. Two or three instances of diamond smuggling (from Brazil) per steamer from Rio de Janeiro had occurred, and Col. Whitley put a couple of his men upon the trail of sus- pected passengers who were said to have come up in the boat from South America. There were two men who went to Hubener's hotel, in the Bowery, who were " shadowed " by Col. W's. Detectives, and who gave their names as Gus- tave Westphel and one Wagner, his friend. Westphel stated that he was a German " Count." But 268 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. it was known to the officers that if he were a scion of nobility, he had certainly kept a lager-beer saloon in New York city, at one time, and so they sought to learn more about him. Mr. Nettleship, Col. Whitley's chief Assistant, was called up one night by another member of the force who had ob- tained the requisite information, and shortly afterwards put himself into communication with the parties mentioned who halted at Hubener's. Mr. N's peculiarly courteous manners and suavity in all this sort of intercourse, is proverbial. H'e waited upon the strangers, and had an interview with his " Count "-ship, who played this dodge with well dissembled grace, but to very little purpose, as it eventuated. He was informed that he was under suspicions, and some two thousand dollars' worth of diamonds which were found in his possession, were taken by Mr. N. He stoutly con- tended that he was a German nobleman, and that these were " family jewels " belonging rightfully to him, which he had no idea required the payment of duty, since they were his individual personal property. " That won't answer, Count," said Nettleship, politely. " If this were true, how is it that these gems are all without their settings ? " This pertinent question rather staggered the smuggler, but he still persisted in claiming the precious stones, and assumed a dignified appearance of offence at being thus questioned, overhauled, and annoyed. He put on airs that disconcerted even the usually polite and civil Operative, who now had him (as he knew) within his toils. " It won't do," repeated Nettleship. " These gems have been stolen from a New York jewelry store, in a recent robbery down town ; and it is exceedingly unfortunate that they are found in your hands." WBSTPHEL, WOLFE & MAY. 269 The Count hopped up, at this charge, and vociferously s-nnounced his determination to call the officer to account for this unwarrantable insult. " I've got the bill of them, right here," he continued, sharply, drawing forth a document from his breast-pocket — and forgetting, all at once, the original falsity he had at- tempted. " Here — can you read this ? " he demanded, triumphantly, as he thrust the paper into Nettleship's hand. It was a regular invoice of the gems, in German, dated at Vienna, and purported to be a bill of sale of the diamonds to Westphel. Mr. N. read it, and then inquired courteously, " What becomes of the Count's tale you've just relrearsed, if this is veritable ? " '" That is immaterial, sir. There is a bill of these goods. I paid it. They are mine. And you can just put that into your pipe an' smoke it — eh?" responded Westphel, tri- umphantly. " This bill is of a recent date, I notice," said N. " Who said it wasn't ? " asked Westphel. " But you stated, just now, that the jewels came from your family — that you are a Count — " " And what if I did ? May not a zhentleman travel in this country in cog., if he please ? " . " Not under these circumstances," said N., politely. " And so to cut this matter short, Mynheer Westphel, or milord, your Highness, or whatever you may be — you must go with me. I arrest you for violation of the U. S. Revenue laws. I am an officer of the Secret Service. Now, komin init mier! Of course you comprehend German, Count." It was of no use further to contend, evidently thought the smuggler. He was placed in custody, and afterwards brought before the Court, upon indictment, where he gave bail, but left before his trial, and his smuggled diamonds were duly confiscated to the use Of the Government. 270 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. In May, 1870, Col. Whitley found it within the province of his duties to look into a smuggling case where the firm of Wolfe & May, of New York, exporters of cottons, and importers of silks, were concerned. They were extensive dealers in the line known technically among merchants as " white goods." Wolfe had leased a nice location down town, but suddenly left without paying his rent, and a vig- orous search for him did not result in turning him up, for a time. It was the habit of this house to send " sample packages " of their importations to the U. S. Appraisers' Department (as is usual) for examination, which packages always hap- pened to be the right ones among those upon the invoices. Their shipments were falsely invoiced as cotton goods, while silks filled many of the cases which were not examined at the Custom House. It was the boast of one of this firm that a sum equal to thirty thousand dollars, on a single shipment, could be thus realized ; and that the business so conducted paid enormous- ly, even if four out of six consignments " went wrong," and were seized by the U. S. Customs ! In the instance where Col. Whitley made this seizure, Wolfe was detected, his goods were forfeited, and an action was commenced against the offenders. Wolfe appeared at Court, gave bail, (straw bail,, as it too often turns out) and he ran away. This " escape " on Wolfe's part was quite unnecessary ; for in these cases the law's delays and the gerry-manderings in many of the Courts of New York are such, that it is averred with goodly show of truth, that " pismires could ordinarily carry a prisoner out of jail, through the keyhole of his cell, before a trial can be had," if he desires to avoid one ! The Courts are so clogged, and so manipulated, that if a defendant possess the means to JOHN WILLIAMS 271 put his case off, he can too often readily " postpone " it until the crack o' doom, if he chooses. In the matter of cigar-smuggling, every sort of plan is resorted to, (especially in later years, since the duty has been raised so high, as at present). These are packed into cases rendered impervious to water; and are dropped from the vessels' side, (on nearing New York) into the open sea. Boats are within sight of this operation, by previous arrangement, and the occupants pick up these floating boxes, row ashore to some neglected point on the coast, bear their valuables into the interior, and thus save a large percentage called for by the Customs. In other cases, India-rubber beds or mattresses are filled with cigars from Havana, similarly dropped overboard at the right moment, and are in the same way picked up at sea, aud brought safely to the shore, where they are afterwards conveyed to a market, readily. But it is impossible, within the limits of this volume, to give the details of the numerous instances of smuggling frauds which have occurred in the past few years at ports in this country. We must therefore close this chapter with a single case more, which was worked up by Col. Whitley and his assistants a few months since, which is peculiar, and highly interesting in its particulars. There arrived at the Hotel Beau Sejour, Boulevard Mont- matre, Paris — one day, a well attired, handsome English- man forty years of age, or less, accompanied by a beautiful girl of scarcely twenty, who .passed there as his niece or other distant " poor relation ; " in no wise an unusual oc- currence in the gay French metropolis — or even in an American city ! After a little, this handsome gentleman disposed of his fair charge, whom he benevolently sought to provide for, 272 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. • by securing her a situation as confidential waiting-maid at good wages, with a family he selected to place her in, where she could earn a living easily and acceptably to her ; and pretty " Martha " was duly installed iu her new and pleasant position, in the service of one Madame De Hart, Rue de la Boule Rouge • — who was a lady of wealth and high social standing in Paris, a confiding, gentle woman — who sympathized with poor Martha, and at once placed the young girl at ease in her elegant house. She soon came to be fond of her, and really deemed her a valuable acquisi- tion in her establishment. But one morning this soft-hearted fine lady woke up to learn that her excellent English maid had quietly taken " French leave " of her, without a word of warning ; and shortly ascertained that her diamonds, to the value of some $12,000, Paris Bonds to the amount of sixty thousand francs, and jewelry worth $5000 more, had also disap- peared, with the esteemed and gentle Martha ! This was the last she has seen of the delicate English waiting maid, to whom she had become so tenderly attached. It turned out that the handsome gentleman spoken of was one John Williams, a noted English thief and burglar, and that sweet " Martha " was his moll and accomplice. They went together to Paris to put into execution there " a little game" they had "played out "in England — in this wise : Martha was to represent the poor girl relation, abroad ; hire out to a rich lady ; get the hang of the premises ; learn where the jewels and plate were kept ; ascertain where the master secured his money ; give the " cue " to her employer, Williams ; and at the opportune- moment rob the house, and put away to a distant land, if sufficient plunder were thus obtained. This nice little scheme was carried out to the letter, in JOHN WILLIAMS. 273 Madame Hart's case. The premises had thus been robbed, and Martha and her friend Williams sailed, with their stolen property, for America — landing at Hoboken, port of New York, safely , within two weeks from the night when the girl so mysteriously disappeared from Madame's residence. Upon his arrival in New York, Williams might have readily gone ashore, unmolested, had he not attempted to smuggle the stolen diamonds and jewels through without paying duty on them. But like many another rogue, he did not see this point, when he might have turned it to advan- tage ; he sought to get his plunder in free of duty, and his diamonds were taken from him by one of the U. S. Custom House Inspectors. At this point, Col. Whitley was called into the case, in the course of his other investigations at the Custom House, and learned the particulars of Williams' mishap. Detective Nettleship was directed to hunt Williams up. The Chief desired to see this man, he said, and this was sufficient for his accomplished Assistant, who lost no time- in getting upon the smuggler's track. And a few days afterwards, Mr. N. met the gentleman and his young lady -friend (who now passed as his wife) on board a Jersey ferry-boat. ' By well planned stratagem, Nettleship induced Williams to proceed to New Jersey with him, (for he did not care to trust this man to parties on the New York side) and upon reaching that State, N. at once arrested him. The girl con- cluded to return to New York. " Take this, Martha," said Williams, handing her an omi- nous looking package, as they were separating. " I will take charge of this, for her," said Nettleship, civilly, but firmly grasping the parcel — though he had no idea what it contained. But on arriving at New York again, in this little packet 274 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. were found French Bonds of the value of $12,000 (60,000 francs.) The watchful eye of Mr. Nettleship was gladdened vastly at this sight, and he proceeded at once to his Chief, Col. Whitley, to report progress. John Williams, alias Sweet, was a professional English cracksman, celebrated in London. He is the only man who has been put into the Penitentiary, in this port, for smug- gling, for fifty years. He had educated the girl, himself, for the business in which she played her part so aptly for a time, and she has proved a sharp scholar, indeed, in this round of iniquity. Soon after Nettleship had secured him in Jersey city, Chief Whitley went over to see the prisoner. He took him into a private room, and .after a brief conversation, lectured him, in his peculiar way. He condoled with Williams upon the loss of his valuable diamonds, which he told 'him was unfortunate for him ; but the laws of this country must be respected, and there was no help for this result. His at- tempt to smuggle them through had cost him the entire lot, and this would prove a lesson to him, he hoped. Then he said to Williams, abruptly, after looking him over, carefully — " it serves you right. But this loss is not yours. You stole those diamonds ! Now, own up as to the details. You see I know you — eh ? " Fortune favors the brave, and the Chief, borne along by the irresistible influence which is always exercised over his mind by bold resolution, in critical circumstances, assumed the position he thus sharply enunciated on this rather dubious, but in his judgment, suspicious occasion. This sudden and peremptory accusation rather astonished, the thief, and he evidently thought, from the Chiefs man- ner and speech, that he knew all about this unlucky affair. He, at first, pleaded innocence, complained of the injustice JOHN WILLIAMS. 275 of the seizure of the jewels, (when he was not aware that duty was required to be paid in the United State* upon diamonds,) put on airs of- seeming offended dignity, and aimed in various ways to beat Col. W. on the spot, notwith- standing his inward fears. But the Col. was satisfied in his own mind, and he continued — " You're a thief, as well as an intentional smuggler." " This is rather harsh talk, sir, to a total stranger in your country," said the culprit, airily. " Hard or soft, I am right," replied the Chief. " I know of what I speak, and you cannot escape me. You will be put through, certain — this time." " And if you are correct, must I be sent back to Eng- land ? " asked Williams, suddenly changing his tactics, under the Colonel's steady fire. " Such an act, if it were committed abroad, would not be an offence against American laws — eh, sir — would it ? " The Chief evaded any direct answer. He was not there just then ±o give information, but rather to receive it ! And finally, as many another rascal before and since has done, when cornered in the Colonel's presence alone, he confessed his crime, told the Chief where and how the robbery had been committed, and acknowledged all the particulars, to Col. Whitley's entire satisfaction. The girl was then found, but she was the smartest of this hopeful twain. Nothing could be got out of her ! Col. Whitley proceeded at once to the French Consul in New York, after sending Williams to prison, and explained this affair to him. Mons. Hart was duly notified of the state of things, and the robbed Parisian came over to New York, directly. Whitley obliged Willians to give up the other jewels he had stolen (beside the diamonds) and thus, after running the gauntlet of the English and French authorities, 276 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. the robber surrendered all to the shrewd Chief of the Secret 'Service Division of the United States' Treasury Department. Monsieur Hart arrived, waited on the Chief, who became quickly satisfied that he was the rightful owner of the property, opened his safe and showed him the Bonds, and the obsequious Frenchman fairly fell upon his knees in grateful acknowledgment of the recovery and restoration of his lost money and his wife's jewels. The latter were in the Custom House, still, where they had been regularly " seized." Upon a proper representation 'of this case to the Secretary of the Treasury, the diamonds were returned to their lawful owner — who went to NiagaYa Palls, and had a good time in the country which he never ceased to laud, in exalted phrase, until at last he took steamer for Paris again, with his property restored, and went on his way rejoicing. Williams was quickly convicted on the charge of smug- gling, before U. S. Judge Nixon, who charged the jury very clearly and explicitly in this important case, and who gave the prisoner the full benefit of the legal prescription in such cases — two years in the Penitentiary, at Trenton, N. J., where he now remains at labor in behali of the State. When he gets through with this sentence, the trans-Atlantic authorities will undoubtedly be happy to see him. The girl Martha is very pretty, and continues to play the " innocent victim." But she remains true to Williams, her seducer and instructor in criminal deeds. When he was first arrested in New Jersey, she cried as if her gentle heart would break, at this unlooked-for termination to their pleasant journey from France. No word can he obtained from her lips to criminate this 3, designing man. She is waiting 'patiently for his JOHN WILLIAMS. 277 release. And though several years her senior, she plainly loves him, devotedly. She is childlike in her affection for this knave — and since his imprisonment has become the mother of a baby who very strongly resembles his probable father. And here we leave these subjects, to devote a separate chapter to one more case of adroit and persistent smuggling, requiring more ample details for its full explanation, and which will be found farther on in our pages. ABNER B. NEWCOMB, CHIEF OPERATIVE, S. S. DIVISION, NEW YORK DISTRICT. The officer whose name heads this article — Mr. A. B. Newcomb, is a native of Boston, Mass., born in 1833. His father was a successful West India merchant, in that city, and his mother a refined and cultivated lady of liberal edu- cation — well known as a contributor to the popular literary American magazines of her day. At the Boston public schools, Mr. Newcomb acquired the rudiments of an education which was subsequently com- pleted under the direct tutelage of his' mother. He devel- oped at an early age a taste for newspaper life, and at seventeen years old, was known as one of the most pop- ular sketch-writers who contributed to the Boston press. He continued his studies, in connection with his literary labors, until 1857, when, having married, he removed with his wife — a lady of fine literary attainments — to Rockford, Ill's., a thriving city ninety miles west of Chicago, and there assumed editorial charge of the " Rock- ford Republican." 278 ABNEB B. NEWCOMB. 279 Here he remained two years, trebling the circulation of that journal, and gaining the esteem of the community to such an extent that in 1859 he was selected as one of the nominees to represent the Republicans of Winnebago Co., in the Illinois Legislature. The sudden illness of his wife, to whom he was- devotedly attached, and tt> whose literary as- sistance he was indebted for much of the success of his paper, compelled him to sacrifice his prospects of political preferment. The physicians decided that Mrs. N. was very dangerously sick, and he felt constrained to quit the West, and return with her — under medical advice to Boston — where she died, shortly after their arrival. Late in 1860, Mr. Newcomb removed to New York city, and accepted a position on the " N. Y. World," then a re- ligious daily, with Republican tendencies. While thus en- gaged, he subsequently wrote the notable article under the head of " Cell No. 4," which aroused the indignation of the entire metropolis, from the manner in which it attacked and exposed the unrighteous system of arrests then current un- der orders of the Provost Marshal of the District of New York. This paper was extensively copied and commented on, both in this country and in England — the "London Times " republishing it, under an additional caption of its own, to wit, " The American Bastile." In the fall of '61, Mr. Newcomb accepted a position as private secretary to the U. S. Marshal, still retaining his connection with the " World." During the first year of his ofiicial career, (the war having broke out) he was selected to work up a case in behalf of the U. S. Government, rela- tive to parties supposed to be concerned in bearing de- spatches secretly to and through the rebel lines. In the execution of the details of this delicate duty, Mr. Newcomb was thoroughly successful ; so much so, that the entire gen- 280 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. eral Detective business of the Marshal's office was placed under his charge and control, thenceforward. At this early period of the rebellion, there existed as much to fear and guard against from the machinations of inside traitors to the nation's weal, as from the enemy in the field. To meet this* exigency, in part, Secretaries Seward and Stanton authorized the immediate establishment of a " Secret Service " force, in the Department of the East (under Maj. Gen. John A. Dix,) and this force was placed in charge of Mr. Newcomb. Mr. N. quickly informed himself that the chief plottings, through a combination of leading spirits in Canada, led off the conspiracy to injure and defame the United States, in the interests of the rebellion. He travelled through Canada as a Newspaper correspondent " of secesh proclivities," and as such was everywhere cordially received by such men as George Sanders, Capt. J. B. MacGruder, the Paynes, (who subsequently figured in the great raid on St Albans and its Bank,) and other kindred associates, celebrated in the his- tory of the enterprise subsequently and aptly denominated " The Lost Cause." Through this well conducted ruse, Mr. Newcomb ascertained the time of arrivals and departures of the rebel mails — which went and came regularly — learned who some of the principal mail-carriers were, then secretly ■ met Gov. Potter (American Consul-general for the British Provinces, at this time,) and imparted to him the informa- tion thus gained, which he transmitted duly to the Washing- ton authorities, and which shortly resulted in the capture of the mails from the South, and the carriers. In the midst of the performance of his duties, Mr. New- comb was convinced that important secret modes of trans- mitting intelligence to the rebels, existed — and he exerted his utmost powers to get at the bottom of schemes ABNBB B. NEWCOMB. 281 which he felt certain were being carried forward ; but which, for about a year, he found himself baffled in his efforts to reach. At length he ascertained that a British lady, of noble extraction, (an intimate associate in the family of Sir John McDonald, then Premier of the Canadas) was in the habit of making occasional trips to the South — as a British subject ; who travelled in state, with a great retinue of ser- vants, and ponderous luggage, and came and went under her national passport, as a foreigner; bearing also letters of credentials from Sir John McDonald, setting forth that this lady " was a British subject travelling for pleasure — " but whom Mr. Newcomb finally suspected as being one of the agents through whom objectionable intelligence was being continually communicated to the enemy. The maimer in which he treated this subject, and the resulis which followed the confirmation of his suspicions in regard to this distin- - guished woman, will be found in detail in a subsequent chapter of our present work, under the title of " The Female Spy " in the rebellion — see page 290. Mr. Newcomb continued his operations in the Department of the East, overlooking suspected parties, and keeping watch upon the current of events — meantime having charge of all prisoners captured by the Blockade Squadron and brought into New York, from any direction ; it being part of his duty to examine every person so captured, with a view to ascertain whether they were subjects of foreign nationalities, or American citizens, and reporting the facts in writing to the Secretary of the Navy ; who, acting upon Mr. N's report, (as made by him through the U. S. Mar- shal,) ordered the subsequent discharge or imprisonment of the captives. At this time, Mr. N. was also acting as a special officer of the General commanding the Department, to look after 282 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. all arrivals from the South, Havana, Nassau, N. P., and Matamoras, who were required to report in person at mili- tary headquarters and register their address, etc., and he was empowered to board all steamers coming from suspected ports — under the following Orders : Headquarters Department of the Bast. New York City, Bee. 3d, 1864. . " Mr. A. B. Newcomb is hereby authorized to board the Steamer ' Corsica,' and all other steamers leaving for Matamoras and Havana, at Quarantine, and to search any persons on board who may be suspected of hostility to the United States. If anything contraband is found upon them, he will bring them to these Headquarters. (Signed) John A. Dix, Major General" N. Y. City, Feb. 7, 1865. Hd. Qr's. Dep't. of the East. The above order is continued, and is good until further orders. John A. Dix, Major Gen'l. Mr. Newcomb continued in this service up to Nov., 1865, giving the fullest satisfaction, and was then appointed an Operative in the U. S. Secret Service Division, and assigned to the New York District. He remained in this position up to '67, when having made himself conversant with certain huge "bounty fraud" cases, he resigned, and was trans- ferred to the Second Auditor's office, as special Agent to work up this class of crime. After two years' service there, he accepted a position as Operative in the U. S. Secret Service, under Col. H. C. Whitley, present Chief. During one year of Mr. N's service in the investigation of the Bounty frauds above mentioned, he examined upwards of two thousand cases, and compelled the return to Government and claimants $22,000, which had been obtained by fraudu- lent agents. HARRY G. BLANCHARD, OPERATIVE, NORTH-WESTERN DISTRICT, U. S. Secket Service Division. [See page 259. ABNER B. NEWCOMB. 285 In 1870, he discovered a conspiracy to defraud the U. S. Treasury, by means of fraudulent army claims, to the enormous sum of four hundred thousand dollars! There were thirteen- persons involved in this plot, every one of whom were arrested, and turned over to the Courts. On the first of Jan'y., 1871, Mr. Newcomb was promoted by Col. Whitley to the rank of a Chief Operative, assigned to the New York District, and now remains on duty there, still having in charge, as a specialty, the supervision of alleged bounty frauds and others of a similar character, and where he has acquitted himself with such credit as to merit the confidence of the authorities, to a very satisfactory ex- tent. During his experience in this Division, he has caused the conviction and imprisonment of over seventy criminals, counterfeiters, &c. In his personal appearance, Mr. New- comb is a modest man, of frank address and goodly mien, and possesses rare versatility of talent, most useful in his sphere of life. His portrait will be found on page 232, and it will be seen from this excellent picture that his face is intelligent, and his general expression is that of one who understands himself, in whatever he may undertake to per- form. He is now in the prime of life, and he is esteemed by his Chief and his superiors in the Departments at Wash- ington, in all respects, one of the very best officers employed in the TJ. S. Secret Service Division. 12 DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. DETECTIVE vs. THE SMUGGLER -JEW. HERMAN BRAUN'S CASE. The following veritable particulars . relate to two different important cases of smuggling, though the same party (under an alias or two) was actively concerned in both, either upon this or the other side of the water. We make use of but one of these names, for good reasons, but give the account from the actual record, in all its details of romance, cheat- ery, and seriousness. A keen, wiry, subtle, black-eyed Jew, of New York city,, who dealt in diamonds and precious stones there, and who for years had been able to so undersell the market as to mo^ nopolize a large share of the current cash trade in these valuables, was " spotted " some months ago, and through representations made to Chief Whitley, was deemed by that official to be a fitting subject to be watched, narrowly ; inas- much as it was shown him that this money-loving Jew could never sell diamonds at the prices he did, if he paid any duty upon his importations. And so the Chief caused him to be DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. 287 " shadowed," and watched his movements, jealously, for a time. We shall call him Herman Braun, because this was one of the names he himself adopted, at times, in the course of his sharp practice, and because- he is better known by this than by another name he assumed. He was an exceedingly thrifty business man, and quick-witted in his way ; but he sometimes got over-reached, notwithstanding he was said to be the cunningest smuggler in New York city,, which is say- ing a good deal for his prowess, in that peculiar line. The Jew, Braun, was acquainted in New York with a man whom he knew to be a Detective — but who passed with him as one " Jonas Sharpe," whom he had come to address familiarly as " Zhonash." But he did not know that this ac- quaintance was one of Col. Whitley's force, nor that he was specially deputed, for a time, to shadow this long suspected, but not yet detected, shrewd smuggler of diamonds. Braun visited Europe, often, and always contrived to make a good thing of it. He went and returned, and always managed to bring jewels with him, clandestinely, which he could afford to sell under the market price. And he was narrowly scrutinized, during these trips, but not overhauled. Meanwhile, Col. Whitley frequently visited the steamers from Europe, on their arrival in New York, and occasionally made arrests and valuable seizures, from time to time. Six months afterwards, Mr. Jonas Sharpe was on board a newly arrived steamer, in company with Col. W., upon their Customary search for suspicious passengers who might be intent oh violating the U. S. Revenue laws, when Mi 1 . Herman Braun suddenly made his appearance from the cabin, and was leisurely but rather defiantly (they fancied) about to quit the steamer. He had just returned from England, where he had been absent a few weeks, upon his customary business in that direction. 288 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. The Chief halted him, and beckoning " Jonas " (one of his Assistants) pointed the Jew below decks. " Vot the 'ells you vant, Zhonash ? " asked the Jew, irreverently. " Come down into the cabin," replied the Chief. And down went the three men, instanter. Braun was taken into a spacious state-room, stripped to his pelt, and, carefully examined. His apparel was searched, his luggage thoroughly overhauled, but nothing contraband was found : and he deliberately re-dressed himself with a manifest show of triumph. " Vot you tryin' to do, Zhonash ? " asked the Jew. " Nothing," said Jonas. " It's all right." The Chief watched Braun's movements cautiously, and per- mitted him to dress himself to the last article of his apparel, except his boots. These were examined, all over, and nothing was discovered. The Col. threw down one of the boots, and thought he heard a strange rattling, or slight jingle, in one of them. He took it up, turned it over, shook it, and at last said, quickly, " Get me a hammer and a stout knife, or chisel, Jonas." And five minutes afterwards, he had the heels of the two boots knocked off, and opened, wherein were found nicely stowed away several thousand dollars' worth of superb glis- tening diamonds ! They were seized, of course, and Braun was arrested. He gave bail, and went at liberty, after- wards. Braun agreed in opinion with subtle Talleyrand, that " nothing in life succeeds so well as success," and mentally he often asked " who shall tax successful villiany ? " But the sell-reliant man who had determinately put himself on this subtle rogue's track, in his course of pursuit, hoped for nothing from the way in which Fortune dealt the cards to DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. 289 him. He always played his hand to the best of his ability, and generally came out a winner. Braun was subsequently arrested, but is now in good health and spirits — at his leisure, upon bail he readily furnished, on demand of the Court. But if lie continues at his old tricks, he now does it very slyly. He does not go to Europe, at any rate, himself, but he sells diamonds at the very lowest cash prices current in New York ! Thus these smugglers manage ! There is no trick too mean for them to attempt, no device too contemptible for their conception, no act too unscrupulous for their execu- tion — if they can successfully rob the U. S. Treasury in the end, or cheat the Government, by the means, out of its honest, legal dues. Verily, there should be at the head of the Secret Service Department a man who can cope with these adepts in crime ; and the success which has followed the efforts of the present Chief, is evidence of his ability to manage the cases that have so far come under his supervision, with rare skill and judgment. The active heavy smugglers in diamonds and fine goods are not met with latterly so plentifully, as they might have been found in former days. There may be some of the lesser knaves at large, yet, but they are being " picked up," by the U. S. Detectives, constantly, and their depredations are not important — in this kind of pursuit, now-a-days. Behind these offenders there " stalks the headsman." They are marked, and shadowed, and spotted — and they will be followed up, unceasingly, it is to be hoped, until the smuggling fraternity shall be known no more in our American ports. THE FEMALE SPY OF THE REBELLION" LADY MONTEITH. A remarkable instance of the mutability of fortune is found in the veritable record which follows ; the heroine of which is alive and well to-day, and resident not a hundred miles from the city of New York. Lady Eleanor Monteith (her maiden name) was born in Ireland about the year 1835. Her father was a wealthy nobleman, and she was his only surviving child. She was a very elegant woman, with raven black hair and eyes, pearly white teeth, superb in form, graceful in address, stately in carriage, and, though past thirty-five, did not look to be over thirty years of age. She fell in love with a gentleman lower in the social hierarchy than herself (a second son of another nobleman, who was thus not an inheritor of his father's fine English estate,) whom she married, against her father's wishes. The irate nobleman did not cut his disobedient daughter off, however. She left Ireland with her husband, and en- joyed a private income, as " pin-money " of JE500 a year, 290 THE FEMALE SPY. 291 afterwards — upon coming to this country. Her husband had nothing to boast of save his honorable birth — which was what we have described it, as above. Lady Eleanor settled in Canada, and from her lofty posi- . tion was received at once into the best aristocratic society there, — Sir John McDonald, Premier of the Canadas being among her friends ; where she resided up to 1863. Her marriage proved unhappy, however, and her husband died in '58, leaving behind him the beautiful widow and one child, a daughter. In 1861, during the war, she made her first visit to the South, as a British subject, and met at Richmond, Va., with the Surgeon Director General of the rebel army, who paid court to her ; and to whom she subsequently be- came engaged to be married once more. She then returned to Canada, intending to go back to Richmond and settle there, upon being united to the new object of her affections. Upon leaving Richmond, she was entrusted with valuable letters from prominent Confederates to rebel sympathizers in the North, also important govern- ment despatches — which she secretly delivered in New York and elsewhere, en route to Montreal. She also had upon her person a rebel mail for England, and letters for rebel Agents abroad. These she forwarded from Quebec, by English steamers. Her success in getting this batch of documents through, soon sent her back towards Richmond, in the interest of the rebels ; but her real motive in going was to confer with her lover, there. The Confederate Government saw that a foreign lady of her position could then readily pass to and fro, in safety, and the. intended marriage was postponed* in view of the hope of an early peace, that was then anticipa- ted. But the war continued, and Lady Eleanor went and came, 292 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. for a time, always attended by a grand retinue of servants, and still disposing of the rebel mails, successfully. In the spring of '62, her frequent visits attracted the attention of tJ. S. Detective Newcomb, then stationed in New York, endeavoring to break up the rebel mail service — and he watched her quietly but cautiously. He followed her up, diligently, but not till 1863 did he meet with the success he sought. The evident high social position occupied by this lady, together with her favorable ^surroundings, rendered the idea of her arrest as a rebel mail-carrier, not only a delicate, but a very hazardous undertaking. But Newcomb timed her arrivals at and departures from Quebec, and soon found a striking coincidence between these periods and the dissemi- nation of general news that then came out fresh from the rebel Capitol. On the 13th of March, '63, Lady Monteith left Quebec for Richmond, via New York ; now under the sharp surveillance of Detective Newcomb. On her arrival at New York city (on the third day from Quebec) she halted at the Everett House, a first class hotel, and Mr. N. fully determined then to venture upon her capture ; but delayed this process, con- vinced that she would be there some days, to add to the mail then in her possession, on the way to Virginia. She tarried in New York four days, when Newcomb ascertained that she was about to leave again, for the south. He went to her hotel, placed her under arrest, seized all her luggage, took her servants into custody, and proceeded to search her trunks, when she entered a written protest, claim- ing to be a British subject, and warned Detective N. that she should lay all the facts of this outrage before the British Consul, with a view to punishing N., whom she then defi- antly challenged to proceed in his work ! Mr. N. accepted her formal protest, put it carefully in his THE FEMALE 8PT. 293 pocket, and coldly demanded of Lady Monteith the keys to her trunks. These were at first refused, with offended dignity ; but when the officer assured her ladyship that he should be -compelled to take her a prisoner to head-quarters, she gave up the keys to the five huge trunks, which were examined, and found to contain only her superb and costly wardrobe of fine dresses, velvets, laces, etc. In overhauling these chests, Mr. N. had occasion to chide his two assistants, on account of the careless, rough manner in which they tumbled these valuable goods about — an act which gratified the lady, evidently. But not the first parti- cle of writing, of any kind, was discovered in these five great trunks. A small black box next attracted N.'s atten- tion ; and as he approached to look at this, her ladyship said, pleasantly, — " Do not omit that, by any means ! It contains rare frag- ments — reminiscences of my mantua-maker. They are but rags, but may be very desirable for your uses, I judge." Newcomb was temporarily discouraged not a little ; but he went to work to loosen the straps, and as he raised the lid of this box, the lady sprang fiercely towards him, and seized one of two bags that were visible inside, exclaiming, " I trust you are satisfied, sir, and that this farce will now come to an end." And with this, she shook the bag she held in her hand, nervously, and the rag contents fell out upon the carpet. The Detective looked up, and said politely, " Madame, since you have so generously revealed the contents of this one, perhaps your ladyship will kindly aid me in disclosing the contents of this other bag, here." Without uttering a word further, she turned deadly pale, grasped a chair-back, placed her hand upon her heart, and would have fallen, but for her confidential maid's assistance, 294 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. who promptly caught and placed her in the chair. This young woman was a Canadian, a pretty, spunky lass, who stood by her mistress, faithfully, to the end. Detective Newcomb had with him two assistants, by way of precaution. As soon as the disturbed lady recovered herself, she spoke first, and asked, with gravity, " Who is the superior officer here ? " " 1 have that honor," said Newcomb.' " May I ask that you will bid your subordinates retire, sir?" " Most certainly, madame," said N. And the two men immediately left the apartment. Then she essayed to speak again, when Newcomb proposed that her waiting-maid should also leave the parlor. This request was complied with, and her ladyship and the Detec- tive remained alone, together. " Now, sir," she said, with some feeling, " farther at- tempts at concealment I see are useless." And going to the black box, she took up the other bag, remarking, with a sigh, " This is the cause of all my trouble ! " The bag was emptied by Newcomb, who found it to con- tain over four hundred letters from Canada and Europe, addressed to rebel leaders and others ; notably to Judah P. Benjamin, Jefferson Davis, "President of Confed. Repub- lic," etc., and several backed to noted Southern Generals in the rebel army, written in different languages — but among them all, only seventy of importance. Newcomb treated the lady kindly and respectfully, know- ing her high standing, and she soon recovered her equilib- rium. Then she was sarcastic in her speech, and took the French letters up, saying, " You clever officers read French, of course ? " " Yes, madame," replied N., " but not just now, or until I have appropriately disposed of yourself." THE FEMALE SPY. 295 " You don't mean to arrest me, surely ? " she asked. " I do, madame. And your ladyship must accompany me, now, to a place of safety." A carriage was ordered, she was taken to the military " House of Detention " for Government prisoners, and left her servants and child at her Hotel. The captured letters were duly forwarded to the Sec'y. of War, at Washington, by Mr. N., with a report designating the important ones — through Gen. Wool, then commanding in New York — who approved all that had been done, and who left everything to N.'s discretion in this affair, in the future. Her child was sent to her once or twice, and her maid, also — who returned to the Hotel, dismissed the other servants, and took charge of her ladyship's valuable jewels — a costly tiara, necklaces, bracelets, and gems of rare value. Detective N. visited Lady Monteith daily, and treated his noble prisoner with marked consideration, sent her bouquets, etc., and upon opportunity, argued the justice of the Union cause, in her hearing ; but all to no purpose, for a time. She then revealed to N.the real cause of her attachment to the South, and frankly informed him of her engagement to be married to the Rebel Surgeon Director. And it was not until the news came, as it did, that her lover had been shot in the head, while attending to his duty in the field, and that he was insane from his wound, that the lady condescended to listen to N. at all. When she heard this sad news confirmed, and knew her affianced must die, she became more reasonable and com- municative. " I've nothing now to live for," she exclaimed, bitterly, " nothing but my child ! " " And to live for your little one," said Newcomb, kindly, " you must be restored to society." 296 UNITED STATES SECRET SEEVICE. She said she would think of this. And two days after- wards, the Detective most unexpectedly received orders from Gen. Wool, at once to release and send the lady South, into the rebel lines. He did not comprehend this suddenly announced decision. He had been ordered by Gen. W. himself to manage this case in his own way, and now he must send her down to Richmond ! But she did not go. Newcomb ventured to delay the execution of this order, twenty-four hours. He_ informed her of the fiat, but she implored him not to send her down among the rebels. She declared that all her interests in the South were at an end. The death of the rebel Surgeon had decided her, and she begged him to have this Order rescinded, and " save her from going South, if possible." " But one thing can accomplish your wishes," said N., noting his advantage. " And this is what, sir ? " " I am confident, Madame, that you are familiar with the details of the rebel Mail service, and the secret modes through which they transmit intelligence from the South to sympathizing friends in the North, and elsewhere. If you will reveal all this to me, I will undertake to save you." She hesitated, called the child, and in piteous tones, said, " this would be a betrayal of confidence, indeed ! " Newcomb placed his hand upon the little daughter's head, and replied, " it may be the salvation of this child." " Yes — you are right, sir. It may be ! And this it is that will decide me. I promise" she added, firmly. " I must communicate with the Sec'y, of War," continued N. " It is a desperate movement for me to procrastinate the execution of this peremptory Order regarding your removal. Dorit deceive me, then ! I have treated you with THE FEMALE SPY. 297 respect, and you must not promise me what you can not fulfil, to the letter." " You may say I can do this, and more, if you will trust to a woman's management. I will not only give you the information you ask for, but I am ready to enter into the exposure of other plans, conditionally, which 1 know are now concocting here in New York in the Confederate inter- ests, which will be useful to you, hereafter." Newcomb left her, telegraphed details to the Sec'y. of War, and stated that Gen. Wool (under some misapprehen- sion of fact) had ordered her ladyship to be sent South. " These facts are sent for your consideration," he wrote, to the Secretary, " and I shall be glad to hear from you, at once." At two o'clock, A. M., having waited up all night, N. got the following dispatch by telegraph from the War Depart- ment : Washington, April 27, '63. To A. B. Newcomb, 301 Mulberry S., New York. Hold lady-prisoner in custody. Obtain and forward to this Department, direct detailed information, as per telegram of this da + e. Exhibit this dispatch to Gen. Wool, Com'g. Dep't. of the Bast ; who has been instructed accordingly. By order of Sec'y of War. (Signed) L. C. Turner. Judge Advocate, frc. Early that morning, Newcomb called on Lady Monteith, and found her pacing the floor in mental agony. He in- formed her of the results of his efforts in her behalf, at which she warmly expressed her gratitude, and at once suggested a plan to arrive at valuable information already required of her. She asked to be sent back to her Hotel with credentials 298 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. to the effect that she had been a prisoner of the United States, but was released on condition she would appear when- ever called upon to do so, by the Government. She offered, to prove her sincerity, to leave her child in N.'s family as a pledge of her good intentions. This was declined, however. Newcomb furnished her with the letter she wanted, and she returned to her Hotel. A paragraph appeared in the papers of the day, in sub- stance announcing tha.t " this titled lady had been wrong- fully arrested ; and that the Detective might experience trouble for his over-zeal — for she was a British subject, and her arrest might cause complications with the English Gov- ernment," &c. This was prepared by Newcomb, toprotect the lady against the rebels in and out of New York. Under N.'s directions, then, her rooms at the Hotel were arranged so that they con- nected (three of them) and an alcove in the dining-apartment served for a retiring place for the Detective, himself, when her secesh friends visited her, as they did, daily. They all talked their matters over freely, at her generously kept table, and Newcomb secretly listened to their schemes in his un- suspected retreat. Mails were left there, still, by rebel carriers, and all this valuable information was gathered and noted down, by N. Unaccountably to them, the rebel mail -carriers were then arrested, one by one, just as they entered or were crossing the Canada line ■> — for months afterwards. But none sus- pected who or what was the cause of all this ! Through Madame's agency and Newcomb's management, every rebel northern mail route except one was destroyed. This one exception N. himself broke up, some time afterwards, in the following way. The destruction of this single line of rebel mail communi- THE FEMALE SPY. 299 cation had been attempted by Secretary Seward's agents, without success. Orders then came from Washington to Detective Newcomb to undertake the task ; and he pro- ceeded to St. Albans, Vt., and found by laying along this line, and "prospecting" cautiously, that the U. S. military agents on the railways, examined everybody who passed up and down, except nuns, who occasionally went to or fro, on their apparent missions of mercy and kindness. It then occurred to Newcomb that there were plenty of rebels afloat who were quite equal to " stealing the livery of heaven £o serve the Devil in," in this form, and possibly there might be among these strangers pretended " nuns," occasionally. So he insisted that all persons passing up or down should be examined. This was refused by the Agents. " Then I will take the responsibility, and examine them myself," said Newcomb. To this they demurred, and N. threatened, with the " guard " he had, to arrest every man in the trains, but he would examine into this " nun " business. He did so. He went to Montreal, there spotted a pre- tended " gray nun," whom he saw leave St. Lawrence Hall Hotel. He followed her to a dwelling house (not a Con- vent) and soon afterwards, saw four persons attired as nuns, start from this house to the Depot, for New York ! Newcomb went in the same train. The military agents " passed " them, all right. Newcomb said they must be examined. The others complained that this was an out- rage. He insisted, and shortly afterwards, upon searching them, found large quantities of rebel mail-matter concealed about the persons of every one of them ! He arrested this quartette, reported the facts at Washing- ton, and this was the last of the regular rebel mail-carrying between Canada and thcsouth. This final creditable action 300 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. of Mr. Newcomb. had the desired effect, and stopped this business, in toto, thenceforward. An order came from the Secretary of War, to search all suspected travellers, there- after, without exception ; and thus the desired end was reached, effectually. To Lady Monteith, however, Mr. Newcomb was largely indebted for continual hints and valuable suggestions freely given by her, subsequently to her arrest, touching all these interesting points. He availed himself of these, hints, and, through her straightforward, honorable conduct, thence- forward, lie was able to accomplish what he had fop mouths been studiously aiming to arrive at. The lady was acquainted in Wall Street. Her father died, and left her his fortune. She put her surplus money into valuable stocks and real estate in New York, and finally settled in this country permanently, having been married fortunately and happily, a few years ago, to an American gentleman, and they now reside in New York State, in good style, not far distant from the metropolis. She kept her word, honorably, in the end, and her informa- tion proved of great value to the U. S. Government, in Mr. Newcomb's hands. CHARLES E. ANCHISI, OPERATIVE, U. S. SECRET SERVICE. The portrait of Mr. Charles B. Anchisi, of Col. Whitley's force, will be found at page 310. This gentleman was born at Novara, Italy, in the year 1836, and acquired his educa- tion at that place. After completing his' academic course, he studied law two years in the office of his father, a promi- nent lawyer and Italian Advocate. In 1854, Mr. Anchisi enlisted in the Italian Army, and went to the Crimean war, where he remained in that service over two years. He was at the battle of Cernaia, and at the famous siege of Sebastopol ; serving there with distinction in the Italian Eegular Army. He entered it as a private, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant Major, for gal- lantry on the field of battle. Upon returning home with the Army of Expedition, in the spring of 1859, he was promoted to a second Lieutenancy, served as such during the war of France and Italy against Austria, and at the battles of Palestro and Solferino, and at the close of the campaign was promoted to be a first Lieu- tenant. In November, 1861, Mr. Anchisi emigrated to the United States, and took up his residence at Staten Island, following 301 302 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. the business of a travelling agent for various New York houses. During this time, he was commended to Secretary Stanton as a gentleman in whom the most implicit reliance could be placed, and who possessed the requisite nerve, talent, and daring to enter the rebel lines, and obtain infor- mation as to .the movements of the enemy. Secretary Stanton was glad to avail himself, at this period, of the services of competent and loyal men, in this arduous and trying capacity, and Anchisi's services were employed ' under the War Department orders for fourteen months. He was engaged in proceeding to and from the rebel capitol, and succeeded, through his peculiar adroitness and apt address, in gaining the confidence of some of the leading spirits of the rebellion ; from whom he obtained information of the utmost value to the Government, and the cause of the Union. After the termination of our war, Mr. Anchisi returned to New York city, and became again engaged in mercantile pursuits, which lie continued in for nearly two years. In 1868, he was employed as an Assistant Operative in the U. S. Secret Service, and was especially detailed to break up the Italian gang of Counterfeiters in this country. In this work he succeeded so admirably as to gain the highest encomiums from his superiors. Col. Whitley, who is a competent judge of men and their characteristics, is never slow to recognize and appreciate genuine merit. He saw that Mr. Anchisi possessed the elements of a first class Detective officer, and early in '69 promoted him to the rank of a commissioned Operative in the S. S. Division. In April, 1871, he was detailed by Col. Whitley to look after a band of dastardly criminals who had their head- quarters at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and who had among their CHARLES E. ANCHISI. 303 number the most expert counterfeiters, cracksmen, and burglars in the American West. Their nefarious operations extended over a wide field in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. Information concerning their in- famous depredations and evil doings reached Col. W., from various quarters, and with his customary energy he decided upon despatching a trusty, vigilant and competent officer to look to this business — selecting Anchisi to proceed to Port Wayne and ferret them out. The details of Mr. A.'s success in 'this arduous and im- portant undertaking, will be found in the succeeding chapter of this work — which particulars will be read with thrilling interest. Mr. Anchisi is a fine looking, gentlemanly personage, of very agreeable address, and goodly appearance. His head is bald, as will be noticed in his portrait, but his pleasant and even features make up for the premature loss of his hair. He is easy in manners and conversation, an im- pulsive, nervous man at times, like most men of his national- ity, and is an excellent linguist — speaking and writing Italian, French, and Buglish with fluency and grammatical accuracy. His success among the Italian counterfeiters has been little short of wonderful. He has made himself thoroughly acquainted with all their haunts, throughout the country, and from his unceasing vigilance, thev. have latterly found their multifarious operations everywhere checkmated. Mr. A.'s gentlemanly habits have endeared him to all who have intercourse with him, officially and socially, and while he is — in his peculiar sphere — one of the most valuable men in Col. Whitley's force, he is acknowledged on all sides to be as keen, as apt, and as thorough in the performance of his duties, as any Operative in the Service. THE FORT WAYNE GANG. A. WHOLESALE SMASH-UP. SAM RIVERS, HARRY HOMER, PHILLABAUM, etc. In the month of April, 1871, during the investigations of the Detectives detailed by Col. Whitley to look into the matter of alleged counterfeiting in the State of Ohio, and in consequence of the important arrests made by these officials, there, among whom notably were James M. Bis- sell, of Alliance, W. H. Bair, Andrew Bair, Geo. Fedich, and Ed. Ely, of Vanwort, J. T. Hickman, Chris. Brady, G. W. Showeu, and Wm. Showen, of Marion ; — being a nest of retail dealers and shovers of counterfeit money — the discovery was made by Detective Anchisi, of the grand prime source whenccall these criminals obtained their sup- plies. This source was found to have its headquarters located at Fort Wayne, Iud., and the officers proceeded to that point promptly, to work up one of the biggest jobs in this nefarious line, ever undertaken in the western country. It was deemed requisite first to find nut who the parties were who composed this " Fort Wayne Gang ; " and it was 304 THE FORT WAYNE G^iNG. 305 ascertained that Sam Rivers, Harry Homer, Jean Philla- baum, Ed. Kesler, (alias Boyer,) Thomas Lang, Prank Lang, Isaac Lang, and Ed. Wilson were the principals in this company of knaves. An Assistant Detective was placed by Mr. Anchisi in communication with them, who disguised himself as a brother-thief and escaped convict ; who introduced himself to the gang, and was readily received by them as one of the fraternity : having first been taken to the nearest graveyard, at midnight, and compelled upon a tomb-stone to take what is known as the " thieves' oath " never to divulge the secrets he might learn of their infamous doings. The " western grip " of fellowship was then given him, and this disguised Detective (or .informer) entered into their confidences, without further hindrance or difficulty. This! informer continued in the society of those rogues for two months, bought coney of Phillabaum and others, met them frequently, and learned the details of their business successfully ; keeping a record and constantly communica- ting to Anchisi the particulars of his progress. While successful operations were still going on in Ohio, a watchful eye was kept upon the Port Wayne Gang. At the expiration of about two months, the time arrived to make an active movement for the capture of this horde of offenders. First, the Ohio parties named herein were provided for ; the arrest of the whole number having been secured by Mr. Anchisi. And keeping this fact out of the public newspapers, he proceeded to ensnare the others. Knowing that one of the Port Wayne Gang (Ed. Kesler) had proposed through A.'s Assistant (who was personating the newly arrived thief amongst them) to go to one Greene, of Cleveland, for a fresh supply of coney, he directed his Assistant to join in that trip ; and accordingly he left Fort 306 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. Wayne with Kesler, for Cleveland. They met Greene, together ; but he was out of a supply. Unfortunately for Kesler, he had in Ms possession some counterfeits, which he was systematically " shoving," as he travelled, to defray expenses, &c. Greene could not be taken, because he then had no coney about him, but Kesler was at once arrested by Anchisi. This was the opening wedge into the Fort Wayne affair. Anchisi then left Cleveland for Fort Wayne. There he learned that Eli Brown, one of the gang, had gone to Chi- cago. Mr. Lonergan, of the U. S. Detective officers, was instructed to secure this man. Lonergan then detailed an Assistant to approach Brown, and buy some counterfeit money of him.* He succeeded in this, and" Brown was then promptly arrested, in Chicago. Anchisi then received information that Sam Rivers and Harry Homer (two of the gang) had been at Kokomo, Ind., at the farmhouse of the Lang family, and that they had started upon a thieving tour about the country. Soon after, they turned up at Chicago, where they sold their plunder, and with the proceeds of these sales, they bought burglar's tools, preparatory to an excursion to Elmyra, N. Y., where they had formed a plan to " crack " a National Bank. The U. S. Detective, Anchisi, watched all their movements very closely, and deemed it best to send an Assistant Officer, (Wm. H. Butts) to Toledo, with instructions from Anchisi to watch all trains coming to Toledo from Chicago — and to telegraph results. On the morning of the 24th of June, *It may be stated here that the mere act of purchasing counterfeit money, does not constitute an offence against the U. S. Laws ; the having such counterfeits in posses- sion, with guilty intent, forms the crime. U. S. officers having such money in their hands, in this way, do not (under the laws) become particeps criminis, at all, be- cause there is no intent, on their part, to " utter, publish, or sell," but to obtain evi- dence to convict the guilty sdhr of it. THE PORT WAYNE GANG. ' 307 V 1871, Mr. A., who was at Cleveland, then, received a tele- gram from Futts, saying, " All hands on board, to-day." Procuring the aid of the Cleveland Police, who extended to Mr. Anchisi all possible facilities — he knowing well what a desperate gang he was now dealing with — on arrival of the train from Toledo, where Butts was on board, jumped into the cars, before they had fairly halted, and with B.'s assistance secured Harry Homer and Sam Rivers, two of the worst and most reckless of this " Fort Wayne Gang." These two leaders being safely in hand, Anchisi searched them, and found a complete set of fine burglarious tools upon their persons, about $3,000 in coney, of all denominations — $5's, $10's, $20's, $50's and flOO's, and upon each, a pair of loaded Colts' revolvers, with plenty of cartridges in reserve. A letter was also found on Sam Eivers, mailed at Kokomo, Lid., addressed to hiin at Chicago, from Prank Lang (another of the clan) in which he proposed to join in the Bank-cracking enterprise at Elmyra, N. Y., and should Rivers agree to this, he desired him to say, by telegraph, '■'■Jim is sick. Come up." This was to be signed " Sam." Anchisi instantly saw his advantage, and proceeding directly to the telegraph-office, he sent to Frank Lang at Kokomo, this despatch : " Jim is sick. Come up. Sam." At same time, Anchisi sent another despatch to Cha's. Betckel, Marshal of Kokomo, as follows : " Watch move- ments of Frank Lang, and if he takes train, follow him, and telegraph me." It chanced that both the Marshal and Lang received their two despatches in Kokomo, at the same moment. So the Marshal followed Anchisi's instructions, and instantly " shadowed " Frank Lang, who went to his brother's (Isaac) farm, three miles distant, and out into a field there, where he at once dug up a large tin box, while the Marshal, 308 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. concealed in the underbrush, close by, saw him take from this box a package, which Lang put into his inside coat- pocket, replaced the box in the •earth, covered it up again and started back for the Depot, whence he left by the night train, for Cleveland, of course in response to " Sam's " despatch ; and dutifully followed by the Marshal on the same train, who had disguised himself, carefully — since he was well known to Lang. The Marshal sent to Anchisi this despatch, just before starting : " Am on train, with your man. On arrival at Cleveland, you will recognize me, on front car-platform with white handkerchief in my hand." The distance from Kokomo, Ind., to Cleveland, Ohio, is about twenty hours' travel, by rail. On the following evening, Frank came in, duly ; Anchisi was in the Depot, saw the Marshal's " white 'kerchief," as he pointed Lang out to him — who, at the moment, was evidently looking about the place eagerly for " Sam," who had sent him the tele- gram. And he found " Sam," very suddenly. Or, rather, " Sam" found him! Anchisi, in an instant of time, had a pair of iron handcuffs upon Mr. Frank Lang's wrists, and he was a fast prisoner. He remonstrated stoutly at this rough and unceremonious reception ; exclaiming, " what is this for ? I am an officer of the law. What do you mean ? Here is my badge of office." And the prisoner showed his shield, upon his vest. (He was actually a constable, at Kokomo). But Anchisi searched and found a loaded revolver upon him, and a considerable amount in $10 counterfeit " green- backs ; " and, in explanation, he stated that he " found these in the cars." This wouldn't do, with one of Col. Whitley's men ! He was locked up, the matter was kept CHARLES E. ANCHISI, OPERATIVE, CENTRAL DISTRICT, TJ. S. Seckkt Service Division. [See page 301. THE FOET WAYNE GANG. . 311 from the press for the hour, and the Express train of the same evening took Anchisi, one of his Assistants, and the Marshal back to Kokomo. At this juncture it was important to obtain evidence against Isaac Lang (the brother) and Thomas Lang (the father of the prisoner,) well known counterfeiters, before Frank's arrest should become public. To effect this, Anchisi despatched his " informer " to Lang's farm. This person, be it remembered, was the pretended thief, who had joined the gang a few months before, as we have described. He was instructed to go to the Langs, at Kokomo, and buy some counterfeit money of them, if he could. On the way to Lang's farm, he met the old man — Thomas. -He found no difficulty in thus getting from the father What he had on his person, but he told the old man he wanted more. " Go to my son, at the house ; and he will furnish you with all you want," said the old gent. The informer went, got f 200 in the same kind of coun- terfeit $10 greenbacks, saw Ed. Wilson at the farm, who also had plenty of the same style of stuff, and who bade Lang and the supposed thief good-bye, with the statement that he was bound to Chicago, to "shove" his supplv. And he left Kokomo, that night. Anchisi was now about within reach, and he telegraphed to Lonergan, U. S. Detec- tive at Chicago, who arrested Ed. Wilson, on his arrival there, with the coney in his possession, and locked him up at once. On the following day, Anchisi with his Assistant, and the Marshal, took a team and went to the Lang farm, through the woods. On reaching the house, he immediately seized young Isaac, and handcuffed him, and then arrested the old man. A search was made around the spot where 13 812 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. the tin box was supposed to have been re-buried, but though the ground was all dug over, for hours, no token of the box appeared. Yet Anchisi continued hopeful, and he did not give up the expectation to possess himself of this coveted article. He took these two prisoners to a railway station beyond Kokomo, left them in charge of his Assistant, and returned, himself, to Kokomo, since he saw the necessity of making no stir in that place, just yet, in reference to these two impor- tant arrests. There, quietly, he immediately arrested Jacob Maas, another " shover " of this clan, and left, with this third prisoner, to join the others, all of whom were now to be taken to Indianapolis, necessarily. Before he left, be arranged with a Deputy of the Marshal to have Lang's farm studiously watched ; and that night, about one o'clock, two men came near the bouse into a corn- field, and commenced to dig up the earth. The officer, with his revolver in hand, called them to halt ; but they fled, as he fired upon them. He then went to the spot where they had been digging, and unearthed the desired tin box which was found to contain $ 9,000 in the counterfeits already de- scribed, and also near by, six sets of new harnesses, four- teen gold rings, twelve gold watches, silks, and other fine goods — the proceeds of various robberies lately committed by this gang, in that region. All this property ultimately reached the hands of its owners, again. Then Anchisi proceeded to Port Wayne, with his Assist- ant, where he sought to secure the notorious Jean Philla- baum, whom he had had his eye on, from the first, but whom he was compelled to leave to the last, on account of the current developments that occurred during .this long series of extensive operations. But at Port Wayne, he found, to his regret, that this bird had flown, on account of THE FORT WAYNE GANG. 313 the articles that had heen published in the Kokomo papers, unfortunately. Anchisi was not to be beaten in this business however, although he knew that Phillabaum had friends, and many of them — especially amongst the Police and private Detective forces at Fort Wayne. So he fell back upon his " re- served rights," and planned again, in patient hopefulness. Suddenly, all the U. S. Detectives disappeared from that place, so far as the public eye was concerned. But at this time, there appeared on the tapis, a polite French gentle- man, who was an entire stranger to everybody there ; who took board, and expressed his readiness to teach his native language there, if he could procure pupils. He remained nearly two weeks, but could get no scholars, and one evening, on going to the Post-Office, this gentleman saw a buggy come out from a livery stable, kept by one Jim Barr, a noted counterfeiter, and intimate friend of Phillabaum. In this buggy there were seated Mr. Phillabaum and his brother-in-law. They drove away leisurely, and close be- hind them, there followed a man, who kept near them, not- withstanding he was on foot. Half a mile away, they stopped in front of a store, and called out, " Andy." This Andy came out, and recognizing Phillabaum, said, " For God's sake, Phillabaum, what are you doing here ? Don't you know that Fort Wayne is full of Whitley's U. S. Detectives ? " " Oh, pshaw ! " said Phillabaum, " I know better than that. I've been on the lookout. While they watch us, I watch them. They have gone — all hands. And, besides this, I'd like to see the TJ. S. Detective that will dare to trouble me, with this ! " and he drew forth a new revolver, which he had that day purchased. Andy said " you'd better keep a sharp .eye out, and take care of yourself, though." 314 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. They separated, the vehicle went on a quarter of a mile further, and stopped at a country-house. Phillabaum alight- ed, entered the yard by the gate, and tried the door, but the occupants were absent. He returned leisurely towards the gate. Meanwhile, the strange man who had followed the vehicle on foot, thus far, was close by, in the darkness, and had overheard the above conversation, throughout. As Phillabaum placed his hand upon the wicket, to pass out the gate to the buggy, and before he had had the oppor- tunity to breathe a second time, he found a pair of iron handcuffs fastened to his wrists, in the darkness, and he was a prisoner, in the hands of the person who had followed him, upon this ride, who turned out to be the quiet French gentleman who proposed to teach the languages at Port Wayne, and who was in reality Mr. Anchisi, of the U. S. Secret Service Division ; who had been upon this " scoun- drel's " track for over two long months ! The brother-in-law, in the buggy, said to P., " what does it mean ? " " I don't know," said Phillabaum. " Come down!" said the Detective, to the man in the vehi- cle. And as he stepped out, Anchisi seized him, threw him to the ground, forced P. into the wagon, and jumping in himself, drove off, with his prisoner, in triumph — leaving the astounded brother-in-law to pick himself up. This arrest caused great surprise. It was the lastof the Fort Wayne Gang. Phillabaum was at once taken to the County jail, and thence removed to Indianapolis by Anchisi. The result of these two months expedition was the cap- ture, first and last, of twenty-four desperate counterfeiters, burglars, thieves, and highway robbers — and the seizure of more than $25,000 in counterfeit money, as well as burglars' tools, stolen property, a nice set of $5 greenback THE FORT WAYNE GANG. 315 plates, etc., etc., the whole planning of which, and the carry- ing it out to complete success, was managed by Mr. Ohas. E. Anchisi, under Col. Whitley's direction ; an achievement which is but one of many accomplished, during his term of service, by this able and skillful operative. Matthew A. Boyd, of New Cumberland, 0., was about the same time captured. - This dangerous man was one of the very last secured by the U. S. Detectives, in this general raid on the counterfeiters there. A large quantity of "coney" was found upon him. He had carried on an • enormous wholesale business, in this line, furnishing the " queer " to hundreds of boodle-men, and the smaller carriers, who distributed their supplies, thus obtained, throughout the entire west, in every direction. Boyd had a rendezvous at Zoar Station (near New Phil- adelphia) and here he met his numerous patrons from time to time, and made his " deals." He had for over twenty years escaped capture, and had given the local authorities an immense amount of trouble. It was said that he had been on very good terms with many public men, and also with the Cleveland police — years ago — whereby he was enabled to dodge awest, and riot in his wickedness for so long a period, unmolested. But he made one deal too many, and went up, with the rest of the gang — all of whom were safely " put away," at last. This entire batch of ruffians and counterfeiters were brought to trial, convicted, and were consigned to the State Prisons in the West, upon sentences varying from three and five to ten years each. A more adroitly conducted and advantageous enterprise, from conception to finality, can not be found in the annals of the U. S. Secret Service. THE STATEN ISLAND GANG. UNITED STATES REVENUE STAMP COUNTERFEITING. Some time in the summer of 1869, information reached Col. Whitley, of the U. S. Service Division, that a new counterfeit Tobacco stamp was being put upon the market, which was described as a very perfect imitation of the genuine, and a dangerous one. One of the Chief's Detec- tives was at once detailed to work up this case, with orders to move promptly and report as soon as possible, to head- quarters. The Detective succeeded, after a few weeks of constant application and manceuvering, to ingratiate himself into the' good fellowship of a man named John Breme, a German, who bore the reputation of being an old counterfeiter, but who did not know the disguised Detective — who repre- sented himself as a Hebrew, and a merchant or rather a manufacturer of tobacco in the West, who had come to New York as an extensive dealpr therein, and who was ready for any speculation that turned up. Breme introduced the Detective to one Walker; who, 316 THE STATEN ISLAND GANG. 317 after due caution in responding to the Detective's approaches, quietly showed him the above mentioned new counterfeit 601bs. tobacco stamp, which had been got up expressly for the Southern market.. Of course the pretended western Tobacco dealer wanted to buy some of them. They were just what he wanted. And having proceeded thus far with Mr. Walker, the disguised Detective reported to the Chief, and it was at once concluded to purchase a quantity of these bogus stamps, (which were really very finely executed) at twenty-five cents on the dollar of the amount they repre- sented. There was at this time a clan of counterfeiters, some of whom were known to the force, in and near New York city, whom Col. Whitley had had his eye on for some time. This combination of choice spirits embraced Col. Bob Clark, Hart L. Pierce, John Rippon, et als., and the attention of the officers was turned upon this crew with zeal and de- termination to smoke them out. Col. " Bob Clark " was Col. of the 13th N. Y. Regiment of Vols., in the late rebellion, and served with distinguished credit through the war. He was an elegant looking man, wore a fierce mustache, a la Napoleon III., and was really altogether distingud in his personal manners and general appearance. His portrait will be found at page B88. Hart L. Pierce was a first class engraver, located in Nassau Street, New York, and formerly worked for the Bank Note Companies. He was a most excellent artisan, and executed " fine " work in the highest style of the art. Reuben Carpenter, who resided in Cambridgeport, Mass., was also a good engraver of vignettes, and had his rooms in Bromfield Street, Boston, where he was very favorably t:nown. He was naturally a very good citizen, but " fell from grace," through bad associations, in which he got 318 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. entangled, and was corrupted by huge bribes, at last. He was unlucky in many ways, and suffered from domestic disasters, which hurt him. John Rippon was a plate-printer, a most excellent work- man, and he resided upon Staten Island, N. Y. He was an Englishman, by birth, and his house was the head-quarters for the " Staten Island Gang." William Kempton was his associate printer, and a superior press-man. He lived with Rippon, on the Island. He was formerly a sea-captain, an intelligent man, and a competent workman in his branch of trade. • Charles Henning and Charles Bonhack were partners, who carried on a large Match Factory iu the outskirts of Jersey City, and did a heavy business in this line of traffic. Volney Wright was a young man about town, a good looking fellow, and " a gentleman of leisure," who lived by his wits, and was the associate of flash " confidence men," and fast youths. Also, a seller of counterfeit money and bogus U. S. Internal Revenue stamps. There were some others connected with this " nice little party," but those above named, with "Col. Bob Clark at the head, were the principals in the gang whose brief history we include in this chapter, all of whom were " shadowed " faithfully, and arrested at about the same time. The " deal " arranged for the Tobacco stamps noted in the opening paragraphs of this article, namely, between Mr. Walker and the disguised Detective, calling himself Olbach, was agreed to be consummated at night iu a retired lager- beer saloon, on the east side of New York city. Before the hour of this intended meeting when the bogus stamps were to be duly delivered, a number of roughly dressed men found - their way promiscuously into this public saloon. Tliey were seemingly strangers to each other. One carried THE STATEN ISLAND GANG. 319 a valise, another a hat-box, &c, and were apparently ordi- nary travellers. Shortly afterwards, " Mr. Olbach," (the name assumed by the Detective) came in and sat down, and other strangers entered to meet Mr. 0. They moved about, drank lager freely, and some of them stepped outside. Then others, among the first travellers, went out, also. " Mr. Olbach " and one of his new-found friends were then walking outside. These were Breme Walker and the Detective — while other Detectives were close by on the watch. Olbach gave a signal (agreed on) which was understood by the other " travellers " that the stamps were there. In an instant the valises and hat box were dropped, and the disguised " travellers " threw their arms around this trio, and secured them. The bogus stamps, $4,000 worth, were found upon Walker's person — who, upon examination by Chief Whitley, at once " squealed " on Wright, and ar- ranged (in the interest of the authorities) to purchase more stamps, at once. This he did, and Wright was quickly " collared " with $ 6,000 worth of these stamps upon him. Wright then squealed on one Phil' Hardgrave, and agreed to make another " deal " with him, next morning early, at the corner of Amity and Mercer Streets. At the appointed time, Chief Whitley, who had supervised all the above op- erations in person, with six of his men, convened around the spot designated for this new deal, They were scattered about, and Hardgrave oame, as agreed on. Just before delivering the last stamps, when the Detectives were closing around him, Hardgrave, being an old bird, and- very wary, *' smelt a mice," and suddenly " tumbled to the job" and broke, like a quarter-horse — away, down the street, closely pursued hy the Chief and his men ! The Colonel, who proved fleetest of foot, took the lead iu this live- 320 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. ly stern-chase, his men falling behind in the race — and after running nine blocks, Hardgrave's wind gave out, and the Chief " collared " him and searched the fugitive, instanter ; but found no stamps upon him. He had dexterously thrown the package into a passing horse-car, as he fled — where they were afterwards found, §6,000 worth ; and must have been the same that he had brought with him to the street corner, for Wright. Hardgrave was " fly " enough to know he couldn't be convicted, if the stamps were not found on his person ; and so he thus deftly got rid of them. Nobody put a hand on Hardgrave as he ran, for he shouted " stop thief ! " louder than any one in the crowd. And after his arrest, he refused to squeal on anybody ; since he knew, under the circumstances, that he was not " dead to rights." He would own up to nothing ; and in consequence of his course in ridding himself of the bogus, at the right moment, the thread of this " stamp-counterfeiting " job was broken off — and the men issuing them (the grand head source whence they originated) was not reached, at that time. Then commenced what is technically known among Detec- tives as the " piping " process, under Whitley's directions. For three months Hardgrave and others suspected of being concerned in this ^ transaction were duly " shadowed," and every kind of device was resorted to, to trap the- lively scoundrels, whom Col. W. was satisfied were engaged in this work. But, for a while, without success. At length, on the 30th of October, 186P, Col. Whitley, his Chief Assistant, Mr. Nettleship, and W. W. Applegate, called at No. 39 Nassau Street, New York ; and mounting to the fourth story of those premises, in a room near the sky, they found Hart L. Pierce, whose place had long been watched. The Colonel entered first, clapped his hand on Hart's shoulder, and said, " I am Chief of the U. S. Secret THE STATEN ISLAND GANG. 321 Service. I want you." Pierce turned deadly pale, and the Chief ordered his Assistants to make a thorough search of the apartment, and this man's person — which resulted in the capture of a $3 counterfeit manifest stamp-plate, which was taken from Pierce's bosom. Upon this, Pierce came down, and owned that he with the aid of one Reuben Carpenter, of Boston, had cut the 601b. tobacco stamp-plate, this manifest plate, and several other bogus U. S. Revenue stamp-plates ; and also ' that Carpenter was then engaged in engraving a counterfeit $1000 U. S. Bond plate. He added that the further printing of the tobacco stamps had been suspended; that printers were then busy at work at Staten Island, upon Match- stamps, in quantity ; and that this stamp was being issued under the sole manipulation of Col. Robert B. Clark. This was the first intimation had that Clark was implicated in this business — for he was a well appearing man, and had given no cause for such suspicions. Col. Clark's room was at 317 East thirteenth Street. A visit was paid to his premises, and the place was immediate- ly searched — where upwards of fifty thousand bogus Revenue stamps (of all denominations and for different purposes) were discovered, and seized, among them 601b. tobacco stamps. Col. Clark was arrested, and all this was kept . from the newspapers, for prudential reasons. Chief Whitley then took Hart L. Pierce with him to Boston. Pierce there pointed out the engraver Carpenter to him. Having secured the aid of two Boston police Detec- tives, Messrs. Heath and Jones — well known at the East for their ready tact and shrewdness in this work — he went for Carpenter, and found him steadily at work, upon legiti- mate engraving. And upon being confronted with Pierce, Carpenter denied all knowledge of his accusations. The 322 UNITED STATES SECEET SERVICE. Chief took him aside, and after an earnest exhortation and appeal to him — this man came down, fairly, and gave up the $1000 5.20 bond plate — elegantly done — but not yet completed. He also frankly gave other information, which led directly to the capture of a most exquisitely engraved $10 National Bank note plate (referred to in our article on the "Romance of Crime," see page 156). This was just completed, and was being printed from. Through Carpenter's acknowledgements, Chief Whitley was also put upon a trail, which being communicated to Detective Philip Parley of the New York Police force, whose aptness in the performance of his. duties is so well known and appreciated, everywhere, was followed by the securing of a perfect imitation $1,000 Central Pacific Rail- way Bond, just finished. The parties in this job were so closely followed up by Parley, even out to England, that none were printed from this plate. The guilty men could not be arrested there, but Parley got the plate, brought it back, and delivered it to the Rail Road company, duly. Carpenter was now brought from Boston to New York, by Col. W., where he confessed to having engraved some of this stamp work. Then Whitley took some Aids and went, with Pierce, to Stateji Island, the next day (Sunday,) where he made a raid upon the bogus printing establishment. Pierce pointed out a secluded house in the woods, and the .Detectives suddenly pounced upon it. They " went through it," and found a printing-press up stairs, with inks, paper, &c, and below a large fine perforating press ; but no coun- terfeit stamps were discovered there. Rippon occupied this house, and here the Chief's magnetic power was exerted to induce this man to own up. But he stood out against the influence. R.'s wife stuck by him, closely.. Then the Chief took Rippon out into the lot near THE STATBN ISLAND «ANG. 323 the house, and wrestled, struggled, preached and talked to him, and partially conquered him. But returning to the house, one glance of the wife, who controlled him, strangely, silenced the repentant uprising of the poor devil's good inten- tions ! They went out again ; again he promised to reveal ; they returned, and again the wife fiercely stared him out of his temporary good resolution. And so for four long weary hours, did Whitley plead with this contrite man. In the wife's presence nothing could be done. Out of doors, once more, and at him again,, went the Col. in earn- est, and hopefully. He felt confident that he could van- quish him — and at length Rippon indicated that what the Colonel sought was buried near the house. A spade was thrust into his tremulous hand. He led the way to the garden. Then walking about, he struck the spade into the ground — heard his wife's warning voice (who watched him) and dropped the implement, instanter ! He " could not do it," he said. Indeed he " didn't know where the property was." The Chief now called his men, they dug zealously, a while, and then struck a stout tin box 12 by 18 inches square, which, on being taken up, was found to contain all the plates, dies, and rolls, for printing the match stamps — and this box was also filled with the bogus stamps. A plate marked " Benona Howard " upon it, was also found. This plate developed the fact that this man had two years previously carried on an extensive Match Factory, and had used bogus stamps in his business. He was some months afterwards arrested, the bogus plates on which he printed his originally used stamps were found, with all his paraphernalia, which were promptly captured ; he was in- dicted, and is now awaiting his trial in the U. S. Court, under heavy bail. To sum up the results of Chief Whitley's operations with 324 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. this clan, we conclude by stating that Rippon and Kempton were then arrested at Staten Island — all further attempts at concealment of their iniquity having been completely frustrated, though the ardent Colonel found this final scene the hardest talking-bout he ever encountered ; and the pris- oners were removed into close custody. The wife of Rippon was the keenest, shrewdest and sharpest of this twain, and proved herself a difficult customer to manage, throughout the tedious ordeal through which the Detectives passed, in that last tortuous scene. Rippon shortly " squealed" on Henningand Bonhack, the match factory partners. It turned out that Rippon was to deliver these stamps to his employer, Ool. Bob Clark, by agreement. But R. had, sub rosa, a customer of his own to whom he desired to sell them — thus purposing to cheat Clark out of what belonged to him. Col. Whitley then went over to Jersey and seized the Match Factory, and arrested Henning and Bonhack, both of whom were convicted and consigned to the State Prison there, promptly ; the carrying out of the laws in the New Jersey Courts being a far more expeditious and righteous process than that pursued in many of the New York Courts. The Factory was forfeited to the Government, sold out, and the proceeds passed into the United States Treasury. The 601b. and other bogus stamp cases were followed up vigorously by Col. Whitley's men to Richmond, Va., and several other important seizures, arrests, and convictions of similar criminals, were made soon after this clan were pro- vided for. Col. Bob Clark was tried, but attempted to suborn a wit- ness who intended to swear from his own knowledge that the accusations against Clark had been a " put-up job" on him. This fact was learned by Col. W. in season to squelch THE STATEN ISLAND GANG. 325 this testimony out. The prisoner then tried the insanity dodge, and was pronounced perfectly sane, after competent medical examination. But all would not serve or save him ! He was sentenced for five years to the State Prison at Albany, where he is now established, for the present. Car- penter was " put away " similarly. Henning and Bonhack, of the Match Factory, followed suit, and are now in the Penitentiary. Wright is now waiting his turn, for trial. And Pierce and Bippon were used as Government witnesses. This combination of talented rogues thus went up — entire. And, through the persistent exertions of Col. Whitley, this crowd, and a dozen others, of lesser note, were all torn out from their secret hiding-places, where they had for years been busily occupied in cheating and defrauding the U. S. Government, and have found a place of safety, where, fortunately for the public good, they will not here- after be led, or lead others, into temptation. And so ends the vile machinations and arch plottings of the " Staten Island Gang." "EASY ROBERTS," OF OHIO. THE SANCTIMONIOUS, " I do the wrong. The secret mischiefs that I set a-broach, I lay unto the grevious charge of others, But then I sigh, and, with a piece of Scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil ! And thus I clothe my naked villainy With old odd ends stol'n forth of holy writ, And seem a saint, when most I play the devil." Shakspbake. The first $ 2 counterfeit National Bank Note of New York, was discovered and traced by one of Col. Whitley's Detec- tives, Mr. Cha's. B. Anchisi, to the possesssion of a sancti- monious and outwardly " pious " individual in the town of Salineville, in the State of Ohio. This pretended saint, who made great show of his own sanctity and a corresponding admiration of the good morals of his neighbors and acquaintances (of whom he had a goodly number) and who was deemed a pattern of godliness and propriety, resided in the town named above, which is located upon the Cleveland and Pittsburg railroad, about thirty miles from Albion, 0. 320 "EASY ROBERTS," OF OHIO. 327 His name was E. Z. Roberts. He was better known as " Easy Roberts " from his naturally free and careless man- ners in ordinary intercourse. He was endowed with rare business talents, and always appeared to be a zealous and virtuous Christian. The office he held in connection with the coal mines of the " Cleveland Iron Company," of which he was the Superintendent, was a lucrative and very responsible position ; through the performance of the duties of which he was brought constantly into contact with many business men. This office was one which required not only superior talents to manage properly, but especially de- manded that only an honest, upright man should hold the place. Heavy sums of money were continually entrusted to the superintendent's hands, to pay off the laborers and employes of the Company. His name was well known among coal men, far and near, who had occasion to treat witli him frequently, and for years he had been highly esteemed as a model of integrity and good intentions. Roberts is about fifty years old. He owns the land in which these coal mines are located. He is wealthy, has a nice orderly family, is a man of great influence, (or has been) and has always been looked upon, in that district, as a highly respectable, religious; exemplary individual. When the explosion suddenly occurred which we proceed to give the details of, the whole community were shocked at the revelations made ; which disgust was greatly intensi- fied, when they remembered the past life of this pretended " pious " rascal ! Mr. Cha's. E. Anchisi, of Col. Whitley's Division, was put upon this job by his Chief, and he proceeded carefully and adroitly to work it up. The high standing of the per- son he started to pursue, rendered this a difficult affair to SIMEON B. BENSON, CHIEF OPERATIVE, U. S. S. S. D., DIST. OP PENN'A. This gentleman, whose portrait faces page 336, is a native of Waterford, Pa., a small town fourteen miles from Erie, Pa. This spot abounds in interesting historical reminis- cences. In 1756 a French fort was located there, and it was to this place that. General Geo. Washington came, by order of Gov. Dinwiddie, (then Governor of Virginia,) to warn the French troops to leave the place, and not encroach farther upon English territory. Out of this grew the war which resulted in the memorable Braddock's defeat. Mr. Benson passed his earlier years in the lovely romantic village of Waterford, which had been selected by the State of Pennslyvania as the most appropriate spot in which to locate and endow an Academy, which is still flourishing there, and is now considered one of the finest educational institutions of its class in the great Key-stone State. The father of Mr. Benson was a wealthy farmer, and was able to give his son the advantages of an excellent educa- tion. He pursued his elementary studies at the Academy, after the conclusion of which young Benson entered the law-office of J. B. Johnson, Esq. a prominent counsellor SIMEON B. BENSON. 339 and attorney of Erie, Pa., where he read law up to the breaking out of the rebellion, in the year 1861, when he entered the Union army. He was commissioned a first Lieutenant, and was detailed as Quartermaster of Col. John M'cLean's "Brie Regiment," which had been organized under the first call of President Lincoln for 75,000 volun- teers, to serve three months. Mr. Benson subsequently assisted in raising and organiz- ing the 83d Pennsylvania Regiment, and was in readiness to proceed with that gallant command to the front, when he unexpectedly received notice from the War Department at Washington to hold himself under orders for future special duty. Mr. B. having evinced extraordinary acuteness in dis- covering various frauds attempted to be perpetrated by certain Government Contractors, and the certainty with which he had turned up the machinations of various plotters against the interests of the U. S. Government, had com- mended him to the notice of the Washington authorities, who placed him at once in the Secret Service of the "War Department — detailed for duty upon the Pennsylvania and Maryland borders. ' He was noted for his intrepidity and daring, constantly, and he was successful in gathering valuable information of the movements of the enemy, at that period. His reports to head-quarters, which were remarkable for their accuracy and extraordinary minuteness of detail, proved very satis- factory. He continued thus engaged until the close of the rebellion, when he returned to Waterford, where he re- mained managing his late father's handsome estate, which fell to him at his parent's decease, until the time when Col. H. C. Whitley assumed charge of the U. S. Secret Service Division of the Treasury Department, 340 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. •a Mr. Benson chanced to be in Washington, at this time, and unsolicited by himself, was tendered a commission in this Service, by Col. W. He accepted the position, and went vigorously to work in the Western District of Penn'a., meeting with great success in clearing out the hordes of counterfeiters who then infested that vicinity. He brought to his new position the advantages of prior Detective expe- rience in the Union Army, a sufficient knowledge of the laws to guide him safely in the more intricate and complicated cases liable to arise in detective life, and conducted the business intrusted to him with such energy and devotedness, as to induce Col. Whitley, voluntarily, to promote him to the rank of a Chief Operative,- with head-quarters at Phil- adelphia, where he is now officially established. Mr. Benson's success in his line of business is second to that of no operative on the force. He was the first man commissioned by Col. Whitley, and the results of his admirably conducted labors have proved a credit to the good judgment of the Chief, in selecting him for the Service. Through Mr. B.'s exertions, upwards of fifty offenders have been convicted and sent to the Penitentiary, for counterfeit- ing and violations of the U. S. Internal Revenue laws, among the most notable of whom may be mentioned " Mysterious Bob," whose career we have recorded, and whose various aliases of Lewy Roberts, Harry Harrison, and John B. Altic, will be remembered. It may be said that Mr. Benson's whole life and experi- ence has tended towards fitting him peculiarly for the voca- tion he is now engaged in. His natural powers of observa- tion are very remarkable. The most minute and insignifi- cant occurrences are seized upon by him, and turned to advantage, subsequently, in the course of his busy duties, and he is untiring in his work, in the sphere he at present so honorably and so faithfully occupies. SIMEON B. BENSON. 341 Exceedingly affable and pleasing in address, agreeable in his manners, and a most inimitable story-teller, he is able to disarm his object of all suspicion as to the real end he has in view — upon occasion — and to these good qualities is added his rare sound judgment, which serves him well, at all times, and under all circumstances. Mr. B. is now forty-five years old. He is a gentleman of thorough integrity and sterling character, possessed of ample pecuniary means, and pursues the profession of a Detective only from absolute choice, and the attractiveness of the business to his peculiar sympathies. THE GRE^T PHILADELPHIA BOODLE GAME. THE "CONFIDENCE MEN" ROUTED. About the time when Col. H. C. Whitley came into office at the head of the Secret Service Division, (in the spring of 1869,) there was then being extensively played in Philadel- phia and New York a noted " confidence " or swindling game, technically known to the Detectives and the Police authorities as the " $5 Boodle Game," which in reality is but another name or phase in counterfeiting, though a very dangerous branch of this infamous traffic. It was ascertained that there were engaged in this busi- ness Col. L. J. Sherman, A. J. Wightman, Win. B. Grover, old Johnny Hart, Frank Mackay, and some others — those above mentioned being the chief offenders and prime movers of the gang, the named conspirators in which led off in this " boodle game " — which is played with the following points, to wit : — First, one of the clan, who must be a glib and skillful talker, is deputed to ingratiate himself into the good graces of some person who is known to possess ready cash means, 342 GREAT PHILADELPHIA BOODLE CASE. 343 and who may be desirous to make more money, easily ; while he shall not be over-scrupulous as to the manner in which this may be effected. It is necessary that the talker approaches his chosen victim cautiously and indifferently, but still persistently, until he gets his confidence, and can show him clearly " how he can make his pile, if he is as smart as the average." Having made himself favorably kuown to this second party, the good " talker " then inadvertently drops the re- mark, at the right moment, that he " has just met with a big thing ; " which he then confidentially proceeds to dis- close the character of, " all on the square, you know, of course — and mum's the word." The proposed victim sees his chanee, and " will go in — if he can enter on the ground- floor ; " which privilege is promised him. But all very quiet, and secret, every time. And this " big thing " the talker thus explains to his anxious friend, who has a thou- sand or two dollars of the " ready," which he desires to make two or three or five of, at the earliest convenient moment. " I've just run foul of some men " says the first one, " who, through some means, I don't know how, have pos- sessed themselves of certain genuine U. S. Government plates, from which they are printing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they are selling these bills for fifty cents on the dollar, in quantity. The business is somewhat risky, of course — but what speculative business is not? " The bait thus charily thrown out, is snapped at by the intended dupe, but he is cautious, yet. " Have you seen any of these bills ? " he asks. " 0, yes. You can bet your life I don't let this sort o' thing pass me. Here, look ! I've had one lick at 'em, already. See." 344 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. And the talker produces a dozen or two clean bright $5 genuine Greenback notes, from his well filled pocket-book. " Are you a judge of money ? " asks the talker. " Well, I ought to be. I've handled enough," says the dupe, confidently. " You're the very man I wanted to see," says the other ; " for I swear 1 can't tell one of these bills from another," " They're all good," says the dupe. '* I'll take 'em ; a cord of 'em." And he carefully looks over the dozen or more really genuine $5 notes this gentleman so carelessly exhibits to him. " Not too fast," says the talker. " You're a judge, no doubt. But I tell you, between ourselves, I can buy a hatful of these very bills at 50 cents on the dollar of their face. Now you just take these notes to some expert, bank, or broker, and see what they say." Ten minutes afterwards the now rather excited but close- mouthed victim returns (after going to the banks, etc.) chock full of eagerness. " It's all right," he says, " they're good — every one of 'em. Just as I told you." The talker knew this, all the time ! But he is playing the " $5 Boodle Game," and in this little pastime he's a veritable heathen Chinee ! The proposed victim don't know any thing of this, however. He's up to snuff though, ordinarily; he has been round ; and he'd like very much to see the color of the man's face that can fool him! So he quietly says to himself, " It is a big thing, surely." And he " would buy three thousand dollars (for $1,500) of them, every day in the week, if he could get 'em." And so he takes a hand in this nice little boodle game, which, in his wide experi- ence, he has never yet learned the p'ints of ! The following day is fixed upon between these two men, GREAT PHILADELPHIA BOODLE CASE. 345 when a large bundle of these $5 notes can be bought, and delivered to the victim in the following manner. He has become thoroughly infatuated with his brilliant prospects, and he agrees to meet the musical talker's representative — a third party — in some secluded spot, or street, where this bundle of notes is to be delivered to him ; it being ex- plained to him that this thing can be done only in a very cautious way. And so he meets the stranger, accordingly. His man brings the parcel nicely done up, sealed, and tied — on the top and bottom of which is placed a genuine $5 note, and the ends of all the rest of the nominal $3,000 inside, are left exposed to view (to the depth of an inch or so) so that he can see — can't he, in broad daylight ? — that it's all right. He scans the package, and sees the ends of numerous $5 notes, apparently, at top and bottom. This to him is the $3,000. He pays his good fifteen hundred dol- lars to the stranger, and they separate — he having agreed to bring him another package next week ; this being all he could get, to-day, they were in such active demand. The victim sees the $5 good notes are at the top and bottom of this packet, and supposes it to be a way they have of packing this money. He subsequently ascertains precisely what this means ! The " slight acquaintance " who brought him this package has stepped into a doorway, near by, and the store runs through the block to the next street. Half an hour afterwards the nice talker and the stranger who delivers the bundle to the dupe, meet by appointment, and divide their joint victim's $1,500 between them ; while he has opened his bundle in his back office, secretly, to find that his parcel is filled with business cards, only, the ends of which are counterfeit imitations of the $5 Bank note ! He is surprised, chagrined, not a little angry at this " cursed sell," and is out $1,490 in good money besides ! 846 UNITED STATES SECRET SERYICE. But he has now learned the p'ints in the celebrated " boodle game ! " This interesting game was played successfully upon Geo. Mountjoy, then of Philadelphia, to the tune of $10,000 ! George went into this speculation with great expectations, but came out at the small end of the cornucopia. And dis- liking this altogether unanticipated result, he got hold of some of the operators, and caused their arrest on a' charge of swindling. But when he came into Court, he was nonplus'd to find that he could show no " valuable consideration " in his alle- gations, and the laws could not reach the " confidence man " who had outwitted him — since, by his own shewing, he had intended to purchase of these men bogus, counterfeit or spurious bills, with subsequent palpable criminal intent. The sellers of the trash he thus aimed to possess himself of, never pretended to him that these notes were genuine, and he knew they couldn't be so, at the nominal price he paid — 50 cents on the dollar. Thus he became particeps criminis, if anything, in this suit, and so was ruled out of Court. Numerous similar cases occurred, and scores of unscrupu- lous persons, ambitious of gain, were thus duped. Informa- tion that counterfeit $5's were widely afloat, about this time reached the Treasury Department, and numbers of men who had been approached by these " boodlers," looking to be rewarded for " information " they could give to the authorities, went to Washington. But this foul matter had been thoroughly sifted by Chief Whitley, and all these zealous visitors to the Capitol were turned over to the Colonel, by the Treasury Department. In consequence of there being no law existing to reach this peculiar class of miscreants, the practice continued until the winter of 1869, '70, when the principal rascals quarrelled among themselves, GREAT PHILADELPHIA BOODLE CASE. 347 as " rogues fall out," sometimes', and Wightman withdrew from the clique in Philadelphia, to set up in New York city, upon his own private account. Wightman stopped up town with his moll, but forgot or neglected to pay his board, and left his trunks behind him when he suddenly retired. These were opened and found to contain a large quantity of bills, with the ends engraved to represent $5, while all the rest was but an advertising card of a Cotton concern in Virginia. These " shin-plasters " were conveyed to Chief Whitley, and though he could see but a small " point " in this disclosure, he ventured to collar Wightman, knowing, him, of old, to be grand Sachem among these " boodlers " or confidence men. Wightman was posted, however. He carried the U. S. laws relating to counterfeiting about with him constantly, and showed Whitley at once how and why he couldn't con- vict him, on this hunt ! Still the Chief stuck to him, and badgered him, and finally fairly talked him over. He made W. believe he had a dead sure thing on him, and at last he caved. Wightman " squealed " on Bill Grover, and said he formerly got these partial counterfeits of him. Wightman was taken to Philadelphia by the Chief, where he pretended to make up with his old chum Grover, (with whom he had quarreled.) Mr. Nettleship, Chief Ass't., was in Philadelphia, looking after them, at this time, and was present in a room where these two rogues were in earnest conversation, one day. By the reflection in a large mirror, N. saw Grover, while " head to head " with Wight- man, slyly draw out of his pocket and exhibit a large sheet of Seer-stamps. Now Wightman was willing to sell Grover to the Detec- tives, for he hadn't forgot his grudge on the old account, though he pretented to be satisfied. He at once turned 348 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. about and introduced Nettleship to Grover — calling the former "his friend Pish," whom he described as a big brewer, from the west. Nettleship took the " cue " at once, and assuming the role of the burly beer-dealer, said he wanted to get some TJ. S. Revenue stamps for his barrels, in trade, if he could get them cheap. This suited Grover, " to a hole." He said he had a big lot of beer-stamps, which he "would sell at 25 cents on the dollar, in bulk. The brewer seemed to be quickly talked into the idea that these were as good as any, and a meeting was appointed in New York city, at which Grover was to deliver " Pish " $5,000 worth of these beer-stamps, which of course were bogus. When Wightman cut the Philadelphia crowd, and went to New York, on his own hook, the boodle gang lost their best man, for lie was a silvery talker, and could " rope in " the sharpest of the green horns, readily. So the other men turned their attention to getting up false Revenue stamps ; and these now being spoken of were got out by them, Col. Sherman and Grover finding the capital for the enterprise. An Israelite named Morris Traubel did the bogus engraving, very nicely, Johnny Hart and Prank Mackay doing the printing. In accordance with the arrangement made by " Fish " (Nettleship disguised) to meet Grover in New York, with the $5,000 worth of counterfeit beer-stamps, it is almost needless to say that Col. Whitley's men were on hand in time there, led by the Col. And Grover was duly collared, with his valise in hand, filled with the bogus stamps. He was secured, but all attempts to get at the source whence the counterfeits originated were for a time useless. But Grover soon squealed on Hart and Mackay. That very night a new " deal " was made. Grover (now in the interest of the Government) returned to Philadelphia, GREAT PHILADELPHIA BOODLE CASE. 349 with the officers, and told Hart and Mackay that " all was right." This time there were $12,000 worth of stamps agreed for. Hart and Mackay produced them (with Grover as the decoy) in a street in Philadelphia. Mackay and Hart were then arrested, with the stamps in their possession, and were taken by orders of the Chief to the Bingham House. Old Johnny Hart was " pumped " and preached to vigor- ously, all night long, by the Colonel ; but he would not squeal on the engravers. He was a tough old coon, this Johnny Hart!. Col. W. used every means he was master of, and appealed to him in all ways, but he wouldn't come down. At last the Chief said — " Johnny, don't you want to see your wife and children before you go to prison ? " " Yes — yes," said Hart. This offer had touched Johnny^ and the Chief noted it. They proceeded to Hart's house, and there sat his wife, with their two little ones hanging to her skirts, affectionate- ly. She knew nothing of the arrest, and at once began to cry, audibly, and plead poverty, in piteous accents. She said they hadn't a dollar in the house to pay their rent, or to buy fuel with. The children were hungry, and they were all freezing ; and now this terrible calamity had followed — crushing her and her children, hopelessly, at last ! At this point, the Chief thought he saw his opportunity, clearly. Drawing the children gently away, he took the two inno- cents, one on each knee. He offered words of sympathy to the stricken family, and drew from his vest a roll of bank notes — which he handed to the mother. "Here, my good woman," said Whitley, kindly. "Take this, and buy food and fuel, and pay your rent. It is an unfortunate job, but you and these little ones are innocent, and ought not to suffer, unnecessarily, for another's errors." 350 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. This friendly act and speech was too much for old Johnny Hart ! Every man has his tender spot, somewhere — and there is a way to reach it. This had hit Johnny — hard. And he dropped under it, at once. Hart loved his wife and children, counterfeiter though he was. And seizing Whitley's arm, he drew him to another portion of the building, which the Colonel thought was oc- cupied by other parties. There Hart pointed out to the Chief a printing-press, large quantities of bogus stamps, inks, &c, but the plate was missing. " Where is the plate ? " asked W. " The engraver has it. We owe him $200, for retouching it lately," said Hart. Upon the Chief's suggestion, Hart then sent a message to Morris Traubel (the engraver) that he (Hart) would call on him that night at eight o'clock, for the plate. At half-past seven, the Chief and Detective Nettleship went to Traubel's room, up four flights of stairs, removed their boots, but found the door fast. They dared not burst it in,lest T. should throw the plate out at the window. They cautiously returned to the sidewalk, and awaited in a door- way, near by, till eight o'clock. Hart remained below-stairs. Traubel came, and was overheard to say to Hart — " Ish't alls right ? " " All's lovely," said Johnny. He returned up stairs in the darkness, and came down with the plate. Col. Whitley squatted down in Hart's shadow, and as Traubel was just delivering the plate to Johnny, the Chief collared the Jew-engraver — and Morris Traubel " went up " in this act of guilt. " Mein Gott — vot ish dish!" exclaimed the astounded Israelite. " Vot in 'ells you 'bout, Zohnny ? " he continued, as. the GREAT PHILADELPHIA BOODLE CASE. 351 Chief deftly clapped the iron bracelets • upon his wrists. " Vot ish dish vor?" he cried, in the darkness. " Come along, now," said the Chief. " You are my pris- oner." And he was taken away at once to jail. He was arraigned next morning before the Court. The Grand Jury were in session. He was put on trial, pleaded guilty to the indictments returned against him, and before the setting of that same day's sun, Morris Traubel was on his way to the Eastern Penitentiary in Pennsylvania, for a term of years. Mackay was similarly indicted, pleaded guilty, and was similarly put away — and shortly afterwards Col. Sherman was arrested ; Grover and Hart being meantime paroled, as they had been used by the authorities ; but with the under- standing that they should give up their old trade in crime, and would show up all they knew in connection with this gang. But they played falsely, after all ! They shortly went at work again, in the old sad way, and Grover was again arrested by the U. S. Marshal. Hart turning on him and " giving him away " this time, out of revenge for his trick in serving Johnny thus, on a former oc- casion. Then Hart took some more of these stamps to New Jersey, and was soon " pulled " once more, by the Detec- tives. Col. Sherman was then tried, first, in a Philadelphia Court ; Wightman, Hart, and Grover appearing as witnesses against him. Their testimony was fully corroborated by other evidence, however, and Sherman was convicted, and sent to the State Prison. Grover was then put on trial, for another and separate offence, which the Government held in reserve against him. On this, he was convicted, and sent over. Old Johnny Hart was then tried at Trenton, N. J., convicted, and sent to the Trenton State Prison, for ten years. 352 UNITED. STATES SECRET SERVICE. Wightman now only remained at large, and he promised to reform, and pretended that he could give " important in- formation " to the Government. But he was closely watched, and scoundrel that he was, it was shortly seen that " the dog had returned to his vomit." He was arrested by Philip Parley of the New York Detective force, for playing the " confidence game " upon an unsophisticated youth, and here Chief Whitley stepped in, with a full and accurate history of this arch knave's career, in the past. Wightman was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to five years' servitude at Sing Sing. Thus has been burst the famous boodle gang of Philadel- phia. Since this game has been thus crushed out, the " Sawdust game " has been played to some extent ; at the head of which operations a man by the name of Blias is said to be engaged. The eyes of Chief Whitley and his Assistants are wide open, and the hounds are upon the trail of these dastardly offenders. But " the wicked shall not always prevail," saith the Good Book, and the guilty may well look to their own interests, hereafter, and shun their wicked ways, lest they fall, as these have fallen, in the midst of their infamy. dOL. HENRY F. FINNEGASS, CHIEF OPERATIVE, S. S. DIVISION. OAL. DISTRICT Col. Henry P. Finnegass, now of San Francisco, Cal., served in the Union army with credit, and went from Boston to the Department of the Gulf with Gen. Butler. Col. Finnegass was well known in Boston and vicinity, where he had many warmly attached friends, who esteemed him for his genial and gentlemanly qualities. Though not a large man, lie possesses great muscular power and strength, and though perfectly peaceable in his disposition and ordinary deportment, can — when occasion requires it — "hit from the shoulder," satisfactorily : having acquired the manly art of self-defence at an earlier age, for exercise and his own amusement. Those who know the gallant Colonel, however, will cheerfully bear witness to the fact that he is anything but quarrelsome, naturally. When he finds it necessary to " go in " in any contro- versy, he has a most persistent habit of " staying" till the lights are all put out! In proof of his unpretentious but ready prowess, the following incident in connection with Col. F. (which occurred while he was on duty at New Or- leans,) may be cited here. 35-4 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. He one day chanced at New Orleans to be riding across the city in one of the cars, when some of the secesh occu- pants grossly and unwarrantably insulted a young Union officer, in his presence. He spoke to the offenders mildly, but firmly, reproving them for their incivility, when they jumped at Mm, supposing they had the advantage in num- bers, and glad of the opportunity to punish a Yank', at any time. But they missed their reckoning ; for the moment the assault upon the Col. was made, he opened right and left on the enemy, and fairly " mowed them down," cleaning out the car, thoroughly, and having the field quite to him- self and his Union friend, to the end of the route, on that occasion. Col. Finnegass returned to Boston after the war, and soon left New England for California, serving for a time as Deputy U. S. Marshal there. He was thus occupied, when Col. Whitley commissioned him as Chief Operative in the U. S. Secret Service, on the Pacific Coast. Since his appointment to this position, Col. F. has been highly successful, and has shown himself both competent and admirably capacitated for the duties, of Detective. He is possessed of great energy of character, unbounded indus- try and courage, is daunted at no amount of labor or danger, and has proved his ability in. clearing out the counterfeiting fraternity to a great extent from within, the precincts of the Golden State. Col. F- has also ridded the country of the annoying presence of many other bold and troublesome criminals in California, and is now engaged there (under Colonel Whitley.) as principal Operative in that District of the Secret Service Division, We have space for only one or two of several important cases which Col. Finnegass has worked up, since his appointment in that department, and these we proceed to CALIFORNIA DISTRICT. 355 record. One of these was the extraordinary instance of the performances of Ira W. Raymond, a first class confidence- man, whose name is not unknown. Col. Finnegass was busily engaged in the prosecution of his official duties in the summer of the year 1871, when he found himself suddenly overhauled by a man who made his appearance at Arizona, where the Colonel was temporarily sojourning in search of a criminal party, who was admitted to his presence, and demanded to know why Col. F. was there, to the Colonel's unaffected. great surprise. This gentleman informed the gallant Operative that he was now at the head of the U.S. Secret Service, and that he was not only employed as Agent of the Division in the Treasury Department, but also represented the Department of State in a similar capacity. In support of this statement very briefly and curtly made, he then exhibited certain ap- parent credentials from Secretary Fish, charging him with the performance of the duties indicated, and then called upon Finnegass for an immediate report of his doings upon the Pacific Coast, etc The Col. had not heard of the appointment of this new officer, and naturally felt not a little uneasy at this sudden demonstration. Still, he is not easily " thrown out of gear," and he waited farther developments. Formidable letters were exhibited by this new pretended Agent, to sat- isfy Col. Finnegass, which documents purported to come to Raymond from Hon. Hamilton Fish, President Grant, Attorney General Ackerman, etc., each being enclosed in a genuine Department envelope, from the different branches of Government at Washington ; Raymond having previously addressed these parties upon trivial subjects, and thus ob- tained replies in official envelopes, which he filled afterwards with his forgeries. 356 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. After a little delay and prompt investigation, Col. P. became satisfied, notwithstanding the plausible bearing and representations of this man Raymond, that he was a gross imposter. At the Col.'s instigation, the local officers arrested this " confidence man " and placed hiin in close custody. Col. F. then examined the prisoner's luggage, and found several forged papers and letters, which went to prove the character of the rogue, who had" sloshed round" in Califor- nia without impediment, for a time, until Finnegass 'lighted on him, and caused his capture. He was afterwards brought before the U. S. Court by Col. P., who finally took him to San Francisco, where he was lodged in jail to answer upon his trial, which occurred soon after his capture. He pleaded guilty, and was sent to the State Prison by Judge Sawyer. Raymond admitted to Col. Finnegass, before he left to enter on his incarceration, that " had he not been picked up by him as he was, he intended to use the signatures of the heads of the Departments he had forged to his creden- tials to good advantage." When he was sentenced, in reply to Judge Sawyer's question whether he desired to say anything, he frankly answered " I am sorry for what I have done, and when 1 have served out my term of confinement, I will be an honest citizen." And thus subsided the cheeky confidence-man, Ira W. Raymond. A gang of desperate counterfeiters of National Notes and Currency had infested California for some time, and Col. Finnegass, in June and July, '71, got upon their track. They were a well mounted and thoroughly armed band of despera- does — bold, rough, experienced, and determined in their course of villainy— and knew the country so well, its fast- nesses, routes, rivers, and mountains, that it was with great difficulty they could be overhauled, and alike dangerous to attempt the arrest of such men. CAL1P0BNIA DISTRICT. 357 One or two of tbem were captured by Col. Finnegass, however, after a series of hardships in that rude country, ' such as would have discouraged a stout heart and an earnest head. But the Col. followed them up, sought out their haunts, kept them constantly on the go, to avoid him and his assistants — but without that deserved success in securing the persons of all the knaves who thus flooded the interior of that country with their base counterfeits, which he sought, and which was so desirable. But the Col. caught one Wm. A. Ford, at Los Angelos, Cal., in May, 1871, and upon his person were found $1,500 in counterfeit $10's and $20's National notes. He was taken before the then U. S. Commissioner, who examined him, and after a brief consideration of the matter, allowed Ford to go, on the paltry bail of one thousand dollars! This rascal joined half a dozen companions (Mexican guerrillas, and ex confederate roughs) the next day, and fled, jumping his bail, of course. Col. Finnegass boldly told the Commissioner upon meet- ing him shortly afterwards out of Court, that he had entirely mistaken his mission, and that the time had come when he had better resign his post. If he declined, he would report this flagrant abuse at Washington. Since then the Commis- sioner has resigned, but nothing farther has ever been heard of the runaway Ford. B. L. Chilson, another of the koniackers belonging to the Californian gang, was subsequently arrested by Col. F. This man Detective Finnegass succeeded in having placed under ten thousand dollars bail. He was a leader among the crew, and an effort was made to have his bail reduced to one thousand dollars, without effect. The counterfeits found on these men were $10's of the Poughkeepsie National notes, and $20's of the National Bank at Utica. The bills were printed in St. Louis, it is believed — certainly in the West. 358 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. The following niembers of this clan are still at large, and from the steady pursuit Col. Finnegass has kept up for them, it is now supposed they have been driven into Mexican terri- tory, since their nefarious traffic seems, within the past few months, (1872) to have been broken up, or at the least healthily suspended. Ike Cole, a dark complexioned, full-faced mau, thirty-five years old, of good size and figure, weighing one hundred and sixty pounds, is one of the fugitives. John Birchett, born on the Texas frontier, a light-skinned, brown-haired man, is another. Sam Chilson, brother of E. L. Chilson, forty years old, a raw-boned, desperate, shrewd fellow, is a third. They have disappeared, and the country they have deserted is the better off for their voluntary absence. Col. Finnegass has scoured the District entrusted to his charge very thoroughly. But the mountains afford such admirable retreate for these fugitives, and the interior is so sparsely settled, in many places, that the position of the Detective who follows these beasts to their lair, from time to time, in the course of the exercise of his duty, has no very enviable occupation in that wild region! But the Chief Operative of the S. S. Division in that ilk is quite equal to the occasion. He will give these depredators " no rest for the soles of their feet," in California. And if they do not leave the State a;nd keep out of it, they will find it too hot a climate for their comfort, if they attempt a renewal of their evil doings therein. a^ shrew: r> FEMALE COUNTERFEITER. MARY BROWN. Mary Brown, whose likeness is given on page 362, is a native of Germany, the wife of W'm. B. Brown. She is now forty years old, and has been in America twenty-one years, nineteen of which have been assiduously devoted to the business of selling, handling, and passing counterfeit money. She is a shrewd, smart woman, and has performed her full share in getting upon the market, in various ways, and at sundry times, the bogus notes and scrip she has pro- cured at headquarters in New York and elsewhere. She first lived in Philadelphia, and about two years after her arrival from Faderland she commenced to deal in bogus money, in connection with one Schunhaut, H. Cole, and Erne Cole, in Philadelphia, and Kate Gross, in New York. She was arrested, and sent to prison at Fort Lee, N. J., in 1859. Then she appeared before a Justice, and escaped. Iii 1861, she was again pulled in Yorkville, and escaped. Then again at Flushing, N. Y., and was sent to prison for one year. In Newark, N. J., she was convicted 359 360 UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. onco more, and was sent to Trenton prison for three years ; but was pardoned out after eighteen months' imprisonment. She had a son, born on the ocean, when she came over from Germany, who was at this time about twenty years old. He lived with James Colbert, a noted counterfeiter, and Mary came from the Trenton penitentiary to join Colbert as his mistress. Then she went to reside with Cha's. Ulrich, (a splendid German engraver) at Brooklyn, N. Y. Ulrich having been arrested for printing bogus money, was sentenced to eight years in the Penitentiary at Crow Hill ; but he broke jail after one year's service, and Mary Brown joined him, when they went to Cincinnati, 0. This Ulrich got out the beautiful $100 counterfeit plate on the Central National Bank of New York city. The words •' maintain it" were engraved " mainain it," and the note was thus found to be bogus — though it was very nicely executed, otherwise. He was printing these notes out two miles from Cincinnati, at " Spring Grove." Mary Brown and Kate Gross were there, selling and shoving notes for him. The boy (Mary's son) was there, also. In 1866, Kate Gross went to Philadelphia again, and received this money from Ulrich at Cincinnati, in bulk, at 1004 South 16th St., in the Quaker city. Detectives, under Col. Whitley's direction, were now em- ployed to shadow Ulrich — r not then knowing where he was. These Detectives got an old coney man, Billy Gordon, to drop on Kate and " give her away." They provided Gordon with marked money to buy the bogus of Kate, and she Expressed this good money, addressed to " Cha's. Hen- derson, Cincinnati, care of Gustave Schiller ; " the latter another known counterfeiter, connected with Ulrich. The two Detectives followed this shipment of money, by Express, from Philadelphia to Schiller's house, where Ulrich received MARY BROWN, A SHREWD WESTERN CONEY- WOMAN. [See page 359, A SHREWD FEMALE COUNTERFEITED. 363 all his letters, in this way, he being the " Cha's. Henderson," above named. • One of the Detectives took this parcel of good money at Cincinnati to the house of Schiller, but. "Cha's. Hender- son " wasn't there. They returned it to the Express office, and Mary Brown and sou went to the office to get it, for Ulrich. She said she was " Henderson's " wife. She didn't get it, however, and Ulrich next day went for it, him- self. He took it, and when the money was fairly in his hands, he was pounced upon and arrested. Mary Brown and son were then captured, at Ulrich's house in Cincinnati, and Mary was brought down to New York, by Col. Whit- ley's Detectives. They found at Ulrich's residence the $100 plate, also a $500 National plate, nearly done, three nice presses, paper, ink,