I ILLINOIS

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.SKETCHES

3“? 01?, THE

LIFE OF WILLIAM STUART,

THE FIRST AND IMOST CELEBRATED

COUNTERFEITER OF. CONNECTICUT;

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COMPRISING STARTLING DETAILS OF
BAKING FEATS PERFORMED BY HIMSELF—PERILS BY SEA AND LAND—FRE-
QUENT ARRESTS AND IMPRISONMENT—BLOWING OUT OF JAIL WITH
POWDER—FAILURE OF ESCAPE AFTER HE HAD LED HIS

OOWARDLY ASSOCIATES OUT OF THE HORRIBLE PIT,
IN SIMSBURY, INTO THE PRISON YARD, &c.

  

AS GIVEN BY HIMSELF.

BRIDGE PVORT:

/ FBINTED AND PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. ,
A:

185.4.

 

 
 

 

.v r»7.- ‘Wh,-v-~. W. \,

 

Entered accortiing to Act of Congress, in the year .1854,
by WILLIAM STUART, in the Clerk’s Office of the District
Court of Connecticut;

 

 
TQ THE READ-ER.

—Q:.a_

AFTER a lapse of years, when the mind has attained its full
maturity, at retrospect of the past affords lessons of instruction
to the world. My life has been crowded with events of no or-
dinary magnitude, and the reasons for sending this epitome
forth upon its errand «of mercy, are many and Cogent. In the
first place, my conduct was ever such that even my name and
place became subjects of interest to the p‘Eople pf my native
State and the commonwealth adjoining, and to. gratify a nu-
merous class of citizens, I have entered upon the task. If I
am the hero of my own story, my heroism was diaplayed in
distinct opposition to the laws of the land.

Tens of thousands are partially acquainted with the facts,
and unless I communicate them as they occurred, and detail
their extravagancies and peculiarities, they would be liable to
misrepresentation. * I desire that my course of conduct for
thirty- -five years, may, in the opinion of the people, at least
mitigate the asperity of my previous life, and measurably bury
the dislike and hatred of the people, which once were justly
raised against me.

I am getting advanced in life, and if I stand now as a beacon
to warn the young and ambitious against vice and crime, my
history will be a gain to the world. For a series of years, I
was perpetually involvino myself, my connections, and the
community, in troubles and losses. These are calamities inci-
dent to an unjustifiable attack upon the institutions and laws

of the land; and if 1n the course of events I became the suffer-
. A2

 
 

 

4

er, I have only to aver that the necessities of order and justice
required my punishment. 1

I give this outlineito the world, to warn men inclined to crime
inal courses, of the unmitigated evils attendant upon a wilful
disregard of honesty, public morals and legal enactments. ‘ I
have been no guide to the world; but now in my age, I ask the
reader to scan these pages, that he may learn better than to
follow my early example.

The work has been prepared 1n great haste, under the pres-
sure of multipliedlabors, and, being unlearned, errors, no doubt,
abound; yet the facts herein delineated are literally true, and
the moral deducible from them, is deemed to be important to
the community in this wo1ld of vice and c1ime. /

' I have been urged also to engage in this task by the citizens
of our State, who rank as politicians, as counsellors, as states-
men, and as christians, and to comply with thei1 importunities
and the demands of the public, asking of all pardon and for
giveness, I accede to their request.

BRIDGEWATER, 1854.

 
 

CHAPTER 1.

'General reflections on diversity in human character——
Early developments—-Evils of bad associations in
youth—Fondness for mischief in school boy days—-
Revenge on school teacher—~manuring his son and
painling his cow—Hammering silver coin to defraud
somebody—Paying dearly for a frolicsome outrage
at Norwalk.

WE live in a strange world—eirregular, uneven,
/ showing marks, of convulsion, disruption and over-
throw. Some portions level, productive and beauti-
ful—others, broken, rocky, forbidding and inhospita-
ble. Such are its inhabitants, swayed by interest,
prejudiced by perverse passions, ripe. for ruin and des-
olation; others, honest and upright, possessing integ-
rity and candor, frowning upon any thing evil, and re-
joicing in purity of character and consistency in life.
Early training has mueh’to do in the forming of fu-
ture purposes, and a reputation oftentimes arises from

such early instructions. But“"th’e best of examples '

are sometimes profitless ; the sagest counsels are fre-
quently disregarded or treated with contempt.

Dr. Young says, “ Man is the maker of his fate!”
Is he not? Are there peculiarities’of structure, which
7 urge one to vice, and encourage another in the ways
of wisdom? One boy is prone to roam over the

world—another seeks retirement and tranquillity.
A3

 
 

6

One, from childhood up, is candid, honestand confi-
‘ding; another is mischievous, vicious, and ready to
follow in the pathways of evil.

Though training may do much to guide one proper-
ly, yet it frequently fails of success; all efforts Seem
to be lost, and the youth thus misdirected by his pro-
pensities, beecmes a general disturber of every com-
munity in which he may beplaced.

Men are urged onward by strange influences, and
though seeing the right, perversely adopt the wrong,
and persist in it. I am .no metaphysician or astrolo-
ger, nor calculator of the destinies of man. Of one
fact I am certain,there is no necessity laid upon man
to adopt and pursue an evil course. , It is bad in be-
ginning, worse in continuance, and min in the termi-
nation. , If a boy chooses corrupt and vicious ways,
it needs no spirit of superior prophecy, to predict,
with unerring certainty, his ruin.

Iam sixty-six years ~of age. My course has been
strange and tortuous, butI am not what I once was.
I have seen the evils resulting from my conduct heaped
upon me, beyondcount and weight. I have seen and
felt it all, and I know that wisdom exceedeth. folly as
far as light exceedeth darkness. If you read my story,
and cOnsider it well, you will soon see that every course
but the right, inevitably leads to ruin. If a rogue
would spoil himself only, the evils to society could be
more easily borne by the community, but he involves
his’friends in trouble, sacrifices the feelings of his pa-
rents, and brings tearful eyes and saddened hearts upon
a large circle of associates and acquaintances.

 
'7

In early life, as long ago as I can recollect, I loved
mischief. I took delight in playing pranks. My
school-boy days were full of trouble, but somehow I
liked it. ’ I valued a frolic, and that sort of a frolic
which involved some one in trouble, vexation or
broken shins. I entered into such scenes with spirit,
and many a time have received a thorough flogging
for my waywardness. Revenge was a darling pas-
siOn, and I nourished it most prudently. When only
six years old, I was called a shrewd, high tempered,
malicious boy, fully bent on mischief, and before]
was ten years of age, I hail the reputation established
of being a demi-devil.

I suppose this trait of my character was truly
drawn. I had a rare knack of involving others in
difficulties and escaping myself ;\yet it was often said
that .no one but me could have concocted such
schemes of deviltry, as others werecaught in consum-
mating. Iwas usually successfulin my mischievous
projects, and if, ever caught, and I received a sound
drubbing, it only set my mind in agitation to contrive
some way in which I might wreak full and ample
revenge. Such was the business of my early days.
Its results are fully portrayed for a series of years, in
this history of my eventful life. Ihave fat the sum of
human misery, the result of my evil propensities, and
unControlled impulses. At the age of twelve, I im-
bibed a great love of money, and resolved that in the
most expeditious way I would become rich. Icogita-
ted with myself to find out the easiest way to accu-

mulate Wealth, and at the same time, indulge my
A4

 
vicious heart wanderings ands diabolical schemes.
Water melon patches received thousands of nocturnal
visits; peach orchards were a favorite resort.

I continued in school about four years, and if any
boy ever got thoroughly whipped, I was he. I have.

- visited the Southern States, and have seen the effects
of Slavery, and all its horrors. Ihave seen despotism
displaying its merciless tyranny over its fellow man.
But in all the cruelties / inflicted on earth, ignorant
school-masters, such as I have known, seemed most to
take delight in merciless atrocity and heartless bar-
rity. Such punishments nourished in me my already
active spirit of revenge, and he was a favored one
that escaped the full effects of my shrewdness and
indignation. ,

Edward Coburn kept our school, and I attended.
Coburn thrashed me almost daily, and his boy, three
years older than I was, was constantly quarreling
with me. I contrived a scheme to gratify my revenge.
While at play at school, accompanied by a dozen
boys, we mounted a hog pen sewer of one of our neigh-
bors, and there sat in angry conversation. In a care-
less moment,I caught him by his feet, and threw him
over the fence into a large quantity of semi-liquid ma-
nure, and after two or three ineffectual efforts to extri-
cate himself, he rose upon his feet, a hideous specimen
of pollution. I started for home, and laughed heartily
at his i‘nglorious situation. Upon my way, not satis-
fied with my prank on his boy, I passed Coburn’s

‘ house‘; a new axe was standing by his wood pile in

.. the street, and I took. it upand used it fdrzfive minutes

 
9

on agranite block. Its cutting properties were soon
disposed of, and I threw it down, and passed on, much
pleased with what I had done. The next morning Co-
burn came to my father’s and asked him if he would
permit me to turn the grindstone te sharpen the instru-
ment. Father looked at the battered thing, and rath-
er objected, “ but,” said Coburn, “‘I saw him dullait on
a rock, andl think he ought to help grind it.” \My fa-~
ther thrashed me then with a cowhide whip, most thor
oughly ; and I tUgged and sweat at the grindstone
about five hours. Since that timel have never en-
‘ gaged in the grindstone business. The boy’s filthy
clothing was now brought forward, and I was compei- ,
led to» wash them, which took me some hours. This
was the hardest day’s work that lever did. ,.
My debt of revenge, instead of being liquidated, had
now largely accumulated. We pastured Coburn’s cOw,
and with the aid of a single boy, we drove her into a
wooded corner of the lot, and while he held her by the
horns, I painted her skin with a pot of tar, from head to
foot, and tied her tail to one of her horns. I went to
the house and got a bag of feathers, and shook them
over the cow, and rubbed them into her tarred hair
until she looked like a strange brute. Notwithstanding
all the search that was made, the efforts in'finding the
, culprit proved unavailing. This afi‘air comforted me
much, but I had not done. Igot a hand of tobacco,
and persuaded twenty of the boys to chew it just before
the school went in. In half an hour no cholera hospi-
tal ever showed such a miserable stock 'of patients;

’ the school was broken'up for the day, and after tracing
' A5 -

 
 

 

10

out the author of the mischief, my father whipped me,
and the next day the schoolmaster gave me another
sound drubbing. ’ The debt and credit system was
about evenly balanced Thus time passed till Iwas
Seventeen years of age.
During these four years I employed my leisure
hours hammering sixpences into vshillings, and
' twelve and half cent pieces into quarters of dollars.
I was a high boy, rude, bold, fearless, reckless, but
Shrexvd, cunning, artful, and full of mischief. I was
i ever getting the boys into trouble, and if agirl played
me a trick, it was not forgotten until full payment was
‘ given. I was a great rambler, engaged in every
frolic and in every row. One day I went to Norwalk
. with Lyman Mills, an old associate, and we were well
satisfied that a certain house kept by Kate Olmstead,
was occupied chiefly by a half dozen bad girls.
We staid in the village until evening, and then started
for home. On our way we stopped at old Kate’s den,
and the girls were overjoyed to see us. Lyman and
I took a pen knife and slyly ripped open a feather bed.
Lyman held open the ripped bed, and I caught up one
of the girls, called Poll Rider, and shoved her into the
bed among the feathers and threw her upon the fire,
and we, fled. The next day I was arrested and taken
to Norwalk for trial. Poll appeared against me with
her head as bare as a lapstone. I tormented her all
I could, and Mr. Betts, my lawyer, contrived every
scheme to delay the Court. I owned up finally, and
when inquired of why I did this mischief, I told
the Court that “I had read .of burnt offerings to the
 

11

Lord, and it was my intention, by casting Poll into the
bed, and throwing her upon the fire, to make a burnt
offering to the Devil; ” and from singed Poll’s appear-
ance, I had well nigh succeeded.

The case went against me, and I was then tried for
breaking into the house, and general abuse. Taking
the whole concern together it cost me over two hun-
dred dollars. But I had property now, my father
having recently died, leaving me three. thousand
dollars. I had the frolic, and felt satisfied. I kept
hammering out the silver pieces. ThEre is some skill
in it. I took two, pieces of sole leather and enclosed
the silver between them, and with a shoe hammer

upon a lap stone, beat over the centre of the coin, and i

in three minutes, sixpences became shillings, and
shillings became quarters. But this sort was nOt
enough. I melted pewter, and run it in moulds, and
thus I could coin one ”hundred quarters in an evening.

 
‘ 1'77?! "era-14h»; v: «1- x

 

12

CHAPTER II.

Remarks on rum and grog- shops—Revenge on Abbott
for selling poor liquor—Paid him in pewter coin—-
Alcohol leads to crime, and afterwards exposes the
criminal—~Go2ng to a widow’s wood benefit—Stole a

, goose; roasting for the teamsters’ sapperl—Passed on

in quest of greater sights—About this time, (1806,) at
l the age of 17, .visited Pennsylvania, and became so
much attached to a young lady, as to produce partial
reformation for a few months—~Cheated by, a neigh-
. bar in a horse trade, and balanced account by selling
the cheat a piece of beef cut from an old horse.

There was a man in the neighborhood by the name
of'IMichae Abbot, who kept a grog shop. He reduced
his liquo s largely, and sold them as genuine. We
found out the secret how the old man served his Rum,
and as every one then drank Rum, I treated» all the
boys and girls, and paid him in pewter coin until he
got (with some good money,) two quarts of it. He then
went to Norwalk village to pay the wholesale dealer
and he found out the trick, and then abandoned the
business. But my pay’was as genuine as his misera-
ble Rum. Iwas always glad of it. ,

Men are not by nature terrible creatures. The
Viciousvspirit, without aid, would chiefly die out; man
would see that right is better than wrong, and that

\

 
 

13

kind humanity was preferable to savage barbarity,
and his erring propensities would become less domi«
nant. Man is an inventiVe being, and. as appetites
and passions are developed earlier in life than the
reasoning powers, he is instinctively led to provide
means for their gratification. He seeks for fuel to
keep these appetites warm and active, and hitherto
he has been successful.

Ardent spiritsare the resort of all rogues. It makes ,

the cowardly fearless and courageous. It transforms
the heart of kindly feelings and pleasing sensibilities ,
into a demon. All rogues drink. Every vicious man
oves rum. Every gross, vulgar man, loves the bottle.
“ A rogue cannot persist in rog‘uery without it. Reason

would rightly lead him, but rum whips away the '

smallest particle of sober sense, and gives wings to
drive him’ onward in vice and crime. The good man,
under its influences becomes voluntarily insane, and
is made ready for almost every evil work. ‘Spirits
have these peculiar properties ; they are the Only arti-
cles in nature orart that dispossess the reasoning
powers, and give full scope to the appetites and pro:
pensities. They fascinate and charm their votaries,
and make men tyrants and despots, the. subjects of
caprice and passion, giving a will to commit crime
and a power to consummate it. They blind men
always. ' Light is thus ‘shut out from-the understand-
ing, and wayward passion or bnainless fatuity is
— manifested. i”

Rumis the reason also why rogues are caught. It

divests the rascal of his usual oautiousness, and his
- A7

 

 
 

i4

secrets are revealed; then his end comes. The long—
er a criminal escapes the talons of the law, the b‘old-s
V yer in iniquity are his operations, and the more he be:
comes attached to his drink, the more likely is his
arrest. Hence a man cannot be a continued rogue
without rum, and hence should rum be driven from
the land, no manifor one year would follow a criminal
course. He would abandon it. The aliment that fed
the prepensity would be withheld, and as an inevitable
conséfiu“ence,‘our criminals would be few, and our
criminal codes verily useless. But why argue this
question C" the calendar of our courts, the facts, the
confessions of criminals, the observation of the sober
portion of our communities, confirm this declaration.
If Ihad committed one roguish act, I should not have
persisted in my course unless it had been for rum.

To go on with my story: After the above mention-
ed trial, and the loss of two hundred dollars in fines,
costs, 620., it might seem thatI should consider my
‘ ways and avoid future trouble: Does a fish once par-
tially caught by a hook, learn a lesson of future pru-
dence when a new and luscious bait is presented?
My minutes of deliberation were “ few and far be-
tween.”

A few days after the closing up of my eXpense' bills,
I harnessed my horses to a'sleigh, took in three or four
hale fellows, and drove over to Weston to a wood
frolic. A Mrs. "Dickenson, rather poor and unprovided
for, had assembled her neighbors one afternoon to
bring from her woodlands fuel enough to last her a
year. We got there as evening set in. A plenty of
l5

grog and cider, together with roasted turkeys, geese

and beef, were provided as a compensating repast for
the services of the teamsters and wood choppers.

I passed to the roaring fire to warm me, and there

hung a pot upon a trammel in which a large fat goose

was roasting for supper. When the widow’s atten-

tion was calledfrom her cooking department, I lifted

the pot-lid, took out the oose and carried to my sleigh
box, and there deposited it. ”I returned to the house
and called my companions, and each took a glass of
grog, then jumped into the sleigh and drove off to a

dancing frolic five miles to the eastward, leaving the

goose pot empty, and none but I knew it.

We arrived at the place, and there was a frolic in
earnest. The ‘ Greenfield hell fire club’ was there, and
rowdyism stood rampant upon every nail in the floor.
Rum, tobacco, rude men, noisy girls, two black fid-
dlers, and a thorough going kick up was in operation,
and if the infernal pit had been vomited upon the spot.
by a volcanic eruption, the medley and confusion
would not have been greater.

I produced the goose, but it was tough, having seen
many years before its decapitation, and if it had been
cooked a century, an epicure could have calculated
its longevity. Mrs. Ann Lyon was the chief cook, and
mistress of the kitchen. She was a large, fat, mascu-
line woman, and having associated much with row~
dies, her vernacular had acquired the peculiar charac-
teristics of such company, so that her conversation
was unbecoming a civilized state of life.

She had grey bullet eyes, a turn up nose, large

A8

fl

 
16

mouth plump cheeks, but dirty face, disheveled hair
and worn out clothing. Her shoulders broad as a
table, and with her Wide extended back, if she had
been a beast cf burden and a quadruped, she might’
have been useful as any donkey 1n ch1istendom,f01 the
transportation of a large £1111.in on a thanksgiving
day. While she stood bowed before the fire, basting
her turkey, I took a dozen dining plates from her al-
ready spread table, and set them upon her back. After
basting the turkey, the old woman rose erect, the
plates fell off and broke the whole of them.

In due time the table was re- -set, and her turkey
was devoured in a very few minutes. Dancing and
revelry re-cdmmenced, and the boys and myself after

,taking each a full horn, paying old Jezebel for her

plates, took up our half roasted goose, and drove back

. fto Mrs. Dickenson’s wood frolic establishment. I

quietly carried in the goose into another room and set

it upon the table against the wall; we then passed into

the' room where the old woman and her gill were seat-

ed, and called for liquor and drank it. We called for

a supper of. pan-cakes, and the old. lady and her ‘sister

cooked them as fast as they could, and we ate them as

rapidly as they were cooked. We paid our bills and

* sat dowm by the fire. One of the old maids passed

out'of the room, and saw the roasted goose on the old

table, and verily thought that the old lady being dis-

concerted by'the noisy woodmen, and the potations
she had drank, had placed the goose there herself. ’

' All things being settled, we started for home and

went to bed. Verily, “the way of transgressors is

 
I?

now, my career had been headlong, and wayward, and
”so far asI can recollect, the hard scrapes, wild en-
counters, and dangerous frolics had not weaned me
from a desire to follow them hereafter. Some said
the devil was in me, but I have truly thought that
this grave personage reviewing my reckless course,
made up his mind that I was doing up his work with
the skill of a master, and that I needed none of his
counsel to carry out his infernal purposes.

I am now in my history up to-the year 1806. My
age was 17 or thereabouts, and I was unchanged in
my views, habits, tendencies and aspirations. By
direction of my deceased father, I went out to Tunk-
hannock, in Penn, upon the Susquehanna River, and
brought out my grandfather to spend his latter days
in. Wilton, Ct. He came on with me, attended by a
young lady, a cousin of mine. She was bright, active,
intelligent, and of the most perfect features, charming
as a houri. She andI took a liking to each other,
and had not I been a cousin to her we should have
been married, and then my life would have passed"
quietly along, and this history would not have been
written, nor the incidents herein related ever occur-
red. ' ~
In the autumn of 1806 she returned to her home.
During her stayI had been industrious and steady,
and worked on the farm, but now she was gone, my
old habits and propensities awoke ; I roused from my
tranquillity, and was ready to rec'ommence a course
, hard.” Thus ended another week of hard toil, of Wild
frolic, and. of expensive jollity and rowdyism. U p to

 
 

 

is —

which for months had been Wisely neglected. She
seemed a guardian angel to me, but when her
fascinations were withdrawn, the world seemed loned
ly, and I launched out upon it, committing my future
destiny to the events that might happen to occur
before me. The sequel will show strange things,
aberrations, perversity of character and their results.
The fall seasbn: had arrived. Our fields had been
well tilled, and our barns were filled with grain and
hay. The grain was thrashed and deliveredin mark-s
et. The idea of going out upon the Susquehanna
was rivited upon my mind, and I secretly determined
30 make the journey.
I went to market the day before thankSgiving for
' the last time. Whilstl was absent, my brother, by
my advice, butchered a cow. When I returned, the
beef was suspended upon hooks in the cellar“. Nae
than Bedient, a neighbor, came and wished to buy a.
piece of beef. Some time in the previous summer,»
this man sold me an old horse for seven dollars, re-
commending it as very useful before a team of oxen,
but he. proved-to be good for nothing. I gave him
I five dollars on the spot. Beside the horse being
useless, he had a fistula upon his shoulder and was ,
ringboned. I was then no jockey, and he cheated me
completely. I told him of it, and he laughed at me.
My spirit of revenge burned in my heart, and Isaw
how I could gratify it. This old horse had for some
weeks roamed over the farm, and had become some-
what fatted. I told Bedient to call in the morning,
andl would sell him some beef. It was a pleasant

3.
19

night, the air was mild, and the moon shone as brighta
ly as that planet could shine. When the family had
gone to rest, I went out into the field and butchered
the old horse, so that I could have some beef when
Bedient called; I was careful to furnish him with
a piece that had no bone in it. I cut off a bit from
the shoulder near the sore, put it in cold water to cool
down the animal heat, then hung it up toudry. In the
morning ‘it looked nice, fat and yellowish. I

Bedient came for his beef. I got the steelyards
and it weighed 39 lbs. This beef paid the two dollar
mortgage for the purchase of the old horse, be-
side, some change due me. The same day (it being
thanksgiving) Bedient invited his neighbors to take
a thanksgiving supper with him. At the propertime
the guests came, and patook of the repast. They all
ate largely of the beef, so tender, luscious and juicy,
and thought it the best they ever ate.

The story was too good to keep, and in a month or
so, the truth leaked out, and if ever man was over-
whelmingly mad, Bedient was the man. Before he
had heard of the trick, When. he met the girls of the .
neighborhood they would whinny at him, but he did
not then understand it, though it annoyed him beyond
measure. Bedient said, “to eat an old horse, and
then bear the scandal of it, is too much.” ‘He tried
to get up a prosecution against me, but he failed of
success. This beef stuck in his crop, and he became
a by-Word in the community. He endured it for a
time, but sold out and fled to the West to escape from
his neighbors.

 
 

, , M hwy—”WM..- ”may. Viwfl ~~

:20

CHAPTER 111;

Another journey to the Susquehanna-wTook his mot/ta
67’s money, obtained, for grain sold, threw'his bun-
dle of clothes out at the chamber window in the eve-
ning, took his colt and started 0f——-Was cheated in
New-Jersey by a clergyman in a horse trade—At
Easton, Pa., found a large sum of money, and was
ofered Sixpence by the loser as a reward—~Reflec-
tions on meanness—«Diference of manners between
Pennsylvanians and the Steady Habits of Connect-
icut—Mixed with the lumbermen, who were mighty
to drink whisky—~Soon learned to handle all the be-
fore unknown ropes of iniquity equal to the best of
them—éNarrative of drunken carousals, low dances,
fighting, gouging out eyes, arrests, trials and fines
for riotous outrages and other crimes, in going and
returning on the Susquehanna rafting expeditions;
Narrow escape of death by a panther.

h
My journey to the west was now uppermost in my
mind. I wished to see the Susquehanna, but morf
g especially the bright eyed, beautiful girl, who spenl
if a few months with us. I saved all the money that}
t, could gather, went to Norwalk and got'the pay 1001
i _ all the grain I had delivered'there, and came home ti
Wilton. My mother teased me for the money, ant
l went upstairs, tied up my clothing, and cast l

,E {
. V K
we :

 
21
out of the window in the rear of the house. I re-
turned to the kitchen, and mother asked me again
for the money. Iltold her that I would first go to the
barn and take care of the/cattle.

I had a beautiful colt, worth then one hundred dol-
lars. Iput on the bridle and saddle, tied on my bundle
of Clothes, and Started for New York City. I led the
colt on through the night, and when morning dawned
I was in White Plains. 'Thus I ‘went onward to the

City and staid over night. The next morning I cross— '

ed into New Jersey, and went on to Morristown, lead-
ing my colt laden‘ with a two and half bushel bag of
clothing. '

In passing the village, a venerable looking man

working in his garden, called tome, and enquired.

where I was going. Ithonestly told him. He then
asked where I was from, and what was my name? I
told him all. He then enquired the name of my

father, and Igave him a candid reply. He told me ’

that he had visited him in former years, preached in
his neighborhood, and was well aquainted with him.
He urged me to stay all night, and in welcome. I
consented to tarry. He was a Presbyterian preacher
, in that town, and appeared sober, honest and religious.
In the morning he prayed devoutly, and asked'the
Lord to be my Guardian and Protector in a land of
strangers. He appeared very devotional, a man that
“‘ feared God and eschewed evil.” He gave me much
advice, urged his counsels in sober earnestness, cau-
tioned me to beware of hypocrisy, to keep out of the
way of temptation, to shun'evil associates, the cor

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22
ruption in the new settlements, and the vice of youth,
insinceri’ty. ‘

Thus with his holy and sacred hands upon my head,
he bowed to me from the door of his house. I went
to his barn, led out my colt, bridled and saddled him,
and put on my bag of clothing, and led him into the
street. The venerable man put on his cloak and sol-
emnly passed out of the gate near me. He saysto me,
“young man, you’ll have a toilsome journey; would
it not be,better for you to have a beast that your
could ride? You are young and tender, and I fear that
you will give out upon the way in a strange land, and
fall into the hands of 'sharpers, who have not the fear
of theLord before their eyes !

“ Can I not advance your comfort, promote your
healthhand do you a great kindness? I have a fine
mare in the stable, fleet, sound, sure footed, and very
serviceable, 'yVell worth ' more than one hundred
dollars. I hate to part with her. She is kind, gentle,
greatjbottom, and safe for a child, yet fully able to
endure hardship and long journeys; I will show her 7
to you, and though rather thin, she has no superior
for beauty and excellence! I value the creature, and
my family prize her highly, but to oblige you, I will ’
exchange with you for ten dolla1s.I dread the sacri- '
fice, V but it is for the son of an old friend, that thus
drives me from my interest. Your ' father was a
good man, a kind father, a stay of the church, and for
his son’s sake I am made Willing thus to aid the youth. I
My heart yearns over you, and may the Lord bless
you” ,
He led out his mare, I gave him ten silver dollars,
put upon the beast my saddle, bridle and baggage,
mounted it, and with aiow bow, moved onward in
my journey. After riding five or six miles very slow-
ly, I found my new horse sweat like rain, although
the weather was quite 6001. But I jogged on, and
hefore I had rode a dozen miles my horse would stub
and stumble every rod, I stopped and fed him, and
rubbed him down. He seemed tired, but in an hourI
resumed my journey. I got to Easton, Penn, just at
evening, my horse being positively unable to go any
further. Superadded to his exhaustion, the iast few
miles he limped so that at every step I was fearful
that he would fall and break my neck. I got to a tav—
em and stopped, I found out here that the horse had
got a chronic disease, and it was this that made the
beast so thin and poor. Ithought the matter over
much. I remembered his advice and sage counsels,
and Ihave not yet forgotten his ministerial demeanor,
his apparent candor and open frankness, and I trustl
never shall.

This horse was fatally diseased, and he knew it.
It bore no marks of a harness or saddle, and he could
not have used it if he had tried. I, a poor boy, had
heen most shamefully fleeced out of 110 dollars, and
in reviewing the subject, rehellious execrations rose
to my tongue that were too big to escape from my
' mouth. He said his name was Smith, and sure
enough, he hammered with the sledge of piety hpon
an anvil of hypocrisy, a great shave out of me. The
Lord reward him according to his works.

 
Q

 

24

I staid in Easton at the tavern four days, and gave
my horse medicines. These relieved him some, but I
found his days were numbered. The Hotel keeper
was kind ; I aided him, took care of the horses of trav-
elers, and he charged me nothing. While I was there
two gentlemen in a carriage rode up to the door,
took out their overcoats, requested me to groomtheir
horse and feed him. They then passed into the house.
Between the wheels of the carriage i saw a pocket
book ; I picked it up, put it in my pocket, and led the
horse to the barn, and gave him provender. I then
examined the pocket) book ; it was full of money,
and I returned it to my pocket. In an hour the gentle-
men called for their horse and carriage, and I brought
it to the door. They stepped out, and I enquired if
they had lost any thing. One of the men said he had

lost his pocket book, containing all that he was worth

except a few shillings. It contained twenty thousand
dollars. He described it, and I gave it to him.

In his thankfulness and generosity, he put his hand
in his pocket and took out a Sixpence and offered to
me, as he said “ to buy two drinks.” The landlord
told him that my drinks were furnished gratuitously
by him, and he put his Sixpence back into his pocket.
The men jumped in the carriage and rode away.
The landlord’s face began to redden, and a burst of ex-
ecrations escaped from his lips with withering force.

The meanness of this man had a pernicious effect
upon me. The landlord said “he was a villain, and if
his money had fallen into other hands, or been found ‘
by those that knew him, it would have been lost for«

,.
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i

ever.” In the View of the landlord, this gentleman

was corrupt and dishonest. He had traded at
Wind Gap, a settlement upon the Delaware, been
anxious to sell his goods on credit, and urged his
customers to buy largely. In an unexpected hour he
laid upon them expensive lawsuits, drove them from
their farms, and ruined them by scores. Such being
the case, the wretch scarcely deserved the name of a
gentleman, or the restoration of his money. The offer
of a Sixpence “ to buy drinks,” as a compensation for
my honesty, and an inducement to do the same under
like circumstances, gnawed upon my mind. I
was led to exclaim, O the meanness and Iittleness of
man; his touch is pollution, his embrace is death!
Wherefore then the iniquity of illegalized roguery?
The race is corrupt, the heart is loathsome, then
why not Imake the most out of this world, in the
waylI choose to adopt? Why may not every man
contrive his own plans, and execute them unmolested
in his own way? What is law? What are human
rights? What better is honesty than crime, so long as
oppression is allowed to the few, to lord it over the
many? Who make the hewers of wood and the draw-
ers of water in the world? Is it notthose who have
gained money by injustice and extortion? Such senti-
ments passed through my mind, and they closed up
the avenues of my heart, which previously stood wide
open to gnitigate'the calamities of life.

I did not wish a reward for my honesty, I did not
silently ask myself how much would be the ren
compense; but I did not expect the chilled serpent

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‘26

that I had restored to life by communicating warmth
and sustenance to his system, would rise, hiss, and
deadly bite his benefactor. A more forbidding and
selfish heathen, a more heartless sccundrel could not,
in civilized Society, be permitted to drawi out the
meanest existence. These facts injured me. They:
soured my temper, dried up the sensibilities of my
heart, and induced me anew to declare open war upon
the race.

I tried to. forget this incident, but it produced such a
strong impression upon my mind, that I have often
thought it must have made a track in the substance
of the brain. Since that period, whenever I have
seen a mean, selfish man, disgracing his nature, and
sinking himself below the level of the most despicable
brute, the Whole afi'aii at this town in Easton has
arisen in my mind with all its vividness and distinct-
ness, as though it had occurred only yesterday.

My stay at Easton was ‘four or five days, and I ‘
mounted my sick and jaded horse for the Susque-
hanna region. I progressed slowly, my horse being
feeble, but in four days the Tunkhannock Mountains
showed their cragged eminences, and through them
passed the rapid waters of the Susquehanna River.
I arrived at the hense of my uncle, and found, his
family in good health and spirits, andtherealso the
beautiful girl, whose charms kept me steady for some
months previous.

This region of country was wild and picturesque
and the people generally were Dutch and Yankees,
27

of the most filthy, wild, and vulgar kind that could
be conceived. I had just left Connecticut, and its en-
lightened communities, and had dropped down as it
were among a race as debased and corrupt as those
who have already entered the stygian pool.

But though this state of society was first so re-
pulsive,‘ Isoon got used to it .and became, somewhat
gratified with their rude, drinking, boisterous charac-
ters. _I resolved to stay a year, and try my fortune
among them. I was engaged in diverse pursuits.
Sometimes I hunted bears,~ sometimes panthers,
wolves, deer, &c., for the woods and mountains were
overcharged with game. Sometimes we had frolics of
the most noisy sort. We drank whisky, not in half
gills, as it is taken now,,but in gallons and barrels.
Every family had their whisky cask, and it was drank .
by old and young, male and female, as plentifuly- as if
it were cow’s milk.

It can easily be conceived'what followed such a
course of life. Every evening a gang assembled at
the numerOus taverns to drink, tell stories, and fight. '
When they had become half drunk, theywere noisy
and quarrelsome, gouging out the eyes was one of
their barbarous practices, and nearly one third of
the German population had but one eye. I saw one ~
day, a horse with one eye, carrying upon his back
the husband, wife and child, each with only one eye.

This gouging they called sport, but I thought it dear.
Upon every Sunday, crowds collected at the taverns,
and the day was spent in drinking, swearing ' and

 

 
pant. .~ 1:»

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:28 ‘
fighting. The people were usually poor, as ”they

' spent their time and money at these domestic hells.

The world was here abounding in_ lumber. We

if chopped down the trees, sawed them into boards and
planks, made rafts, and floated them down the river to
market. We stopped nights, and invariably had
" sprees, quarrels, fights, and ina general break-down

d and drag-out style. In the morning we went upon

 

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f“! «I. ‘
.:"‘r§"’
.

1 1 our rafts and rowed down stream until night. Then
‘ 1' another general storm broke out, and the scenes of

the preceding evening were reacted. Thus we went
on till we held up at tide water, delivered our rafts
to the merchants and left them.

These rafts were numerous, and each was ac-
companied by three men. Fifty or sixty rafts often-
times went on in company.

We returned up the banks of the river on foot, with
dogs and guns. Whether raftsmen have reformed I
have never learned; but if they continue up to this
day so reckless, profane and brutal, the state of soci-
ety where they congregate must be infernal.

Upon our returning tours, every night was wild
with carousals,,gambling, fighting and their kindred
vices. For a young’man like me, associating daily
and nightly with these clans of wild human beasts,
and entering as I did, with full soul and heart deeply
into vices and petty crimes, it soured my sensibilities,
steeled every kind emotion, and drove me onward to
delight and glory in being an outcast from decent men.
My nature was easily led at an infinite remoteness
29

 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  

from the practice of every virtue, and like the others, ' ,
I madly rushed headlong down the steep of remediless , ‘
ruin. Before we got back our money was wasted '
and gone, Our bodies defaced by the encounters in
which We had been engaged, our clothing as tattered
as an Italian Lazzaroni’ s, and our moral tendenmes
' extinguished 1n utter darkness. 5
I was from the land of steady habits, having beenl -
reared in the vicinity of churches and schools, and};
herel was then, indulging in revelries of pandemo-if?
nium. When ruminating upon this subject and these i
scenes, in the after calm and sober periods of my .life ‘l
the remembrance of the perilous times when I was:1
first among the foremost 1n daring vice, has caused me 1
to shudder , and the advice that I would give my fel 1‘
low man is, to go as fa1 from the example I have seta

“from the centre to th11ce the utmost pole.” '

In our returning trips, besides the rowdyism, drunk-lg
enness, profanity, gambling and debaucheries, we
were by day continually annoying some man or brute r14
committing mischievous pranks and petty thefts upor l
the rude population We called at a widow woman’
house and asked for milk, and while she was gomfig},
after it, we lifted the lid to her half barrel churn, Ipui:1
in the cat, and Wm. Keeler crowded the brute w1tlfi
the dasher to the bottom of the cream, and the churi'l; I J
lid was restored. The good woman gave us as muclg, l ;
Mill; as we liked; we thanked and left her to make cagg‘f '
butter for her family. If any reader curses me for myil
ingratitude, all I can say is, that I deserve his execra'iifg”
., ,
mgamm «gnu. 1.; 1:.

 

30

tions, and to be executed “ Without the benefit of
clergy;”
At another time, being alone and out of money, I

found a cow in the woods With a bell strapped to her

neck. I approached her soothingly, then sprang and
grasped the bell strap, and the cow ran like a deer
through the brush, jumping and kicking at me. The
bell strap finally broke, and I gained the noisy prize.

Evening drew on, the clouds covered up the sky, and'

' night was near at hand, and menaced me with utter
‘ darkness in the woods. At a little opening I espied a

tavern stand upon a grass plat near a bend of the river,
and entered 'it. I told the landlord that I had no
money, but that I had found‘a bell in the woods, and
he agreed to give me supper, lodging and breakfast;

_ and a dollar and a half for the bell.

I give these two facts .as specimens of my enterprise
upon my journeys, and the heartless condition of my
mind. Daily occurrences of liketurpitude, were com-
mitted by me and my associates. It was then appa-
rently a God- forsaken and God- forgotten country. Not
a church or a school house in the distance of 250
miles. How could men reform? And by this contin-
ued intercourse with each other, the whole communi- ,
ty' became “ earthly, sensual, devilish.”

After my return from a rafting expedition, our rows,
dances, frolics, gamblings, fightings, and carousals,
were renewed, and although previously at these orgies
there seemed no execrable condition on earth to rival
them, yet in this school of infamy, ou1 gangs saw that
we had incresaed our wicked and diabolical piopens1-

 
_ 3‘1

ties. The females delighted in these accessions of
grossness and vulgarity, and were apt scholars to learn
the rudest phrases that couid shack modesty and de-
cency. But the men were more wicked than the wo-
men.» In a genuineg Good natured frolic and dance, the
girls always manifest more elated spirits than the men

Their cheerfulness and hearty love of mirth and fes-
tivity much exceed 1n fulness and gleeful satisfaction.
They were not cast in the roughest molds, and though
rude and untanght, they graced the festive scenes with
charms that such periods in their absence could never
command. Such was the case in our hop at Zu.
Sherwood’s, near to Mrs. Hadley’s, the landlady of
Beach woods. This spree made me some trouble, but.
furnished sport for a month. Our dance was at
SherWood’s, but our entertainment was furnished by
Mrs. Hadley, in the immediate vicinity.

About eight o’clock in the evening, we were sum-v
moned to the supper.‘ The weather was cold, and the
Susquehanna solid as granite. Among the delicacies
of the supper table, Mrs. Hadley set out in the centre
an ea1 then pot filled with candied honey, and it was
so solid it was with much difficulty that we could
get the honey from the pet. While the landlady’s
back was turned,l rose from my seat, took up the
pot of honey, carried it out of door and put it in an
oven a rod from the house.

We paid up ou1 bills, and the old woman did not
miss her honey. As we returned to the ball room, I
took along the pot, broke off the earthen encasement,

._

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32

and set up the mess of honey on the table.
. Every girl and boy took what they liked, and ate it.
The men filled their great mugs with whisky, sweeten-
ed with the honey, and we treated ourselves and the
girls as long as they could drink. The ball closed
about the same time that the honey was consumed.
In very truth, we had a sweet time.

No man ever saw a company in better spirits, and
well they might be. Whisky and honey loosened my
tongue, and thefunvand the frolic was of the nicest
kind. Daylight found us at home. In the morning
poor Mrs. Hadley missed her honey, and was wide
awake to catch the rogue. Of course I was suspect-
ed, and old Squire Worden issued a writ against me
and gave it to a squash headed constable by the name
of Jonathan McMullen, to arrest me.

I got wind of all these movements, but took a horse
and carried some grain to mill. As I was returning,
McMullen came from above and sent below to inter- .
cept me in a narrow bend of q the roads I looked
around and saw the whole : a mountain on one side,
the Susquehanna upon the other, and the Sherifi~ with
his agents before and behind me. The river was now _.
swollen from a rain storm of the day before, the ice
breaking up, and every avenue of escape was cut ofi‘.
In every emergency I made up my mind quickly, and '
entered upon my determinations with a resolution
which only death could‘ thwart. I turned my horse’s
head towards the river, and the fields of broken ice,
and in a full gallop I ran him from one cake to

 

 
83

another until we landed safely on the opposite shore. ‘
Iproeeeded up the Susquehanna unmolested, tarried -

through the night and the next day; then rode down
and settled with Mrs. Hadley ; gave her my note for
the honey and costs, to the amount of fourteen dollars,
and this note she, if living, probably holds against me
_ until this day. '

I bought a sawmill and worked in it all the spring,
except when rafting, or upon a frolic. I made con-
siderable money, but my expenses, whisky bills, and
petty lawsuits consumed it all and run me in debt. 'I
staid here two winters and one summer. During the
second winter three of us went into the woods to
make shingles. We built a shanty for our purposes,
to cook and sleep in. Frequently'in pleasant weather
we kindled a fire of shavings out of the house. On a
\ certain evening, my comrades went to bed early, and

Itook a pail and went to a spring twenty rods dis-
tant, and brought up a pail of water. Before start-
ing I threw my arms full of shavings upon this out
door fire, went and got the water and returned. The
fire had just began to creep among the shavings.

All at once it flashed into a blaze, and a panther
within four feet of me, and until this moment undis-
covered, jumped from me, and uttered his dismal
scream. The fire scared him, and that heap of pine
shavings thatl had thrown upon the embers, saved,
me from a violent and awful death. The pioneers of
a new country have a hard life. Meagre and coarse
diet, the wild beasts of prey on every hand, the hungry
wolves, the strong and elagtic panthers, the bear with

B

 
 

34 . ' ‘

her whelps, the poisonous snakes, and the pestiferous
swamps, each and all seize upon man as a chosen

7 a ' victim. He is compelled to be vigilant,E and soon be-
comes accustomed to his twenty dogs, and his death’
dealing rifle. He is his own sentinel, and woe be to-'
the careless man who “forgets his own duties, and
trusts to chance or dexterity for-(his own safety.

 

 

a «'1‘ ,

 

 

 
CHAPTER IV.

Returns to Connecticut, with some misgivings on parting
with newly formed associations—Soon after reaching
home, visited Norwalh to greet old friends, and was
unexpectedly introduced to a wholesale dealer in coun-
terfeit banh bills—Enlisted in that service” Changed
a large amount into good money in a few days—Soon
heard my banker had been arrested at Springfielde-
Started of with tools .to assist in liberating him from
jail—Found on arriving'there that he had already es-
caped——Not long afterwards he re—appeared to Joe
Mills, and again supplied us with bills in sheets—In
a few months I visited Canad and bought counter-
feits in barter trade. *

In the spring of 1807 I left the wilds of the Susque-
hanna and returned to Connecticut. I regretted to
leave the place, rugged and dangerous as it was, and
the associates who had mingled in the noisy dance,
and steeped their brains in gallons of whisky punch.
But I resolved, and my resolutions to go ahead were
never turned aside by the prayers and tears and CU.“
treaties of friends, nor by the threatenings of enemies.
But this once, I own I began to tremble at my in-
decision and irresolution. .

' The young lady before alluded to, whose presence

at my mother’s house had so charmed me, and whose
:32

 
 

 

86

kindness and affection shed upon my darkened soul
so, many rays of celestial radiance, Icould scarcely
leave. She followed me with tears and uplifted hands,
the picture of innocence and beauty, and conjured
me to return; I stopped my horse, turned him
around, and with an aching heart began to reconsider
my determination. My will would not bend; it was
unyielding as “the massive oak, and never before
trembled under the influences of affection and attach-
ment.

Shall I now become a child, and act the part of a
love sick boy, whimper, cry, and make myself a re-
proach to my own heart, and a fool in my own esti-
mation? As quick as thought I wheeled my horse,
put him into a gallop, dismissed the idea that the
« angelic object that I had left forever would think of
me still with undivided affection.

I rode on carelessly, intent on driving from my mind
the anxious interview and unrivaled charms of this,
blossom of the mountain and river, ruminating on the
, scenes through which Ihad passed during nearly a
year and a half. Ilooked asI supposed, for the last
time upon the ever varying landscapes, ——had heard
the last panther’ s scream and the last growl of the sav-
age and hungly bear ,

I determined on taking a different road home from
that over which I traveled in my outward Journey. I
resolved not to pass by the house of my hypocritical
jockey, being fearful if I ventured that way I should
curse him as St. Paul did Annanias and Sapphira, and

 
3’7

. that like results might follow my malediction, andI
might be condemned to the gallows by a court, and
jury who would not understand and give due weight
to the provocation. The impression On my mind
respecting this wolf in sheep’s clothing, I vainly hoped
might be supplanted by ‘a more pleasing theme. I
thought over my hard life, my escapes, the fearlessness
that urged me onward, and thus I kept musing untilrI
discoverda church steeple and fancied’to myself that.
the ghost of Smith, the freind. of my father and the
volunteer advisor of his son, who practised such an
abominable fraud upon my confiding honesty, was
verily present. My thoughts recurred to the pocket
book I had found, and the creature encased in the skin
of a man with the heart and action of a viper. As I
moved onward in my way, the things of the world ap-
peared pleasing and desirable. I saw farms thatI
coveted, and cattle and horses that exhibited perfection
in’ form and in beauty of movement, and every thing
conspired to cheer me and point to a period in my life
when freinds. and plenty should smile on me.

In a few days I arrived in Wilton, Conn., and
found my friends in good condition and pleased to see
me. I had. rambled so much and so long, that I soon
found a quiet life had no charms to interest me. I
was not contented at home,-though the open door and
kind friends within always ”made me welcome.

, Norwalk, on L. Island Sound, was quite a village,
and here business men met to transact their affairs.
This little town had its full share of the devil’s bles-

B3 _

 
1:7 E
; A
‘3 .

 

38

Sing, 1. e. grogshops. Drunkenness was then the great
sin of our country. Every man drank spirituous li-
quors daily; but when men from the country went to
market, they too}: their extra glasses, as well for
friendship’s sake as because they loved the creature.
Every boy of fourteen drank daily. ‘ Strong drinks
were considered essential. on all extra occasions.
There could be no public concourse assembled with-
out the aid of rum; and hence some overdrank and
quarrels ensuedf It did then as now, destroy the
equilibrium of the brain, and produced strange emo-

tions and conceptions in the mind of the, drinker. It

augmented sources of disturbance, caused dissension,
induced lawsuits, andrgave a false 'coloring to eve-
ry thing pertaining to life. Wild speculations and
subsequent embarrassments, usually have their origin
atthe groggieries. Young men meet at these places
to concoct schemes of every sort; and if injustice,

 

iniquity and crime ensue, these dens were the spot in.

which all the plans were laid. ’

My intercourse with the young men of our vicinity
was of the most perfect frankness. One afternoon
Joseph Mills and myself went down to the village to
see what “we could scare up” in that quarter. Af-
ter inquiring for the news, the gossip of the neighbors
hood, the stories afloat about things 1n general, and
chattering with the inmates of the tavern, we re»
paired to the bar and took brandy. Soon after, as
old acquaintance gathered in, we turned a cent‘to see

who should treat the company. The stake fell upon,

 
39

one of us, and we drank another glass. Conversa-o
tion now became general, of fast horses, of scrapes,
of balls, and of carousals. We became loud and noi-
sy, yet good natured and full of fun.

During this time, a gentleman came in and took
his seat. There seemed to be a defect in one of his
eyes, for he wore a green shade lying clOse over one

eye ball. After some of our company passed out, this
man went to the door and beckoned to me. He
probably had heard something fall from ,my lips
which led him to think I was a good deal of a boy. I
passed out upon the piazza with him, and in a whis-
per he asked me, “Can you keep a secret?” Ire-
plied, I can if I. say I will.

We went out in the rear of a building on a little
knoll, where now stands the barn of , Stevens’ Hotel.
The stranger again enquired of me, “Who is that
man with you?” I‘said, Jo. Mills. “Can he keep a
secret ’Z” I said yes; and he directed me to call him.
ldid so. He then asked, “ Is there a private place
near here, where we can talk over a. secret, for I
have something to tell you i”

We crossed the Bridge together, and turned into an
open piece of woods, out~of sight of any of the people,
and sat down upon the grass and herbage. I now
saw that the patch of silk over his eye was used to
blind others—not himself. He appealed to our hon-
or again to keep our transactions hidden from the
View of the people, and swore to keep his revelations

secret
B4

 
 

 

40

' He now took from his person a roll of Bank Bills;
told us they were counterfeit, and offered to sell us
some of them. Neither of us understood what coun-
terfeit bank money was. He explained it to our
satisfaction, and we now saw how suddenly we could
become rich—have our pockets lined with gold, and
live in affluence and ease.

It was Burroughs’ money, and to our eyes at least,
as good as genuine. A great fact‘astounded us both.
He engaged to furnish us for ten dollars a hundred,
any quantity that we wished; but he said, “Keep the
matter dark; say nothing; be prudent and cautious,
and in siX‘months you will each be worth 33 50,000.”
Was not here a golden bait? What greater induce-
ments could be laid before the senses of an ambitious
and unscrupulous youth?

I always had a love of money, intense and ardent,
even though I frequently spent it prodigally.’ I valued
it while it was in my possession, and as soon as it was
gone I cast about to see what means would avail me
to get more.“ Here I found out the secret, fitted per-
fectly to this passion of mine. He offered me 300
dollars for my horse, saddle and bridle, andI accep-
ted the ofFer. .

We went back to the tavern and took another
drink ; then he mounted the horse I sold him and left
us. This horse and saddleiwas worth 35 dollars, good

money. ,.

I staid with Whitlock, the tavern keeper, during
the night, and Mills put his horse in the barn and
slept with me. I let Mills have half the money. Du-

 
41

ring the evening I got a ten dollar bill changed, and
in the morning Mills paid the landlord another ten dol—
lar note, and we left for home. Mills and myself crui
sed about the Country, getting our bills changed at
every opportunity ; and in a fortnight we had no mon
ey but good, and regretted much that we had not ta-
ken more.

‘ This Counterfeit money was on Albany and Philadel-
phia banks. They were the first 'of the kind ever in
circulation, and the people received them as genuine
and almost without one look at them. In fiveor six
weeks I heard that our banker was in jail at Spring-
field, Mass. I provided myself with tools, and moun-
ted my horse and rode to Springfield, with a determi-
nation to liberate him. When I arrived there, I found
that two nights previous he had helped himself and
escaped from the prison. All Ihad to do was to re-
turn to Connecticut and wait impatiently for him to ‘
visit us with an immense amount of funds.

In two or three weeks Joseph Sherlock, our banker,
as he promised us in the woods, came to Joseph Mills’
house with a mint of bank money. Mills’ house was
our head-quarters. Sherlock brought the money in
sheets , we oiled the sheets—then folded them in blot-
ting paper and ironed them, when the paper beCame
flexible; and this process removed the stiffness and .
rattling.

This time we got m01e than a thousand dollars, and
he told us all the secrets of roguery, and the town and
place in Canada where any quantity of such money

could be obtained. He gave us a long and minute
B5

 
 

.« ‘ " “1, . .
“1134.344? v.1; ' ;L~ (ambigw. -:,~"“' ' 1
.. <" “ ,_ :'I, . .

 

4?

lesson on this subject, and after about three days left
us.
I N ow we were getting to be masters in the business,
for our banker had told us all. I took the oversight
of the farm, but was away much of' the time. I
bought watChes, jockied horses, purchased droves of
Sheep, and any thing else, and paid in counterfeit
money. In the fall season we went to company and
general trainings, and all other gatherings of the
people. We traded any where and with any persons.
It was sometimes whispered that it was strange that
we had qumuCh money; but as we were high fellows,
we boasted of making money by gambling in New-
York, and they believed us. .
After getting off all our money, in two. or three
months it began to be noised about that the notes of
the Albany and Philadelphia banks were counterfeit-
ed. We now had not one of them on hand, and pass-

' ed about our buSiness, having good money to deal out

in our business transactions. Besides this, Burroughs’
bills were not a good imitation, and the people began
to examine their bank notes.

I took my horse/and went to Canada, to a place call-
ed the Slab City, to the firm of Crane & Staples, su- ,

. peri'or copperplate engravers. They engraved the

notes of several different Banks that were presented.
to them. In little more than a week they produced

' me notes on Barker’s Exchange Bank, some on New

Jersey banks, and some genuine ones on the Com-
mercial Bank of Philadelphia, as also upon some
others that'lhave' forgotten. We chose those Banks

 
43

that had the most extensive circulation, and the im-
itations were so perfect that these very Banks would
take them at their counters and pay out the specie
for them. Our business continued brisk, and we were
rather suspected at times; but our frankness, appafi
rent honesty and candor disarmed every doubt. When
our stock was exhausted, some one of us went to
Canada for another supply. We paid for our notes
about 10 dollars for one hundred, and they received
pay in watches, gold rings, and old jewelry, and the
balance in cash. I '

 
 

 

 

 

 

44

~ , ' CHAPTER V.

After operating near home for a year or two, became
fearful of danger, and started for New-Jersey, Phil-
adelphia, (ye. —Stopped at Philadelphia with a low
tavern keeper, named Smith—He became urgent for
a lot of counterfeits——Came to the North for them—
On returning to Philadelphia with $1800 ,found great
excitement in regard to bad money—Large reward
oflered for detection of counterfeiters—Smith proved
treacherous, and to make sure of the reward, had 0175-
cers ready to arrest me—Made the blow intended for
me fall on his own pate—Suspected Smith from his
hasty greeting and exit—Slily put the bad money in
his desk—Being found in his possession, the Court
sentenced him to the Penitentiary—Having been
found an honest man, and set at liberty, I proceeded
to Baltimore———Reflections on traitors, (3'02

\

I followed these pursuits nearly two years in, my
native state, and the counties adjoining in New York.
I now thought I had done enough near home for my
own safety; so I went to Philadelphia, taking about
a thousand dollars counterfeit money, and it circula-
ted finely. I boarded at a tavern kept by a man of
the name of Smith, a person of doubtful reputation,
I called my name Smith. I staid there several days-
and this landlord kept urging me to go into the coun.
~45

t'erfeiting business. He told me that he would go
shares with me, and that we could get rich very rap-
idly. Aft iE‘several days of importunity, and after he
had taken a solemn oath to be faithful and true, even
unto death, I consented to get some for him.

I went home where the vaults of my banks were
kept, and got 1,800 dollars, and returned to Smith’s at
Philadelphia. I had already put off in that city a
large amount of counterfeit bills, and the corporation
had offered 300 dollars to any one who should be in-
strumental in convicting a countefeiter. It was eve-
ning when I arrived in the city, and I deposited a few,
hundred dollars in a safe place back of the barn. I
went into the house, and friend and namesake Smith —
was rejoiced to see me. He led me into his parlor,
like a gentleman, and soon passed out and shut 'the
door. I began to be suspicious of him notwithstand-
ing his oath of secrecy. My thoughts were upon a
telegraphic chase, and I arose and sprang across the
room, opened his desk that stood there unlocked, took
my counterfeit money and crammed it into the back
side of a drawer, and shut up the desk, returned to
my seat by the candle, took up a book and went to
reading , at any rate I appeared to be reading,
whilst in ahard state of thinking.

Smith soon entered the room and two men with
him. One of them tapped me on the shoulder and
said I was his prisoner. Iasked him what I had done.
He said that Mr. Smith told him I was a dealer in
counterfeit money. My heart was under more pres-

sure than the valve of a boiler attached to a racing
B7

 
 

 

_ 46

Steam Boat. It seemed as if my chest would break
open; but I concealed my feelings, and calmly and
‘ forcibly denied the whole, and told them to search me.
Smith stood near, by in silent. exultation. They
searched my pockets, and the folds of my garments,
but found no bad .money. I had gold, silver and
paper money in my pocket-book, but it was good and
genuine. Smith now stood amazed, for they were
now satisfied of my innocence.

I had read 1n the Book of Esther of the hanging of
Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai,
and Ibecame at once comforted and tranquilizedwith
the thought of turning to good account the hasty de-
posit of the bad money in Smith’s desk. Now came
‘ my turn, and with a bold'and honest face'I told these
officers that a few weeks ago I was in the city trans-
acting a commission agency, andthat Isaw his name
on the Sign board, and I stopped there because he was
a namesake, and that I made his house my home forten
days, until my engagements were fulfilled. I stated
that whilst there, friend Smith was daily urging me
to get counterfeit money for him, and that he would
go halves with me in the profits ; but I obstinately re-
fused, for I had plenty of money, and rather than de-
fraud the people, I would die by starvation in the
streets. Smith said he could get off '7 or 800 dollars
in a month, but he did not know where to get it, for all
he could get was gone some time ago.

I then said that this damned rascal had got me
arrested to screen himself, for you must be convinced
by searching that I am not the rogue. Do I look like

 
4'7

\

one? I am hold to assert my'innocence, and demand
that this rascal’s house be searched. I came here
peaceably, and wanted entertainment; and you see, .
gentlemen, howl anf misused. I demand again, that
this rascal’s house be searched. They did not long
hesitate, and commenced operations in the room, and
soon opened the desk, and on closely scrutinizing the
drawers, found more than 33 1,200 of counterfeit smon-
ey tucked away carefully and covered. up.

How did the traitor feel when he was detected 7 The
, officers now arrested him, and took us both away, and
‘put keepers over us, to watch us through the. night.
I had caught him nicely, and he knew it; for'he had .
forfeited his oath to me. The panic which now pre-
' ,vailed in regard to counterfeit money, and the reward
offered for the detection of counterfeiters, had prob-
ably induced him suddenly to change ground, and
make the most he could for the present, by obtaining
the reward offered for the detection of greater rogues
than himself. The public knew him to be dishonest,
and the scheme he attempted to put in execution
against me, looked verily like a villainous contrivance
to shield himself from suspicion. I never saw a crea-
ture more perfectly maddened; and~during the night
he roared like a “ Wild bull in a net.”

The Court was in session, and we. were both taken
as prisoners to the bar. I pleaded not guilty, with an
air of convincing honesty , and no evidence appeared
against me, for I so conducted myself before the Court
and Jury, that they not only thought me innocent and
.of good reputation, but 1151380 that Smith had conspired

B

 
 

 

48

against me, that thereby he might escape not only
from punishment, but even f1 om suspicion.

Smith had lied to me, and he knew it. He had en-
deavored to get me punished, so that he might get the
300 dollars reward. Now the scales were turned,

' and I was ready to pay him off with lies, and I did it
effectually.

He was now before the court, and pleaded “not
guilty.” 0, could you have seen the infuriated wretch-
in the prisoner’s box, with a Court House full of spec-
tators gazing at him, and he swearing and raving like
a fiend in the bottomless pit, it would have shamed
the results of treachery and dishonesty. His counsel
were disarmed, and could do nothing. The jury
without leaving their seats, brought in a verdict of "
“guilty.” The Judge rose, and after recapitulating
the falsehoods of the p1isone1, the unseemly conduct
he had manifested befom the Court, and the hardened
iniquity in which he had been caught, sentenced him
to State’s Prison for seven years. He was then
remanded to jail.

lleft the Cou1t House, and without delay shaped
.my course for Baltimore. It has been said that the1e
is honesty among thieves ; but a traitor is a villain in
any latitude and under all circumstances. Sooner Or
later, justice is dealt out to him with an unsparing
hand. They who were his friends, look upon him '
as they would upon a poisonous reptile, and he is
slfunned by them. They look upon him with a mix-
ture of scorn and contempt, and rightly class him in
a grade below robbers and murderers. Who Was

.1

 
49

Benedict Arnold? Who was Georgey, for a time the
professed friend and coadjutor of Kossuth in the
struggle for Hungarian freedom? Traitors, is the an-
swer from every honorable man. When the sum of
human wickedness is amassed in imponderable
weight, who will be found on the lowest seat, as hav-
ing’ accumulated the most blackened infamy, for
which in the codes of hell, even Deity, as ’yet, has de-
vised no adequate punishment? Is there pardon for
such, even in minds of the most forgiving? Never.

The love of gold will prompt men to engage in the
darkest deeds of wickedness—and even for these
atrocious acts excuses will arise in the demon’s mind,
inducing an attempt at justification. If a man rob
and murder, he has an object in view, that asks
, for lenity from a remorseless world; but when a man,
. to inveigle another into his toils, and to entrap a con-
* fiding fellow being to his utter ruin and overthrow,
sells himself to be a traitor, he barters away all self-
respect, the confidence of communityhthe esteem of
his friends and associates, and plucks from the devil
the vilest stains which can be made to pollute, dark-
, en and sink him, deepest in the fathomless pools of
deserved wee. There may be some ObSCure rays of
comfort, indistinctly gleaming in the mind of the most
heartless villain. . _

There may arise some clouded views of better days
and tranquil (seasons, in the thoughts of those also
who are about to consummate the most unpardonable
of crimes: but to a traitor, the sun never shines in
warmth sufficient to thaw his ice—bound heart. His

4
v

 
 

 

50

sky is ever clouded; his sleep is disturbed by guilty
emotions. All this world’s loathsome and withering
scorn is heaged upon him, and he knows that he de:
serves it. No man pities him. N 0 man thinks him a
friend. N 0 man asks his counsel. No man wishes
him to live and breathe in God’s pure air. Let him
die; though clods cover him, he is still alive in the
annals of cui'sed existence.

   
51

CHAPTER VI.

At Baltimore found a smart, shrewd girl, to act as as-
sistant hill changer—-Myself finally arrested, and ”
sent to jail—One night let out a long thread from the
prison window, and drew up powder procured by the_
girle—Blew out an opening and escaped—Soon after,
at Edenton, N. 0., agreed with a free negro in an
eastern vessel, to be sold as a slave, and then run away
and meet me—Sold him three times, and divided the
money twice¥——-Samho did’nt get round for his third
dividend—~Being now in funds, returned to N. York—-
Found there a girl well qualified for a counterfeiting
tour—Bought a horse and carriage, got a new stock
of counterfeit bills, and traveled with the girl to Bos-
ton, Portsmouth, Portland, (Sc, and returned to New-
Yorh, after having done a profitable business.

I wended my way to Baltimore, and looked about
the town4—entered its dens, and conversed with my-
self upon my business prospects. My Philadelphia
money had got there before me, but I was resolved
to engage in negociations. Fortunately, Ifound a
female of twenty years, thoroughly versed in the
rogues lexicography. After becoming well acquaint-
ed, we agreed to look to each other’s welfare, whether
in successful business or in reverses of fortune. I
feund her faithful and true—a legitimate child of the
devil, in the midst of a crooked and perverse genera-

 
 

'07,.

- '5" 4.3;: .' ‘7

 

 

 

max,» .,

 

 

52

tion. She had the stoical fixedness of a statue when

circumstances required it. She was humble, modest,

her eyes filled with tears of sympathy, affectionate
words, and tones of voice like a purified saint, when
it seem-ed necessary to carry out her purposes. One
day she would be a wild swaggering boy, in a boy’s
costume; perhaps in an hour the deliCate lady, clad
in silks and adorned with jewels, brilliants and
diamonds. She was every way fitted as a partner,
having all the qualifications essential to a perfect
regue. ' ,

The reader will think that we were well matched,
and we, the parties, thought so too. In' case of ac-

, cident or arrest, we swore to look to each other’s in-

terest with the same intensity as if fortune had smiled
upon us. Neither of us kept more than one counter-
feit bill in our pockets at the same time; and for ten

' days we transacted a good business. In an evil hour

I was arrested, tried and sent to jail. In the court
room she was near me veiled, and in the ”greatest
sorrow for me, her pretended husband. I had a short
interview with her after my trial, and I told her how

> to manage, and I would befree. She left me in '

showers of tears.

Iwas taken to the jail, and confined in an upper
room. The building was of stone, well g'ratedand
calculated for rogues, and when a man was put.in it,
the jailor knew it would hold the prisoner, and had
no anxiety respecting the escape of its occupant. The
second night I heard a slight scratch upon the walls
in rear of the prison. I had borrowed a needle and a

o 1.»,
“(fix
53

skein of thread of the jailor’s wife to mend my'clothes.»
I let this thread out of the grate, with a buttOn on it to ,
carry it to the ground. I soon after drew it up, and
found a case knife attached; and the operation was

repeated until sufficient tools were procured. I now

sent down a paper with this note: “ To morrow night

a gill of powder.”

‘The court would not sit for nearly a month, and I
had time enough to look over the crevices of the wall
by daylight, and when I thought it safe. In three
nights I had picked out the mortar sufficient for my
purpose, and charged the wall with powder. , The
next night was dark and stormy, and about 1 o’clock
my train was ready. Ilighted some tinder with abit
of flint and old file, struck up a blaze, set my train on
fire, and retreated to the back side of the room. In a
half minute the powder ignited, and'nearly ten feet of
the prison wall fell to the ground, and I passed out in
the dark. A crowd soon assembled; Iwas in the midst '
of them, in citizen’s dress, and in the hubbub and con-
sternation, took a favorable opportunity, went t0wards
a hotel, but entered a back lane, and left the town
without exchanging a farewell with any one.

Morning came, and I was 20 miles from Baltimore,
on my way to North Carolina. In those days there
was but little intercourse between the, inhabitants of
towns ten miles apart, and this part of the country
was chiefly covered with dense forests. Villages had
started up albng the navigable rivers, and these vil-
lagers knew little about the country. I journeyed on
to Edenton, in North Carolina, and there stopped at a

 
   
  

 

" 54

, rude tavern. I did but little business ingcounterfeit—
ing, for Ihad contrived a more profitable employment,
but attended with more peril. A schooner lay in the
harbor from Boston, partly manned by mulattoes.
One of them looked smart for business, and at his in-
tervals of leisure, I contrived that he should leave the
vessel, go out into the country, and I would sell him
there; then he should run away and meet me again,
and we would divide the profits. The next day I
bought me a horse, saddle and bridle, and left town
and rode into the woods, two miles out, and watched
for the negro. We went on several miles and ap-
proached a village, when the negro became my waiter,
put out my horse, called me massa, just like a slave.
I inquired of my landlord the way to Virginia, drank
with him, and he gave me his best. After I had con-
trived with Pomp where to meet me on the way to
Georgia, and had got my plan perfected and under-
stood, I told the landlord that my negro was a first-
rate coachman and horse doctor, and as I was com-
pelled to go to Virginia and Washington, I found my
body servant useless, and I would sell him for $800,
though his real value was $200 more. We bargain-
' ed; I sold Pomp and took the money. Next morning
I mounted my horse, told Pomp to be a good boy.
“ Yes, msssa,” he said, and I took the road towards Vir-
ginia a few miles, then branched off towards Geor-
gia, tobe at the place appointed to meet Pomp. The
first night after his sale, he ran away and met me as
agreed, and we divided the money. If Pomp’s master
went in chase after me and Pomp, I knew ‘I had
55

19
got him on the wrong track, and he might go as far
north as he pleaSed. We were on the way towards
Augusta, Georgia.

When morning came, Pomp and I went on our way,
and about noon, I sold him for seven hundred dollars,
ate dinner and went on my course. That night Pomp
ran away and met me according to agreement and
we divided thespoils. We journeyed on, and at night
I sold him for nine hundred dollars; told him to be a
good boy, and when morning daWned, pursued on my
journey. Iwaited two days and nights for Pom to
meet me, but he did not come. He had money, and
perhaps his new master found it out. He had also a
free pass, and by searching, this might have been
found, and the roguery be detected. I felt sorry that
Pomp had got caught in a trap, but he and Ihad been
engaged in perilous enterprises, and if one of us
escaped I thought we should do well. Ichanged the
course of my proposed journey and bent my steps to
the northward. ’I passed above Washington, and
after some days fetched up at Reading, Penn. Thence
I came directly to New York City. During this route
I had no counterfeit money, but my negro sales had
furnished me With an abundance, andI enjoyed my
ramble very much. I roamed about New York four
or five days, to see What Icould do, and how I could
best carry out my purposes. I hit upon a scheme
that would suit me in every particular. In my
intercourse With the tenants of those dens of iniquity
with which the city abounded, even in those days,
I found one female Well schooled in roguery. Her

 
  

 

56

 

\

personal appearance was enchanting, her manners
genteel, and when just from the hands of the milliner
and mantua-maker, no lady at the President’s levees
or at a Newport ball, could have eclipsed her charms.
But she was ready to aid or be foremost in any deed
of wickedness. I administered the oath of secrecy
and fidelity to her, and she received it with sober
calmness, and with unbending purpose. I saw that
I could trust her, and she was confident that I should

‘ not swerve frOm the line of conduct marked out.

Next day I bought a horse and carriage, and took in
my female accomplice, and rode on to Stamford, Conn.
Here we tarried through the night, and the following
day passed through the villages of the seaboard to
Bridgeport, and stopped at Knapp’s Hotel. After
spending a day here, rather secluded, I went over to V
Wilton, and found our bank had been drawn on so
much by'Jo. Mills, John Gregory, and others, that I
could get only about $900. I directed Lyman Mills
and another man to go to Crane dz. Staples, in Cana-
da, and replenish our stock, whileI was on my tour of
pleasur . This was about the year 1808, if I rightly
recollect. , ' M

I took my funds and drove back to Bridgeport, took

.in my partner, and stopped in New-Haven. We

shopped a little during the evening, got rid of ten dol-
lars, and had eight in change when we got back to the.
hotel. The ensuing morning we started on toward
New-London, crossed the ferry at Saybrook, and paid
our fare usually with counterfeit notes. We stopped on
the way over night and arrived in Stonington the sec-

 

 
57

0nd day from New-Haven, and with only necessary -
delays, pushed on to Boston. Upon our way we dis-
posed of as much money as we could, and in the cities
and villages in the evening we separated, went to dif—
ferent shops, bought trifling articles, and got our
change in goOd money. We stopped at a first class
hotel in Boston, and did business largely fora week
or more. We were young and active, joined balls,
cotillon parties, gambled some, but always settled our
bills in counterfeit notes and pocketed the change.
We looked well to our business, and followed it up
with a zeal becoming a better cause. But while we
were upon the route, we were determined it should
pay us well, and as we had no moral character or
conscientious scruples, the world went on swimming- '
ly, and. we made money fast. After spending a week
or more in Boston, we took our horse and carriage
and drove on to Portsmouth, in New-Hampshire, and
staid three or four days, and entered into a brisk
business that yielded large profits.

After closing our affairs here, we passed on to/Port-
land, in Maine, and operated very successfully for the
whole time we staid. The fall season was approach-
ing, and it was a delightful time to travel. My pock-
ets filled with money, and an agreeable and obliging
partner, with smiling prospects before me, our trip
was as pleasant as we could wish or ask for. In due
time we returned to Boston, stopped at a hotel in a
part of the town distant from our place of resting upon
our outward journey. I had learnt better than to
lodge at the same house at different times, or to asso-

 
 

58

ciate in neighborhoods that I had previously visited.
A rogue must keep his eyes and ears open, and if he
stays at a hotel, look about before trouble comes-—
to be in a situation to meet it. He will insist upon
sleeping upon the lower floor, so that in case of fire
or arrest, a window may give him a chance for escape.
He must sleep with one eye open, and be able to'move
with the stillness and celerity of a cat. But our stay
was limited, and we journeyed on to New-York city.
I gave the girl $100 in good money as a reward,
and we parted. ‘ I sold my horse and carriage and loit-
ered about the city a few days. But I never could be
satisfied 1n keeping quiet. I was restless when doing
nothing, and as the getting of money was a darling
propensity, I started off again. i
59

CHAPTER VII.

The South American States having revolted at this peri—
od, found privateers clandestinely fitting out at New-
Yorh and Philadelphia, against Spain—I’Vent to
Philadelphia and enlisted on board a patriot ship——
Coasted south, to intercept Spanish vessels coming in
or going out of our p0rts——Insulted the Lieutenant,
and most fortunately slipped ashore near Savannah,
and escaped a severe lashing—Tools: passage to New-
Yorh, and was soon on the farm at home—Was advi-
sed to try the enterprise of matrimony, and hesitating-
ly complied—Soon old chums wanted me, as a master-
spirit, to re-engage in counterfeiting—Told them I
had married a wife, and therefore could not go—-They
finally forced me into the service—Reflections on a
vicious life, (Sm.

I learned in N ew-York city that the South Ameri-
can States had 'revolted from the Spanish rule, and.
were at war with the mother country, and that priva-
teers were fitted out at Philadelphia to capture the
merchant ships of Spain upon the ocean. Some of
these ships were, laden with cargoes of great value,
and carried vast sums of gold and silver from the na-
bobs of these revolted colonies to be deposited or in-

vested in old Spain. To be engaged in such business
' I knew was no better than piracy, but in the state of
mind I then was, any thing that promised a large re-

 
 

60

ward, no matter what the dangers and privations
were, I was ready to engage in. So Iwent to Phila-
delphia and enlisted on board of a patriot ship that
was about ready for sea. I knew all about the busi-
ness, and the crueltiesand iniquities attendant upon it,
yet I had no fears or misgivings respecting it. Iknew
that there was food to stimulate me in the prosecu-
tion of such enterprises, and they promised a rich re-
turn for my, confinement upon the deck of a ship. It
was no difficult matter for me to leave my pursuits
and engage in those of privateering. Before I left
N ew-York I got rid of my last counterfeit money, and
Charles Moon took it at a good price. He lived in
George street and kept a hard place. I knew no man
in the city who was a greater rascal, so I let him have
the last $200 to use as he thought fit.

I went on board, and we sailed down the Delaware
river to the ocean. "There was a Spanish ship in Bal-
timore harbor richly laden and ready for sea; Our
craft approached the coast, and we sailed to and fro
for a week upon the look out for this ship, that we ,
might capture her and divide the prize money. But
she still clung to her anchorage, and our clipper bot-
tom, from her long previous ,cruises, had become in-
crusted with barnacles and other foul stuff, that im-
peded her sailing properties. Our captain determined
to run her into the harbor of Savannah, and clean her
bottom. I was now engaged in carrying out the brine
from the empty pork barrels, and'being on deck, the
lieutenant ordered me to go forward and unloose the
jib, and at the same moment struck me over thehead

 
61

with a rattan. Quick as thought I dashed a,pail full
of brine into his face and eyes, andhe went below to
change his clothes and then report me. In a moment
after, the captain, knowing nothing of my conduct to
the lieutenant, came out of his cabin and ordered the
men that rowed his gig to jump aboard and carry him
to the shore. I knew my doom if I ever returned to
the ship ; five-hundred lashes would have been only a
beginning. On our way to the shore I pretended to
be seized with the colic, and groaned aloud, wrung and
twisted myself as if I was enduring the hardest pain
‘ that ever attacked a mortal being. I cried. aloud, lay
down in the boat, tumbled, doubled myself into a heap,
and gave the strongest evidences of intense and awful

‘ pain and distress. ‘
The second lieutenant always went in the captain’s
; gig with pistols in his hands to keep the boat’s crew
' from deserting. When the boat struck the beach, the
: captain stepped out and went his way. The boat and
. crew were to wait two hours for his return, and my
, pretended pain and violent bodily contortions contin-
, ued. Along by the shore a quantity of lumber lay
; piled up, andI begged of the lieutenant to permit me
: to go ashore, behind those boards, for a few minutes.
He, out of sympathy for my sufferings, consented, and
in great pretended agony, I. passed back of the lumber
: out of his sight. I crept along over the beach, then
: ran with all my might into a marshy, bushy swamp,
2 about fifteen rods in the rear, and then I went through
;the bushes like a scared buck. In ten minutes I heard
an uproar at the boat because of my absence, but I

 
 

 

62

ran like a fox into a great swamp, where it was not
possible for fifty men to find me. The cane brakes
were twelve feet high, and I passed through them with
the speed of a race horse ; in an hour I had got to Sa—
vannah, and went directly through it into the country
on my way to Charleston, S. C.

I suppose I was not forgotten by my shipmates for
some time, and if my brine-washed lieutenant is still
in the land of the living, my pail full of filth must be
'recollected by him inzperfect disgust.

Here I almost miraculously escaped one of the most
infernal floggings that have ever been the doom of
perverse sailors.

For several days I continued upon my route for
Charleston, and I am certain that this journey was
performed quietly, steadily, undelayed by no frolic or
adventure of any kind. I now took passage on board
a merchant vessel for N ew-York city. We had a
stormy time, but in eight days, at evening, spied Sana
dy Hook Light, and came through the Narrows up to
the city. HereI staid four days, and then came up to
N orwalk with Capt. Pearsall, a packet master. 1
went home and made up my mind to be steady and in-
dustrious, and went to work upon the farm.

A cousin of mine had just got married, and he and
his wife over-persuaded me and her sister to get mar-
ried. I was rather reluctant, and so was she, but they
talked us into it. So we were married and enjoyed lifg
as well as others, until I was beset by my old associ-
ates to go into the counterfeiting business again. At
first I refused. I told them that now I had a wife, and

 

 
63
was desirous of settling upon my farm and abandom
ing roguery forever. But here I was, with a gang of
a dozen men, all active, spirited, and former friends,
yet I denied them most resolutely.

I had for three years kept bad money in my house,
and there were several rolls of it then, and these young
men knew it, and every night I was urged to recom-
mence my old business. After about three months
these men again instilled the spirit of the evil one in-
to me so much that I left my wife and launched my
bark again upon the career of life, filled with shoals
and quicksands, to withstand the storms and tempests
which \are sure to overtake even the cautious.

I was the chief of the gang—the planner of opera-
tions, and mere thoroughly versed in the, tactics of
roguery than any of them. Hence they looked to me
as a guide; but I was not elated by this distinction.
I was bold, fearless, and daring, yet cautious, circum-
spect and wary, and so constituted by nature, as from
any unexpected emergency I instictively, without pre-
meditation, was sure to adopt the best plan, and eX-
ecute my purposes in such a way as experience
proved to be the best. I was gifted with unusual
powe1s of self- -possession. I was never disconcerted,
but calm and deliberate or wild and turbulent, as oo-
casion seemed to require.

" The reader may think me egotistical, but he greatly
errs in my attributing to myself acts, statements, and
assertions, not susceptible, even at the preseht hour,
of the most convincing evidence. These declarations

 
 

 

 

are true, and if I make them, they are no less certain.
I publish this detail of the wretchedness and iniquity
of my earlier days, to show to mankind and the world
the hopelessness of a life of crime, and to dispel the

_ fatal delusion that pervades the life of the dishonest

man. No truth is clearer than the fact, that no con-
tinued rogue finally escapes condign punishment. He
cannot, with the genius of an angel of light, success-
fully prosecute a continuation of criminal acts. Noth-
ing but honesty of intention and a correct upright
practice will endure the test of time. Men are not
fools—their eyes are as piercing and their minds are
as inquisitive as atany former age. A rogue, though
his machinations are secret, feels as if the world sus-
pected him, and the mildness of his demeanor,the cau-
tiousness of his movements, and the actions of the peo-
ple constantly uphraid him. His sober reason teach-
es him that he is in the wrong, and without any new
revelation from heaven he is assured that he cannot
ultimately prosper. Well said the inspired penman,

“ The wages of sin is death l”

 
CHAPTER VIII.

Prosecuting the favorite business with a gang of old
”firiendswPut of large sums at military musters—
Hada mare which would perform great fetes at kick-
ing—Defeated the whole military guard at a regi-
mental review in Bridgeport—Kicked in the side of a
school house in New Milford—Kicked aown the picket
fence of a store keeper who refused to sell liquor, un-
til; he came out with plenty of the creature—Expected

to be arrested for kicking fetes at New Milford—-
Went to work on the farm for a few days—Jn a short

‘ time started of again with Jo. Mills, taking a lot of
bills on good banks altered from small to larger de-
nominations—-Found the public on the alert-«Rewards
afored for detection of counterfeiters—Our business
hazardous—Returned, and advised the gang to sus-
pend operations for a month.

But to pursue the subject. Our gang ’ numbered
about six persons, an each pursued the general plan.
We rode about 'the country,»bought watches, jockeyed
horses, bought sheep, and other stock, paying for them

chiefly in counterfeit money. , My bank was strong .

and for years it failed not. " When we were rapidly
lessening our stock; one ofl the firm went to Canada
and returned with a supply. When the fall season
arrived we were at every military muster. This fall
Joseph Mills, Lyman Mills, John Gregory and myself,

 
 

 

 

 

 
   

66‘

went to general training at Wilton, and. we passed
$5100. The next two days we attended, a general
muster at Fairfield, when we got rid of $250. The

I following day We went to Bridgeport and passed over
"a" hundred dollars.

Ialways loved fun. I was great on a frolic, and
could turn every manaauvre into a laughable spree.‘
In Bridgeport I rode upon the parade, within the lim-
its governed by the sentinels, and they could not drive
me away. Dunning Terrell, sergeant of the guard, as—
sembled-a company of twenty soldiers and surround-
ed me with bayonets fixed, commanding me to sit still
upon my horse. I had a beast of rare qualities, fleet,
active, and vicious, and woe be to the man that ap-
proached too near her heels. This company had hem-

" Iried me in completely, but Itouched her flank with "

my spur, and she kicked and wheeled in a circle ; the
ranks were broken, the soldiers ran for safety, and I
was master of the field, and I halloed loudly, “See
sore-skinned Dun. Terrell and his soldiers scamper ;”
and the spectators shouted in voices of thunder, and
the reverberating echoes were heard a mile from the
parade ground. Inow left the field in peace.

Mr. Knapp, hotel keeper in Bridgeport, had a stand
for the sale of liquors upon the parade ground, and in
buying drinks, cakes, nuts, &c., we passed off upon his
clerk in the course of the day ten of our cbunterfeit
ten dollar notes, and got the change in good money,
over ninety dollars. I was in the piazza at his hotel,
and his clerk brought up the notes, and gave them to
Mr. Knapp, asking for abag of change. Knapp look- .

 
67

ed at the bills and told him they were counterfeit, and
that somebody had cheated him. “most cursedly.” '«I
left the piazza and went away, having no desire to ‘
mingle in the altercation.

My safety perhaps consisted in my absence, and I
went over to Fairfield and staid at the tavern there
during the night. The next morning before breakfast
I won thirty dollars on a wheel of fortune, out of some
gamblers, and thought I had done a good morning’s ,
business. Four of us then started, and when night ap-
preached we were at home, having done a great busi-
ness during the week.

At evening I went up to Isaac Sturges’ store and got
a gallon of rum for Sunday; gave him a ten dollar
bill and he gave me back nine dollars in change.
Sunday we drank bitters and planned for the week.
We went to Newtown on Monday, and attended the
training next day, and left some notes among the peo-
ple. Just at night I rode up to New-Milford and staid
with a cousin that resided thare. About ten o’clock I
bid him good morning, rode on a couple of miles and
drove up to a school-house, and inquired of the schoOl-
mistress the road to N ewtown. She directed me right-
ly. I turned my mare a little, touched her upon the
flank, and she kicked against the house until she stove
in the clapboards and walls, and the children rattled
out of the house like bees from a disturbed bee-hive.
A storekeeper near by, ran out and inquired,“ What
the devil are you about?” I told him that my mare
was restive and uneasy, and sometimes had spells of
kicking and I could not help it I asked hlm what was

 
 

 

88

the damage? He said a dollar, and I gave him two,

' and went on my way.

I rode on through Pug-Lane, and saw a man'sitting
on the stone fence, on a side hill, with a bundle lying
upon the ground. , I rode up to him and inquired the
way to New-Preston ? He said,“ damn you, none of
your business.” I turned my mare a little, touched
her in the flank, her heels flew against the fence, kick-
ed it down, and he and the fence rolled down the hill
togetherkand I roared out in laughter and said, “ see
what you get in not treating me civilly ” I 1eached
down, picked up his bundle and rode on half a mile
on the wrong road. The stealing of the bundle got on
faster than I did, though I returned the bundle to the

' man and gave him fifty cents to settle it. As Ipass-

ed up the road a half mile, the men and women above
and below were turned out to catch me. One of them
took my' horse- by the br.,idle and accused me with
stealing the man’s bundle, and I told him that I took
it in a frolic, and had earned it back to him and set-
tled with him. He supposed that I lied. I told him
to let go of my bridle, but he refused, Ilifted my lead- *
ed whip, and struck his hand, and he let go his hold.. I
turned my mare, touched her flank,.and she kicked
over one man, struck another in the side and rolled
him down the hill, and I returned towards N eW-Mil-
ford. I stopped before Hitchcock’s tavern, and he want-
ed to see‘ my mare kick. I turned her her heels to-
wards the stoop, and she kicked it into tooth picks be-
fore he could say stop. I returned by Pug- Lane
school- house, rode up to the store and asked for some-.

I

 

 
69

thing to drink. “ You shall not have any,” was the
reply. I reined my mare up to the picket fence that
surrounded his house, and told him if you do not give
me something to drink I will kick down your picket
fence. “You shall have nothmg,” he said. Itouched

my mare ; her heels flew against’the pickets, and when _

I had torn down nearly a rod, he came out with a de-
canter and glass, and said, “Drink, damn you, and be
off, you have have raised the devil all around.” __I took
a tumbler of rum and drank it, then galloped out of
the town.

The next 'day I rode home to Wilton. My work on
the farm was neglected, and I Went to work cutting
corn stalks, expecting every hour to hear of My New
Milford capers. But all was quiet, and I-concluded
that asI had left them» and gone off" that they would
let me be, for if I had been tried the sherifl would have
taken me to N ew-Milford for trial. Now they were
clear of me, and perhaps they deemed it a wise plan
to k<%p me away, and so the whole matter rested.

I tarrled at home a few days, but my rambling pro- ‘

pensities drove me away into speculation again. J o-
seph Mills and I mounted our horses to take a jaunt,
' and if not to levy black mail, yet to‘pass our counter-
feit notes. We had a good many altered ones. we
took the one dollar bills for this purpose. *We took
out the circle containing the figure 1, enlarged it, and
inserted a 100 in its place, and after making other
needed alterations, they were passed as genuine ; the
signatures and filling up had already been done at

their respective banks. N 0 man doubted them. The
03

\

 
 

 

 

 

 

O

70

bank officers acknowledged their genuineness. In pro—r
cess of time the trick was discovered. The banking
institutions in Rhode Island and Massachusetts now
got up a new plate to obviate this mode of deception,
and their future emissions contained the value of the
Note by having it printed over the whole face of _ the
bills. If it was a five dollar Note, “ five dollars,
five dollars, five dollars,” &c. covered the whole sur-
face. So far as these banks were concerned, there
was an end to these alterations. We first went to
Norwalk, and while conversing with a store-keeper
at his store door, a negro came- along and insulted
me. A few days before Ihad had my harness cut by
this fellow, and did me some damage, and now his in-
solence ‘ gave me an opportunity for revenge. I
turned my horses heels towards him, touched her in
the flank, and she kicked him in the breast and drove“,
him through the store, like a cannon shot. I called
out to him with an oath, “This is the way I serve sau-
cy niggers.” We now re e on to New danaefii, got
rid of our money, and had frolic and fun, jollifications
and carousals, with any lot of jockeys that we met
in the village. At evening we rode on to Bedford.

We tarried a few days, operating where we could,
and at the close of the week returned. When I was
on the farm, I worked most perseveringly, early and
late, but these seasons of industry were short. My
work was the most productive source of income.
But I had again resolved to quit the buisness, full well
knowing that a day of retribution was in the future.
For this purpose I removed my fumily to Bridgewaw

 

 
71

ter, to get away from my associates, and this gang
of counterfeiters. This removal did not avail me, for
rogues will find each other, if they are separated by
oceans and continents. Our company were unwilling
torelinquish the buisness, and we had “several con-
ferences and anxious meetings” upon the subject.—
I strongly inculcated the necessity of abandonment,
while we were all safe, “free men.” I argued the
fact, that if ,we pursued these callings, every thing
was against us. The country was flooded with coun-
terfeit notes and coin, and in every locality we were
suspected and watched. Rewards had been offered

for the detection of counterfeiters, and the officers of
justice and the whole community were awake upon

the subject. If we did not abandon the business for-
ever, I claimed that we should as boatmen say, “lie
upon our cars,” for a year at least, until the public
excitement against us should die away. I demanded
that a truce should be had, at any rate, and time
given us for a more matured system of operations, for
the loose way in which we had imposed upon the peo-
ple could be persisted in no longer. I insisted that a
time f01 reflection was all important, and that we ad—
journ for one month

' o4

 
   

CHAPTER IX. ~

Jo. Mills soon came and urged us to go ahead—“Mr y hon~
est and good wife wished nze to drive Smith away, but
urged in vain—We started for Litchfield County—-
Reached Washington, and passed off a little money—fl
Came near being detected by a tavern keeper—Pre-

" .5}; .. tended to be going to Hartfordfibut retured home rap-

‘ ' idlyé—Next weeh started out again—Passed a $10 bill
at N. Warner’s tavern, in Southbury—At next tavern,
after some anxiety for change of a $10 bill, a lovely
daughter gave it from her private purse—- Visited
Zoar Bridge, Monroe Centre, 8. Post’s tavern in Rip...

- ton, and Tomlinson’s fishing station, passing bills at

every stopping place, reaching Stratford Point for a
lodging, and lucky riddance of a $10 bill—Next day
came to Knapp’s tavern, got of $20 on the Bridge-
porters—Proceeded to Fairfield, ewchanged a $10 bill I
with landlord Beers, the jailer, and on our way thence

 

 

 

' ‘ ,g; to Jo Mills’, got 017‘ many bills—~Stopped at Maze over
A Sabbath, called our congregation together, tooh bitters,
fl , l, ' and exhorted one another on the duties of the weeh. _

EA few days subsequent to our deliberations, J0.
Mills came from \Viltou to 'Bridgewater, more anx-
ious and zealous than ever. My Wife urged me to
. dismiss him, and drive him away. She knew our
1; " pursuits, but never asked me a question ; and I never
told her one word. She could, unlike most women

 

/

 
7'3

keep her own secrets. She was devotedly attached
to me, and I always treated her with the utmost kind-
ness. The truth was we ought not to have been mar-
ried ; she was too good for me ; I did not deserve any
wife, and certainly I had one of the best women that
was ever created. She never complained; she was
cheerful, possesing a fund of good sense and mirthful-
ness. Her industry was unrivaled, and her judgment
upon any subject was correct. She appreciated me
at all times and under all circumstances. If troubles
threatened, her clear, good sense and consummate
skill in management, oftentimes enabled me to ward
ofi‘ the attacks that were made upon me. Her estima-
ble qualities were beyond computation, and if she ever
influenced me, it was done with a heart overflowing
with kindness. She hoped, as maturer years passed
over me, that they would effect a change in my
course of life; and if a Wild and reckless youth could,
have been reformed by human agency, that work
would have beenefi’ected in 'my case. But, no! I
was inflexibly perverse, and resorted to any scheme
that in my own eyes seemed best fitted for my pur—
poses. Counsel was lost upon me, and the entreaties
of friends made no impression on my heart. Ihad
my own way, whenever I had determined to go
forward. _

.Io. Mills and myself rode into Kent, and staid du-
ring the night. J 0. was a» great coward—and [why
I associated myself with such a man in my nefarious
business I never knew. I often hectored him for his

cowardice and irresolution. My doctrine was, when
05

 
 

'74
I take a business tour, it shall be done. I am not
squeamish, but bold, fearing no evil.

I paid the charges in the morning with a five dol—-
lar bill, and then we crossed into Washington and the
towns above, where we rambled two days. Towards
night of the second day, we called at a tavern, baited
our horses, and fed ourselves with the best the house
afforded. I offered a bill for pay, but the landlord
hesitated, saying he did not know but it was good—
when I turned round and got the change of Mills and
paid him. It was now evening, and the bar-room
was filled with customers. Isaw some whispering
and looking at us, and a good deal of moving about
in the house and out of doors, and the place seemed
not the right spot for us. The landlord asked me to
show him the $10 dollar bill I first ofiered to him ; but
I told him our horses had finished their feed, and we
must be on our way to Hartford, and I should not
show money to oblige him. We mounted our horses
and went off' on the Hartford road. Before getting a
mile two men passed us on a gallop. IsuppOSed that
they were an advanced guard, sent out to watch our
movements, and at the first cross road we left the
turnpike and rode down to toxbury, leaving our sen-
tinels to guard as long as they pleased, We stopped
at Peter C. Oakley’s store, and drank with him, and
rode home—the distance only five miles.

I staid with my wife over Sunday, and we got
ready for the week. Early Monday morning we
rode to Noadiah Warner’s tavern, at Bennett’s

 

 
’75

Bridge, and took breakfast. I paid him a $20 bill;
he gave us the change, and we went on. We soon
stopped at a blacksmith’s shop, and I had a new shoe
set for one lost from my horse; gave a $5 note in
payment, and received back the change. We con;
tinued on down the Housatonic river—-—stopped at a
public house, and took an excellent dinner. Ihanded
a $10 bill, which he could not change, but a bright,
lovely daughter ran for her purse and counted out
the change all in silver. I almost regretted the fraud
on the girl, and have loathed myself a thousand times
on account of it. They treated us so kindly I ought
not to‘have cheated them so devilishly. As we star-
ted, the landlord came out, not certain that the bill
was good, and asked my name. I replied, Wm.
Smith. ' i

We then went to Zoar Bridge—got drinks-—handed
out a $5 bill, and pocketed the change. We went
to New Stratford (now called Monroe Centre,) drank
some spirits, and paid out a $3 bill. Our next stop-
ping place was at Sylvester Post’s ; in Ripton, where
we baited and drank again, and handed the sleepy
man $5, and he handled us $4 50 in good money. In
the afternoon we went to Col. Tomlinson’s, a fishing
station on the river—took ‘ drinks, gave him $53.
" Thence we rode 'down to Stratford Point—had our
horsses put in stable—called for supper—Went to
bed, and slept well; our room was well furnished
with a bottle of brandy, sugar, and the essentials of
comfort. In the morning, after 'payiug our host a

$10 note, and receivng $8 in genuine money as
«, c6

 
 

 

 

 

76

change, we left for Bridgeport. Here We staid a
couple of hour‘s—traded a little-«settled our bill at .
Knapp’ s Hotel, and fleeced the Bridgeporters out of
two $10 bills.

We now ,mounted our horses and rode to Fairfield ;
stopped at the County-House, kept by Major Samuel
Beers, who was also keeper of the Jail, in another part
of the building. We saw men peeping through the
grates, probably not a quarter part as guilty as our-
selves—and there we were, having our freedom,
leeching the people out of their money, and cheating
every man that would deal with us. We fed our
horses and took dinner at Bee'rs’. Mills begged me to
show no bad money here.» I said “ I, will take care of
the business, and if we are caught we shall be at
home, without carrying irons on our hands about the
street.” I paid Mr. Beers a five dollar counterfeit
note. He looked me in the face and said,“ Stuart, is
this counterfeit?” Ireplied Idon’t know; you must
be your own Judge of money. He examined the bill
carefully, and sportively remarked, “This is good
enough; I wishl had. a thousand as good.” . '

We stopped at a tavern in Mill Plain; drank, fed
our horses, and paid out a $8 note. At the turnpike
gate between Fairfield and Saugatuck, (now West-
port,)’ I paid our toll with a $5 note on my Bank.
After passing the gate went up to Samuel Ogden’s
tavern, at Cross HighWay, and tarried all night and
let our landlord have a $20 bill. In the morning we
went to Saugatuck, crossed the bridge, stopped at a
grog-shop, and drank. There I passed $5 more.

 

 
7'7
Towards night rode up to Mills’ house, and suspend«
ed business for the day.

We had quietly got to Mills’ house, and feeling
thirsty, I went to Isaac Sturges’ store, and gave him a
$10 bill. Sturges was friendly to me, and suspected
nothing wrong, and I had no fears from him. In the
morning I went over to Alvan Wyatt’s, the butcher,
and bought some beef, and gave him also a $10 bill,
and got good change. Mills’ wife cooked the beef
well, and we ate heartily, and washed down with
good brandy. I left Mills at home, and took my horse
and rode seven miles to Ridgefield, and bought sundry
little notions—sonic watches, &c. Stopped at the
taverns, and at evening returned to Mills' house,
having passed off nearly one hundred dollars. This
was a large days Work. Mills supplied a gallon of
brandy for Sunday, for which he gave a five dollar , .
note.

Other denominations hold their Sunday meetings in
churches; but we held ours in Mills’ chamber. At
this time we had a full meeting, for most of the gang
were present. Our exercises were not deemed of the
religious order, yet our congregation was exceedingly
attentive—hearing and understanding every word.
Our interests Were similar, and many of them needed
lectures of cautiousness and p1 udencc even though I,
in my intercourse with the world, displayed a bold-
ness and audacity the vely reverse. Our plans wele
devised with much circumspectiOn.

c7

 
 

 

 

 

CHAPTER X.

Proposed to John Gregory to take his stud to Bedford,
N. Y. and hold a field horse-fightnNovelty of the ex—
hibition drew thousands together, who took of lots of
bad bills—Desperate encounter——After return home
passed a $20 bill to Sal. Williams—She gave it to a
pedler, who ofered it at Mat. Marvin’s Store—~Mar-
vin said it was a. bad bill, and now he would trace it to
me—Saw him and the pedler coming to Sal’s house——
Ran and told her how to manage—She stuck to a» lie,
saved me harmless, and gave Marvin his true charac-
ter—Sometime after this Marvin used as a tool, one
Reed, to detect me by artifice—Outwitted R. after

. he had me in his grasp—Reflections on treachery, (See.

The old Adam in us was not all eXhausted. We
were willing to let the stréam‘ of iniquity run onward
yet longer, without any interposing barriers. John
Gregory, one of our company, owned a stud horse,
most ugly and Vicious. He had at all times taken
advantage of his master, and’injured him exceedingly.
I proposed to him that we should go to Bedford, and
he should ride this handsome, but extremely evil
beast. On the way I proposed to him that we should

have a horse fight with a stud in that place. This
new idea pleased him much. ‘He had nevef“ seen a

conflict of this sort, and if his horse got killed he did
not much care. About two o’clock in the afternoon-

I

 

 
 

’79

we arrived there,-and stumped the owner of a stud for
a horse fight.

There is, every afternoon, a gang of rowdies, jock—
ies, ’pedlers and idlers, congregated at these dens of
iniquity. Of course any proposition bordering on
brutality, was joyfully entertained, as a means of
sport! fitted for the most hardened. The announce-
ment of a horse fight was something new under the
sun to the rabble, and there was now no way to
avoid their demands. Van Hobson turned his steed
into a well fenced field, and he capered, kicked, jump-
ed, plunged, and ran as far as his limits would admit.
Bets were made and brandy drank. Gregory led in
his horse, took off the bridle, and away went. the
beast. Soon the studs met, reared, struggled, and
gave each other a dreadful-bite. Their tempers kin-
dled up in a moment, and men never before saw such
a conflict. They reared on their hind feet, leaped and -
sprang together, each biting the other, and thus ne-
folded in each others legs, they both fell to the ground.
With the agility of cats they each rose to his feet,
raised, plunged and struck at his foe, grapling with
a strong hold, biting and tearing each other. The
spectators shouted long and loud, and the combatants,

.heedless of the surrounding multitude, kept up their
terriflic battle. Sometimes victory dawned upon one,
then on the other, and the result of thecontest was
doubtful, though they fought worthy of a better cause.

' The assembled multitude was boisterous, and large

'bets were made upon the result. Thus the conflict

lastedimore than an hour, when' Gregory’s horse
08

 
,..-_.. ““m ..--

 

80

caught the breath pipe of the other in his teeth, par=
tially strangling his antagonist. They both fell to the
ground, but Gregory’s horse still continued his fatal
hold upon his enemy’s neck, both struggling, kicking
and tearing up the ground. Here the by—standers
interfered, and by throwing there lassoes with milch
skill, parted them. The Bedford horse was nearly
strangled, and could have lived only a short time
longer.“ N ow each was led away and secured: The

I horse battle was over, but no man has probably ever

seen such wounds as they inflicted on each other.
Our chief business was the passing of our money.
Any incidents that threw men off their accustomed
watchfulness, aided us in carrying out our intentions
of imposition upon the community. In such sprees
the landlords took [deep interest, and drank with
their customers. It increased their calls to dispense
liquors to others. A tavern keeper, half drunk, was
a choice victim. His head‘was muddy—his tongue
incoherent—his step unsteady, and his vision indis-p
tinct. Such men in such pursuits are frequently
fleeced by rogues, and this h'orse fight was one of
the best plans that I had even devised to create ex—
citement, throw off suspicion, dissipate evil surmi-
sing, and open a ‘wide door for our successful enter-
prises. I improved it in any way I could, and when,
the landlord became sober, and examined. his funds,
he might ascertain to his regret that this battle’of
steeds contributed largely to compel him to relinquish
a business for which his habits of life utterly disqual-
ified him. Among the, quiet and Sober population,

 
 

81

who will “ lookbefore they leap,” such semployments
would have been ever unproductive; but in a rum
loving community, villainy finds a sure and accept-
able foothold. It finds aliment‘ to sustain a system
of rowdyism.= Here the rogue finds willing victims.
Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn in
no other, says the proverb.

After the transactions of this eventful day, John
Gregory and myself went to Daniel Davis’ and slept.
Next morning took breakfast with J 0. Mills. Passed
$8 dollars on to Davis. Our general business was
pursued or neglected, as caprice or whim urged us
onward or kept us back. The section of country
where we spent most of our time became well known,
and was the topic of remark abroad. We had so'
managed that the people were really fearful that some
curse might fall upon them, and involve the innocent
and the guilty in indiscriminate ruin. I staid at Mills’
place one half of the time, occasionally making ex-
cursions into the country with him or others. Now
and then I went to Bridgewater and staid with my
family afew weeks; but here Ihad daily applica-
tions to dispose of my bank funds. A part of our
' stock was deposited here, and part of it at Mills’
place, in Wilton; but Jo. had no authority to sell it
in my absence. we took the advantage of every ped-
pler, store keeper, and of every man we could in the
region of country about Wilton. We were watched
and suspected, and yet notwithstanding their vigi-
lance, no man had hitherto detected us.

I let Sal. Williams have a $20 note, and she paid it

 
 

r
.
L. 4!
3: ,2:
. 3%
ll, .
.

 

:w-vw
. w- .

82

to a pedler for his wares. This pedler in the course
of the day after went to the store of Matthew. Marvin,
to pay money, and among other bills handed out this

$20 note. Marvin thought he had now got the best

chance to seize us. He had already been “cheated by
me and others of the gang in'a large amount, and his
indignation against us had been roused. His shrewd-
ness, however, did not avail him. I obtained the
knowledge that he had got aunt Sal’s money, and
was fully awarefithat if she was charged with it, as
she doubtlessrvlrould be, trouble might ensue. In the
afternoon I Was cutting cornstalks upon a hill about
fifty rods from her house. I spied Marvin and the

: pedler in the distance on the road that led to the old

woman’s place. I ran through the corn-field, dodged '
into the back door of her house, and told her who
Were coming. She asked “ what shall I do ?” Tell
them, said I, that you was sweeping out the house,
and found the $20 bill on the floor. Now do it, will
you, said I. “ Yes, yes, I will, and stick to it.” That’s

. you, aunt ; they cannot hurt you. She had confidence

in me that the loss of twenty dollars would: not fall
upon her. I passed out at the back door, and was

gone. Marvin and the pedler'soon drove up to the

house. I here report the interview as she afterWards
gave it to me. They went into the house, and Mar-
vin, in his coarse, harsh \voice, said, “ Ha! ha! old
woman, I have got you now. Did you let this man
have a $20 bill?” showing the note. “ Perhaps I did,”
said she. “ Where did you get it ? Iknow; you had it
of Bill Stuart; now I’ll have the rascal.” She re-

 

 
 

83

plied, “ I did not; I found it on the floor while sweep-
ing.” Marvin yelled out, “you infernal brute! you
lie I you had it of Stuart.” She said again, “I did not;
I found it on the floor.” ‘ “ Strange, strange,” said the
old man; “you have money so plenty in this neigh-
borhood that you find it on the floor! I know better;
you had it of Stuart, I can swear you did i” “ Well,”
. said she, “ you will swear to a lie then, and I always
knew that you would do it to cheat a poor woman
out of a shilling, you have done it a thousand timesgg
you old skin-flint, you need not come here, youwold
dragon, to spit your venom on me ; but as for this
pedler, if he'had this bill of me, I will take it back,
and pay him in silver if he chooses. But you old
blood sucker, don’t tell me of roguery, for you have
been a knave for fifty years. Go home, you old’
hypocrite, for the devil will have you before long.”
The old wothan silenced Marvin, so that he was glad
- to be off as soon as she could exchange the money
with the pedler.

Let a man insult a self-possessed, proud woman, if
he dare; ‘ He will find that he has disturbeda hornet’s ’
nest, and that the in'vective stings of woman’s tongue
“out venoms all the worms of Nile,” and will pierce
him to his Vitals. His insolence and impudence will
be hurled back upon him, and the caldron of molten
lava contained in a bad woman’s heart will be pour-
ed out, and bury him in its scorching pools, never to
rise until the final resurrection.

Marvin never forgot this interview, but his deadly
spite against me was fearfully augmented, and he

 
 

 

84

laid another trap for me—cunning and artful. I did
not much blame him. In the course of three years not-
withstanding his cautiousness, I had got on to him
through others more than one hundred» dollars of
counterfeit money. Still he could not trace to me a
single note. He kept a grocery store, and our com-
pany frequently assembled there to drink, carouse
and jockey horses. Iwould slip a counterfeit bill
into the hands of some unsuspected member of the
gang, when NIELI‘VIH would pocket it and deal out the
i change. We would often call for drinks in rotation,
and in rotation pay up his bills. When my turn
came, I paid him in good‘mon’ey ; he would inspect it
with great care, see that I was honest, and then say
so. In a few days he would find his old calf skin
pocket book well charged with badmoney. When
Marvin discovered the cheat, he WOuld curse Bill
Stuart. . cc ‘7

There are some men in every neighborhood that.
cannot be entrusted with any private matter; and
shrewd rogues soon find them out. There is an-
other set, faithless as Judas, that will lie, contrive
and manage to entangle others in trouble, for pros—
pective gain. These .can be bribed to do the devil’s
most dirty work for a little money. They love money
so well that they will cheat father and mother, if they
can fill their pockets Without labor. They will fawn
around and swear fidelity, to accomplish the vilest
purposes. After the most solemn .oaths of faith-,'
fulness in matters entrustd to their keeping, they can
be bought for less than thirty pieces of silver, to

 
85-

abuse confidence and betray friends. Such men are
generally found out by the public, and are despised
and neglected. >
Now and then some one in the community secretly
engages a rascal of this sort to accomplish his pur-
poses ; stipulates to pay him largely for his services,
and to remove all doubts, shows him the funds ap-
propriated to this object, and if need be, advances a
portion of the proposed-reward. Marvin, to secure
me, resorted to one of these scavengers to aid him in
an undertaking that he could not effect by other
means. An acquaintance of mine named Tilley W.
Reed, residing in New Milford, was a manufacturer
of ‘coarse Earthen'Ware, and peddled it to country
merchants and others. He received his supply of gla-
zing from the establishment of A. Day, Esq. of Nor-
walk, and often passed through Wilton, on his way
to" Norwalk; He 'was a short sighted man, and in
the opinion of Marvin well fitted to entrap me. He
was offered three hundred dollars if he would detect
me in uttering counterfeit notes. I was somewhat
familiar with him and his business. In his journey’ s
to and from the N orwalk Pottery, he often called on
me, and I fed his horse and made him welcome to my
table, and all our luxuries. He ”was frank,’ open,
friendly, and pleased with my care for his comfort,
tendered without fee or reward. He manifested
much thankfulness for my kind attentions, and ex—
pressed deep interest in my welfare. But I was
’aware of the narrowness of his mind, his selfish char~
acteristics,his‘ total destitution of moral worth, and

fl
3
L
t

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

88

was not easily flattered by‘him. He pretended to me
that he wished to engage in the counterfeit business,
believing he could with less labor make more money
by it than by his trade. I told him I did not deal in
and, knew nothing respecting spurious money, and
did not wish to defraud the public by such a dishon-
est calling. I called him a fool to desire to enlist in
such a business, in which he would never be Success-
ful. I knew his craven spirit, and his inability ,to
escape detection. I knew him to be a knavish sim-
pleton, whose honesty would not pass cnrrent even
among rogues, and Itold him so. He received my
honestly expressed opinion of his character and
qualifications with all the'humility of a whipt spaniel,
and confessed. to me his meanness, selfishness and
servility. He gave evidence that he was of that
contemptible class of knaves who will lie, cheat and
defraud, for the ignoble comfort of gratifying an in-
nate propensity existing only in the mind of the low,
sneaking villain. To his further importunity I pe-
remptorily replied that I did not deal in such property.
He then departed. In a few weeks he came again

and renewed his appliCation with much earnestness

voluntarily taking oaths that he would keep the '
whole concern silent and still-1 as the grave. I denied
him, and disowned all knowledge of the business ; that
I never had and never would have any thing to do
with it. I found afterwards that he was a faithful
reporter to Mat. Marvin, but hitherto I had‘ not sus-
pected his dishonesty 1n that direction. _
A further plot was concocted which threatened me

 
87

with exposure and ruin. Reed had a fine horse worth
$100, which I had seen and was pleased with. In
his next excursion to N orwalk for glazing, he drove
this horse, and called at Wilton, where I then was,
and offered it to me for $300 counterfeit money. I
looked at the subject doubtingly. But Reed was
anxious to trade with me, and with uplifted hands
solemnly swore that his intentions were’ honest, and
that the whole transaction should be kept involably
secret. He declared further, that he would not under
any contingency, let any one know where the money
came from, even if he was broken upon the wheel,
and that sooner than expose me or put my liberty in.
peril, he would be burnt at the stake with a clésed
mouth. These assertions, if true, were all that
arogue could ask for in an accomplice, and yetI
denied him. I had known him for years, and my unfa...
vorable opinion of him was unaltered. But after all,
Iargued with myself, can he be so sunken in rot-
tenness of heart as to violate such obbligations? Can
he with whom Ihave lived on terms 'of amity for
years, falsify his word, and turn a malicious heel
against me 'I I had’shown him much kindness ; he had
ate at my table, and lavishly experienced my friend-
ship and hospitality, why should Idistrust him?

I have seen rogues in whom Icould place the most
unlimited confidence, and I had associated with them
in perfect freedom. I had laid out before them all
my plans, exchanged tokens with them, and given
' them instructions in the secrets and manipulations of
p the cursed art. I had boldly made my way among

 
 

 

88 ‘ ,
the people, but had hitherto met and exchanged civil-
ities with only one God forgottenman. He reaped
the reward of his doings, and was fitted for the lowest
abode in the world of horrors. Now if Reed be such .
a man, I will circumvent him as sure as death does
not prevent me. I was resolved to punish Reed sum-
marily, if he became faithles's, even if the hangman
should stand in the gap with his heartless myrmidons
to arrest me. ‘

Four of us were together, and Itook Reed aside
and made the bargain for his horse, counted over the
$300 in his presence, and he joined our company.
He 'led out his horse and delivered him to me, and
before my friends as evidences I gave him the money.
We all started for Wilton, to have a spree. I watch-
ed Reed. “ He was disinclined to mingle at the festive
board, anddrank ‘very little. I saw a change had
passed over him since‘ our trade, but our frolic
was kept/ up till evening, when we returned. Reed.
staid with us during the night. In the morning he
was desirous of leaving, but I persuaded him to stay
one day more.- I saw what was uppermost in his
mind, took him aside and asked him what he intend-
ed to do with the money? He showed his knavish
designs on me. Iofi'ered to give up the horse, and

pay him ten silver dollars,'if he would give up the

counterfeit money. He refused. “I then offered him
50 dollars and his horse,'if he would return to me
the money. He declined to do this. I repeated his
sworn declarations to secresy and fidelity, appealed
to his honor and candor, qualities that he never pos~

 

 
89

sessed, told him of the kindnesses he had- received
from me, and conjured him to return me the money,
and I would give up his horse and 100 dollars. He
still objected. Then said I, i“ what will you do?” He
- says, “give me 300 dollars in good money, and the
horse, and we willdsettle the concern, and I will give
you back your money, worthless as it is.” This was
a trying moment. Did man’s blood ever boil? Did
vengeance ever shroud the world with darkness in
mid- day. 7 A sto1 m was near byw-already in my heart;
but its thunderings and lightnings were housed up in
my bosom, uncertain when it would burst forth,
spreading desolation and ruin in its progress. We
all mounted our horses and rode away, to allow time p
to consider what should be done.

About the middle of the afternoon Reed and 'myself
returned to our place. All my deliberations amount-
ed to nothing, only that we should not part. If he
had attempted to escape, I was fully resolved that it
should be his last (effort. A new idea struck me.
Two days before we had made cider. It‘was the first ,
of the season. I told Reed it was in a good state for ‘
drinking, and we would have some. We entered the
barn for this purpose, and I went to get it. Mother
used opium, and I had recently bought her an ounce. I
I took a lump down cellar as large as-a walnut, pul-
verized it in my hands and dropped it into the pitcher,
then drew a small quantity, and carried it into
the barn where Reed was. It foamed nicely, and I
poured out a tumbler two thirds full for Reed, which
he drank down. He then asked, “What makes it

 
 

 

   

90

taste so bitte17” Ireplied, “perhaps our folks have
had some picra in the glass , come! take some
more.” He drank the second tumbler full. I then
took some, and it was a choice article.

' We then threw open the barn doors, and sat down
on some straw, Whele the sun shined warmly. Iwas
cheerful as a robin, knowing that Reed was now in
my power. I told him he ought to give up the mon-
ey, and we would be friends forever; that I would
help him in his business in‘e“Very thing; but he did
not relent. I lay down upon one elbow on the straw,
andbecame dull—apparently sleepy. Shortly after
Reed reclined, and began to nod; Whilst I snored most

 

naturally. He gaped and stretched out his feet, and

soon slumbered sweetly. 'My medicine worked like a.
charm; in eight or ten minutes Reed slept soundly.
I arose, took his pocket book from his person, lighten-
edit of $300, and restored it to his pockw. I then
left him, went into the house and burnt every Note.
My mind was relieved of the burthen that had op-
pressed it, and the afternoon passed away pleasantly.
Reed slept about four hours, and to me it was a
pleasant nap.

' When he awoke, he inspected his pocket book, and
his counterfeit money was gone. He came to the
house, Where I was, and charged me with robbiugyw
him. I said to him, “Be off, you Judas ;\I shall havew V
no discourse with you. Be off, or I will help you;
never come this way again, you lying whelp l” “ Give
me up my horse, and I will go,” said he. “ Never, I
bought your horse, and before Witnesses; paid you

 

 
 

91 i
for it, and if you are not out of my sight in one minw
ute, I’ll dig your infernal eyes out.”

Reed began to cry and beg, but I drove him .from
my presence, with all the curses that a wicked tongue
could utter. He left the place, carrying his saddle

upon his back, steering his course for New Milford,
snivelling like a hungry child. I felt well, and it ‘
took one gallcin of brandy to quiet the agitation of my
brain. Next day I took the horse to N orwalk, and
sold him for ninety-five dollarS. I have told this tale
perhaps a thousand times, and have never seen the
man who did not acknowledge that exact justice was
done to Reed.

Let any case, good or bad arise, it asks not support
from a traitor. Treachery never subserves the cause
of justice or injustice. It ultimately results in evil. ,
Every traitor is verily guilty of perjury, and if a man
will commit the latter crime, he is ready for any other
crime which occasion may seem to require. Our
laws fully recognize the enormity of treachery, and
provide for it the most ignominious punishment.

Some men who pretend to be influeuced by motives
of the best good of community, will induce others to
lie to sustain the public welfare. In the selection of
their instruments they choose a man of doubtful rep-
11tation, believing that no honest man will so far de-
mamean himself as to be guilty of treachery. They
offer gold or its equivalent as an inducement to the
commission of the crime. Such a regenerator oi? the
world has objects in view of a selfish character. rHe
presumes that society will be gratified with his suc-

 
 

 

 

92

cess, and all the glory, with the greatest portion of the
reward will be his. He looks about, and finds a can-
didate to perform the meanest office that ever fell to
the lot of degradedman. He administers to him les- ’
sons, revolting to humanity. He counsels his tool to
unite and mingle in the company of rogues, to swear
fealty to them, and be counted as one of them; and
having thus ingratiated himself into their secrets
and plans of operation, to desert and bring them to
punishment. Such reformers exist. Mathew Mar-
vin was one of them, and his pliant tool, Tilley W.
Reed, was employed to carry out the instructions he
had received, and his golden reward was ready in the
shape of promises never intended to be fulfilled.

Reed was a dull man, easily influenced by his ,pig
ous preceptor, who had a holy zeal for the public
good, while he was at the same time making regiments
of drunkards, obtaining mortgages for rum debts, and '
extending pauperism through the community. Their
projects were unsuccessful, and my escape from their
merciless fangs I have always deemed Providential,
as a rebuke upon the crime _of treason—mot on 'my
account—but because the crime was so abhorrent in
the mind of Deity, it should not be successful even
to arrest a villain. Divine interposition rarely re-
forms a rogue. Though the machinations of my ene-
mies were completely thwarted, yet it was no instruc- .
tion to me. I did not profit by this good Providence
in-my escapes; but engaged in passing bad money
more remorselessly than ever. The vain effort at de~
tection was somewhat of a stimulus to me to impose 7

 

 
93

-

upon a world of knaves, morally tinged with the
deepest turpitude, though conducted with the sanc-
tion of legal enactments. It will be seen thatI allude
to other paper institutions, with which, so far as
knavery was concerned, I was at issue.

Icontinued successful in my business until cold
weather. The efforts for my detection were unavail-
ing._ I and my associates improved, thefall season
in fleecing community, attending sprees, drinking,
carousing and raising the devil. Our cautiousness
was succeeded by boldness; ,but if we got into snarls
and jangles, we contrived to get out of _ them. We
had many a dog-fight in Norwalk and N ew-Canaan,
and the villages about. We resorted to every scheme
to throw the public of from] their "watchfulness, so
that wecould impose upon them.

 
  

 

 

CHAPTER XI.

Detailspof all sorts of cheatery during a period of two
or three years—~The members of this Joint Stock Com-s
puny increased in numbers—A member paid George
Hoadley, Cashier of the Eagle Bank, New-Haven,
$600 in counterfeit notes on the New-Brunswick and
Hudson Banks—War with Great Britain opened ad-
ditional channels for putting of bad bills—~Sometimes
assisted ofiicers, by persuading men to enlist, and then
got of bad bills upon the men—Then rumors that re-
cruiting officers paid bounties in counterfeit money.

Shortly after these occurrences, it was necessary
that I should goato Geo. Cannon’s store to get‘a gallon
of molasses. Imet. a man there going to Danbury,
and sending my molasses to mother by a neighbor,
I jumped into his sleigh and We drove on to the
village, so celebrated in the puritanic annals, for rais-
ing a goodly stock of children upon bean porridge.
We arrived at the hotel in an hour and a half, when
we drank and joked awhile. I paid the reckoning
from my own bank. My wife’s mother lived in East
Brookfield, and I left Danbury on foot to call upon
her.

After walking two miles, I stopped at (a store and
found 8. Cornwall there with a pair of horses hitched
to a sleigh, bound for Brookfield, andI rode with him.
We held up at a store in the village, at Colby Cham-

 

 
95

berlainis. Cornwall had to call at ahouse at a little
distance from the tavern, and went on foot. A man
by the name of James Thomas came out of the store,
and seeing me in the sleigh, offered to drive me al-
most to my place of destination. He sprang into the
sleigh, took the lines, and onward ‘we went, leaving
Cornwall to do the best he could. Thomas drove up
to his house, unharnessed the horses, supposing the-y
were mine, and put them into the stable. I had been
out, carousing for several nights, and was tired and
sleepy. During the evening, Cornwall got track of
his horses, and in angry' and furious mood, rushed
into Thomas’ house, and accused him with horse-
stealing. The controversy waxed loud, and it awoke
me from my sleep. Ilistened awhile, and finding the
war was growing hotter and hotter, I rose from the ”
bed, raised a window, sprang into the snow, and
went ofi‘ to my mother’s house. A week afterwards I
met Thomas, and he railed at me for getting him into
a scrape that cost him $10 to settle. I laughed at and
vexed him for an hour, and finally told him that I
would make it all right. I gave him a $20 bad note,
and he handed me baCk ten dollars in silver. We
drank each other’s health, got ‘warm and jocose. I
gave the store keeper a five dollar bill to pay up, and
got $4 '75 in change, and we parted. Iroamed about
Bridgewater in my favorite speculations for a few
days 5 then got a ride to Newtown; spent a day in
my business, and then went to my head-quarters at
Wilton.

I must pass by a year or two as having no distin-

 
 

,__,'- . Mme—3*: _.'. ‘xé.-. . "

‘96

    

guishing characteristics. Rambling, rowdyism, gam-
bling and passing bad money, kept me industrious,
and I escaped every artifice‘adopted for my detection.
Our gang increased in numbers, and when our funds
7 grew short, we sent a messenger to Crane & Staples,
in Canada, to increase our stock. Our artists were

, skillful in their profession, and turned out perfect
imitations, so that bank officer's freqUently received
the bills. as genuine. Harvey Merwin, of Brookfield,
had borrowed $600 at the Eagle Bank, N. Haven;
thetimes were hard, money scarce, and there was
a prospect of war with England. Merwin’s note was
about due, and he came to me for funds. I gave him
the amount in. bills on the N ew-Brunswick and
Hudson Banks. He presented these bills to Mr Hoad-
ley, the then popular Cashier of the Eagle Bank-who
received them, and deliverd Merwin his note. The
speculation was a good one, and relieved him from his
pecuniary embarrassment. Merwin had been associa-
ted with us more than a year, and was true as steel.
As he was a store keeper and _ an extensive pork
dealer, his facilities were great for scattering the
funds of our prolific Bank. '

Our difficulties with Great-Britain commenced.
An embargo had paralyzed our, commerce with for-
eign nations ; war and a bloody contest seemed to-be
approaching, andthere was much fear and apprehen-
sion of general ruin to business men. Situated as I
was, I cared little about it, as my great purpose ’was

7 p / to profit by the excitement. Living upon community
like a leech, asl did, my patriotism, (like some of

 

 

 

 

 
9‘?

those who passed: for better men) was all concentrated
in self. It was my business to reap all‘I could from
the whirlwind. I was willing to break down sec-
tional or national vitality, if I could get a living
either from the vice or ignorance of society. Hither-
toI had successfully done it; and as suspicions were
fully awakened in regard to my career, a state of gen-
eral agitation could hardly fail to divert attention
from me. Then the liberty Ihad enjoyed would be
less likely to be abridged, and prosperity would at-
tend me. ,Of course I became a war party man, made
loud if not eloquent speeches against Great Britain, '
and awoke as much as was in my power,’ public in-
dignation against the oppressor, which had nailed to ,
her topmasts the hated emblem, “Britannia Rules the
Waves.” . _

In process of time War was declared, and recruiting
officers were found in every large village, and their
rendezvous were always in the immediate vicinity of
grog shops, There is nothing like Rum to wake up
dormant patriotism, inspire cowards with daring,
and make fools and mad-men; Thus are men con-
stituted, and so long as war is tolerated by nations,
the material for manufacturing soldiers is essential.
I have often thought that no Maine Law system can
be introduced successfully in any nation, until the
quarreling and warring propensities of men of in-
fluence are subdued.

I and my comrades made frequent visits to these
dens of iniquity, and our success was in proportion to

our diligence. I occasionally served as enlisting
D1

 
 

98

agent, under Col. Morris Ketchum and Capt. Peter
Bradley, and added to their stock of soldiers very
materially. When a man becomes half drunk, his
patriotism rises, and he is ready to shed the blood of
his enemies and send his fellow mortals to their last
account, without a tear of sympathy. Our gang was
a hardened set, and as We had only one object in View,
every other cOnsideration was made to bow to it as
supreme. We cared not where domestic peace was
broken up, neither did we regard the widow’s appeal
for her only‘son. We urged onward our Isuit amid
carousals and revelry, and fodnd that every barrier
would flee before our skill. .

The war was engaged in with spirit. Gen’l Hull
was the commander in chief, and promised to do hon-
or to our country’s arms. The British army, with the
Indians, their allies, under the command of General
Brock, drew near the American encampment, and de-
manded a surrendry of the army, and Gen. Hull sub-
mitted without firing a gun. This affair was unlook-
ed for by Mr. Madison and his Cabinet, and produced
a momentary panic throughthe country. The loss
for a time of the services of so many men, rendered it
necessary for the government to raise a large force
with the utmost speed, and as an inducement to en-
rolment a greatly increased. bounty was offered. I
encouraged Isaac Arnold, a miserably intemperate
man, to enlist. The officer paid him the bounty, and
the first business he engaged in for the honor of his
country, was to get drunk. Isaw that his bounty
would soon be spent, and I offered to take care of it

 

 
99

for him, and he delivered it‘to me. Arnold was dull

and nearly torpid, and I stepped out in the dark, took

his money and substituted counterfeit in its place, en-

wrapped it in a piece of brown paper", and stowed

it away in his pocket. During the night he slept

away all knowledge of our interview the previous

evening. For Several days he spent his money freely,

and paid Mr. Marvin a considerable amount for a

rum debt. In the COUI‘SB of a few days Arnold’s

money was all spent, and it was found to be all

counterfeit. Here arose the first troubles in the'
camp. It was currently reported that Col. Ketchum

had paid the bounty of the recruits in counterfeit ‘
money, as every soldier had more or less of it. This
coming to the Colonel’s ears, he was placed 1n a dis-
agreeable attitude.

Many traced their bad money to Arnold, and as he
was intemperate and poor before his enlistment, it
necessarily followed that he received it from the re-
cruiting officer. It became in the minds of the people ’
a fiXed fact that this bad money Came from govern- '
ment. As additional evidence, not a man of the
whole militaIy company was free from the charge of
having counterfeit money. The public became ex-
cited, and the more the subiect was agitated the more i
' certain it was to the minds of many, that the govern-
ment had, for the want of sufficient funds, supplied
the deficiency with counterfeit mOney. The communi-
ty charged the fraud fearlessly upon these recruiting
officers. Major Ketchum became indignant, and

solemnly sware that, if any man thereafter should
2-D

 
100

assert that he had paid the bounties in counterfeit-
money, he would hold him responsible to the law, and
if need be, to the loaded pistol. His resolution stilled
the uproar, for'he was well known to be courageous
and inflexible, and woe be to him who dared to con-
front him with insult.

N 0 man ever suspected my agency in these trans—
actions. ‘ The evidence was, certainly wanting to
exculpate the officers from the force of apparent
facts. The bad Notes were upon the same banks,
and of a like denomination with those paid by the
officers to the soldiers. The officers held special
meetings on the subject, and called in men of wealth
and business, well acquainted with paper money, and
they [examined some thousands of dollars unexpended
in the oflicers’ hands, and pronounced every note
genuine. Here was a dilemma. The ’money paid
out was chiefly counterfeit, and what was remaining
was all good. No man could give a gleam of light
upon the subject. The soldiers had been allowed but
little intercourse with the citizens, and of course could
not have been tampered with by rogues. '.

The more the officers thought upon the subject the
more the difficulty of reaching a rational exposition
of all these conflicting facts. They finally decided on
leaving their quarters and locating elsewhere, trust-
ing that time and absence from this locality, might
result in some developments which would aid them in
their efforts to fathom such irreconcileable facts.
They never returned to find out the truth, and the
illustrious Major long after recited these facts as

 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

n.” W..- VW,_ . a.“ _.__,—.. _. ~
101

overthrowing the whole basis of circumstantial evi-
dence. ‘ "

This trick upon Arnold, though productive of mis-
chief, turmoil and confusion, did not stand alone in
the catalogue of imposition. I was frequently at the
place of rendezvous, and the subject of counterfeit
money was the chief topic of conversation. All the
soldiers had money, and each was anxious to know if
his was genuine. Forty pocket books were daily ex-
amined by critics, and the bills pronounced good.
New recruits joined the standard, the bounty was
paid, and before night much of it was found to be
counterfeit. Some became superstitious, believing
that magic or witchery had an agency in converting
good money into bad; and oppOnents of the war be-
came satisfied that it was a frown of Providence on
the injustice cf the cenflict. There was great excite-
ment among all classes, but none could solve the
problem.. It was a day of strange things, and great
numbers gathered round the soldiers to inspect the
bills. I was on hand here, John Gregory there,
Lyman or J 0. Mills in another spot, prying into and
comparing bills. A ten dollar bill might be, under
examination, and after a dozen had pronounced it
“ good,” I would examine it, pretending to know little
about money. At the same time, I had a counterfeit
bill of like denomination, and of the same bank rolled
up in my hand. I made the exchange, pronounced
the bill good, handed it back, and the owner put it
in his pocket book. Thus I made exchanges, often-
times of $100 a day. Next day the funds were re-a

D3

 
 

 

102

examined, and counterfeit: notes. found among them.
Each man sWore that no person had been permitted
to have access to his pocket book; but there had
been. a conversion from good to bad bills by hocus
pocus, or by the deVil. It is easy to conjecture what
a state of things must inevitably ensue from such an
array of facts, and the Whole business was a marvel
among the people. The result was, the removal of
the recruiting establishment, after which the topic of
money changing died aWay.

' I now adopted a different plan, not easy of detec- .
tion. Wepl‘ocured a large number of one dollar bills
upon every bank we thought best. By chemical
principles, and nice mechanical skill, we removed the
figure or word, and inserted 2i), 50 or 100 in its stead.
Then we fearlessly applied to the banks-for specie,
and it was always, counted out to us in good faith,
and we drove a good business by this game. The
bank officers supposed that in the issue of these notes,
by some oversight they had omitted to preserve a full
statement on the books of the bank. Mr. Hoadley, of
the Eagle Bank, New Haven, raised the popularity of
this institution, so that, its stock rose to an un-
precedented value, and as he was a carelessfinancier,
his clerks and tellers fell into the like negligence, and
hence these issues of notes of a large denomination
were more thoroughly spread than he was aware of.
No. report of these omissions was made to the direc-
tors and stockholders, and hence their dispersion ,
among the people was not a subject of investigation.
This was, a good business, productive as any’ mint

 
103

in the land, and it was pursued for many months with
great profit. After the lapse of time the fraud was,
discovered, and this choice plaa was mostly (than?~
doned. »

CHAPTER XII.

Remarks on Roguery—Efects of the War on the Car-
rency—Irresponsible Banks sprang up, afl'ording a
favorable opening,r for CounterfeiterS—Went out to
the Delaware River—Farmed on my return——Esca—
ped from the clutches of four men, with loss of horse-—
Was a foot—pad for a day or two—Then purchased
a horse with bad. bills—Deceived the seller as to the
course I was traveling—Reached home, and the breth-
ren came in to tender their gratulatz'ons on my narrow
escape.

1

Perhaps no pursuit more fully develops a fertility
of invention, and necessary adoption of expedients,
than roguery. The minds of such men are as fixed
upon a darling project as a geometrical student is
upon a problem of Euclid. In their conclaves every
thing foreign to the subject is studiously avoided, and
the discussions pursued with a directness and precis-

ion worthy of a better cause. The truth is, their
134

 
 

"i‘
.b‘u

 

 

  

104

personal safety and liberty is depending solely ,, upon
their adroitness to silence the first breathings of sus-
picion ; or if suspected and pursued, to be able to
escape the vigilance of the officers of justice, by per-
sonal activity and lures to put them upon the wrong
track. Then the rogue shoots up elsewhere, practices
his knavery, misleads the public for a short time,
mingles with the crowd, and passes away unseen.
The monied' interests of the country at this time
were in a state of confusion and uncertainty. War
was upon our frontiers and in our midst, and the busi-
ness operations of‘the bulk of the nation were at-
tended with embarrassment and losses. Public con-
fidence was shaken, and diffidence, doubt, and melan-
choly brooded over our hitherto active and enterpri-
sing population. Ruinous loans were contracted ;-—-
the minds of the people were disturbed, and reckless-
ness and dissipation were withering curses upon the
country. Capitalists gained charters for new banking
institutions, and the country was flooded with an ir-
redeemable stream of paper money. In a little time
these banks closed their doors, wound up their affairs,
and left with the people a vast amount of worthless
bank paper. Our banking company turned this state
of thingsto their advantage. As soon as a new bank
was chartered, and one half of its stock taken up, .we\

 

issued, by our artists, a very large amount of notes,

and palmed them of? upon the' community weeks be-
fore the real bank itself had begun to employ engra-
vers on their plates. Thus our money upOn these
new institutions was the first in market, and of course,

 

 
105

in theopinion of the people, these must be good, be-
cause the counterfeiter's could not get ready to defraud
the public, inasmuch as the real bank had scarcely
got into operation. When the genuine notes began
to appear they were totally unlike those we had so
successfully palmed off. Many of these banks were
originated by unprincipled men, and made purposely \
to defraud mankind, but we so managed that many of
them were broken and ruined, and the stockholders
fell victims to the chicanery of a company without a
charter. It was dealing out to them exact justice in
a way they ‘had no conception of. If they cursed the
counterfeiters, a discerning and grateful public ought
to have given the credit to us who anticipated their
designs and triumphed over them. ‘
Occasionally I would take an excursion abroad and
trade with the people and dispose of some of my
funds. I looked over the subject and adopted a new
expedient. I left home on foot, With my pockets-
filled with Canada paper, and went out to the Del-
aware river and passed up and down among the tav-
erns and jockies, the gamblers and drunkards of that
wild region. But I concluded to return to Connecti-
cut, and bought a horse, saddle and bridle, and paid
for them out of the funds of my bank. Istarted in
the afternoon for home, tarried all night at a tavern,
and cashed my bill with ten dollars. I rode on until
2 P. M. and held ”up at a tavern in Shinglekill, fed my
horse and sat down to dinner. While I was eating
four men came in and arrested me, having followed 1n

my wake from the Delaware
. n5

 
 

 

106

I ate my dinner undisturbed, and then they insisted
upon my return With them to the Delaware. They
averred that Ihad paid for my horse with counterfeit
money ; but I told them that if the money was bad I
had, been cheated by some rascal who had imposed
upon me. Yet these men had their orders and dared
not disobey them. So I mounted my horse, and they
tied my feet in the stirrups to prevent my escape, and
we trotted on westward. I soon commenced telling
stories to them, and they crowded close to me to hear,
and became deeply interested in the various tales I
invented and related for their amusement. These fic-
tions threw them off their guard, and while they were
in roarsi of laughter I untied my stirrup fastenings and
left my'feet free and ready to use when opportunity
might make it important. We now entered upon a
narrow part of the road and were huddled together
very closely; so I backed my horse to give a little
room, slipped out of the saddle, ran down the hill into
the woods and bushes at the top of my speed, being
followed by my keepers. I gained upon them several
rods, but a bundle of clothing that I had in my hand
proving aphindrance,l cast it into a hollow stump,
and continued my course. At the foot of the gorge,

between the mountains, I passed a large stream too
1 deep to ford, but here a hemlock had fallen across it,
having been torn upbythe roots by some convulsion
of nature; I jumped upon the tree and ran across it,
and it moved backward and forward, and asl sprang '
upon the opposite bank, the tree tumbled into the riv-
er and shut Off my pursuers. I shouted to them, lifted

 
107
‘my hat, and bade them good-bye, and I never had an- ‘
other interview with them. But I lost my horse and
his trappings, and as they had been paid for in coun-
terfeit notes, Idid not stop my course to [grieve and
shed‘tears on this occasion.

Icontinued on my way through the woods until
evening. Here I staid alone through the night and in
the morning took my course by the rising of the sun
and came out at the village of N ewburgh. This
country, at this period, was chiefly a dense and almost
limitless forest, and I lost my course many times, but
the morning sun would set me right. Icrossed the
Hudson at Newburgh in the ferry boat, walkedon five
miles to Fishkill, and stopped at a tavern for the
night. I gave my host a five dollar note to pay for
myventertainment, received the change, drank the
landlord’s-health, and ascended Fishkill mountain with
an elastic step. I met a man at the tavern who was
rather inquisitive respecting my business, and I in-
formed him that I had been out north-west, and hav-
ing sold my horse, was walking towards home in Mas-
sachusetts, and was getting weary of my journey. I
inquired of him where I could buy a horse. He told
me he had one to sell, urged me to go to his place and
see it, and with apparent reluctance I _ consented.
The horse was a good one. and I purchased it, togeth-
er with a saddle and bridle, and paid him the price
agreed on, and rode onward in the direction of Mas-
sachusetts until evening, when I changed my course
for Fairfield County, Conn., and late in the evening

stopped at a tavern twelvepmiles from Danbury. The
126

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
   

 

‘108

next day I arrived in Bridgewater, and found my fam-
ily in good condition. During my excursion I passed
nearly 351000 of counterfeit money, escaped once from
four keepers, lodged in the woods one night, and re-
turned home unchanged 1n my purposes. ,

It was before the days of telegraphing, and yet my
old associates, living twenty-five miles away, seemed
to know intuitively the hour in which I arrived at
home, and the next day I was visited'by a dozen of
them. This fact has appeared to me inexplicable, for
I never put much confidence in impressions, andI
never believed that the devil would take pains to
Whisper in the ears of our gang the intelligence of
my return from a long ramble. '

/
@093

CHAPTER XIII.

Near the close of the War assumed the draft of a neigh-
bor, and went to New-London—Made it a time offrol-

ic and ett‘ the ts 0 such thin s as atriots need
: P y g P ’

particularly pigs, turkeys, hives of bees, (ye—Farmers
complained to our ofiicers, and they threatened severe
punishment on detection— Commissary furnished poor

, liquor—- One evening spirited away a better article from
his store—~Peace declared, and soldiers return home——
Resuming the old business, went to Canada for funds—-
Closely watched on my way returning—Adopted vari-
ous stratagems to secrete money—Fruitless search by
a sherif— Then treated him from a wooden bottle, con-
cealing bad bills between its false heads—-Reached
home, and divided the funds. ’

The war was still continuing and drafts were oc-
casionally made upon the population to supply the
coast guard- Andrew Morehouse was drafted in my
Vicinity, to go‘ to N ew-LOndon to protect the place
from the ravages of' Commodore Hardy, whose fleet
hung about the harbor. Andrew felt disheartened,
said his wife was sick, and he could not go. “Give
me a dollar, you old coward,” said I, ,“ and’I will go
in your place.” The bargain was; made, Andrew be-
came cheerful, his wife got well in an hour, and he
was a man of leisure.

Istai’d in New-London until the war closed, and
D7

 
 

  

110

kept up a perpetual series of frolics. We gambled,
drank, scuflled and wrestled, attended dances and
sprees, visited dens of infamy, and engaged in every
department of vice and wickedness. Few, if any, left
the barracks with horror at the scenes there enacted;
The 'men had become familiar with vice, and long
Was it doubtless, after their return, before the iniqui-
ties consequent upon war were forgotten. '
Soldiers quartered in any neighborhood are p’erpetn
ually in hostility with the inhabitants. The fare of
soldiersconsists in no luxury but that of rum. Pork,
salt beef and bread, constitute their” chief diet,
and their appetites, under such regimen, acquire a
keenness that prompts them to look abroad for the
good things of life. Foraging expeditions were man-
aged with great care and circumspection, and men
soon became adepts and experts in the business.
Water-melon patches, within two miles of our en-
campment, at Groton, were robbed of their cylindrical
treasures; peach orchards were almost nightly re-
membered by rapacious visitors,'and the apple or-
chards contributed their mite to our comfort. Fowls
and eggs were dainties that were appreciated. One
day I was rambling a mile fromhead-quarters, and
‘drew near an orchard of apples, and asked the owner
to furnish me with a few. He was atory and I knew

‘ it, and he angrily refused me, and said that if the

British would land he would give them all that he
had. I felt vexed, but kept calm and cool. I saw a '
large row of bee-hives standing by his house, andI
coveted one of them and resolved to help myself when 'l

 

 
Ill

convenience should urge me on. Upon a bright moon-
light eveningl called upon Elias Matthews, a soldier
from New Canaan, to go with me. We started about
eight o’clock in the evening for the tory’s house, and
when we arrived there we found they had visitors in
a fine state of excitement. We heard themtalking
and laughing and enjoying life pleasantly. I spread
out my overcoat in an adjoining meadow, walked up
to the house, lifted and fastened up one end of the
boards that lay over the hives, took up one of the
largest and carried it over the fence and deposited it
upon my coat At this moment two men came out of
the hOuse, and I ran like a' deer into a swamp near
by, but they passed on, not having noticed me. Mat-
thews also took to flight“ I supposed my coat and
honey were gone, but I was undiscovered. I now re-
turned to my bee-hive and wrapped my coat over it
and carried it to the brook to wash out the bees. I
wore a glazed hat, and after turning up the hive pour-
ed in a hat full of water, and thus rinsed out the oc-
cupants. I never minded bee stings, but thousands ,
now [almost made me wince under their inflictions.“
We had carried up two camp kettles, to hold the
honey, but Matthews was missing, and I did the work
as best I could. I took out the honey down to the
cross-sticks and it filled the kettles. I then pulled off
my shirt, tied a string closely about the flaps and fill-
ed my shirt full as a bag of corn. After passing on
about forty rods Matthews popped up his head from
behind a fence and spied me with my load of honey.

“Oh you; have got it,” said he. “ Yes,” I replied, “ and
a, ' D8

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
  
  
  
 
  
 
 

 

 

11.2

no thanks to you, either 1” but he helped to carry our
honey toward our. hiding place. We went to a stack
of hay, cautiously dug cavities in" it, and concealed
the honey completely. I then went back and got the
empty hive and carried it out in the rear of the fort and
left it, to put the owners upon the wrong track if they
should go to look for it. But I had been dreadfully
stung, and next morning I was swelled up most hid-
eously. I had the ‘bee stings picked out of my face,
arms and back, and a clean shirt on, and as it was
. Sunday, I got some lead and blacked my face and
eyes and went to the captain and told him that I had
a spree the night before, and fell down stairs and
bruised my face. He looked at me with a broad grin,
and gave me permission to stay away from church.
I stayed this day concealed in the garret of the house.
i , where we quartered, and when they came to search
for, honey none could be found; but the empty hive
was discovered ba‘ck of the fort, and they thought the
soldiers in the fort stole -it. A few evenings after we
removed the honey from the stack into a swamp,
strained it out of the combs, and filled a two gallon
jug with it, but the old tory was never any wiser
for it. ‘ .

When the honey manoeuvre was gone by, aswe had,
poor living from our rations, we arranged to have
some fresh pork as something new. We had seen a
pen'of fat pigs. belonging to a rich 01d farmer, who
was under British influence, and we resolved to steal
one on a dark night ; four of us started'for our game.
I sprang into the pen, caught a pig by the nose and

  
113

heels ; we lifted it out, hurried it into a swamp, cut

, its throat, skinned it, and hung it upon a tree. When
we wanted fresh meat we went and cut off some of
the flesh and cooked it. This afforded our company a.
good living over a week An ineffectual sea1 ch was
made for the animal, but no soldier could tell anything
about it. ,

N0 eturnal eXpeditions from our encampment ocu

curred almbst nightly, and daily complaints came to
1 our oflicers of the marauding spirit of the soldiers._
As far as I ever ascertained, not a single" individuall
_ was ever arrested for his appropriating the property
. of others to himself. The officers threatened us with
punishment if we were caught, but their efforts to de-
tect us were unavailing. They loved good things to
eat as well as ourselves.
gMy father was in the revolutionary war, and in my
childhood I had heard‘him relate his nocturnal prow
ess in that eventful war, and the, poaching expeditions
of my worthy parent came to my recollection. Their
rations were short in quantity and inferior in quality
and so Were ours. 1 They supplied their deficiency
and imperfectness from the abundant stores of an in»
imical population. They endured hardships and prim
vations, and such was our lot. ' \ ho could impute
to us blame in mingling comforts in thebitter cup of
life, when they were accessible?

But to retmn While at New London the inhabits
ants were almost daily making complaints to our of:
fleets of thefts, losses, and damages We entered the
fields and pastuie grounds of the people at mid-day,

v

 
 

114'

milked their cows, plucked turnips and potatoes from
the earth, and fearlessly carried them into the camp.
One day a crabbed old farmer overtook me with a
pail of milk in my hand, that I had just before ab-
stracted from one of his cows, and with threatening
words and gestures, followed me to the guard house,
and reported me to the lieutenant. He said, “This
fellow has stole milk from my cows, and I caught him
., fl , .. at it, and with his pail full in his hands ; he denies it,
I % if" and is impudent to me. I had rather the British were
’ here, and if they would come, I would give them all '
they want. The British are our best friends.” The
lieutenant drew his sword and told him peremptorily
to hold his tongue, for if he said one word more he
,, would arrest him and put him under guard. The old
‘ . 75:??? , . 1 man went off in silence and in wrath. This was the
§ last time that he laid his grievances before our officers.
13:? 1, Another day five of us Went to a field of turnips to
‘V’ i get some sauce. The OWner spied us, and came out
p with his loaded gun and ordered us off. I jumped
. ,, over the fence, among the turnips, and the owner hal-
{h {i ‘ looed to me, “’Get out, orI will shoot you I” I replied,
“You will, eh!” Ikept pulling turnips until I had
‘ i got my arms fufl, then handed them to one of the
men in the street. Again he swore he would shoot
i“ 13-.“ me. “You will, eh !” and kept filling my arms with

 

 

$11.: turnips, and gave them to another of the men, and so
‘ a I continued under his threats with a gun in his hands
3‘ until we had fully supplied our wants.

; .. Our encampment was on the east side of the
. , w 431' Thames, opposite New London, and we had to cross

 
115

the river to the commissary’s store to'draw our rations;
Our boats were sent across the river in the evening,
and a dozen or more boats’ crews were frequently
there at the same. ,time. This commissary had pay
for good liquors, but furnished us with potatoe whis-
ky. This is-the most execrable liquor ever made by
the ingenuity of depraved man. We were entitled to
a gill of cider brandy, a passable liquor; but this
commissary often gave us the potatoe extract. Ma-
ny of us complained to Col. Sterling of the wretched;

ness of our drink, and he told us to accept of no poor.

food or drink. One evening a dozen boat Bads of
men crossed over to the commissary’ s store, and I
went with them, with an undivulged object in view.
While the crowds were receiving their rations, one by
one, I slily rolled a barrel nearly half full-0f cider
brandy out of the back door into the boat, and then
rowed back. Here we drew off the liquor, put it in
jugs, bottles, canteens, and camp kettles; then knock-
ed the barrel in pieces, and threw the staves and head-
ings into the river to float out to Commodore Hardy’s
squadron. We carried the liquor to our camp and
hid it as well as we could. In the morning an uproar
was made by the commissary for his stolen liquor. I
had a camp kettle full standing upon the floor of our
room, when the colonel came in and inquired about it.
I was cook of a company of seven, and happened to
be paring potatoes for breakfast. My fire burnt slow-
ly, and I took up my kettle and hitche'l it upon a
trammel over it. “ Stewart,” says the colonel,

“where is the liquor your boat’s crew stole last night "

’4‘. -—- «a..-

 
 

 

 

 

 

l 16
”from the commissary’s store?” I replied, “I did not
steal any.” Says he, “you. smell as strong of cider
brandy as if you had washed the floor with it, and
some of the men got drunk last night.” “ Colonel,”
said I, “ you .know that half a gill will make some
men drunk, and as for myself, I don’t drink any.” He
searched the room over, but found none, and rational-
ly supposed that my camp kettle contained water to
boil my potatoes. As soon as he was gone I took the
kettle and emptied it into some jugs standing in the

_ room, and here ended the search.

Evfi‘y kind of manoeuvre was resorted to to hoods
wink our officers. They had once been common sol-
diers, and ,were familiar with the wants of an army,

. and their inquiries and examinations were far frOm
being scrupulously rigid. They would say to the men,
“Never steal any thing; be careful, for if you are
caught, you will be severely punished.” We ’under-
stood it, and our, practice was in accordance with the
true principles of soldiers’ law—our best good.

Our time had nearly expired; the war had closed,
and we were to be discharged in a day or two. A
mile below us I had noticed in my evening rambles a
white tom turkey roosting upon an apple tree.-——~

’Around this tree was a high rail fence._ I went out
about Silo’clock in the evening, climbed upon the fence
and caught the turkey by the legs. He squalled and
flapped his wings powerfully. The owner heard
what was ”going on and came to the door with his
gun, ”and fired. The ball went through my hat and
knocked it off upon the ground. I brought down the

 
117 .

turkey, squalling and flapping, picked up my hat and
ran with all my might. Finding his shot ineffectual,
he set his bull dog after me ; I kept thrashing the. dog
in the face and eyes with the turkey, until, as he was
about to give up the battle, he caught my coat tail in
his teeth and tore it off, but one more blow with the
old white turkey drove him» away howling. Inow
gave the bird’s neck a deadly twist, and his squalling
and flapping soon terminated. Next day we cooked
him, and had a thanksgiving dinner in earnest. I re—
paired my hat so skillfully that no man noticedjt.

We were now discharged, and each man went to
his home. I picked my corn, dug my potatoes, hauled
up the winter’s wood, and got all things ready fer the
support of my family. N ow I cast about and con-
trived for the Winter. My former employment prom-
ised fairer than any thing else, and the instructions
that I had obtained at Groton qualified 'me especially
to engage in deeds of daring and imposition. 1 was
destitute of the proper funds, but afortnight furnished

. a full supply. I rode to Canada, got five hundred dol-
lars, and . sold my horse, saddle and bridle to the en-
gravers, and then contrived how to carry the funds
safely. I had never learned the cooper’s-trade, and I
went to a shop and had a great wooden bottle made‘
with three heads. I did up my money in fragments
of bladders, took out the outer head and packed it in
close and snug, and then restored the head. Inow
filled the bottle with rum, and started with it for home.
on foot. Every man going south was suspected of
being engaged in the counterfeit trade, and large

 
 

118

bounties-were- offered for therdetection of rogues. I
was fully aware that 'every stranger was watched,
and oftentimes searched, and I was ready with my
bottle of, liquor to submit to any investigation. In
about three days-I arrived at Whitehall, and was stop-
ped by the sheriff , and his” agents. They examined
my .pockets and every place about my clothing where

' money could be stowed, and found nothing. Ithen

treated them from my wooden bottle, and we parted
in- apparent friendship; They were net aware that
they had had» the whole treasure in their hands and
almost in contact with their mouth and eyes. My
replies to all their questions were satisfactory ; and
after they had drank, I took the bottle and drank their
health, wishing them each happiness and long life.
When I got home, my funds were distributed among
the company, and each went his own way, made his
own bargains, and traded as seemed good in his own
eyes. I reserved a share to myself, and as occasion
presented,.I palmed it off. The spirit of frolic- was in
me; , I loved to gamble, raffle, pitch dollars, go to balls
and sprees, and to be almost continually in some
scrape. Iran horses, jockeyed, bought and sold sheep,
drank rum freely, and kept my whole system in a state
of perfect activity. I slept but little, always carried
pistols and a dirk, to be ready for every emergency,
being unable to tell what an hour might bring forth.
I had an iron constitution ; a self-possession and bold-
ness that never quailed or deserted me. I slept at
night, if at all, with my fire—arms under my head, and
in , my dreams =I-hav-e: often sprung from my couch

 
119

across the room, surmising that enemies'were about
to arrest me. Sometimes I\ stayed in the woods or
upon the mountains to hide myself frbm the hosts that
were eager to seize me. And thenxagain, I would
confront them, fearless as the panther of the forest.

;.~»%€Lr14«.."‘ ‘ d
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i’fifi‘w *3‘ ‘5‘.) ;55,3$223313,L 7 fit; "j

CHAPTER XIV.

Started to Canada for more money— Secreted bills ina é
clumsy hollow stafi—On my return a sherif arrested
me for passing a bad bill at a tavern—Escaped from
him and three other men and a dog, into the woods—At
night returned to place of arrest, got my hidden cane,“
and next morning was several miles ahead—Arrived
at home—Started as a witness to the Court at Fair-
field—-0n my way there was arrested as a counterfeit-
er, and kept in Danbury jail several months—Annoy-
ed the jailer, by playing tricks on him—Was ironed,
and broke loose often—~0ne night escaped prison, ran
a few miles, and entered a house at a late hour, where
a quilting party had been detained by a severe storm—-
Was recognized, watched, and next day taken back to
jail.

After a few weeks, I took my horse and went again A
to Canada to get money. We were good customers 3??? -

to the engravers, as we called upon them very fre~ ll

 
 

120

’

quently. I‘came down into Vermont and there met
some of our company, and distributed my funds ; let
one of them/haVe my horse, and took my way on foot
to Albany. Igot a large alder from a swamp adjoin=
ing the road, borrowed an inch and half auger and
bored a hole in the end, and whittled. a plug to stop
it. Ihad let all my money go to the company but
eighty dollars. I put seventy dollars in the end of
this alder staff, inserted my stopple in it, and walked
on. When evening approached, I stopped at a tam
em on the west side of the river and stayed through
the night. Next morning I started early and went
down to Esopus, ‘called at a tavern and asked the
landlord for breakfast. While I was in conversation
With him, three men rode down the street, and drew
up to me and asked if I stayed above at a house of
entertainment. I answered inythe affirmative. They
told me that I paid the landlord a counterfeit five dol- ,
lar bill, and wanted me to go back with them. I told
them that being short for money, I had sold my horse
and taken my pay in bills, and that I had spent near-
ly the whole ; that I knew nothihg about paper money,
and if I had, let the landord have a bad note, that I,
, would settle the matter and go on. They said I must
go back with them. I threw my alder cane out into
a wood-pile, and told them that if I must return, We
would have something to drink before ”we started. I
called for some liquor. We all drank, andI again of-
fered to settle with them ; said I was in a great hurry,
and wished they would let me go on my way. I should
have succeeded, but one man remarked if I was honz

 
'r— A.-.,::,__. .‘L—Lérnv -~ A ~ _~

“A .
‘

 

121 ‘ gm
est, I certainly ought to’go back. The outside doors ‘
were open, and a large fat woman stood in an adjoin-
ing room by the side of an open deor, washing dishes
I watched for a convenient chance to escape, and
‘ while the men were talking and drinking ,Isprang p
out of the room, and hitting the old woman with ‘my
boqt, rolled her and her dishes on the floor. I ascend-
ed a hill in the rear of the house with the whole com—
pany in chase about ten rods behind me. Igained on
them, and then they set their dog after me, hallooi’ng
and shouting ; the dog approached me, and I spatted
my hands together, and yelled to the dog, “ catch him,
catch him!” The animal passed by me and went in}
howling over the hill beyond me, then turned about 7 ;
and went off another way. _ gl‘i

When I got upon the hill top, there was a large for-
est upon my left: and a piece of brush wood upon my
right. Inow was out of sight of my pursuers, and
hid myself some twenty rods to the right, under an ,
old brush fence covered with Mohawk briars. The ;:i . "
company, as I,previously conjectured, went into the t" 1
wide forest after me, and after searching half an hour,
found no trace of mer'and ‘gave up the chase as hope-
less. I cautiously crept away upon a rocky hill, par-
tially covered with wood and grape vines, and could
look down upon all the movements around the tavern,
and yet I was so hidden that they could not see me.
Here I lay " through the day. I had eaten nothing
since supper the night before, and was as hungry as
a half famished wolf; but I thought “ discretion the
better part of valor,” and kept quiet,

H items ,m‘ 55.; ; ,:

 
 

 

 

 

 

122

Night slowly and finally came on, and after the
lights were extinguished at the tavern, I descended
from my observatory, went down to the wood-pile
and got my alder cane, and passed the tavern. house.
The dog barked loudly, .but I passed on through the
night unmolested, occasionally fillihg my pockets from
the adjoining orchards. , Early in the morningI cross-
ed the river below Poughkeepsie, got breakfast, ahd
bought watches and trinkets. Then I took [theiroute

to Pine Plains, near Dover. I found victuals in abun-

dance: at the farm-houses on the way, and purchased
all the watches I could. Occasionally I entered a
store and bought a handkerchief, a glass of grog, or
some crackers, and before I got to Connecticut line

’ my alder was empty.

I here met my company that I left in Vermont;
they supplied me with funds and I went on home to
Bridgewater.

Next weekl was summoned as a witness to the Su-
perior Court, in Fairfield. On my way I passed N ew-
town and bought a new bridle, and paid out a five
dollar bill. As I was handing it to the man I saw it
was a bad One and grasped for it and tore it in two,
I was aware that every dollar I spent in that village
must be good; butI got this bill out of the wrong
partition of my pocket book. The hue and cry went
out against me, and a dozen men surrounded me. I
had a tobacco box full in my pocket, and I, cautiously
opened it and put the notes in my mouth. They then
seized me and threw me upon the ground and tried to
shake me, but Ichewed and swallowed and ultimate-

 

 
123,

. 1y got the money down. Daniel Burh ans, an Episco-
pal clergyman, was active in searching me. They
found nothing, and only saw something white in my
mouth, which they failed to get.

A writ was issued againstme, and I was arrested
and placed under keepers through the night. Next
day came on my trial, and asvall the lawyers were at
court, I was compelled to defend myself. Iwas bound
over to the next court, and immediately hurried off to
Danbury jail. It was a cold season, and we had only
a little fire, and suffered much from the cold. My
bonds were $300, and not one of my old associates
had nerve enough to come near me to give bail for
my appearance at court. ' ‘

I was kept here through the winter, and all of the
succeeding summer, until September. Of a truth I
- was active in something, and proved to be a great
annoyance to Mat. Curtiss, the jailor. I would hoot

in the night season, rouse him from sleep by hideous ,

noises, and disturb him in any way I could. I contri-
ved. to cheat him. in diverse ways, and he often
told me that he wished I was out of sight and hearing.
The rats annoyed him beyond measure. and they
would gnaw all night, making as much noise as a
dozen buzz saws. Curtiss told me that for, every rat
that I would catch, he would give me a gill/of rum.
Through. the plank floor of the prison the rats had
gnawed a hole, and every night they would come out
and work about the room. I set an Indian trap by
the rat-hole and tied the bait upon a long stick,.in the
middle of the room, and the first evening the rat came

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

124

a

‘ out, went to the bait and‘sprung my trap, so as to

shut the rat hole. Next morning I called to Curtiss,
that a rat was caught, and he brought me the gill of
rum, requested me to kill it, and throw it out of the
grated window. "I had a box stove in the room, in
which I put the rat, fed him well, and next morning
let him into the room. and cried out to the jailer ”that
I had caught another rat. He told me to kill it and
cast it out of the window, and then brought the gill of
grog. I put him into the stove for the next morning,
and then reported another rat, and received my gill of
rum. So I managed with the rat fora whole month,
had my grog regularly every morning, , until one
night I left the hole open, and the rat'escaped. I tried
in vain to trap another, but this old fellow had given

‘his rat brethren the hint, and not another'entered my

cell. I had become attached to the roguish creature,
for he was good company, and enabled me to cheat
the jailer out of my grog, although I had money

. enough to buy with. Men in confinement are always

pleased with any living animal ; their presence seems
to while away the tedious hours. Perhaps I valued
my rat friend more, because the whole race of them
get their living by ioguery and cunning. At any
rate he was a favorite, and I would not have lost him
for money. r
I contrived further to busy myself, by constructing
an. Indian .bow, and made an arrow to fit it, with
a hooked barb in the end. When Mrs. Curtiss wash-
ed 'the clothing of the family, she suspended them on
the line in the rear of the Jail; I fastened a. cord to
125

thearrow andshot it into the clothes, then drew them
in through the grates. In two hours I brought every
thing from the line, and put them under my bunk.
In the morning there was a great outcry that the,
clothes were stolen, and Curtiss, raved and spoke
harshly. ' While he was in the yard swearing, I asked
him, “what will you give me to tell you'where they
are ?’.’ Said he, “I will treat you.” “ N o, no, I replied, »
give me a gallon of' rum and I will tell you.” I will
give a pint, said Curtiss. “Give me a gallon, and I
will tell you, and nothing less.” With much reluc-
tance he brought it in, and poured it in a tin pail,
saying, “How do you know who stole them ?” Ah,
said I, “I keep guard about your house while you ‘
sleep, for the rogues would have carriedyou off long
ago, and given you your deserts, had it not been for
me.” “Now,” said the jailer, “tell me where the“
clothes are, or pay me for the rum.” I lifted up my
bed, and there they lay. Curtiss said “Oh, you devil
you, who handed them in to you?” I showed him my
bow and arrow, and the string attached to it, and
gave him a specimen of my Indian skill. Said he,
“you are the greatest ourse‘that ever lived ;” but not
I replied, “the greatest fool in _ Danbury.” ‘Curtiss
said, “ Stuart, I will chain you I” “ That’s right,” said
I, “I hate to be neglected l” “Blast you,” he said, “I
will let you go on in your own way.” “That’s right,
. that’s right,” said I, “ you are a good, kind man, and
ought to be in Congress instead of staying here in
this old rotten, stinking jail.” He took up the bundle

 
 

 

126

of clothes and went out with a loud laugh, saying, “I
never heard of such a provoking devil as yen.”

The jailer evidently was becoming afraid of me.
He had often said thatI was the most troublesome
animal he ever ' saw. But I was good natured
towards him, and in my prompt and abrupt manner,
told him that he was a great coward, and I pitied him.
It always gratified me to tease any body, and I con-
trived every scheme that ingenuity could devise to
disturb him. He was in doubt what to do, and went
to the sheriff for counsel. “ Chain him,” said the
sheriff, “and you will keep him quiet.” Curtiss came
into the prison and told me his orders. I replied,

"‘ That’s right, Curtiss, put the screws on, load me with

chains, and do your duty.” Next day, the blacksmith
came, handcuffed me, put a ring around each ancle,
and by a staple and short chain’fastened me to the
floor. “ Now,” said he, “ Stuart be easy, damn you l”

Soon as night came, I began to thrash my chains
and handcuffs upon the floor, and soon broke off my
handcuffs. I had the blades of case knives made
sharp, and hacked them together and made saws of
them. I soon cut off the bolts that confined me, and
hid my saws in thecracks of the floor. In the morn-
ing, Laura, his daughter, came in to the ante-room of
the prison, and I stood looking out of the grief hole,
and asked for some water. The girl cried out,
“father, Stuart is loose again.” Curtiss came and i
said “damn you, I will chain you worse than ever
Burroughs was chained.” “That’s right, do,I Wish
you would, for you set great store by me.”

 
127

The jailer was the chief butcher in the village of
- Danbury, and it was his business to drive over the
town in the morning to make sales. I He said to me,
“Stuart, how do you get your chains off?” “Well,”
said I, “Mr. Curtiss, I am apt to have the night mare
when I sleep, and When it comes on I struggle, and ,‘
tumble about, and the first I know the chains fall off. i
I don’t believe your blacksmith knows how to do it, ,1
He is careless and never puts them On strong; 'be- $5,;
sides, this iron is the red shire, and is good for nothing. i
The State pays him, and it is a shame to cheat the ,9.
government with such mean Work. Get good iron;
never spare, make large heads to the rivets, counter-
sink the clasps, and hammer them down even.” f
A half day was spent in restoring the irons. Cur- '
tiss was kept from distributing meat to his customers,
and they began to threaten establishing another mar-
ket place. I waschained to the floor, handcuffs on
my wrists, a long chain about my neck, and apparent-
ly all secure. Then I spent half of a night in thrash-
ing my irons, shouting, groaning and swearing. , ;
About midnight all is still, and the jailer Well filled : ’
with liquor; sleeps, I pick my knives out of the 1
cracks in the floor and go to work, and When he
awakes in .the morning he finds me Whistling and
dancing a hornpipe. Curtiss comgs and peaks into
the grief hole, and bawls out, “Stuart, you infernal
curse, What are you about?” “Only Whistling and
7 dancing a hornpipe,” said I. He neglects his butcher- .
ing, goes for Stevens, the smith, and brings him into i
the jail, surly as a bull. With his tools he pulls up 3; l ;

 
 

128

t 5:; f the great iron staples, then picks up the broken irons ‘
f and goes to his shop and repairs them. This takes
, 5 till noon, and the jailer’s customers are not served with

meat for their dinners. I find trouble is brewing with
Curtiss, and I tease him. In the afternoon, Stevens
brings in a back load of irons and lays them down by
me. I said to him, “Stevens, put them on good to
day, so when my night mare comes on they can’t fall
off.” / He goes to clinching bolts, driving staples, and
fastening me down. I said, “I guess you have got
. him fast here, look at this rivet; I am afraid it is not
strong; do up your work well; not have it half done,
_ as you did yesterday. When I have the night mare,
725‘ I fear that this poor old iron will come all to pieces.
' -' Hammer in the heads, and keep me close.” Curtiss
and Stevens leave me. I begin to thrash the chains
about the floor, and make all the noise I can, keeping
it up till midnight; lie quiet awhile ; thenl pick my
saws out of the cracks, saw off the bolts, throw off
my chains and cast them against the grates and upon
"the floor. I thus compelled them daily to repair and

 

 

 

g, : restore my bands and chains, until they found it

useless to endeavor to confine me. They learnt wis-

- H 2 ' dom and left them off. One fact is certain, with an

‘ , old nail in prison, I could do more than with the best
é ' tools out of it.

It was now midisummer, and all my bars, bolts and
chains were laid aside, and for a few days I was
i ,: 7, tranquil and quiet. My rambling spirit came over
’ l ' me again, and l was‘resolved to break out for the fun
* of it. My wife came over from BridgeW’ater inthe

 
129 .
night, and brought me an auger, and I drew it in
through the grates. In those days jail breaking did
not render the prisoner liable to punishment. I was
now in the upper story of the prison, and I bored out
a hole large enough to crawl through, tore up a
blanket into strips, to ease me to the earth, and got
- all ready to depart.“ Elijah Bennett was in the room

with me, and as he had been arrested for burning up '

his own house because his wife went to Methodist
meeting, it was important he thought, that he should
be away. . He was a larger man than myself, and the
hole through the building was rather .. small for him.
But he got into it with his feet, and when'he had
passed as far as his shoulders he stuck fast. I finally
kicked him through, and not thinking of the blanket,
he fell twenty feet to the ground. It rained in
torrents, was dark, and as I crawled out, my hat fell
inside ; but I had no time to go back after it, and hang-
ing on to the blanket,l lighted on the ground easily.‘

Bennett and myself went down to Starr’s Plains,
with a fragment of the blanket upon our heads, and
stopped where there had been a quilting frolic. The
storm prevented the Visitors from returning to their
homes, and as we went in, the company were about
to retire as well as they could. Several young men
were in this company, and after the ’first outburst of
our wildness we were watched by them until they
could report us at Danbury.

At about nine o "clock in the morning the jailer rode
up to the d001, andl was standing in the ‘entiance.

Said I, “ good morning, Mr. Curtiss, has your wife got
. El

 

.LJ;,3?;; a: 151:", _j. .

 
 

 

130

breakfast ready? I was just coming down to get itfi
He replied, “I will let you know in a few minutes I”
I answered “ that is not the question I asked you.”
He then put shackles and handcuffs on me, tied me
in the wagon, and drove down to the jail, I halloo-
ed every rod of the way like an African lion. Cur-
tiss was very wrathy because I had defeated his
day’s work of peddling meat, and swore he hoped
he should never see me again, for Ihad been a source
of no common trouble and vexation to him. We got
to the jail door, and I declared I would not go in until
they had given me something to drink. Adopting the
wisest plan, they gave me a gill of brandy, and with
more than fifty weight of iron upon me, I hobbled in
to the lock-up. Ilay in my shackles two or three
nights, until I got ready to throw them off ; and then
I had another spell of the night-mare, and in the morn-
ing I was easy and quiet, my irons being heaped up
in one corner of the room.

 

 
131

- g’ CHAPTER XV.

After long confinement, was discharged from Danbury
jail without trial, by interference of lawyer Sherwood——
Returning home, found J. PVeller, (holding a mort-
gage on my house,) had prepared to grasp my proper-
ty for a tithe of its value—Had maliciously annoyed
my family—I finally revenged the wrong by sundry
deceptions, bleeding him of more than his claim.

The County Court at that time tried all the crim-
inals of an inferior grade, and that did not set until
November. The Superior Court was now in session,
and Sam’l B. Sherwood, Esq., the State’s Attorney, a
friend of mine, and a very prominent lawyer, called
upon me and gave me an invitation to accept of a
discharge from prison. lbecame my own surety, and

gave my note of three hundred dollars, passed out‘

into the bar-room of the jail, shook hands with Curtiss,
drank with him and thanked him for his kindness and
humanity towards me while in his care, made him a
low bow and walked to Bridgewater, and found my
family well. I went to work for a little season, but
my companions, who had stood aloof from me during
my incarceration, all gathered about me andI re-
ceived them coldly. _

During my imprisonment my family had many
vexations and troubles. A man in my neighborhood,

morose, sullen and vindictive in his temper, had re-
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. 132

solved to oppress, root out, and destroy my, house«
hold, Nevertheless, he claimed to be more? religious
and devotional than ten thousand gypocrites. He
bought up small notes against me, and while I was in
confinement, harassed my wife with threats that he
would have our place and turn her into the street.
He even forbid her drawing water at our own well,
because, as he said, the property would be his in a few
days. But I was discharged from prison. at least three
years earlier than he expected. His name was Justus
Weller, and I cannot forget him. His plan proved
abortive, for I came upon him suddenly, like a thunder
clap in a clear sky. I determined to circumvent him,
even though it made me a bankrupt. He was rich
and had a bad name, and I was poor, and almost an
outcast in the community; yet I thought my cunning
and sagacity a match for his wealth and dishonesty.
The sequel shows how 'much he over-rated his effi-~
ciency. , ‘

He had an execution against me of sixty three dol-
lars, issued while I was in jail. I bought me a horse,
plump and active, and this man wished to trade with
me. I offered to exchange for twelve dollars, and after
much conversation I agreed to split the difference and

endorse the six dollars on the execution, which was
in the hands of the Sheriff. I invited him into my
house, and as he loved rumI gave him aliberal. treat,
and this added to what he had already taken at home,
proved sufficient for my purposes. He was sleepy
and gapish, andl wrote a receipt to be endorsed upon
the execution, and he signed it and went home. _ I then.

 

 
133'

took my pen and added ty to the six. I carried the
receipt toithe sheriff, and he placed the amount on
Weller’s claim.‘ A fortnight afterwards the old man
called on the officer and told him to levy on my farm.
Why, Mr. Weller, said the officer, there is only three
dollars due upon it. _“ Let me see it,” says Weller.
He looked it over, and called me a rascal, and wished .
to swear that it was a forgery; but the sheriff in-
formed him that hé could not swear money into his
own pocket.

A few days after this I met him on the road, and he
charged me with fraud, but I told him it was all right
and just, and he had better be silent to avoid future
trouble. Icalbulated to reWard the man according
to his deserts. Iafterwards met him alone, and we
talked over the‘matter, and I told him that we Would
make it right. He was easily flattered when there
was money at stake. A month or so subsequent to
the above transaction I'met Weller, and he wanted to
borrow some money to pay his taxes, and I promised
if he would call in the evening I would furnish him.
. I went to the .store and stayed late in the evening,
well knowing that he would wait one half the night
for my return. I tarried late so that my wife’s compa-
ny might retire before I arrived. , / ,

On returning home, found Weller lying upon a chair
with a pillar under his head, and his feet to the fire.
As I came in he rose up and'said, “Have you got
any money?” I remarked, a plenty of it. Weller and
I drank twice, and entered into conversation for some
time, and/then I. wrote a note of nine dollars, and

E3

 
   

134

Weller signed it. and went his way. When he was
gone Itook my pen and added ty to the ninefand put it
in my desk. In a week I sold the note to Daniel Burr,
residing in an adjoining neighborhood, took two cows
and the balance in money, and drove my stock home.
A month after Burr called on Weller, and wanted his
pay. “ Come in then, and get it.” Weller counted out
nine ’dollars, and Burr told him that the note was
ninety. “ Damn £tuart,” said he, “ the villain has
cheated me again.” I wish he was in the state prison,
and I will have him there yet. But as the note
appeared a fair one, there was no alternative but pay-
ment. As Shylock said, “ It will feed my revenge.”
Weller’s farm and mine were contiguous, and his
cattle were constantly trespassing. I had cut over
four acres of wood the year before, and burnt it into
coal. I now trimmed up the brush, plowed and sowed
it with rye, and it grew finely. Late in the fall, when
the ground was soft, his sheep got in and trod it into
the ground. It partially recovered, but about the last
of March one hundred of his sheep entered the field
and ate up ever spire, and spoilt it totally. I told him
he ought to make me some compensation. “Damn
you,” he replied, “if you want law, I will keep you
in it as long as I live.” I said to him, “you will get
your pay, for I love to pay such debts, and I am not
even with you on the old score.” But when we next
met I flattered him sweetly, and prepared for another
bite. One of my daughters had a string of gold beads,
and I had some of brass which cost twenty-five cents
a string, and they were well burnished with chalk.“-

 

 
135

\

Isold them to Weller for his youngest daughter for A

eleven dollars. She wore them a week, and they be-
came black and worthless. Here I fetched him up
again, but he never opened his mouth to me on the
subject. ,

Weller had a pen of fine pigs, and one morning I
sent a man to tell him that in a spree I had sold my
hog, that my wife was crying about it, and I wanted
one of his for five dollars. “Tell him he can have
one,” said he. I went and bought a hog, and gave him
a bill on a broken bank for payment; drove it half a
mile and sold it for six dollars. Weller made great
complaint about this bill. I told him that I would let
him have a crane to settle the matter. I had two fix-
tures of this sort in my fire places, one very large and
strong, and the other small, for a. tea-kettle. I sold the
large one to a neighbor and delivered it to him, and

took out the little one, and told my wife to let Wel- ‘

ler have that. The old man called for it in my ab-
sence, and when my wife pointed it out to him he
swore as bad as I could in my worst swearing days.
He was a strange man, and though ever so indig-
nant, a few smooth sentences, accompanied with kind
promises of payment, traanillized his mind, and all
the wild and brutish malevolence with which he
abounded, seemed to pass away. When he found I
had cheated him, he would call me a; rascal, and de-
clare that he would never thereafter have any thing
to do with me; but when his temper became cool I
could lead him into another trap with the bait of

money, when he was certain to get. caught.
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136

While I was in jail, this man had annoyed my
family with petty lawsuits, and revenge was sweet
to my depraved nature. For sometime Weller avoid~
ed me, but by flattery and a prospect of realizing
money from me, I again continued/to deal with him.
I was destitute of a cow, and my family needed one.
I bought a goodfione of' him for twenty dollars, paid
him five dollars, and then went off upon a»new circuit
in my business.

When I returned from a ten days excursion, I learn»:
ed that Weller had driven the cow back to his farm.
He had engaged to take the fifteen dollars due for the
cow, in charcoal, at a coal pit on my farm, but had
changed his mind. I was vexed, and in the night took
the beast from his pasture and drove it twenty miles
to Rid’gefield, and there exchanged it for a beef
creature, and drove that on to ‘Bedford, and was
butchering it when, heycame- on in pursuit. ' He open-
ly charged me with stealing. I told him he had
better be careful what he said, if he wished to escape
from a suit , of slander, and this alarmed him. He
went and consulted the lawyers and roved about two
days, but soon ascertained that the chw was lawfully
mine, and his temper cooled down, and then we set—
tled the difficulty. As he had spent all his money, I lent '
him five dollars to pay his expenses home.

 
137

CHAPTER XVI.

VVeut to Canada, and on return hid a quantity of good
money, together with some counterfeit, in a ledge of
rocks—VVood chopper found and bought a farm with
it in Rorbury— Went to Saratoga County, N. Y., and
operated for some time—Arrested and taken to jail——
Brohe out, went to IV. York, and enlisted under Capt.
Taylor, (since President T.) to fight western Indians——
Became a recruiting seijeant—Arrauged with soldiers
to run away, so that I could arrest them, get the ofler—
ed reward, and divide the money—Went with Jack
Chase, a soldier, to play at a fare table—Jack snatch-
ed the pile (about 351000,) as agreed, and escaped with
it, and also too]; geod care to escape dividing with me—
Stole liquor from a Military 7 store-heeper—Would
have been punished, had I not deceived Capt. Taylor.

In a few days Jo. Mills came to me for funds. I
had only three hundred dollars on hand, and Mills
was anxious that Ishould go with him, but I had no
horse now. I went to Weller to hire one, but , found
him in- a surly mood, and indisposed to accommodate
me. He says, “ Stuart you are a damned rascal, and
if you will not leave me $65, the value of the animal,
you shall not have it.” I counted. out the notes, all
counterfeit, took his horse and rode off upon a scout
With Mills. When I took the horse back, I demanded
the money I had deposited with him. He had already

E5

 
 

138

paid out a debt in Litchfield with it, and very reluc-
tantly he gave me his note. Thus he aided me in
scattering funds among the people. This little affair,
I called an extra good job.

I was now out of cash of the right sort, but one of
our hands was on the Canada frontier recruiting our
stock. When he returned I took twelve hundred dol-
lars as my part, hid it in my saddle, and went on to
Tolland County ; spent a week in active business, and
brought back $700 in good funds. I never kept
counterfeit money in my house lest trouble might
overtake my family, and this time when I returned I
put $700 of bad, and $700 of good money in a jug,
and hid it in a ledge of rocks on the north side of Bull
meadow, in Roxbury. In a week I went to get it: but
a man had been chopping wood there, and it was
gone. Two or three ,months after, he bought a nice
snug farm in the valley of that town, and paid the»
cash for the purchase. His neighbors wondered
where he got so much money, but he kept his own
secret. Years afterwards I told him of my loss, and
asked him for some recompense, but he denied me.
Itold him that justice though delayed, would come
upon him, and then he would find me rejoicing ; and
sure enough, the [great freshet of Nov. 1853 carried
off his fences, covered his farm with gravel, and dam-
aged it to a greater amount than all the money found
in my jug. I saw him after the storm was over, and
informed him that I was pleased with the appearance
of , his farm, and that his punishment though coming
—from an unexpected source, was all right, and that I

 

 
139
rejoiced that Providence was willing to reward him
as lie deserved.

For a whole year, though sometimes industrious,
diligent and economical for a month,I occasionally
followed my old pursuits, but it required more caution
and prudence than hitherto. Counterfeit money nicest
1y executed was common as frost 1n March, and the
men of business in all quarters were upon their guard , 7
lest they should receive it. Rewards were offered
for the detection of rogues, but hitherto none had been
caught and punished. «

Towards the last of this year, I went into Saratoga
County, N. Y.,.rode a good horse, and raved about
the country and speculated out of the people. I be-
came suspected of ' mischievous propensities, and yet
no one knew or conjectured that I was a counterfeit-
er. One day, having rather overdrank at the hotel,
and being more than ever before off my watch, I in-
creased the suspicions of the customers of my land-
lord, and I was arrested and taken to jail. I had a
choice horse, saddle and bridle in the stable, and here
Iwas shut up in a stone prison. My determination
was made up to break out and escape. I could not
however get my horse without detection, and I
abandoned this project. The jail was strong and
massive, and when a prisoner was locked within it,
the jailer felt no apprehension of further trouble. I
examined my room, and concentrated my operations
on the grates of one W 1ndow broke them off, and left
the keeper to look for me on the next day after break-

fast. I got my morning meal at 9% o’clock, and as I
E5

 
   
   
 
 
  

I40

broke out of the rear of the building, I supposed they
would not miss me until too late to' make a recapture.
Igot out about twelve o’clo'ck at night," and shaped
my course for Albany, where I arrived before sunrise.-
As I drew near the dock, I saw a sloop just shoving
off, and jumped on board as a passenger to New York.
Thewmd soon springing up, we passed down the

1- 35g:- nicely, though'occasio'nally obstructed with the

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
    
  
 
  

 

'l-Gé. .

It was now towards the last of March, and as navi-
gation was beginning to be resumed, I felt that a
lodgment in the city might be unsafe, and» on my
arrival I went to Ellis’ Island and enlisted. under
Capt. Taylor, late President of the United States, to
go up the Yellow Stone river to" fight the Indians.
Now I was anchored, but as I understood the mar-
tial exercise most thoroughly, I soon received the
appointment of serjeant, and my chief duty was to
drill the men and. make soldiers of them as fast as
possible. .

Now I had. in prospect pursuits of a character total~
ly different from counterfeiting, and as I spent money
lavishly, I agitated several plans before my mind was
firmly settled upon any one. The war regimen is
strict, and soldiers are verily burthened with the most
servile vassalage. Negro slavery, compared with it.
is a garden of roses in near proximity to Paradise,
Obedience to orders is rigidly required of him, and he
must obey without reluctance ori hesitation, every
command of his officers, or be punished with brutal
severity. The preservation of a soldier’s life is of no

 
141

account. If he live, he must do his duty, and if he be
killed he is forgotten in an hour. This is ever the
case in the army.

Though Capt. Taylor was one of the best men that
ever liv ed, his system of discipline was firm and un-
wavering. He would sometimes forgive the errors
and imprudencies of his men when away from their
posts of duty, but any blunder in exercise, or any
want of watchfulness while on guard, was a crime
scarcely to be forgiven- I was however pleased with
him, and performed all my duties to his perfect satis-
faction. I possessed a fearlessness that he saw and
appreciated, and hence I soon acquired an honorable
post among his men, and was regarded by him as
every way competent, and desirous of carrying out
his orders.

But I had not done with mischief. While upon
this Island I was daily engaged in recruiting men for
the service, and succeeded wonderfully. I enlisted
many men, and as soon as I could learn their natures
and habits, I let them one at a time into my plans.
A man named Jack Chase entered these schemes with
ardor. I told Jack that when we went to the city to
get our rations, he must desert and go to the Navy
Y ard and enter the I avy. He did so. A few “days
after, I reported his absence to Capt. Taylor, and he
offered thirty dollars reward for his apprehension.
In a few days I went to the Navy recruiting agent, and
enquired if had enlisted Jack Chase. “No ! no l” said
he. I replied, “I shall not take your word, I shall go

and look for myself.” I went to the Navy Yard and
' E7

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

 
   

I42

saw Jack ascendinglthe side of a ship with a plank
in his arms, and spoke to him. “ Ah,” says Jack, “ by
the holy mouse, you have got me again.” The Capt.
of the yard ordered me off, saying, “What business
have you to hinder my men; be off!” Said I, “you.
have one of my men here, and I showed Capt. Taylor’s
advertisement offering a reward for his arrest, and
then Jack and I jumped into the boat, and, went over
to New York city, and took a coach and drove down
to the dock. Here the Navy agent spied us, and de-
manded of Jack the return of the $30 bounty he had
paid him. “ By the holy mouse,” said Jack, “I shall
do no such thing, for you have cheated me out of
more than this.”

We now passed over to our rendezvous on Ellis’
Island. I‘told Taylor of my good fortune in securing
a deserter, and he gave me thirty dollars, the reward
offered. We divided the sixty dollars between us,
and with our flasks of brandy we lived like heroes.
When our friends were getting short, Ipersuaded one
Odell to run away and stay at a dance house in
James street until I should come after him. Igot an
advertisement in a few days from Taylor, and went in
search of him, and found him as agreed. He returned
withlme and I got thirty dollars reward. Taylor told
them to be quiet and good men, and never desert
again, and he would not report them to his superiors,
and they promised him to be faithful thereafter. This
game I followed up almost every week, and was thus
furnished with money.

I had made up my mind that I should never go

 
143

upon an Indian hunt, for I always hated the sight of , h
an Indian, and besides I had been too long associated y "
with men to be content to leave the civilized world, iii
‘ and take up my abode among squaws, pappooses, or ~
any of their race. I resolved that I would not go. '
The men were enlisted for the army by me in the

city, and oftentimes they would run away in half an .
hour, but after the time of enlistment they were en- 1

titled to rations from the Commissary’s store. These “I
claims for rations were constantly accumulating, and .1
in due time I sold nine hundred to the commissary at lg '

six dollars per hundred, and he paid me the cash. ‘
Now I was again supplied. But as I lived, it required 4 ‘ ’
a mint of money to get along thrivingly. Tom Bell, ‘: '
one of our recruits, was an active, athletic man, and f
a full matCh for almost any body. We often went to "
a house where was kept a Wheel of fortune. Ihad lost

a little money there, and wanted my pay back. I told

Tom that we would go to the house and try the wheel, 7
and when there was a good pile of money on the board, ~ ‘ ‘
that one of us should grasp it, catch a chair in each {
hand, and leave one chair at the head of the stairs, j ,
and another at the landing,,ha1f way down, run into _ ;. .3 ,
the street and.be off in a moment. Iturned up acent. , l I
with him and the luck fell on Tom. By and by, it,
While nearly a thousand dollars of Bank Notes lay on
the‘table in a pile, Tom seized it, clutched the chairs,
and left them in the stairway as we had contrived,
and fled like a fox. The gamblers rose from the
table and pursued after him, the foremost man tum;

bling over the first chair, then over the second with

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I44

his comrades upon his back, all kicking and flounder-
ing topsy turvy down the stairway. In the meantime
Tom escaped and was out of sight. But he cheated
me. I never saw him again, and I always said that
Tom’s conduct towards me, fully proved to‘ my mind
that he was a rogue. Tom had agreed to meet me in
a certan spot when the money should be divided, but
the treacherous villain never came. I contrived the
scheme, and he executed it with adroitness and skill,
but left me in the lurch It is almost the first success=
ful cheat that I was unable to repay.

We loved rum, but our rations were only a gill a
day , too little to satisfy a craving thirst. On the east
side of the Island, Mr. Tracy kept a liquor and cloth-
ing store, specially for the army. .One night I went
with a sullen and inflexible Dutchman,.a fellow sol-
dier, in a boat around the Island to this store to get
some rum. When we got there it was high tide, and
the store stood partly over the water. We broke
open the shutter, got into the store and filled a couple
of two gallon jugs with the precious stuff, and return-
ed to our quarters, dug a hole in the ground and
buried it. _ _

I had recently enlisted a poor fellow when he was
half drunk; when he became sober he groaned and
cried about his wife and children, and out of sympa-
thy or deviltry, I called him in and treated him, to
cheer his spirits and “ drive dull care away.” It had
become noised about that 'a burglaryhad been com-
mitted, and liquor stolen, and this chap, to induce the
officers to discharge him, said I gave him a drink from

 
.e 2‘-

a full bottle. The news came to my ears toward eve-
ning, and after dark, at low tide, I waded out in the
stream, and hid my jug in the water, tied down with , _
a stone. In the morning early,I invited my traitor *~
into my room, put three teaspoons’ full of white vit-
riol in a tumbler, and poured on nearly a gill of rum,
and he drank .it, and passed out. In half an hour
Taylor came up to me, and regretted that I had resort-
ed to such a scheme to supply myself, and said that I
must be punished. I denied the whole story, but said
he, “John says you gave it to him.” “There,” said
I, “look yonder ; there is the poor curse vomiting
now, and very thoroughly drunk. Where did he get
it? He is the thief, I’ll warrant you.” We went up to
him, and he was so sick that he could not speak one
word, and his countenance was pale and ghastly.

Taylor saw it all, and was glad to learn that the
slanders that this fellow had charged to me were
groundless. Thus the matter ended.

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CHAPTER XVII.

Resolved not to go Indian himting—IVith two or three
other soldiers intending to desert, too/i: boat in the night,
went over and entered Tracy’s furnishing store, filled
the boat with blankets, pants, vests, coats and shoes——
Landed on Jersey shore——-Said we were from Phila—
delphia—Sold goods cheapo—Next night anded our
goods on the east bank of the Hudson, 10 miles north
of the city—Proceeded east with our packs—Lay quiet
in the woods daily, and in two or three nights reached
Weston,Ct.——Sent my comrades towards Boston——-Re~
ward Ofered for us as deserters and thieves—[fled t0
Lenox, .llIass. for a few days—Resolved to go to sea—
TVent to New-York, and Taylor and his troops having

' sailed for the Mississippi, I felt more secure—Skinned
as a hand on board a vessel bound to Savannah, and

from thence for E urope—lVot lilting the captain, de-
serted at Savannah in the night.

Isaw thatI could not keep up my contrivances
much longer safely, and soon concocted a scheme to
desert, as this portion of the army were about to sail
for the Mississippi and up the Yellow Stone to head
quarters. It was contrary to orders to buy liquor, as
we had a gill a day. But this small quantity was in-
sufficient for most of us. We were watched careful-
ly. I frequently took a gallon jug to go for milk.
Into this jug, I introduced the bladder of an OK, and

 
 

147

filled it with rum, then tied a string about the neck of
the bladder and crowded it into the jug, and then fill-
ed it up to the nozzle with milk. My jug was in—
spected, found to contain milk alone, and I passed
on. When I got to my room, I poured off the milk,
untied the bladder, emptied the liquor _,into bottles,’
and was thus well supplied. The same plan was adop-
ted by many of our men, and though some were drunk
every day, the contrivance never became known to
the officers. ‘

Being dissatisfied with the abridgement of my lib-
erty, I determined to abandon the life of a soldier at
the first favorable opportunity. I had lavishly spent
the money of government, and paid the bounties in

counterfeit notes, pilfered their store-houses, and lived V

upon luxuries obtained by stratagem and fraud, so that
my connection with the army was a losing specula-
tion to the service. I concluded to discharge myself.
I communicated my intentions to five of my associates,
and on that very night we stole a ship’s yawl and
were determined to desert. The oars were stored
over the heads of our officers, and could not be obtain-
ed without detection. We provided ourselves with
slips of boards and poles, entered the boat, and shoved
off into the stream, passed round the island to Tra-
cey’s store-house, broke down a shutter and crept in
through the window. We now partially filled our
boat with large woolen blankets, white woolen pants,
vests and coats, together with over one hundred pair
of shoes and gaiters. Thus loaded we shoved out into
the stream. The tide was rapidly ebbing, and we

 
   
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

148

worked up stream with our paddles like beavers, so
that we could land on the Jersey shore, below Hobo-
ken. We just escaped being driven ashore on Gov-
ernor’s Island, and by nearing the Jersey shore, out of
the force of the current, made our contemplated land-
ing.

‘Here we took our plundered wealth out of the boat,
tied it up in blankets, and went out into the woods
near Spuyten Devil Creek, and spent the day. Here
we found a man that was acquainted with Jack Chase ;
told him that we were from Philadelphia, that we had
been discharged from a man-of—war, and had bought
our packages, so that we could peddle on our‘way.
This story quieted this man and the people, and we
sold considerable of our stock in trade for ready
money. ‘

When night came on, We got a boatman to row us
across the Hudson about ten miles north of the city,
and we loaded our packs on our backs and journeyed
northerly until day-break, when we again took shelter
in the woods. It was now the summer of 18—, and
we were rather cautious lest we should get arrested,
and then suffer all the punishment of deserters. Ad~
vertisements were issued for our recapture, and as I
was an officer, three hundred dollars reward was of-
fered to any man who would take me back to the en-
campment. But there Were siX of us, and any six
men must have been possessed of superhuman power
to have been successful in an attack upon us. Our

plans of defense were all devised, and as we partially

understood the theory and practice of fighting, a small

 
 

149

company of insurgents would have had full employ
in accomplishing our arrest.

By lying quiet during most of the day, and travel- ,
ing nights in the rear of the great thoroughfares, we
arrived at Wilton, Conn, at J 0. Mills’ place, in about
three days. Here we stayed one day, and as the pubs ,
he were informed of our desertion, and the ’OfFer ”of,
rewards for our capture, we considered it safer to gain
the back country, and so traveled by night to Bridge-
water, where my wife and family. lived. Even here,
in the day time, we lay concealed in .the woods and
underneath the rocky cliffs. But Isent my men on to
Boston, and now had only myself to see to or provide
for. The people were upon the look-out for me, and
each day’s inquiry was, “ Where is Stuart?” ‘

Being in such troubled waters near home, I went
up to Lenox, Mass, and tarried in that town for sev-
eral weeks. The intelligence of my enlistment and
desertion had not reached this village, and the move-
ments of the community were steady and quiet, and
my peace was undisturbed. But I was uneasy. I had
lived so long in commotion that tranquillity was un-
endurable. Ilonged to be roving over the country,
imposing upon the credulity of the people and felt, as
did Paul when persecuting the Christi-ans.

Strange as it may seem, such was my inquietude in
a portion of my life, subject to no evil, fearing no
misfortune, and fully provided for, that I resolved,
whatever might be the result, to abandon my repose
and enter again into a theatre fitted to my peculiar
temperament. /

 
   

 

150

If I learnt wisdom by my experience, I did not ac-
quire suflicient to make me a regular and steady man.
.. My mind was bent on roguery, and all my thoughts
- and conceptions were concentrated on this one sub-
ject :. all else I shunned—every other pursuit I loath-
ed. I deliberated upon what, under my circum-
~ stances, I ought to do. I returned to my family in the
night, and thus evaded the vigilance of my enemies;
and yet I was discontented. I pondered deeply upon
my condition. If abroad, I was hunted like a beast
of prey, no man caring for my presence, and none de-
siring my friendship. I determined to go to sea and
thus elude my persecutors, and smother dislike to me
by absence for years. I left home in the night season
for 'N ew York city. Taylor and his men had embark-
ed upon their Indian enterprises; my desertion, and
other incidents in which I had played an important
part, were nearly forgotten. Ifelt that it wasessen-
tial to my comfort to leave the country for a long
time, and I therefore entered on board the ship Trun-
ion, Eels owner and captain, bound to Savannah,
thence to France, laden with cotton, thence up the
a, Mediterranean, and on a five years’ voyage over the
world.

It is the usage of seamen to lay in a few luxuries
for themselves, called small stores, so as not in cases
of emergency or privation, to depend upon the despot-
ism of a ship-master. Capt. Eels told us that he ,
would furnish us with these things, and the crew took
his word for it. We left N eW-York very cheerfully,
but before two days had passed, We began to get ac?

—.

 
 

 

151

quainged with our skipper. He loved liquor, and he,

fairly swam in it. He tyrannized over the men in a
merciless manner, and was perpetually cross and
surly. '

In a few days we approached Savannah; toward
morning the Tybee light gleamed over the wide ex-
panse of waters, and the mate urged our captain to
put out a signal for a pilot. He declined and said he
would wait till morning ; but during the night a gale
sprung up and drifted us out into the gulf stream,

broke down one of our masts, and left us in a bad,

plight. After four days and nights of incessant toil,
we regained the outer harbor of Savannah, and by
the aid of a piiot, passed over the bar and anchored
in five fathoms' water. Most of the crew had not
been to sea recently, and our hands became sore and
raw, and under the drunken cruelty of. our master,

our tempers had begun to burn with revenge or de-

sertion. ' 7 '

At evening the ship reached the dock and made
fast, and l rowed our skipper to another ship, with
whose captain he was acquainted. I commenced a
conversation with the sailors, but in the midst of it
this acquaintance of our. captain advised him to look
out for his crew. “Never fear me,” said he, “I will
put my hands in jail untill am ready for sea, and
then none of them can get away.” I heard it. Soon
our captain’s business was closed, and I rowed him
back to his snip.- Shortly after Capt. Eels came out
of his cabin with a very large bottle of spirits, and
speaks up cheerfully, “ Come boys, take something

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for your comfort ; you have had a hard time of it, but
things now. shall go easy with you.” We all drank,
the captain returned to his cabin and went to sleep,
calculating in the morning to take such care of his
crew as he deemed best. When all became quiet on
board the men were disposed to turn in and get some
rest, but I told them What I heard our captain say,
and as there was a chance for liberty now, we had
better improve it. They were sleepy, having had no
rest for four days and nights, yet I was awake and
thought they had better secure themselves when they
’ could. They yawned and wanted to sleep a couple
of hours, so I left them,nwalked away from the dock
and passed a mile up the stream, resolVed that Eels
had seen me for the last time;

 
   
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
   
 

CHAPTER XVIII.

Soon after my desertion from vessel at Savannah, reached
Coosahatchie river, and stopped at a tavern kept by an
intelligent widow—She was smart for business—Made
hnown to her my course of life—She wanted a lot of
counterfeit money, and furnished Savannah and i‘Au-
gusta bank notes for the engravers to imitate—After
three months I left her for Canada—Reaching home,
united myself with E. Bennett, (one of the boys,) and
we started on foot for Canada—«I procured $40,000
in counterfeits, and returned home—Had business in
Putnam 00., N. Y. to attend to before going South—-
072 my way there inadvertently passed a $5 counter-
feit bill in Ridgefield—Was pursued, arrested, exam-
ined, and sent to Danbury jail, and about four wee/cs
afterwards was removed to Fairfield for-trial, and
sentenced to Newgate Prison—Before trial lawyers,
wealthy gentlemen, (3c, came to prison, ofering to
save me from Newgate if I would expose the gang.

I hired a black man to put me across the river, and
I entered the forests, which in those days covered al-
most the whole country. The weather was warm,
and I took a nap upon the leaves. When day-light
appeared I bent my course to the N. E., and before
night arrived at Coosahatchie, a Village on the river
of the same name. A widow woman kept tav-
ern, in the place, and I stopped for refreshments

 
 

 

154

and rest. A neighbor of her’s soon came into the bar-
room and wanted to borrow money of her, but she
declined to lend him. This man became furious be-
cause of her denial, and abused the woman in the
Vilest terms. Ilsaw that she, was becoming afraid
of him, so I told him that I should not take part in the
quarrel, nevertheless I should not sit by any longer
and permit him to revile her. He looked at me With
disdain and contempt, and commenced his tirade upon
mesand I took him by the collar and put him into the
street, then went back and closed the door. The wo-
man thanked me for the service I had rendered her,
and offered to keep me as long as I would stay, with-
out charge. Having had a hard time on board of our
ship, I gratefully accepted ' her offer, and tarried with
her, as Paul "said, “for the space of many days.”

She was blessed by nature with genius adequate to
any emergency, and her features were unrivalled by
the choicest specimens of statuary; her tresses, black
as the raven’s wing, descended gracefully from her
head ; her eyes were black and lustrous as an houri’s ;
her face seemed wrought with exquisite beauty; and
her form was chaste and finely modeled. Her age
about thirty, with all the charms of eighteen years,
while a little daughter, fatherless, looked to her for
support and protection. ‘Nhen I became more ac-
quainted with her, I found that she, like myself, was
hardened by fraud, dishonesty and corruption.

She kept her house open during the greatest part
of every night, and when the outer world was clothed
in darkness, the slaves from the neighboring plantaa
.. 155
tions brought her corn, fowls and pigs, and articles of
merchandise, for which she scantily paid them in gew-
‘ gaws and whisky. She was ripe for almost every en-
terprise, and was willing to engage in any object that
promised a golden reward. As" our acquaintance be-
came more thorough,.I oftentimes recapitulated my
' pursuits, told her the stories of my'lif'e and the escapes
that fortune had cast in my way, and the stratagems

- to which I had had recourse in my eventful history.»

Igave her an outline of my counterfeiting process,
and she entered into my plan with her whole heart.
She gave me access to all her business, and reposed
confidence in my ability to do all things well. She
denied me nothing, but was eager to anticipate my
wishes for the pleasure of obliging me. When the
subject of counterfeit money was discussed, her anXi-
ety to procure it banished almost every other thought
from her mind, and she was willing to part with me
for a season on no other terms than that I should ob-
tain a large amount of funds, subject to her disposal.
After staying at her house for three months, I agreed
to go north, visit my friends, proceed to the Canadian
mint, gather some thousands, and return. She pro-
cured me genuine notes of the Savannah and Augus-
ta banks as specimens for the engravers, and all
things were in readiness for my absence during a
month. I need not dwell on the parting scene, though
destined to be brief. It was accompanied with tearful
eyes and throbbing heart.

I took my course for Charleston, and when in that
cit:,r got a passage to New—York, on my way to Con-

2

 

 
 

 

156

necticut. At home I passed a few days, looked over
my farm, called upon old associates, and laid plans for

the future. I kept all my own special secrets. I nev-
er was guided by plans as advised in our Conclaves,

but adopted expedients as the time and circumstances
indicated at the period of their. occurrence.

Eliphalet Bennett and I started on foot for Canada -
together. He Was a great genius in the way of wick-
edness, and the most heartless and graceless villain
that I ever knew. His parents took great care in his ‘
having a thorough education. He passed through
college and received its literary honors, engaged in
the study of the law under the tuition of an able
counsellor, and for a time promised to be an honor to
his family and his profession. But he was a deeply
wicked man, unmoved by affection or kindness, and
though married early to an amiable lady, the connex-
ion was only productive of misery, He set fire to his
house because his wife, contrary to his will, attended
Methodist meetings, and was arrested and put in jail,
but his wealth and friends saved him from punish-
ment. He drank deeply, 'and seemed to delight in
crimes of the greatest magnitude and of the most hor—
rid depravity. V

This man went with me after funds. When We
got into the bounds of Vermont he frequently preach-
ed to the Methodist brethren, and usually closed his
services in appeals to their liberality. He stated to
his audiences that while away upon his circuit, his
house and all that it contained, was burnt, and that
he was on his way to a rich brother‘in Canada for
157

aid, and that the smallest. sums that they could spare
would avail him much. We collected money for him,
and he borrowed an over-coat of one, and many gar-
ments of others, promising to return them when he
came back. Thus we worked our way to Canada.

I left Bennett on the frontiers and went to my old
' friends, produced my specimen notes, and in a‘fo‘rt-
night returned home with $40,000 in my belt. In latter
days I had learned to take the by-paths, to save
trouble and hindrance; said but Iitfle, and avoided
respectable public houses. ' This purchase had eX-
hausted all my means, and my family was poor, unless
I made a saving in disposing of my counterfeit funds.

I now stowed my money in my favorite hiding
places near home, and stayed a few weeks to prepare
my household to live through the winter, while I was
away in Georgia. My intentions were kept by me in
perfect secresy. N 0 man was able to divine my pur-
poses or even conjecture concerning them.

After a few weeks it was necessary that I should
go to Cross River, in Putnam County, N. Y., to trans-
act some business, and on my way went through
Ridgefield, and having lost my handkerchief, I stepped
into the store of Abner Gilbert and bought one for one
dollar, and by accident let his clerk have a bad five
dollar note. I passed on eight or nine miles, stopped
at a tavern at evening, and it was reported that a man
dressed in short clothes had passed it. I tarried a lit-
tle while, then left the house and went across the
fields into abarn. This was empty and no place to
rest. I now went out and gazed over the country,

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and spied a light in a house, upon an eminence, and
drew near to it, asked admittance and was received
to their fireside. Soon I went to bed and was getting
sleepy, when several men entered and inquired for
me. As these men entered my room I roused from ‘
' my slumbers and was about to jump through the win-
dow,'but they seized me and I became quiet. While
they were about the room I slipped 2 five dollar notes
unde1 the bed- -post, and have not learnt up to this day
that they were ever found. They escorted me to
Ridgefield the same night and put keepers over me,
and I passed the night with my hands tied behind
me. Next morning I offered. Gilbert one hundred dol-
lars to let me go, and his wife begged of him with
tears in her eyes, but he was determined that my ca-
reer should be checked.

Next day came on my trial, and Iwas sent to Dan-
bury jail until the session of the court. Itold the
, jailer that I had got home again, and he gave me
some rum and I went into my room. My prospects
were fair for N ewgate, but I cared very little about it.
I was aware of the looseness of- the . watch that was
held over me. Six or eight times a day Mr. Crofut,
the jailer, with the still and stealthy step of a cat,
wouldapproach the grief-hole and peak at me. He
did not intend that I should see him ; but nothing es-
caped my vision, and though my face was frequently
averted while he was casting‘suspicious glances at
me, yet he never caught me unawares in any of my
movements. 1 did not try to disturb his peace as I did
that-of his predecessor. l was pacific as a spaniel,

 

 
 

159

and was .thus throwing a mist before his eyes for fu-s
ture purposes. ' ‘

It was in the last of November, 1817, if I rightly
recollect, when l re-entered this den of sinners. I now
had full leisure to take a retrospect of my previous
life, and upon a rigid examination, after casting aside
all my prejudices, was disposed to give a verdict
against myself". Others had done wrong, violated the
law, trampled upon justice, and outraged the good
sense of the community, and were still abroad, verily
, leeches upon the country. In an evil hour Ihad been
snatched up, and was compelled to look through gra-
ted windows and hear the rattling bolts of iron doors,
while others were still bleeding the people at every
pore. I comforted myself with the reflection that
their turn, even if delayed, would eventually come.

But here I was, with irons about my ancles and
. wrists, that my keepers had unceremoniously brought
into my presence unasked, introduced me to them,
and compelled me to accept them as my present as-
sociates. Though I scorned them, for the sake of po-
liteness and courtesy,l informally received them to
my embraces and shook hands with them, not cordial—
ly, but because there was a necessity in the case. I
thought of my contract with the Georgia Widow, but
was in no condition now to return to her hospitable
.home and carry out our intentions. Idid not so much
as write her a letter, informing her of the disabilities
under which I labored, nor to inform her that I had
used due diligence to augment her interests in pecu-
niary matters. In all these things I was silent.

 
   
 
   
   
 
 
  
  
  
   
 
  
  
 

   

160

My stay in Danbury jail was about four Weeks, and
the evening before I was removed the jailer came
in and searched me. I had all my implements f01 jail
breaking about my person, and gave them all up to
him and abandoned the project. Next day I was
waited upon by the sheriff to Fairfield. I w as as
cheerful as ifI was going to a dance or quilting frolic.
They put me in the prison, infested as it ever had been
in summer with bugs, fleas, and lice. It was now
cold weather, and they did not annoy me. A short
time thereafter my trial came on, and as the testimo-
ny against me was positive, the jury brought me
in guilty. One of the witnesses swore falsely against
me, but there was truth enough to convict a saint in
the testimony of the others. I was sentenced to five
years’ hard labor 1n the state prison

After the judge had sentenced me, I rose and asked
his honor this question: “ Suppose, sir,” said I, “I die
before my five years expire, shall I have to provide a
substitute to serve out the remainder of my term? I
hate to cheat the state ; will you please to inform me
in these matters, for I am ignorant of the law 7” The
judge smiled, and told me that in case of death these
things would not be required of me. I felt better af-
ter'the sentence of the court, convinced that justice
would be subserved by my punishment.

While I lay in Danbury jail, the judges of the court,
the lawyers, the state’s attorney, and many wealthy
gentlemen engaged in mercantile pursuits, called on
me and urged me to reveal to them the names of my
associates, assuring me that I should leave the jail in

 
161

a month and enjoy my liberty. My doctrine ever had
been, and now is, if a person enters a secret society,
no matter what its objects may be, and solemnly
swears to keep secret all its operations and move-
ments, none but those who are ready for perjury will
be guilty of treachery. I told these men that I was
my own counterfeiter, and that no man was acquain-
ted with my operations. They knew I lied, and I
knew it ; but before I would entrap others to secure
myself, I would be hanged on the nearest tree. I al-
ways inculcated a spirit of honor and integrity among
our members, and if one of us should fall a victim to
violated law, his mouth should be hermetically sealed
in reference to his associates. I could keep a secret
without effort, because it was pleasing to me to do
so. The public are not benefited by the confessions
of a rascal, and his oath is worthless Who accuses oth-
ers to screen himself. Such men are obnoxious to the
people, and whenever in after life they become wit-
nesses in court, they are regarded by those Who know
them with scorn and contempt. I

r1

 
 

CHAPTER XIX

Starting for Newgate Prisoii—s—Severity of the Sheriff
toward a prisoner in irons—Reflections on Despot—
ism—Thanhful to find a resting place in Prison——
Did not relish the interior of new home— Vermin an»
comfortable companions—Hard working in iron fete
tiers—Dissatisfied with Capt. Taller’s bed and board
in prison—Manufactured pewter coin in prison, and
purchased luxuries with itu-Closely questioned by
Capt Taller—«Origin of Newgate Prison, (formerly
a copper mine,) and partial description of iii—«Very
healthy retreat~Convicts less shrewd and talented
than I expected— Trifled with a wo-hegone new com-
er, on the first night of his lodging with its in the lower
regions, telling him my time was out next day, and hi-
red out to him as a substitute—When he ofiered me
next morning, Capt. T. laughed at the joke—Capt.
T. loved fun, and hired me to kiss a squaw who came
to visit the prison.

a

I was about to be transported to N ewgate for five
years, andI was rather pleased with the idea‘ I
knew that I had long deserved it, and resolved this
should end my career of roguery. Gen. Foote, of
Bridgeport, a deputy sheriff, took a sleigh to carry me
to the mines in Simsbury. I was double ironed, hands
cufi‘s about my wrists, close and tight as the skin, a
clasp about each ancle of the size of wagon tiniest:

 
163

ened to an iron bar about eighteen inches in length.
Besides this, a circular bar about my body, fastened
by a lock in front, and on each side a chain was
hanging from holes through this circular bar down to
my feet, and its lower ends locked into staples in the
bottom timber work of the vehicle.

Thus caparisoned, I was placed in the bottom of the
sleigh, the general sitting on cue side of me and the
driver on the other, and I was thus confined between
their feet. The general and his aid carried a demi=
john of brandy, from which they drank often and
treated me to all I could drink. Thus arrayed in
irons, I was as helpless as an infant, yet‘the old gen-
eral displayed all the courage of Knickerbocker’s
Swedish governor. In each hand he carried a double
charged and cooked pistol, ready to shoot me if I
should take the sleigh to which I was chained,togeth-
er with the horses, and the loading all on my back, to
Erun away. I laughed at this wondrous specimen of
courage in a general who had rode triumphantly for
five years at the head of his regiments, with every gun
divested of cartridges and flints. In case our country
should be invaded by an army of lilliputians, such
men would acquire laurels which would redound to
the honor and glory of our distinguished epauleted
Chieftains. '

Perhaps he thought me a devil, and that his relie
gious panoply was not sufficient to ward off the at-
tacks of the evil one, and hence he required a little fire
and brimstone in a concentrated shape to secure him’
from danger. But upon my passage he was as kind

. r2

_-f

 
 

 

164

and as benevolent as I could expect any man to be,
who carried deadly instruments in his hands, and was
ready in a twinkling to blow out the brains of a help-
less criminal in chains. When the sleigh passed over
the roughroad my chains would rattle, and this vete-
ran marshal would draw up his pistols near my head,
and threaten to destroy me unless I sat still.
“ O tempora O mores.”

The first night we stopped at New Haven jail,
where I was thrown into a dungeon six by four. The
jailer requested my military Chieftain to abate the
rigors of my chains. My hands were swollen from
the closeness of my handcuffs, so that the iron rods
were buried in the skin, and by the jolting of the sleigh
the irons on my legs had worn off the skin. “ N o !
no i” said the general, “ if he should escape, he would
murder us all, and burn up the jail before to-morrow
morning.” '

This long night of misery and pain slowly wore
away, and the morning came at last. The sleigh
being in readiness, my doors were unlocked and Iwas
commanded to come forth. I hobbled out and met my
redoubtable military officer, partly back of the door,
with a loaded pistol in each hand. I laughed at him,
and called him a d—d coward, and a heartless unfeel-
ing brute. I told the by-standers that I was not a
pirate, had never murdered a fellow victim, that all
I had done was to adopt a mode of living which
pleased me, though not agreeable to many of the
people, and that if justice were done, I, should be en-
titled to a place at the head of the luxurious dinner

 
«v» -,........,. __.... a.. i ~ . ~ ._(,___.. . -1 _.._-___.___w :,.A.,_._W, -._. ,

165

table, instead of being kept in awe by a cowardly
military despot.

If a man possesses true courage, he will never un-
necessarily oppress a prisoner. It is enough for him
to render his enemy powerless. He will not triumph
over a fallen and vanquished foe. He will not in-
dulge himself in brutality and ferocity, and add to the
poignancy of his prisoner’s suffering, by low jeers
and vulgar menaces.

Thank God, this day I arrived at Newgate, my
handcuffs were filed off, my log chains were removed
and the bands about my legs were unriveted, and
once more I found myself partially able to move about,
emancipated from my petty general. They washed
my swollen and larcerated wrists and legs With
\ spirits, and gave me a full share to drink.

It was night when we got to the prison, and I was
introduced to my five years’ residence. The rooms
were only lighted with a small heavily grated win-
dow pane, overstocked with lice, fleas and bed bugs,
and the floor five inches deep of slippery stinking filth.
I exclaimed in the language of Milton, “ Hail horrors !
and thou infernal hell, receive thy new possessor.”
There are facts in the world too terrible to be believed,
and infinitely exceeding the most extravagant fiction;
and these facts are so gross and so abhorrent to the
human mind, that they can obtain little credence from
community. The poverty of language is such, that
no description, however faithfully wrought, can ever
approach the truth, and the‘reader is left to conjecture

the revolting character of such a state of things.
13

 
 

166

One View only staggers our faculties, and we step
backwards in amazement and horror. Loathsomeness
and putridity, united with billions of entomological
living specimens, shock the senses of a man uninured
to filth, and he instinctively feels that in such cases
nothing but fire can act successfully as a purifier and
health preserver. He 'may rack his invention for a
substitute, and unite Lyon’s magnetic powder with
chloride of lime and potash, and only witness their ut-
ter useless'ness‘ and inefficiency. Armies of fleas, lice
and bed bugs nightly covered every inch of this pollu-
ted prison, and would skip, hop and crawl away, to
avoid being trampled in the mire upon the floors, like
the grasshoppers of a meadow in the month of August.

After a few days I submitted to my destiny, to be
eaten up alive, as there was filth enough upon the
floors to hide me from brutal man. I soon learned
what was meant by the significant term of “New-
gate,” and thought if the souls of the wicked in the
sulphureous abyss of unmingled woe, could leave
those clouded abodes of misery, and cast a passing
glance at this puritanic den of abominations, they
would hastily flee for succor and relief to the dismal
haunts they had just quitted.

When a week had transpired, and I had become
rested, Capt. Tuller, the chief officer, came to me and
wished to know what trade I would learn. I chose to
be a cooper, but as each prisoner Wore irons about
his ancles, connected together by a chain about a foot
in length, it was very inconvenient and embarrassing.
I went to work at flour barrels, and in one month ac~
 

167

quired sufficient skill to make them readily. Our
Capt. ordered us then to make more, but I told him"'
I could not with fetters'on. He said these could not
prevent my working fast. Then said 1, “Captain,
fetter your horse and drive him to Hartford, and see if
he can perform the journey as well or better.” He
saw the impropriety of his shameful demand, and
freed us from our irons, and we did as much \work as
before, and much easier.

Our living was poor and scant, and we grew thin
and lean under hard labor and insufficiency of diet,
and were becoming unable even to stand up all
day; We hada aprivilege of over work, and when my
day’s work was ended,I w ent to work at wooden hot-
tles, and often had from eight to ten on hand for sale.

A man by the name of Beach kept a tavern close
by, and we bought rum and provisions for our extra
jobs, so that the industrious prisoners were well sup=
plied with luxuries. Our rations were ill). of beef;
is lb. of bread, 2 lbs. of potatoes, and in summer when.
potatoes were gone, '11 1b. pork and a gill of beans.“
Our beef and pork were far from good. Capt. Tuller
would buy twenty or thirty head of cattle, and have
them butchered as they were wanted. He took out
the best pieces for himself, then the guard took theirs,
and from the bony portions left we had our rations.
We complained of the insufficiency of diet, showed
our portions to the inspectors, and they ordered us
more food. To the industrious and saving, the times
were better; because their over work supplied their

wants, but the lazy, indolent and iumVidenta sufi‘er-
' F4

,5,

ant

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

168

  

ed great want, and some died of actual starvation.
Capt. Tuller was bound to give to each prisoner a
suit of clothes at stated periods, and a blanket on
which to sleep. The State paid him in cash, and he
dealt out or kept the blankets and sold them as he
liked. The State gave him five hundred dollars year-
ly as keeper of the prison.
appointment, he was five hundred dollars in debt and
a bankrupt; but after occupying the place for six
years he paid off his debts and had remaining $12,000.
This excess was obtained by cheating the prisoners
out of their allowance, and charging it to the State,

as if it had been used for the prisoners.

When he received the

Thus is' in-

iquity punished,whilst other rascals are rewarded for

fraud and theft.

Most of the prisoners were afraid of Capt. Tuller,
and when he passed about the shops, they would take
off their hats in blind servility; butl was never a
worshiper of man, much less of a brute, though he
were clad with epaulets, with a sword hanging to his
side. Capt. T. andl had frequent controversies about
provisions, excessive labor, and the menial services

of the prison.

It seemed a pleasure to him to annoy

these poor fellows, and he would drive them about as
a shepherd does his sheep. But I toed the mark with
him, and fearlessly claimed my rights, my rations, and

any thing thatl ought to have.

I have seen him

thrash the men with his sword, because they begged
for food to satisfy the cravings of hunger, but he nev-
er struck me, for fear of the consequences. I looked

him in his eyes, was stern and resolute, and he respect-

  
169

ed me for it ; yet still he oftentimes threatened me with
punishment, and then I jeered and laughed at him.
lwas sent here as a counterfeiter, and I was fre-
quently engaged in making soap, and as my coopers’
trade furnished me with chalk to make the barrel
hoops adhere to the stayes, I cut out molds in two frag-
ments of pine boards, filled them with finely levigated
chalk, and then inserted a 25 cent piece in the chalk
and squeezed my mold together; then I took them
apart, bought pewter buttons from the prisoners, mel-
ted them down, and run the metal in my molds. Thus
I coined money and bought'my small stores of Beach,
the merchant. Before he was aware of the fraud, I
had passed ten dollars upon him, all in my prison
coined 25 cent pieces. Frequently, men from the
towns about came to traffic with the prisoners, and I
bought herring and other fish of one of them, and paid
him in twenty-five cent pewter money, and he went out
to the tavern to settle his bill. The moneyl paid him
he handed to the landlord, who looked at the coins,
and asked him, “ Where did you get this?” He said,
“of a prisoner.” “Ah,” said Beach, “they make it
there, and I got ten dollars before I found it out.” He
came back to Capt. Tuller and told his story, and
Capt. walked into the shops with him to show him the
rogue. He soon pointed me out, and Tuller said,
“ Oh you devil, are you making counterfeit money
here ?” “ N 0,” said I. “Have you got more in your
pockets?” “No sir.” I“ Let me feel,” and he put his
hand in and took out three dollars untrimmed and just

as they were moulded, and then handed them back to
F4

 
 

170

me. “What do you make them for?” I replied, “I
was sent here for counterfeiting, and I shall lose my
skill unless I do a little at the business.” “ Stuart, I
believe that you are the devil,” and then turned to the
visitor and said, “if you deal with these fellows, you
must look out for yourself.” Tuller said, “ we shall
have you back here!” I said, “ won’t you wait, Capt.
Tuller, until I get out i”

I was often engaged in cOoperinD'. I made two
whisky barrels a day, and Capt. T. was determined
that I should make three. I objected, and said I could
not. He offered to give us double rations, and a quart
instead of a pint of cider daily. Some of our men '
wished to comply with his orders. I told them that
after doing it a few days he would insist upon four,
and if we did not do our stint he would cut us short
in provisions. Some of them resolved to comply with
the Captain’s requirements, and made three barrels
daily. In one week Tuller told them that unless they
made four barrels a day he would shorten their a110W=
ance. When they Were full fed they laughed at me,
but now they felt the force of my suggestions, and re:
gretted that they had been fooled into compliance.
He reduced them to their former quantities of food
and drink. 4 '

Awhile previous We had a fair prospect of escape,
the facts of which I will attempt to detail. Perhaps
it is impossible to describe this prison so that the
reader can comprehend all its peculiarities. Before
the revolutionary war a vast cavern was dug in the
rocks of Simsbury, and a considerable quantity of

 
171

copper ore was extracted from the hopeful‘mine; but
on the commencement of the rupture between the
mother country, the undertaking was abandoned, not
only on account of the war, but because the mine was
not deemed very rich in the metal. A presumption
then and now prevails with miners'and mineralogists,
that the abundance and richness of ores is augment-
ed by following the mines to a great depth. Govern-
ed by these views, after having sunk the shaft some
forty or fifty feet into the rock, lateral excavations
were made to follow out the metallic veins, (which
doubtless underlie several acres,) and thus this mine
became enlarged.

'As a prison, this mine was first used during the rev-
olutionary war, for the confinement of incorrigible to-
ries. During this period two of these geniuses from
N ew-Haven, worked their way in the night season,
from their dungeon through a very narrow fissure in
the rocks into a deep well many feet distant, ascended
to the surface, and escaped. When the war closed,
and crimes were multiplied by the introduction of
vagabonds from Europe, impregnable prisons became'
necessary to secure dangerous villains. The State
took this mine, partially enclosed it with a stone wall
and with prison buildings and occupied it as a place
of confinement for criminals of the higher grades, and
gave'it the ignominious sobriquet of Newgate, in com-
memoration 0f the chief prison in the mother country.

Within this mine and upon a part of its rocky floor,
buildings were erected as the sleeping apartments of

its unhappy and criminal tenants. The entrance to
.1‘6

 
 

172

this excavation was an upright shaft or hole about
four feet in diameter, and forty five feet in perpendic-
ular depth. Thus the prisoners were daily accustom-
ed ‘to ascend and descend upon a ladder, and at the
foot of it the area of the cavern became horizontally
extensive. During the year at everyhour of the day,
the water from the super-incumbent earth and rock
was constantly dripping upon the uneven rocky floor
of the huts in this spacious internal cavity. During
the whole year the temperature was uninfluenced by
the chills of winter and the scorching heat of summer.
When we chose, we slept here together, (especially in
midsummer,) and were unguarded by the sentinels
stationed on the surface.

This prison, notwithstanding its forbidding and God-
forsaken character, had some redeeming features.
It was a healthy place, and when the country around
was smitten with pestilential fevers, malignant
dysenteries, or miasmatic diseases, every prisoner
continued healthy. If a new occupant was brought
from a putrid and loathsome jail, infected with the
‘itch, a fortnight’s sleeping in this damp and cuperous
atmosphere, cured it without any external applica-w
tion. It has been tritely said, that lice and fleas can
exist in any place where it is possible for man to live,
and our subterranean huts were overcharged with
them as much as the prison houses above ground.
But in this cavern there were no bed bugs, and we
supposed the dampness of the place was unsuited to
their nature. Lice and fleas “love darkness rather
than light,” like most of the rogues that prey upon the

 
,_ V.W,1._,w ”u“.

173 7,
people, but to bed bugs light has charms essential tb
their comfort, if not for their lives. They have eyes
to see, and appetites to devour, and olfactories to
track out, even in midnight darkness, their unhappy
victims. Lice and fleas, though they can see, usually
feel out their prey, and are chiefly guided by these
faculties. These things I learnt in this school of
crime, by observing their habits. '

We chose these lower huts in the summer for sleep-
ing because they were cool, and because, moreover,
we could digest our plans unmolested. The loudest
cry could not be heard upon the ground, as the upper
surface of the shaft was closed by a trap door fasten-
ed from above. We would pick up tallow in the day-
time and carry it down to give us light in the pitchy
darkness that overspread the vast cavern. Some
nights were spent in gambling, others in fiddling and
dancing, others in arranging schemes to obtain our
liberty, and others in devising plans to punish that
world by whose arbitrament we were excluded from
the enjoyment of life. We had a mean, servile stock
of prisoners—few well bred men, of comprehensive
views, ever entering these retreats. I was disappoint-
ed in the character of my associates, for I had been
led to expect that they were shrewd, sagacious and
cunning. Instead of that character'l have never met
in my intercourse with mankind, such a number con-
gregated together so void of the natural‘ powers,
capabilities, and instincts peculiar to our race. Most
of them, under any circumstances were destined “to

be hewers of wood and drawers of water ” to others.
F7

 
 

 

174

They seemed not to think or deliberate, in fact the
majority possessed no more thinking powers than a
calf in a clover field.

Oftentimes when immured for the night, some new
comer would be found weeping and crying, and as
melancholy as the picture of patience on a mon-
ument. We kept our grog below when we could
stealthily carry it down, and we would treat such
with spirits, strike up a tune on the fiddle and dance
and Carouse. At other times we would provoke
them, telling them that they were served right, and
that they ought to have been here long ago, for the
world and all their connexions were rejoiced that
justice finally triumphed over them.

One poor fellow was brought into the prison whose
face appeared as wo-begone as if his mother had been
--a flax crackle and his father a horsefoot. He sobbed
and cried aloud, and seemed in great agony. I told
him that I loved to stay there, and that my time was
out two years ago, but became a substitute for
another man, and my time was out next morning,
and if he would give me two hundred and fifty dol-
lars I would stay his time out. The bargain was
made, and we confirmed it by shaking hands. This
new fact in prison life cheered him and he slept well,
notwithstanding the fleas and lice. Early in the
morning, as we emerged from our den, he went to
Capt. Tuller, and told him that he had hired a sub“
stitute for $250. “ Who is it,” says the Captain, “It
is Bill Stuart.” fi“ 0 what a curse Stuart is, off to the
shop man, or the guard will give you twenty lashes.”
 

175

His head dropped, and all his expectations vanished
in a moment.

Capt, Tuller had some good streaks about him.
He loved sport and fun, and would sometimes set the
prisoners in a frolic. On a certain day, an indian and
his squaw came to View the prison and its occupants,
and were sauntering about the prison yard. Tuller
speaks to me thus: “ Stuart, if you Will kiss that
squaw, I Will give you a quart of rum.” Tuller shut
up the entire grate and stood outside to see the sport.
I gave chase after the squaw, and she run like a fox,
but I caught her, held her fast, and gave her a kiss.
Her Indian husband looked as sullen and malicious
as a hyena, but he could not help it.

rt

 
 

176

CHAPTER XX.

Mulatto revealed our purposes of escape——Punished him
into an oath of future seeresy—I bogged money of vis-
itors by pitiful complaints—Began to plan an escape—-
A prisoner’s time expiring just then, he reported us,
and the forewarned guard fired at our first peeping
out at a hole—Our task increased-«I refused to sub-
mit, and so advsied others—I was transferred from the
Coopers’ to nail shop—Resisted ewactions of me there-—
Procured rum through one of the guard, and Capt. T.
threatened for refusing to tell how I got liquoruAf-
ter attempting an escape, prisoners not allowed to sleep
below and devise other plans—-— Trouble brewing-«J
was confined in dungeon for obstinacymCogitations
on tyranny

Our secret- operations we expected to keep to our-
selves, and if any contrivance could be made to re-
store us liberty, it was taken for granted that none of
the prisoners would report our movements. But we
had traitors even here. I was aware that one fellow,
a mulatto, was a reporter of our subterranean meet-
ings, and a few of us were resolved to punish him.
One evening three of us agreed to sieze this fellow
and cut off a portion of his tongue, to learn him better
than to detail to the Captain our deliberations. Just -
after he entered his bunk we siezed him, and he
clinched his teeth firmly. I took a spike that Ihad
17’?
provided, and pried open his mouth and caught his
tongue in my fingers. At this moment my spike drop.
ped, and his teeth snapped together as 'if attacked
with a paroxysm of hydrophobia, and he bit off my
inger nail. I had my knife ready, and was about to
operate according to the Russian fashion, but he beg-
ged, and promised that if we would spare his tongue
he would be faithful and true, and never after report
anything, even to a fellow prisoner. This cured him

more permanently than quinine ever cured fever and '

ague. While I staid there, he never transgressed
again.

Our prisoners were visited almost daily by gentle-
men and ladies from the city and country, and We
were often asked the cause which brought us to this
doleful place. One day a couple drew near me and
enquired the reasons of my confinement. Iinformed
them, with a sober and hypocritical face, that “I sold
a horse to a stranger, and he paid me in bank bills,
and I soon passed them, after which they proved to be
counterfeit, and as I knew nothing about money, I
was arrested and sent here for five years. We have
- poor living and hard work, and if you could do me a
favor by giving me a little money to get tobacco with,
and good bread, you would do me a great kindness.”
They each gave me fifty cents apiece, and I thanked
them. Several others heard my pitiful story, and
they contributed five dollars for my relief. Capt.
Tuller stood a few steps back and heard my mournful
tale. After the contribution was over, Tuller advan-

ced and said to the visiters, “I will inform you that:
(“J

 
 

 

° 178

he is the greatest rascal in the country. N o countere
feiter in the land has defrauded as many as he has,
and he is such a liar that there is no dependence on
his word.” The company passed away rather cha=
grined at their misplaced generosity.

Towards evening I went to our Captain and asked
him if he would let me send and get a quart of spirits.
“ Ah,” said he, “you begged the money to buy tobacco,
and I knew you never used any.” “ Well Captain,”
said I, pleasantly, “I want some rum now.” “A pint
is enough,” he replied. “ No, no, Captain, you are a
good man, and several of us want a little. Allow us
a quart.” “ Well,” said he, “send and get it.” I
could manage Tuller just as I pleased; let me lie to
him, and call him a clever, kind, good hearted man,
and he would show me every favor his position en-
abled him to grant. “ You see, Captain, if trouble
ever comes, I shall stand up boldly and fearlessly for
you, and though I am a prisoner, my friendship may
do you great good.” I never saw a man that I could
so easily flatter. The love of approbation must have
been very large in his cranium, and I had cultivated
it by odd jobs, until it was very prominent.

About this time I slept in the huts erected under
ground. Many of the prisoners were sentenced there
during life, and many of them fifteen or twenty years.
I had looked about the hill on which our prison stood,
and was satisfied that we could dig out in a few
nights, and many of our men could never regain their
liberty, only by escaping. I arranged the Whole
plan, and was ready to put it in operation. Upon one
1'79

side of our prison vault there was nothing but pockets
where the miners in their perforations after copper
ore, had dug through the ledge entirely, to the sur-
rounding earth, Many of these cavities were still
open, while others were filled with timbers bolted to-
gether. I examined them, and we concentrated our
efforts upon one spot. We, by the light of our tapers,
scratched out the dirt into baskets, and stowed it
away’in some of the leads, and in ten nights we ap-
proached nearly to the surface. The time of one of
the prisoners had expired, and he was discharged;
and as we ascertained subsequently, he told Capt.
Tuller and the guard the whole history of our opera-
tions, and a watch was set at that point. As we
peeped out ~of the hole, a blank cartridge was dis-
charged at us, and we retreated into the cavern.
Thus was lost a great many hours of hard labor, of no
practical benefit to any living soul.

If this Judas had been returned to prison while I
was there, he would have found that we had the
memories of horses, if not the sound judgment of
men. I always had an innate dislike to tale bearers,
gossips and traitors, and when a man aroused my en-
emies to circumspection and watchfulness on my ac‘
count, when no good could come to him from his
revelations, I learned to avoid him in future, or if I
came in contact with him, to point out to him the im-
perative necessity of exercising caution in all time to
come. If my views were suddenly formed, Iintended
that they should be in accordance with that condition
of things which I could reconcile with propriety.

 
 

180

My business in the prison had been chiefly in the
cooper’s shop- Many had become dextrous in the
manufacture of barrels, and frequently finished our

, day’s work by 2 o’clock P. M. The remainder of the
day, we were at ease or at work for ourselves. Capt.
Tuller, finding that we had become adepts in the

, trade, increased our work to three barrels a day.

Some consented, with the promise of double rations.

I admonished them of the impropriety of acceding to

this demand, averring that in a few days their extra
amount of food and drink would be withdrawn. The

7 sequel proved it true, for their rations were reduced

to the former standard, and their labor increased one
third. I expostulated with them for their indis-
cretion, and they became angry, and to punish me for
foretelling the truth, they reported to Tuller that I had
tried to discourage them, and thus raise a muttering
in our camp. Tuller came to me and demanded of"
me three barrels a day, or I should go to the Nail-

Block. I refused, and made only two tight barrels a

day. He in afew days came again and repeated his

demand, butl refused to comply. He then said “I

will take you to the nail block,” and he did it. I

was obstinate, and was not accustomed to go upon
the back track. _ ‘

p The nail making business was considered the most

menial of all the prisoner’s duties, and to be taken

7 from other trades and be confined to nail making was

considered an ignominious punishment. He brought

me in 57 lbs. of iron for a week’s work, and it was a

nail maker’s duty to return in nails, "eight pounds a.

 
ISI

day. There were papers nailed up in this shop, sta=‘

ting that any prisoner who did not understand the
blacksmith’s business, should have six months in
which to learn the trade, and thereafter he should be
compelled to make eight lbs. a day. The first day I
made four nails, and they were inspected and found to
be as good as those made by the oldest workman.
The Captain then came to me and declared that I
had worked at the trade before. I, told him'that

those four nails were the firstI had ever‘made in all "

my life, and I told him the truth. He insisted upon

it that a new beginner could not do as well as I had, '

but I declared again that Inever before worked in
iron during five minutes in all my life. I pointed to

him the paper suspended on the wall, and that prin- ‘

ted document gave me siX months to learn in, and as
_ I was sent there by the operation of law, I maintained
that after six months had elapsed, and not before, was
I obliged to make the eight pounds. Day after day I
sat upon the anvil block, and did nothing at all.

At this time Thomas F. Rowland, Sheriff in Fair?
1 field, came to the prison to see me. Tuller enquired '

if he knew me, and was answered that he did. He fur‘a

ther enquired, Whether I was not familiar with the ‘
Smith’s trade. “No,” said Ro‘wland, “ he never did any

thing but ride about the country.” I had learnt the

trade by making four nails,'and for mor an a week’

was perfectly idle. I had long thought 'at the State

should never find me a profitable prisoi‘ier.‘ I made '
no calculations to enrich the public coffers by my"
hard. labor. I did not intend means more than a Iiv-s'

 

 
 

,~ ~‘.—..—~H.«l ....

182

ing, and this cost Tuller only a very small amount. .I
wanted to save my strength and vigor for future pura
poses, supposing truly that the land of steady habits
would never thank me for excessive industry while
cooped up, half starved, in that filthy prison. Daily I ’
had a pint of cider to wash down the gristly portion
of the beef bones, and while at ease I made the anvil
block my seat, and saw the men work.

One day Ipersuaded Moore, one of the guard, to
bring me a quart of rum, and having nothing to do, I
drank largely of it, so that my step was unsteady.
This day the Capt. was away until toward evening,
and upon his return, found me asleep upon my block,
and he put a basket over my head to provoke me.
He saw that I had overdrank, and accused me of it.
I denied it, and he insisted on it. “How then came
you so drunk.” I replied, that I had saved my cider in
a jug for Vinegar until I had got two gallons, and
that Itasted of it, found it better than I expected,
and thus drank too largely. But he saw the truth, and
it was never in me to make any confession. He be»
came stern and resolute, and unless I would make a
full confession by what meansl obtained ,the rum
that had partially overpowered me, he would confine
me in the dungeon. I walked up to Tuller, smiling
blandly, and tapping him on the shoulder, said, “Capt.
Tuller, you have been a father to me, always kind
and obliging. Since our first acquaintance, Ihave
set ahigh value on you for your honor, integrity and
humanity, and I have great respect for you.‘ N ow, I
know you will not be hard to me, you are too good a.

 
1 Q , m I “W,

man l” Tulle-1', subdued by my flattering, replied,
‘Stuart, Iwill give you a week to think of it, and
then if you fail to tell me, I will chain you in the
black hole and keep you upon bread and water until
you confess.” He then left me, and we went to our
rooms.

After our attempt to escape by digging out, none of
the prisoners were permitted to sleep in the huts be=
low. Thereafter we all slept in the buildings above the
ground, and as the guard was near us, we could con-
trive but little mischief. I went to the anvil and did
nothing. Many of the guard, in the absence of the
Captain, begged of me to go to work at nail-making,
but as Iliad six. months to learn in, I refused to budge
one hair. Almost daily, Isaw tokens of a storm gatha
ering, and they saw it too ; but I was too inflexible
to be warped from my purposes. If I had made nails
a few days, Tuller would have reinstated me in the
cooper’s shop, and the whole matter would have
blown over ; but my will was as stubborn as the heart
of oak. I did nothing again for a week, but daily con-
trived to get rum, and when Tuller came round two
or three times a week, he would bawI out, “What,
drunk again, Stuart?” “ No,” I replied, “ no more than
I be this minute i” and away he went. He was get-
ting more and more provoked at me because I was
idle, and because thatI daily got rum in some way
that he could not discover. He expected to conquer
me, but was unwilling to resort to harsh measures.—
If I had told him, he would have fined Moore thirty
dollars ; but let him do with me Whatever he pleased,

 
 

184

I was. not disposed to betray a man who supplied my
wants. I was never guilty of such meanness, and
I trust, I never shall be.

Another week passed by, and Tuller came to hear
my confession, i persisted in saying that l had had
no rum. He determined to conquer me. in a few days
I was sent to the dungeon, and as the Captain suppon
sed, kept on bread and water. This dungeon was
about twenty feet square, cold and damp, rock above
and rock all around, and the middle of the rock was a
little elevated, so that the dripping water passed about
the edge of this cavern. Upon the centre of this rock,
I was chained by one leg to an iron bolt; Oecasion=
ally some of the men came down into the adjoining
room, and supplied me with additional clothing, more
food, and plenty of iiquor. Tuller sentenced me to
this place for twenty days; but in abouttwelve he
liberated me, and I was brought into day-light again,
and put to the nail-block, but did nothing.

There is a period in the history of nations, and in
the lives of individuals, for which the laws have made
no adequate provision, and great reformers have been
thus compelled to resist, even unto death, the burthens
that pressed them down to the dust. When Great
Britain began to oppress the colonies and drive them
into the most degrading bondage and abject servility,
the far-seeing patriots associated to devise means to
throw off the yoke that galled the necks of their coun-
trymen. The Whispers of rebellion soon echoed in the
ears of the people, and the whole mass were graduaL
ly roused to resist encroachments upon their property,

 
185

liberty and life, The amelioration of the condition of
nations has resulted from the virtues, inflexibility and
determinations of men who were ready to stake
means, life, and sacred honor, to sustain their right.

Such I felt to be our condition in this prison. By
virtue of law we were here confined, and our oppress-
or was entrusted with the lives and welfare of men,
for which he was held irresponsible. Tyranny calls
for resistance, and though in its overthrow blood must
be shed, and many victims sacrilegiously immolated
on the altar of liberty, yet even these evils are the
precursor of a better state of things. I weighed the
whole subject of possible defeat and the probabilities
of success, and devised plans for its accomplishment.
Most of the guard I valued, but Corporal Rowe made
himself restless and unhappy in his desire to annoy
me, and I waited a few days until it came his turn to
stand upon guarde

 
 

186

CHAPTER XXI.

Insurrection, which was defeated through cowardice—-
Desperately wounded—Long altercation with Capt.
T.-—-His cruelty to me in hospital—Irons finally re-
moved—Wounds did not heal, and life despaired 0f—
Recovered, and put to making baskets—Further alter-
cation with Capt. T—Adviee to him—Reasons for
insurrection—-—Badly fed, to put money in Capt. T’s
pocket—Kindness of the guard when I was cruelly
chained down by Captain’s order—Reflections on pris-
on life—Judge Peters visited the prison— Knew him
to be morose and unsympathising with fallihle mor-
tals—Answered his questions unsatisfactorily, and
he appealed to Taller, who said I was a nonsueh—
Smith, a convict, cheated Capt. T.—— Tt‘eigned myself
lame and wholly unable to worh—Ashed Capt. T. to
pityand discharge rue—Refused me long, but finally
gave me free papers for twenty dollars—Saw me in a
few days well as ever—-Regretted the discharge--
Ordered me often, with a drawn sword, to leave
for home—Staid round three weeks, and leisurely left
for Bridgewater. "

Our prison yard was something like a parallelogram
with a wall twelve feet high on one side, and on the
opposite, the prison buildings formed the outward bars
Pier. My plan was understood in the various shops,
and every prisoner stipulated to follow them out. I

 
187
was the chief, but as I had only twenty months to
stay, others had more interest if the result should be
successful. Liberty on earth was my watchword.
Upon a given signal,l struck Rowe over the head
with a bar of iron ; another man was directed to dis-

arm him of his sword and pistols. Rowe lay still, but . '

my man only took his sword and one of the pistols.
Now I ascended the flight of steps and seized Bacon,
one of the guard, and took the gun out of his hands,
and put him down upon his back, and at this moment
he again seized the gun, and two men came to my as-
sistance and wrenched the gun from him. These prise
oners, so courageous in advance, all left me to fight it
out alone, except King, Stafford, and a mulatto.——-
‘Nhile in a clinch with Bacon, our overseer blacks
smith struck me over my left eye with a red hot iron
bar, and though Bacon recovered his gun for a mo-
ment, I held him fast by his back and arms. . At this
moment Corporal Rowe having recovered from his

blow on the head, with his remaining pistol, shot .

King in the arm. Now I was alone, with Bacon in
my arms. Serjeant Griswold ran towards me, drew
his pistol and aimed at me ; but as I had Bacon in my
arms, he could not shoot without killing him. Sol
held on while Rowe was moving backwards and for-
wards, acting as my shield, when Griswold approach-
ed nearer, and I let go my hold on Bacon, jumped to
grasp Griswold’s pistol, he lowered the muzzle, and I
received the ball in my groin. I jumped over the
wall down twelve feet, went to the lower end of the
shop to rally the men, when Riley, one of the guard,

 
 

188

discharged his musket, loaded with buck shot, at me ;
but at the moment one of our men threw a hammer
which elevated the muzzle of the gun, and an old coat
hanging on a nail above my head received the charge.
I could not rally them: they were in perfect confu-
sion, a panic had seized them, and 1n the cooper’s< shop
they were all huddled up like a flock of sheep when
attacked by the dogs.

I tried again to rally them, and at this moment
Capt. Tuller came in and struck me with a sword on
my naked back and broke the sword into three pieces,
and they fell upon the. ground. I raved wildly, and
was foaming with wrath, having been stripped of ev-
ery particle of my clothing except the collar and
wristbands of my shirt, and .waistbands of my trou-
sers, and was covered with wounds. In the conflict
I had been pierced with bayonets in my throat, arms,
and thighs, and aball had. entered my groin, my head
cut with a sword, and my left eyebrow tore off by a
stroke from a red hot iron bar. . Never was a butcher
more bloody,y et I was desirous of continuing the bat»
tle, and did my best to inspire my shrinking compan~
ions with courage. The guard sprang upon me, and
closed up this terrible afiifay. Iwas verily overcome,
but my spirit was unsubdued '

To me this conflct terminated disastrously; but if
my seventy men had been as brave as they promised
to be, the whole prison wogld have had new governs
ors in half an hour. King and I were heavily mana-
cled with huge iron clasps and cable chains. They
took us to the hospital; and Wounded as we were,
l8?

We had upon our limbs and body irons equal to our
own weight. In about three hours, the wound from
the ball began to give me the most excruciating pain,
and it appeared to me that if pain ever killed a mor-
tal being, I could not survive during the night. The
ball in my groin has not been extracted to this day.

It was on the 23d day of May when we engaged in '
this awful conflict, and it was also my birthday. We
received daily visits from the doctor and the captain,
and they felt anxious to find out who struck down
Corporal Rowe. I denied all knowledge of this part
of the transaction, though I committed the deed. Tul-
ler told me that he would pardon out two of the pris-
oners, so that they could testify against me. I told
him that their oaths would not be allowed in court,
and that there was not one prisoner in the whole gang
that would not take a false oath to secure their liber-
ty. I said to him, “I consider myself as good as the
best of them, and I would do it any hour to get away
from this place.” “ Well,” said Tuller, “I know who
struck him.” “Very well,” Ireplied, “if you know
you need not tease me upon the subject.”

I continued to wear my irons, though in the opinion
of medical men, I could not possibly live. My wounds
ran purulent matter beyond all calculation, often-
times two quarts a day. A council of surgeons final-
ly assembled to deliberate upon the expediency of ta-
king my leg off‘ at the hip. But they concluded that
my case was hopeless; my flesh. was wasted, appe-
tite gone, yet still my unsubdued spirit rose in con-
stant rebellion against my keepers. I had been kept

 
 

190

now for six months in this condition, with more than
one hundred pounds of iron on me, and I was so weak
that if these irons fell off from the bed at any time,
their weight would drag me to the floor. Doct. Pond
insisted that they should be taken off, and as I was in
his opinion about to die, Capt. Tuller consented to
their removal.

One day shortly after, Tuller came in, and told me
that I should die. “No! no I” said I, “I shall yet
live to eat the goose that is fatted off your grave.”——~
Tuller says to me, “Stuart, you shall have any thing
you ask for.” “Yes, yes,” said I, “you think lam
about to die, and here you come offering to supply me
with any variety of food and drink. You say you will
send to Hartford to get me any thing Iwant. This is
nice. Here I have been for more than six months
starving and slowly perishing for want of proper food.
What have I had? A burnt crust of sour bread soaka
ed in old sour and musty cider, and now that I am.
going to die, you offer to give me food and take ofl’
my irons. No, let them be on, and I will go to hell
with them jingling to let them know that I am com«
ing. Capt. Tuller, you pretend to be something, per—
haps a Christian. Look at me, then ask yourself the
question I 0 you old land pirate, do you expect to get
into Paradise from the recommendation. of the poor
fellows you have starved to death and flayed alive?
Look about you, cruel man, and brutal as a savage ;
and here you come, just as I am about to die, and of-
fer me kindness and favors when you know they can
not do me any good.” Thus I talked to him as fear-

 
 

191

lessly and boldly as I would have done to one of the
meanest of ourgassociates.

My irons were removed, but my wound would not
heal. Iwas reduced to a skeleton, the most abject
mortal being that cruelty ever brought down to the
chambers of death. My wound continued to leak
quarts of milky fluid every day, and the doctors affirm-
ed again and again that I could not live. I asked
Doct. Pond if he would allow me to prescribe for my-
self, and he replied in the affirmative. He gave me
thirty blue pills, and a box of mercurial ointment. I
took four pills daily and rubbed the unguent upon
the inside of my legs, and dried it in by a hot fire
shovel. In less than one week I was in a complete
state of salivation, and the water ran from my mouth
in large quantities. I sent to Hartford and got a
pound of sulphur and half gallon of molasses, and mix~
ed up a tea—cup full of it twice a day, and ate it down.
I soon began to gain my health and appetite, and the
captain gave me the choicest diet with great liberal-
ity. No man ever ate more in a given time thanI
did. Capt. Tuller had a good sister, who cooked for
me in the best manner and in the greatest abundance.
He permitted it willingly. When he came to look
over his evil course of conduct toward me, he saw
that he had done wrong, and the hundreds of visitors
who came there saw the barbarous manner in which
I was treated; it. began to be a topic of cOnversation
in almost every part of the state, and Tuller found the
consequences of his brutality.

My health had much improved, and Ibegan to make

 

’¢

3' r' ',
. u :
inf
.1 x:
l
 

192

baskets in a room in the prison. I became,las I think,
a superior basket maker; but I was lame, and could
walk only with crutches. My busifiess was very varia-
ble—sometimes for three days I would work steadily at
baskets, and then again my wound would swell, break,
and run, and lay me up for several days. I had been
threatened with an indictment for my insurrection,
and I concluded that I would not let my wound heal
in a hurry. When alone, I would hold my foot in a
pail of cold water for an hour, and the result was, I
took cold in the sore, and it would be full of pain, then
break and run again for many days. I was deter-
mined to satisfy the captain thatI was only a bill of
cost to the state, and that my wound would finally kill
me, so that I should not be brought up for a new trial.
Such charges against a criminal are outlawed in a
year, and when this time had expired I knew I was
safe in this respect.

When I was apparently upon the eve of death, Tul=
ler came to me, and urged me to tell who struck Rowe,
I told him that lkneW nothing about it. “ What, lie,”
said he, “ when you are dying '!” “ Here you come,
Capt. when you think I shall not live two hours, and
want me to lie for you. I shall not do it. You have
just pardoned out Gillet, a sneak and a traitor. What
do you think he says about you? He tells all about,
that you whipt your wife at Hudson, that you failed
for a great sum, that you have starved a great
many to death, and killed many by punishment, and
that you owed Squire Sheldon, chief inspector of the
prison, a great deal of money, and he got you appoint-

 
1925
ed here to get his pay. He says that the Squire is an
old rOgue, and that in war time he sold blue clay for
indigo, and put sand in his sugar and polypod leaves
in his tea. You pardoned him out because he was a
Judas, a tell-tale among the prisoners, and now he
talks about you, and is trying to get you displaced.”
“ Does he say these things,” said Tuller. “Yes,”I
replied. “ If I could have known this, he should not
have been pardoned.” “Thus Captain, you see what
you get for doing a favor to these rascals. They
care nothing about you. It is their nature to be mean,
and false, and you may trust to such men! Before I
would be such a traitor I would cut my throat with a
cross-cut saw. These mean fellows think that you
value them because they report all they hear, and all
that they can fabricate against us. I thought you a
man of too much sense to put confidence in these deceit-
ful, lying seamps. It injures you vastly in my estimation
that you will permit such sneaks and eaves-droppers
to be your guides. I trust that you may learn some-
thing yet. Havel ever been guilty of meanness?—
Have I not stood up like a man under all circumstan-
ces? If I have not been a hero I have resolutely push-
ed my way on! If Gen. Hull had such soldiers as I
had I never should have blamed him for delivering
up his army. And you pardon these” men to curry fa-
vor with them, and they go away and tell more lies
about you than ever entered my heart! 0 Captain,
never encourage sneaks and traitors. No good comes
to any cause by setting such blind hounds on the
track! They yelp by guess, and some of them have
HI.

 
 

194

decoyed you, lied to and cheated you, and are now
reporting everywhere that you are a heathen and a
brute.

I oftentimes had conversations with Tuller in refer-
ence to my insurrectionary efforts. I told him that a
guard was useless to the prison, and said I, “ Cap-
tain, your prisoners are nothing but a pack of sneaks
and cowards ; I could drive the whole of them to
Hartford and back with nothing but a mullen. They
will all lie and get drunk ; I consider myself as good
as the best of them, and I would take a false oath to
secure my freedom; and you know that these cow-
ards would do it ten times a day, if they thought it
would avail them. They are, with the exception of
four, a set of greasy, filthy and lazy cowards, and I
swear you are their Captain. Justice may be done
yet, Captain, and I shall treat you like a gentleman,
when we have the exchange made, and you will live
to see it. I hope in future you will be honest, for you
see what dishonesty has brought upon me.”

The causes of my insurrection were sufficient to jus-
tify it. -Whenl was found guilty at the time of my
trial, the sentence was in these words : “ Wm. Stew-
art, the sentence of this court is, that you be. confined
in Newgate prison for five years, at hard labor and
coarse diet, but a sufliciency of it.” Tuller demand-
ed of me three barrels a day, when two was a day’s
work for a strong and hearty mechanic. These bar-
rels were made of staves an inch in thickness, thor-
oughly hooped, and so tight that warm liquor could

9';
not escape through any crevice. Upon one head the
name of the maker was burnt in with a hot iron, so
that if the cask proved imperfect in any particular,
the maker of it should be punished. The test was a
severe one. There was a distillery close by upon the
top of a sloping hill. Our barrels were filled with
warm whisky, the bung driven hard, each barrel was
rolled down the hill thirty rods, and washthen exam-
ined to find any leaks or worm holes. . Every barrel
that I made passed the ordeal, so that my name on
the cask gave it a reputation even in Litchfield and
Hartford. " .

Our food was insufficient, not more than one~third
that my system required. It was chiefly huck bones,
bulls’ necks, and skins. If any marrow was in them
it was bored out with large gimblets before it came
to be cooked. When our scanty meals were taken
from the pot, Capt. Tuller ordered the cook to skim off
every particle of grease, and from the beef thus used
in this prison he sold 3000 lbs. of tallow yearly. Our
bread was made of rye and corn ground together,
without bolting, and was hard enough for gun flints.
Every prisoner grew thin and lean under this regi-
men. Besides the coarseness of diet, it was scant in
quantity.. I and my fellow prisoners have picked the
bones all bare for a meal, and often it would not be
two table spoons-full.

When Tuller demanded of us‘three barrels daily, I
remonstrated. I said that unless he gave us a fullness
of provisions I could not do it. A man half starved

cannot perform hard work ; his frame must have sup«
H?

 
 

 

396

port under such burthens, or he will break down.
Two barrels was a great day’s work for full fed men,
and scanted as we were, to fill his pockets with
money, we could not comply with his requirements for
any length of time, and as for myself I would not. 1
pointed out the words of my sentence to him, “ hard
labor and coarse diet, but a sufficiency of it.” Said I,
“ Tuller, we are half starved, and have not strength to
work. The government are not aware that the pris-
oners are dying with starvation, and you getting rich
from us. Is this a christian land ? Are you a de-
scendant of the Pilgrim Fathers? Was your father a
tory, and did he delight in the misery of his fellow
creatures? The punishment we endure is enough—to
be secluded from our friends, chained in this pande-
‘monium, and brutally driven like an OX to the slaugh-
ter, even if we had enough of the coarse offal to eat.”

Then he chained me to the hated nail block, and I
did nothing. I had my rights here. Tuller was not
omnipotent, and I told him so, for the law was nailed
up on the boards of our shop. But new editions of
baseness, selfishness, and savage brutality were week-
ly published for our benefit, or rather our degradation.
When Tuller got wearied with threatening, he began
to execute. He had a vile and malicious temper,
and when heated by vanity or luxuries, he carried out
his threats. I was confined in a damp, cold and dark
dungeon, and chained upon a wet rock, and, as he
supposed, kept on bread and water. From the kind-
ness of the guard I lived, and in about twelve days
was taken from that infernal pit. ldeliberated on
197

his systematic cruelty, and rebellion rose up in“. my
heart. Life or death was before me ; I cared not
which. Patience and endurance ceased to be virtues.
Ithought over the grievances of our fathers before
the revolution. I called to mind the sublime and al-
most inspired Declaration of Independence, and the .
emotions of my soul were unutterablc. My blood
boiled like a heated cauldron, and when its surges
came over me I was a Sampson in revenge.

I agitated the subject for successive nights and then
communicated my decisions to my confidants in the
prison, and at once had an army of seventy men un-
der me to do my bidding. But in the time of trial, I
failed through their cowardice. Iwas certain of suc-
cess, but only two stood by me at the onset, and after
a desperate struggle we were overpowered, wounded,
and literally torn to pieces. N ow I ask the candid
reader, was not my course justifiable ? Unholy, ille-
gal, and secret oppression was loading us with its
burthens. Who would not revolt and break through
the thraldom? Life and death were before us, ‘and
though we had trampled upon the usages of society,
and offended against its laws, yet no man is so far de-
based that he has not rights that verily belong to
him, and if he be dispossessed of these, he must have
a craven spirit to endure, , without violence, the
.wrenching of them from him by an unfeeling Nero.
I care little whether the world justifies or condemns
me, but while the vital fluids of our race make my
heart to throb and my brain to think, I could not be

tranquil and quiet under such unsanctioned and un-
H3

 
 

198

mitigated oppression. Life to me would be value-
less—death would be hailed as a divine messenger,
and if I could have come off victorious, even though
mortally wounded, I would say as did Gen. Wolfe at
the great battle of Quebec, “I die happy and con-
tented.”

Success in an untried enterprise is never certain.
Many things occur in the prosecution of it for which
no human foresight can provide, and these contingen-
cies frequently exert controlling influences over the
ultimate result. Projects the most feasible, promi-
sing the most auspicious terminations, are entered
into by cautious and far-seeing men, and are prosecu-
ted with consistency and shrewdness, and yet trivial
circumstances, entirely overlooked, give a wrong di-
rection to every plan, and total ruin inevitably fol-
lows. This is true especially in mercantile, military
and political life. ~

Tuller gave me credit for the plan of operations,
and it could have proved disastrous only by coward-
ice on the part of my forces, and never afterward did
he address me by any title but captain, nor did he
speak to King without giving him the cognomen of
lieutenant. And if we gained nothing else by our en-
terprise, we secured the esteem and confidence of our
keepers, and after their indignation had subsided, they
respected us as men. '

But to return to my tale. Almost daily I had con-
versations with Tuller, and I invariably talked with
him “ face to face, as man talketh with man.” He
became convinced that his efforts to pardon some of
109

the criminals because of their revelations, was an
error in judgment, ’and ill-timed. He saw that if he
put confidence in prisoners, it should have been those
of the highest grades of intellect ; of those who could
think and act, and saving their bondage, who were

men in earnest. If my keepers had treated me kindly,
given me asufficiency of food, and made no un-

reasonable demands for extra labor, in case these
traitors and villains had raised an insurrection, I
should have fought for my masters and shed the last
drop of my~heart’s blood in their behalf. A criminal
who is a man, values his honor, and adheres to it with
fixedness of mind, and shows respect to him whom the
law has made his overseer. I knew that I was
guilty and deserved punishment, and I blamed no man
who gave honest evidence against me. I respected
him for his integrity and moral worth. I deserved the
prison, the hard labor and the coarse diet, and as it
was just, I resolved quietly to endure it. But prison-
ers have souls. Few keepers are aware of this, un—
derstanding such a fact as a fanatical whim. Yet it
is verily true, as Tuller came within an ace of ascer-
taining to his sorrow. Even he learnt some lessons
from his pen of human hogs.

Our prison yard was often thronged with visitors,
and though frequently in the hospital, my efforts for
freedom had been such that each was desirous of
looking at me, to see whether I was an elephant or
hyena. Among the multitude was Judge Peters, of
the Superior Court. I never treated a gentleman

with disrespect, for it was a principle with me to
H4

 

 
 

ww . *'~r-—_-=e-._=;.=s.—.<.~;:::v MW».-,-,-v~—u~ , -fi _

200

manifest all due courtesy and deference to such as
Were in their intercourse with me, entitled to the
appellation. l had heard much of this man, while in
the common walks of iife, and if I have rightly com‘
preheuded the low estimate in which he was held by
the other judges, by the lawyers, by the jury and by
the parties who had trials before him, I cannot give
him a good name. lis uncalled fors verity towards
criminals that were'arraigned before him, universal-
ly met with the disapprobation of every man that
sat in the courtroom during a trial. Vindictive in
spirit, unsocial among gentlemen, proud of station,
and distinguished for his penuriousness, he wielded
an influence over society of a baneful nature. If his
decisions were not corrupt, they led. to a continuance
of litigation, which operated unfavorably upon his
reputation as a sound jurist, and l am told that the
SupremeCourt almost invariably reversed them, and
ordered a re-hearing. When he arrived to the age of,
seventy a successor was appointed, well informed in'
the law, and acceptable to the people. “ Requiescat
in pace.”

An incident or two respecting this man so presses
upon my mind, that I am forced to admit them as part
and parcel of this history. When he came to
visit the prisoners, he bestowed all of his attention
upon me, and neglected all the others. He seemed in
pain to issue a bench warrant against me for my in-
surrectionary movements, and have me brought be—
fore himself for trial. He assured me of the result,
withaboasting spirit, and began to interrogate me

 
201
with respect to my counterfeiting. “ Where did you
get the counterfeit money?” “ That is my business,”
said I. “Now lam here, you have got to tell me.
Where did you get it i” r[‘hat is my business, Ireplied. .
“ if you don’t tell me, you shall have a trial for in-
surrection, and then you will catch it.” I replied,

‘you are too late, the matter is beyond you1 jurisdic-
tion, and you cannot help you1 self ”

He went out in a pet to Capt. Tuller, and assured
him that he would fetch me up for striking Rowe, at
the commencement of the battle.

Said Tuller, there was no doubt but he gave Rowe
the blow upon his head, yet we can prove it only by
the prisoners, and every one of them will lie like the
devil. '

Peters said, “I thought I could scare it out of him
by my sternness, but he don’t care any thing about it.”

“N 0,” said Tuller, “you cannot scare him, you can-
not drive him, you cannot coax him. If he says any
thing, he will stick to it, living or dying: Ihave tiied
him, and them is metal in him of the most effective
sort.”

But, says Peters, “he don’t seem to be up to par.”
“ Just try him, Judge, and you will not find his match
in all North America. He would skin you, poor and
wasted as he is, as‘sudden as a fisherman would an
eel. He is kind and good natured, but trample upon
him and his rights, no man living could resist it more
effectively. lhave tried him.” The Judge left the
prison and went his way, and received my anathema

as his parting blessing. \
115

 
 

 

202

A man by the name of Smith, a fine fellow, and yet
a consummate rogue, was employed in the cabinet
shop, and a very superior workman ; would prick the
roof of his mouth with a knife and the blood would
run freely. He would try to cough ; pretend to have
pain at his breast, and make the men carry him to the
hospital, and he and I would there contrive roguery
and get away from work. One day he was thus
brought in to the hospital, and a doctor was there
from Hartford, who was requested by Tuller to ex-
amine him. He saw the mischief in a moment. Tul-
ler had thus been cheated by him for a year, and now
when the truth came to light, our “Captain’s wrath
boiled. He put him upon the treadmill, hacked his
head and body with his sword, and he fainted and fell.
Tuller now attacked him with augmented fury, and
cut and bruised him as if he was a wild beast, and
almost killed him.

This specimen of tyranny and barbarism was soon
reported around the country. This prisoner had a
brother in one of the adjacent - towns, who was a
clergymen of distinguished merit. This gentleman
came to the prison and brought with him Squire Shel-
don, one of the inspectors and overseers of the prison,
(who was so honest, that during the late war, he sold
blue clay for indigo,) and charged Tuller with cruel-
ty to his brother. Said he, “ you have been beating
my brotherunlawfully.” Tuller replies, “I will beat
him again ; you are as great a rascal as he is—you up-
hold him in stealing horses.” The preacher says in
his rejoinder, “Capt. Tuller, it' will. be wisdom in you

 
 

203

to recall these words, for if you leave these prison
walls, the sheriff will catch you, even though he
watch for you a year.” Tuller ordered him out of
the prison yard ; but unless Squire Sheldon demanded
it, Tuller’s commands were inoperative. He says
again, “Capt. Tuller, recall those words, or your days
of prosperity are numbered.” Tuller, fearful of an
action of slander, recalled the charge and asked his
forgivness.

I heard it all, and it did me good. The preacher
continued, “unless you will promise me now before
Mr. Sheldon, that you will not punish my brother be—
yond the prison discipline, and restore to him the one
hundred dollars-you have taken from him, I will not
accept of your recantation.”

Tuller began to tremble, and solemnly promised to
do what was requested if he would let the whole
matter rest. Tuller said, “I was angry, and am now
sorry for what I have said and done.” Forgivness
was granted.

The Assembly was now in session and hosts of peo-
ple came to the prison. I was still lame, my wound
in the groin about once in three weeks would break
anew, and run largely, and I was an expensive and
unprofitable prisoner. I walked only on crutches,
though if I had tried I could have done better at loco-
motion than Idid. There was then a regulation in
the prison by which the keeper could aid a poor fel-
low, and I wished to avail myself of it, and thus con-
tinued unnecessarily lame and decrepid. In those

days, when a man was sentenced for any given peri-
H6

 

 
 

204

od, after his time had expired the Capt. was bound
to hold him in bondage until the expenses of our jail
confinement and costs of trial were paid, at the rate of
five dollars per month. My expenses amount to three
hundred seventy five dollars, and at five dollars a
month would take seventy five months, or siX years
and three months to pay up. Now upon the expira-
tion of the prisoner’s term, in case he was unhealthy,
or unable to earn wages and his diet, or had conduc-
ted himself properly while in prison, the Captain had
the power to remit this part of the penalty. I had now
stayed more than four months beyond the period of
my sentence, and I kept my lameness up, sometimes
by holding my foot in cold water, when I could do it
_ without detection, and thus get cold in the wound,
and make it painful and inflamed. At other times,
when walking over the yard, if Tuller or the officers
of the guard were in sight, I would stub my toes and
tumble upon the ground, and groan as if I had hurt
me in a shocking manner.

One day 1n the last of May 1825, I boldly went on
my crutches to the Captain’s house and asked him to
free me, “ N 0, Stuart, I cant let you go,——there will
be trouble with me if I do.” “ Captain, I must go ; I
have a poor family, I am lame for life, and if I have
done wrong, Ihave been dreadfully punished. I can-
not earn my living,I am an expense to the State, and
though you set store by me, and will mourn my ab-
sence, you must let me go. If I can get a little money,
I will pay you for granting me the privilege.” Said
he, “ Stuart, if you will get me twenty dollars I will

 
3,
i205

discharge you.” Ireplied, "' Where, Captain, can I get
money; you must not be hard with me. I am bad
off, lame, poor and good for nothing. I am a bill of
cost, and cannot help it.” “Well, well,” said he, “ get
me twenty dollars and I will make out your free pa-
pers.” I started in a hurry, tumbled down before the
Captain’s eyes, and rolled over in the dirt, and groan-
ed aloud in apparent pain, but got up again, went
to the shops and borrowed the money. When Ire-
turned, my papers ”Were made out. Tuller started up, ‘
after-I gave him the money, and said, “Stuart, you
shall not go now. You contrived with Smith to
cheat me.” “ Well give me back the money.” “ No, I
will not, I will keep the money and you too.” “ Ah,
Captain, this is hard and cruel, and I have been pun-
ished enough to satisfy any reasonable man. Have
pity on me, and my poor family.” “ Get me two dol-
lars more, and you may go.” I borrowed it, and he
discharged me l—the gate was opened, and I cursed
the place and left it.

We had no business to be bribed, but I did not
care. Money has charms that nothing else possesses.
I threw away my crutches and went to Buck’s tavern
and got some rum, and lounged about all day. N ext
day, Tuller came to the tavern to drive me off. He
pulled out his sword, and said, “ Be off,——-away with
you—clear out,——g0 home ; I will not have you here ;
be off.” He flourished his sword over my head, as he
had done to others when discharged. Said I, “ Tuller,
don’t you strike me; lam out of your jurisdiction

now, and if you strike me, Iwill smite you down
H7

 
 

20% fi

quicker than ever God killed an Indian. Look out
for yourself. I will stay just as long as I please, and
it is none of your business, and you will find it out if
you touch me, you old God-forsaken tyrant.” He left
me. Unless he had discharged me, I had resolved to
set fire to the prison that night and burn down the
whole concern. I was determined, and it would have
been done.

As he was starting away, he saw that I was blithe,
elastic, and scarcely lame at all; and he said to me,
“ Had I known that you could move about so easily, I
would have kept you here as long as grass grows and
water runs.” Said I, “ you would not have been so
hard Captain ; you would let me go at the general
resurrection.” I stayed at the tavern and at the house
of his sister for three weeks, and recruited finely.
Tuller was fearful that I should set the prison on fire,
scatter his men, burn up the lice, fleas, and bedbugs,
and put an end to his despotism. When I got ready,
I went back to my family in Bridgewater.

w— ~vv¢-~z:°“-‘-T"' , ‘

 
 

CHAPTER XXII.

Having returned from Newgate, renounced a reckless
life, and went to work—«Reflections on Newgate, as a
high school of vice—~An old rogue called on me, and

, I urged him to stop short—Did not heed me, but stole
a horse and took him to Maine——-Was suspected there,
and compelled to prove ownership, or forfeit one hun-
dred dollars—Returned and associated with others in
horse thievery— Was finally arrested, and Orton, his
counsel, advised him falsely to accuse me of being a
confederate—I was examined, and fully exonerated.

N ow I went to work as industriously as ever man
toiled. I took a solemn oath to renounce roguery
forever. I had been a transgressor for years; had
spent my patrimony and reduced my family to want ;
“ live or die, sink or swim,” I swore that my career of
crime was ended, closed, and finished. My determi-
nations, when I had the power, were like the laws of
the Medes and Persians, unalterable and irrevocable ;
I had a will, unbroken amid the calamities and chan-V
ges that had occurred. My former associates gath-
ered around me and endeavored to induce me to
walk in our old paths, and I treated them and their
projects with scorn and derision, and drove them
away. I had done enough—I had suffered like a
martyr at the stake—I had wasted my substance and

the choicest season of my life in riotous prodigality
_ H4 ,

 
 

2308

and crime. I saw it all. I felt that I would not
pass such another ordeal for all the wealth, honor
and acclamations of every intellect in the limitless
empire of. the Most High. /

This resolution still abides, and has been in my
heart every hour since it was made. I became steady
and diligent, and if I had added one other clause to
my resolves, I should have been redeemed. But I
loved rum, and though not as in former years, yet
then I had not renounced the root of all evil. I
had occasional sprees, and relished them, but not
a farthing of counterfeit notes or coin has passed into
or out of' my hands, knowingly, since the day when I
made my memorable resolutions. A new chapter in
my life began to cheer my hopes, and lead me to
look into the future with comfort.

Though my transgressions have been multiplied
through a series of years, yet they have been only of
a two-fold character. Even though I say it, the as-
sertion is, nevertheless, true. With the exception of
the trivial depredations upon orchards and melon
patches in the days of boyhood,Ihave never in a
single instance been guilty of theft, robbery, burgla-
ry or horse stealing. I have not broken the enlarged
criminal codes in any degree, excepting the necessary
revolt and insurrection at Newgate. This encounter
I did not dignify with the name of crime. It was the
result of' illegalized oppression, and in performing a
sacred duty, I could not have done otherwise. An im-
portant consequence to the welfare of prisoners flow-
ed from it. It opened the eyes of legislators to see

 
 

209

the glaring evils consequent upon prison life and mor-
als, and the causes of perpetuity in crime.

Newgate was a high school for rogues, and few
prisoners ever left it, as tyros in the science of iniqui-
ty. Crowded in small apartments, away from the
surveillance of its officers, every crime was concoct-
ed with all the nice manipulations of a chemical pro-
fessor, and if any man left the place unimproved in
the arts of deviltry, it was owing to the obtuseness
of his mental powers. Collections of criminals, who
have full and unrestricted intercourse, harden each
others’ hearts, and debase and lower the standard of
public honor.

'After this unsuccessful conflict, the public mind
awoke to the subject of prisons, and prison discipline
early engaged the attention of our legislature, and
the present prison at Wethersfield was soon erected,
and old Newgate abandoned forever.

For five years I steadily followed my agricultural
pursuits, and the people generally became satisfied
that l was weaned from my vicious propensities. My
business was thriving; Iworked diligently, my wound
was healing, and Ifelt myself a new man. Istill had
enemies who exhibited the vindictiveness and spiteful
characteristics of low and groveling minds.

Smith, the prisoner that was so cruelly beaten by
Tuller, having long since been discharged from prison
by the expiration of his sentence, called on me in the
evening. He was bred a horse-stealer, and as he
was on his way to my place he saw a fine one gra-

zing in a field near a brick farm house, and he covet-
HQ

 
 

» . 210
ed the animal. He was urgent that I should aid him
in his designs. I. refused, and said further, that if he
was intending to steal in my vicinity, I wished he
would never darken my doors. The people all know
what I have done, and where I have been, and if you
are seen here and afterwa1ds should steal a horse, I
shall be suspected. “ Now I tell you,” said I, “ aban-
don criminal pursuits. . YOu cannot escape. You
have been in five state prisons already, and do you
not think it enough? I never stole, nor Will I ever.
Loss and ruin is hard upon your heels, and henceforth
I will never be a rogue. If I ever go to prison again,
I will‘go innocent. My advice to you is, to abandon
Criminal pursuits forever.” ,

». Smith left me in a surly mood. In one week Ste-
phen Treat’s horse was stolen from his pasture, and
no trace could be found of him. Iwas at home, and
busy every day at my work, and heard nothing of it
early. In a day or two C. Morris called and sa.,id
“ the devil was to pay up the street, for Stephen
Treat’s horse had been stolen, and that Whittlesey
Wheeler was suspected.” Wheeler had been a state
prison convict. I assured Morris that Wheeler was
at work. for C. Edmonds, and was not the rogue. , He
went there and feund it so, and then insisted that I
should go with him on a search for the criminal. I
refused, and told him that I should have nothing “code
with it. Iwished to avoid trouble, forI knew that if
I joined him in the chase and found the horse, some
' would think that I was privy to the theft. Morris
left me in high displeasure.

 
 

21 I

in about a week Smith came. towmy house intthe
night season and confessed the theft. He' rode the
beast into the state of Maine, ”and turnedhim into a
’ pasture. The next'day a'wiImaHsaw himtv»WOrking
at the animal, and it awakened ’suspicion' that some-
thing was wrong." The neighbors examined itrand
ascertained that he had been painting” the White strip
on‘lhis forehead to a'red color. Smith was arrested,
and on condition that he would‘depOSit one hundred
' dollars With the magistrate until he proved'the pur-
chase of the horse to be” a bona-fide transaction, he
was suffered to pass'away. ‘ The horse ‘ was adver-
tised in the newspapers, but no owner called for it.

Smith came to me for eVidence, and if' I «would
swear thatI was present whenh‘e bought itvin Phila-
delphia, he would get the one hundreddollars return-
ed. I‘unceremoniouslyidroVei him”away,i and he was
provoked at me. He theninquired for Wheeler, and
I informed him that he was at Charles. EdmOnds’.
The day following, Wheeler came to me to borrow a
shirt and pantaloons to go abroad. 4T-‘I'suspected his
mission, and charged it upon. him. “He said that he
had engaged to meet Smith at: the house of J otham
Sherman the same evening. I remonstrated with
him and told him that he would get into trouble be-
fore he came back, and hewas a fool to set a trap to
catch himself, andhe went back to Edmonds. But
, he deliberated on the subject, and decided to meet
Smith in Jotham’s den agreeably to appointment, and
they Went to Maine together. ‘ Wheeler took? the Oath
required, and the one hundred dollars was returned.

fi

 
 

2l2
Smith and Wheeler drove the horse te Groton, Conno,
and there left him for a season.

They now became as twin brothers in the trade,
stole horses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and
rode them in the vicinity'of Dover, N. Y., where a
son of Jotham resided. They plundered the pastures
in Dutchess county, and tookthem to Groton for sale.
Many people saw strangers riding to and fro, and in
every journey they had fresh horses, and suspicions
were awakened that all was not right, and the public
officers were put on the watch. Men from the east-
ward came on in quest of horses that were stolen
there, and a descent was made upon young Sherman’s
establishment, and Smith, Wheeler and Sherman
were put under keepers. Smith was vexed at me, be-
. cause, to induce him to make confession, these officers
said that I put them upon his track. I had said that
I could probably find Treat’s horse, and Smith being
caught, declared that I stole Treat’s beast, and deliv-
ered it to him for seven dollars.

The matter had thus progressed, when a strong
suspicion arose against me. Smith had once been to
my house in the day-time, and on leaving I walked
a hundred rods with him'to dissuade him from follow-
ing the promptingsof his own vicious heart. The
public now began seriously to think I was implicated
in this horse theft, and a process for my arrest was
issued. I thought of the fable of poor Tray found in
bad company. They brought me before Judge Board-
man for trial, and after a long and patient investi-

 
 

gation of the whole case, he dismissed the complaint
as unworthy of credit.

My enemies felt discomfited and dissatisfied.-—'
Smith, in his anger, had charged the act on me, andI
urged the prosecutor to bring him into court, that I
might inquire of him concerning the pretended agen-
cy , but he declined. Smith had his trial, and was
confined 1n Litchfield jail.

About a fortnight afterwards, it was noised about
that l was to be arrested again on the same charge.
I was willing to stand my chance if they thought best
to try again, and they did it. Upon thistrial the ma-
gistrates who held the court were resolved to bind
me over to the county court, and though I proved by
my daughters and my neighbors that I was at home
when the horse was stolen, the determination of my
judges was unwavering against me. 'On the night in
question, one of my daughters was about the house
all night, enduring a long and severe paroxysm of the
jumping tooth-ache, and I was up six 0r seven times
prescribing and administering medicines to relieve
her. The facts of my innocence and ignorance were
fully made out, and it was the first time that I was
thankful that a member of my family had been visit-
ed with distracting pain.

They sent me to jail, in the opinion of the people,
very wrongfully. They gave me a room in this pris-
on apart from Smith, fearing evil from placing us to-
gether. When the court sat, a petty lawyer by the
name of Orton Was retained by Smith as his counsel ‘
He entered Smith’s room in jail to converse with him

 
 

214

on his approaching trial. Says Orton, in my hear-
ing, to Smith, “ What are you going to do-about the
Stephen Treat horse?” Smith replies, “I shall plead
guilty.” “ N o ! no I” says Orton, “stick to it,» andsay
that Stuart stole it and delivered it«to,.you in Rex»
bury, and we ,will,,save. you and fleece him: ; Now
stick to it, and tell the-courtithat you. gave him seven-
dollars for the job.” Says Smith, “I tell youthetruth ;
now, Stuart advised me toabandon roguery forever,
and he‘had nothing todo} with the-concern; Hedid
not know anything about it, and I was mad when the
officers said that Stuart put them On the track after
me,andI lied about him. Stuart is no longer a rogue.”

This. infamous limb of the law urged Smith to
charge the crime on me, saying, “this is the best way
and. it will “work well.” Orton turned to leave the
prison, not aware until then that I heard every word
of his conversation. I then raised the:voice of indig:
nation, and he endured my withering and sarcastic
anathemas as well as, any rascal could. Itold him
that when he again urged his clients to commit per-
jury, I hoped he wouldbe smitten withrsudden death,“
like Ananias and Sapphira.

When my case was called, Judge Boardman look:
ed over the papers and said that he tried me once
upon the same charge and nothing appeared against
me, and thus the case was-dismissed, and I was, dis—
charged. _ Orton was a small, man in small. things, but
Morris, my Vile neighbor, had to father this fell spirit»
of persecution. His course and that of» his household,
, since that period, have beengiinusual.‘for honest 111611»
(04
p...
12‘!

CHAPTER XXIII, . '

Narrow escape 2'22 falling a great distance on rocks,
wh2le hunting raCcoon—éAlso, 222 upsetting horse and _
wagon into the Housatonic 222 a darh night—General
remarks on past l2 emBrutality (f 122223022 keepers—é
Advice to youth to shun 222020228 companions—Roguery
follows close 022 the heels of Intemperance—Strmgent
laws- agamS‘t the use Of Alcohol may do good, but 222-
d2v2dual resolatwn to taste not and handle 2202, w2ll
do bette’; .

My life for Several years had no stirring incidents »
in which the reader would be likely to take an inter-l"
est. I had seasons of Wi‘ldness', but committed no ‘
crime. This Country aboundedin game, and when I
engaged in it no man followed it with more zeal‘and
ardor. A raccoon hunt like to have proved fatalgto .2
me, A number of neighbors came One bright moon-
light evening and urged me to join‘them ' in hunting
these ponderous animals, and I took my dog and gun
and went out into the mountains in quest of game.
Our dogs soon droVe a raccoon into a tree top, and I
ascended after him to shake him off, and crawled out
upon a limb , having drank some rum befOr—e starting
from homel'felt-as buoyant a's‘a cork.‘ The animal"
sprang from the tree, and I jumped after him, and? fellf
among the rocks slightly? bruised. The ' nextr'vday’,
some I of the company measured the distance, and"

"‘?’2il',.»ft"‘l".a“

 
 

' 213
found that I fell more than fbrtyutwo feet, and yet es »
caped with very slight injuries.

A year after, as I was returning from a grist-mill
in New-Milford, with a wagon loaded with flour and
meal, I was suddenly checked in my course. The
night was dark, and the pathway cut into the sides of
the preCipitous hills upon the margin of the Housa—
tonic river, my horse failed to keep the road, and the .
wagon wheels ran off the embankment, and down
went my horse, wagon andload, at an angle of eighty
degrees, fullfifty feet into the river below, where the
_water was ten feet deep. ' The stream Was frozen ex-
cept in this cove, and the water a few feet beyond
more than twenty feet deep, with a rapid current.
The, darkness here was intense, and I shouted for help
in the loudness of a lion’s roar, and struggled to save
my horse and wagon with superhuman strength. Af-
ter one hour’s trial in the cold stream, with the aid of
help, I gained the earth with my team, and in a chill-
ed conditiOn., This, upon the whole, was the narrow-
est escape with life, that I- ever , sensibly passed
through. ~ . - , . ' _

From my early childhood up to this time, the inci-
dents of »_ my life have been of the ,most hazardous
kind, and yet I have passed through them all without
the fracture of a bone or dislocationof a joint; and in
the retrospect I have now taken of the scenes through
which I haVe passed and, in which I have been a
prominent actor, it seems Verily marvelous thatl am
in the land of the living. Not one man in a thousand,

venture to say, could have survived to my, age and

 
21’?
been able to tell the woeful tale. If any errors have
crept into the work they are, purely chronological, for '
a man in my time of life may not recollect the precise
date of occurrences and events.

A few important principles legitimately flow from
this strange narrative. Reason was given to our
race to guide us onward in the pathway of rectitude,
and as a distinctive work of man’s pre-eminence Over
other created beings. A rogue abandons these pre-
rogatives, and thus approaches the lower, order of an-
imalization. His powers of mind are unlawfully ex-
ercised, and he forsakes the truth and embraces error.
The true spirit of crime is in the intention. Physical
force performs the transgression, but the sin lies deep-
ly in the mental organ, and manifests itself in aberra¥
tion of conduct. Hence punishment is usually more fit- "
ted to discipline and subdue the bodily organs than to
change morally the wanderings of the heart. Men
are made to fear the requirements of law,rbecause
they impair the physical forces of' the transgressior.
Coarse diet, hard labor, and an abridgment of liber-
ty, concentrate their efforts to tame and control the
wild impulses of the passions. The criminal is thus
compelled to give reasOn an opportunity to reinstate
itself, and when the cor'pmeal system is reduced by
these agents, calmness and thoughtfulness may suc-
ceed. ‘ Thus there is virtue in penalties and physical
submission. The social spirit of man is permitted to
have full scope when those who invade our rights are
removed from amongst us. Hence the necessity of
law, and that its vitality be maintained. Unimpair-

 
 

218

ed reason compels men to enact and execute them,
and if in the present state of society our criminal
codes were abolished, anarchy and civil war would
ensue. ’ i I ‘

Hence thenfit is essential that, rogues should be
punished, and removed where their evil propensities
cannot be indulged to the disturbance of the tranquilli€
ty and peace of others. I had knowingly set at defiance
the laws of the land, and deserved punishment.

To manage prisoners properly, we need a Solon to
guide us. PriSOn keepers are usually despots. Their
words are law, peremptory and inflexible. Their sta-
tion very naturally engenders a spirit of tyranny and
oppression, Which they are apt to manifest unnece‘s- ‘
sarily. _ Their feelings. Of benevolence, When first e11~’
tering uponv'theirl duties, are shocked, in due time
blunted, and finally extinguished. They thus forget
that the prisoners over whom they rule with a rod of
iron, possess any claims upon humanity. Here is
counteracted and lost the reformatory tendencies of a
prison life, and hatred and revenge become riveted 111
the hearts of feIOns. If they repent 0 their crimes, it
is but the sorrow of Judas.

Unkind treatment, brutal severity, and a disregard
of suffering, poisons every sensibility of a prisoner’s '
soul; and when their terms of service have expired,
they are often disposed, from these causes, to make
unlawful inroads upon the property and peace of so-
ciety. PosseSsi.ng erring propensities, and thus in-V
cited to harden ,_ their hearts and trample on law and
justice, it is rare that a_.prisoner is not again incarce-l
 

2219

rated for crime. Revenge is nourished by brutality
and imperious domination. When opportunity offers,
they display the‘hardihood and , depravity that haVe.
been taught them by unfeeling masters; Public sen-1:
timent is outraged, and the. poor felonis again driven;
tohis cell, and there proves-thatto him life is-a-c-urse';
rather than a blessing.‘ Our prison discipline is hence:
injndicious, and has not improved much under the
lauded benevolence of the age. I never objectedto
rational punishment. I always felt that a prison
properly conducted was essential to the quiet and?!
safety of the community, but ,I was never a tenant of '
a prison calculated for such purposes. To starve a
prisoner and then compel him to the severest and
most protracted labor, if not brutal, is inhuman and
unChristian. 1. _ «E; .

If I had reformed, it Was not f1om the influences ,
that prevailed at N ewgate. Every thing there cone
spired to render wicked menmore, wickedf Most of
those imprisonedthere soon returned as convicts. IIg
abandoned crimeasprofitless, as the sure precursor
of hopeless ruin. It lostalldts charms, and entailed]
upon me miseries : incalculable. I had been a terror}
in community,,and_ whenI returnedfromf my five. 1,
years’ hard serviee to my family, Iwas regardedvas a,
demon. Time has worn offithe asperities of youth»
and the dread of my presence. I now move among.
men as one of the human family. But the "impres-gi
sions of unwarrantable oppression stamped upon my \
brain are indelible

Ican consistently give advice to the world My

 
   
  
 
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

220

- experience has been sad and severe. Comforts never
arisefrom dissipation, wickedness and crime. True
and rational enjoyments never spring from vicious
oropensities. Indulgencies in errors never gladden
rhe heart permanently, nor light up the smiles of hap-
piness on the circumstances of men. Wayward pas-
sion brutalizes the sympathies of our natures, makes
us approximate towards the brutes, and kindles with-
in us "fires that scorch, pollute, and blast all that is
excellent in our organization. Then should not men
beware of the rapid stream that hastens on a useless
life, to terminate ina a’felon s grave. An unblest life,
and a death 111 an ignominious prison, will be his only
portion. If he lie in the tomb of infamy, unregarded
and unlamented, they who knew him, reproachfully
aver, in the language of rhe inspired penman, “Good
\would it have been for that man had he never been
born.”

The history of a criminal may contain spirited de-
tails-of narrow escapes, but the subject of such his-
tory cannot 'be contemplated without horror, and if
he continue in crime and perish in its toils, it is Wis-
dom to forget him. But if reformation drive away
the clouds, restore him to his family, society and use
fulness among men, surely an outline of his career,
followed up by theaxioms of truth, may be a warning
to those who are about to raise a standard against the
laws of their country. Let the youth beware, let them
take heed, for no cOurse other than one of honesty
‘ can abide the test of time.

At first, most rogues are artificial—the result of

 

 
221

circumstances and associates, and when once initia-
ted, pride and will urge them forward. Strong drink
is a powerful incitant to crime ; it is prominent in the
seduction of youth, and is the primum mobile in his
first tendencies to the paths of vice. A bottle of
brandy ornaments the table in the reception room of
rogues, and is as important in their deliberative
bodies, as 'a yoke' is upon the necks of oxen in a.
farmer’s field. This is provided under a full know-
ledge of its inspiring qualities, and is received by
them with greatg 0'usto.

N ow it is incontestible that no legislation, no san-
guinary criminal codes, and no anathemas of ultraists,
will break up the gangs of rogues widely dispersed
over the country, as long as alcoholic beverages are
allowed-by law. And yet to many, legislative enact-
ments against evils seem useless when the laws are
not sustained by the mass of the citizens. I, Continued
agitation will do much to open the eyes of those blind- ,
ed by selfishness or appetite. But the spirit of in-
dependence so prevalent in this land, wars against re-
strictions, and induces men to be jealous of what they
think to be their rights. Thus we are singularly con«
stituted, and while men act for themselves and in ac-
cordance with the doctrines so wide spread through
our whole country, they are ready to resist the first
glimmerings of oppression; Again, while legislators
’who make laws for their constituents, are daily guilty
of infractions of the statutes'they enact, the laws lose
- all moral force before issuing from the legislative hall.
Men great and small, honest and dishonest, have ap-

 
2-2.2

petites. For a While they cultivate self denial and
expediency, but time breaks up associations, old hab-
its and tendencies return, and they seek to gratify an
appetite once abjured. Firmness and inflexibility are
at best, transitory passions. Time works changes in
the minds of men. The sum of the wholematter goes
to prove, that morally, the race is depraved, and if de-
praved men enact laws to control others,'we have i
only to watch carefully the proceedings of the courts
to learn how such laws are evaded, rejected, or perver-
ted. ls it possible, while men are born with strong ap-
petites, successfully to keep them under. a consistent
subjuga tion? I leave the question asl found it, unset-
tled—ardently hoping that what the law may fail to
do, in that it is weak, vill soon be effectually done
by the second sober thought and common sense of
the people, until the use of spiiituous liqums as a bev-
erag‘e, shall be frowned upon indignantly by every
lover of his country and the best interests of men.

V Let no man become a rogue. Vice is hostile to
our best interests; it is an enemy in our midst; an
enemy, though partially vanquished, yet not over-
come. Let reason guide. “ O that men would not put
an enemy in their mouths, to steal away their brains l”
l have done it, and have reaped the conscquenses.
Others have met with a like fate. The destiny of the
rogue and the spirit drinker is 0110.. Nothing but
”moral honesty will abide the test of time. Nothing
but purity’ol‘ life should be our aim. All else is trou-
blesome, painful and afllictive. All else is ruinous,
and ov e1 vrhelm1n{2,‘ , , . ,

 

 

 
. 223

If my life shall induce one rogue to abandon his cal.
ling, and become an upright and honest man, my
story will not have been told in vain. If my admoni-
tions shall prevent even one youth from entering
into a criminal course, the detail herein given will
not be lost. My. experience has been much, butI
have been compelled to adopt the maxims of wis-
dom. All else is profitless. I was misguided,-—I
adopted an unwise and unsafe course, and ruin over-
whelmed me. This will be the doom of all rogues,
and it is verily true, that every deviation from, right
will be visited, in due time, with appropiate punish-
ment.

N arm—In this work. some typographical errors have doubtless es-
caped detection, but the only error which will be noticed here, is a trans-
Bmition of two lines at the bottom of the 16th page, which should have

con placed at. the top in order to a. correct commencement of that and
the 17th page.

 
 

 
   

1&2. mg: .