by Ben Tarnoff
111, Horrified at the prospect
“Eastern mercantile cupidity…”: quoted in Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Second Administration of James Madison, vol. 2 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1921), p. 16. Snyder vetoed the measure on March 19; it was passed over his objections on March 21. Soaring number of notes in circulation: Hickey, The War of 1812, p. 224.
111–112, Skyrocketing quantities of
Invasion of the Chesapeake and razing of Washington: Hickey, The War of 1812, pp. 195–202. Subsequent panic and bank suspension: Hammond, Banks and Politics in America, pp. 227–230, and Hickey, The War of 1812, pp. 224–225.
112, The federal government
Efforts to fund the war are outlined in Curtis P. Nettels, The Emergence of a National Economy, 1775–1815 (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1989 [1962]), pp. 331–333. Federal government’s financial distress: Hickey, The War of 1812, pp. 222–225; Hammond, Banks and Politics in America, pp. 227–230; and Edwin J. Perkins, “Financing the War of 1812,” Encyclopedia of the War of 1812, p. 184. Suspension of specie payments didn’t end until February 1817, and even then, resumption wasn’t universal and banknotes continued to circulate at a discount depending on the institution; see Hammond, Banks and Politics in America, pp. 246–250.
112–113, Anyone who glimpsed
Scenic details of the Allegany range: James Flint, Flint’s Letters from America, 1818–1820, vol. 9 of Early Western Travels, 1748–1846, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (Cleveland: A. H. Clark, 1904 [1822]), pp. 74–77; Thaddeus Mason Harris, Journal of a Tour into the Territory Northwest of the Alleghany Mountains, vol. 3 of Early Western Travels, 1748–1846, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (Cleveland: A. H. Clark, 1904 [1805]), pp. 325–329; and Morris Birkbeck, Notes on a Journey in America, From the Coast of Virginia to the Territory of Illinois (London: Severn, 1818 [1817]), pp. 30–35. Traveling in September 1818, Flint observed large numbers of westward-bound homesteaders, “chiefly occasioned by people in the eastern States having reaped and disposed of their crops at this season, and on that account finding it a convenient time for removing to the western country.” A word on the geography: what was known as the Allegany range is located about fifteen miles west of Bedford and labeled on a map of Pennsylvania in the 1814 edition of Mathew Carey’s General Atlas, http://www.mapsofpa.com/19thcentury/1814carey.jpg. The Alleghenies, on the other hand, is a term that was used by people in Lewis’s day to refer to the entire mountainous region in central Pennsylvania, which forms a part of the massive Appalachian Mountains system.
113, The scenery was
The account of the campsite: from testimony at Lewis’s 1816 trial by Michael Miller, a local tavern keeper who saw the counterfeiters frequently, and Jacob Kinsey, a German immigrant who stumbled across the hideout on a hunting trip. Their statements appear in the fifty-eight handwritten pages of trial transcript; portions of their testimony are transcribed in Macneal, “A Suspicious Camp, An Arrest in Bedford, and Showdown on the Sinnemahoning,” pp. 36–38.
113, If the walls
Details drawn from Michael Miller’s testimony. Miller stated that Lewis and Smith first came to his tavern on September 5, 1815; three days later they were joined by Noble and Crosby, who brought the wagon and trunks. Noble “talked a little like a Yanky,” according to Miller. Description of James Smith: American Volunteer, May 9, 1816.
113–114, Miller might have had
“They gave me the Jug almost full—I write with it steady,” said Miller at Lewis’s trial. The trunks no doubt held counterfeiting tools. One witness at Lewis’s trial, Elie Beatty, speculated that a trunk of that size “would contain paper and plates to print 50,000 Dolls. of 100s, 50s, and 20s.”
114, It had been
Miller testified the counterfeiters stayed for three weeks: from September 5 to September 26, 1815. He visited the camp three weeks after they left, and found that almost nothing remained, except for the knife and the hut.
114, Lewis and his
Different types of bad bills: Macneal, “Uttering, Publishing and Passing—Counterfeiting in 1816,” p. 31, and Lynn Glaser, Counterfeiting in America: The History of an American Way to Wealth (Philadelphia: Clarkson N. Potter, 1968), p. 273.
115, These creative swindles
Newspapers had printed information about how to detect counterfeit bills since the colonial era, and the tradition continued into the nineteenth century: Baltimore editor Hezekiah Niles was particularly outspoken, and used his Weekly Register to draw attention to the problem. The first banknote reporter/counterfeit detector probably appeared in 1805, printed by the publishers of the Boston-based newspaper the Centinel. The format proved enormously popular, and beginning in the 1820s, banknote reporters came into wide use; see Glaser, Counterfeiting in America, pp. 87–89, and Mihm, A Nation of Counterfeiters, pp. 235–253.
115–116, The dizzying diversity
Fluctuating values of different notes: Mihm, A Nation of Counterfeiters, pp. 248–250, and Macneal, “Uttering, Publishing and Passing—Counterfeiting in 1816,” pp. 28–29. Rates in Baltimore in 1818: Macneal, “Uttering, Publishing and Passing—Counterfeiting in 1816,” p. 29. For an example of a local newspaper publishing discount rates, see the Reading, Pennsylvania-based Berks and Schuylkill Journal, February 8, 1817. Opportunities for currency speculation were no secret; a letter to the Weekly Aurora, July 14, 1817, describes a scheme for exploiting the exchange rate between Philadelphia and Cincinnati paper.
116, All of this
The notes Lewis, Noble, and company counterfeited: American Volunteer, January 18, 1816, and testimony from Lewis’s 1816 trial. Noble disappeared after he and Lewis parted ways at the end of September 1815. According to an article in the Bedford Gazette, April 13, 1816, reprinted in the American Volunteer, May 9, 1816, the engraver returned to Canada.
116–117, After splitting with
Lewis’s aliases: testimony from several witnesses at his 1816 trial. A rough time line of Lewis’s journey: Douglas Macneal, “A Brief Chronology of Firm Dates in David Lewis’s Life,” Centre County Heritage 24.2 (Fall 1987), pp. 23–24. For a map of the counties that Lewis traveled through, see the map in the 1814 edition of Mathew Carey’s General Atlas, http://www.mapsofpa.com/19thcentury/1814carey.jpg. Descriptions of the different counties: Charles B. Trego, A Geography of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Edward C. Biddle, 1843), pp. 183–187, 247–248, 295–296.
117, On the last
Account drawn entirely from James Shoaff’s testimony at Lewis’s 1816 trial, as recorded in the fifty-eight pages of trial transcript.
118, Sometimes Lewis relied
Account drawn entirely from Thomas McClellan’s testimony at Lewis’s 1816 trial, as recorded in the fifty-eight pages of trial transcript.
CHAPTER FIVE
120, In the first
Description of Bedford: Fortescue Cuming, Cuming’s Tour to the Western Country, 1807–1809, vol. 4 of Early Western Travels, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (Cleveland: A. H. Clark, 1904 [1810]), p. 65, and North View of Bedford, PA (1840), a drawing by Augustus Kollner. Town’s chaotic mood in early 1816: Ned Frear, Davey Lewis (Frear Publications, 1999), pp. 11–13. Frear, the former publisher of the Bedford Gazette (published since 1805 and still in print), includes excerpts from old, hard-to-find issues of the Gazette and snippets of letters written by local lawyers. There are no exact population figures for Bedford in 1816: the 1810 census was destroyed in a fire, and the 1820 census puts the population of Bedford borough at 789.
120–121, Among its buildings
Bedford’s houses: Cuming, Cuming’s Tour to the Western Country, p. 65. Court-house jail: History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania (Chicago: Waterman, Watkins, 1884), pp. 196–197, and Mark Dugan, The Making of Legends: More Stories of Frontier America (Athens, OH: Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1997), p. 40. Nightly guard at the jail: from a letter by David Mann to John Tod, dated January 18, 1816, in the “John Tod Papers,
1783–1838,” Manuscript Group 126, “John Tod Papers, 1783–1838,” Box 6: General Correspondence, 1816–1818, in the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg. Ned Frear uncovered the letters written by Bedford lawyers about the case to John Tod, and draws on them extensively in his Davey Lewis. “You cannot conceive…”: from a letter by James Carson to John Tod, dated January 15, 1816, in the “John Tod Papers, 1783–1838”; in the same letter, Carson says that “secret spies,” or informers, were coming to Bedford in droves. “Proof is pouring in from every direction,” declared the Bedford Gazette, quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 11.
121, The man at the
“in his element…”: from a letter by James Carson to John Tod, dated January 15, 1816, in the “John Tod Papers, 1783–1838.” Description and background of Samuel Riddle: G. T. Ridlon, History of the Ancient Ryedales and their Descendants in Normandy, Great Britain, Ireland, and America, from 860 to 1884 (Manchester, NH: published by the author, 1884), pp. 211–212. Riddle’s coal business: John Woolf Jordan, ed., A History of the Juniata Valley and Its People, vol. 1 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), p. 306.
121–122, Trying to bring
Lewis identifying himself as David Wilson Lewis from Philadelphia: Bedford Gazette, quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 10. William Drenning’s arrest: Bedford Gazette, quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 10. Drenning’s son: Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, January 25, 1816.
122, As Riddle built
Lewis having $1,900 at the time of his arrest: American Volunteer, January 18, 1816. $1,500 in the bank: according to a local attorney named J. W. Sharpe, quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 26. In the docket book for the trial held by the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg—Commonwealth v. David Lewis, Numbers 2, 3, 4, Docket of the 4th District, Court of Oyer and Terminer, Bedford County, Pennsylvania (January and February Terms, 1816)—the court states on January 5, 1816, that it cannot interfere with the defendant’s decision to pay one of his lawyers, George Burd, Esq., $200. Philadelphia prices: Grotjan’s Philadelphia Public Sale Report, January 1, 1816.
122, His costly defense
Burd and Huston as defense lawyers: Douglas Macneal, “Introducing David Lewis,” Centre County Heritage 24.2 (Fall 1987), pp. 3–5. Description of Burd: Anne Royall, Mrs. Royall’s Pennsylvania, or Travels Continued in the United States, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Published by the author, 1829), p. 247. Huston: Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania: Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Etc. (Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1898), pp. 23–24; The Scotch-Irish in America: Proceedings and Addresses of the Eighth Congress, at Harrisburg, PA, June 4–7, 1896 (Nashville, TN: Scotch-Irish Society of America, 1897), pp. 167–168. “slouched hat…”: quoted in Macneal, “Uttering, Publishing and Passing—Counterfeiting in 1816,” p. 34.
122–123, While Riddle and Huston
The Gazette’s history: History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, pp. 226–227. For examples of the Gazette’s reports, see Bedford Gazette, January 4, 1816, reprinted in Kline’s Weekly Carlisle Gazette, January 17, 1816, and Bedford Gazette, January 5–6, 1816, reprinted in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, January 25, 1816.
123, In the pages
McDowell’s articles: Bedford Gazette, January 11, 1816, reprinted in Kline’s Weekly Carlisle Gazette, January 31, 1816, which includes the quote about “promising young men”; and Bedford Gazette, April 13, 1816, reprinted in American Volunteer, May 9, 1816.
123, The facts were
Reid’s estimate: American Volunteer, January 18, 1816. The Carlisle-based Volunteer reprinted reports from the Bedford Gazette, as did the Philadelphia-based Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser and several other papers throughout the state.
123–124, Lewis’s trial was
Lewis’s indictments: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 30, and available in greater detail in the Bedford court docket book.
124, Getting to the courtroom
Description of Judge Walker: quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 17. See the fifty-eight-page trial transcript for Riddle’s line of attack.
124–125, The character that
“sociable & good humoured”: from John H. Bridenthal’s testimony, included in the fifty-eight pages of trial transcript. “sporting man”: from Moses Power’s testimony. “active in playing cards”: from Henry Leeder’s testimony. The date of Little’s encounter with Lewis is uncertain: Little claimed it was on Christmas Day, while John Bridenthal said it was the day after. Little’s story about gambling with Lewis was corroborated at the trial by John H. Bridenthal’s testimony.
125, Lewis’s years with
The tavern keeper was Christian Romer, who ran a tavern at the foot of Sideling Hill, and testified that he saw Lewis on December 12. Lewis even tried to convince Romer to sign the bills for him, but the tavern keeper refused.
125, Drawing on more
Number of witnesses on each side: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 30. For more on Huston’s technique, see Lancaster Journal, March 13, 1816. A summary of Lewis’s convictions and acquittals: Macneal, “Introducing David Lewis,” pp. 3–5.
125–126, By protesting that
Motion filed by Huston about misspelling: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 31. “with all convenient…”: from the Bedford court docket book, dated February 22, 1816.
126, About an hour
Lewis escaping at 8:00 a.m.: from a letter by Joseph Morrison to John Tod, dated February 27, 1816, in “John Tod Papers, 1783–1838.” The sun rose that day at 6:52 a.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department, Naval Oceanography Portal, http://www.usno.navy.mil. “He could easily…”: from a letter by J. W. Sharpe, Esq., quoted in Frear, Davey Lewis, p. 26.
126, The Bedford Gazette
Impact of Lewis’s escape on the town and Gazette reports: Frear, Davey Lewis, pp. 22–25. “penny-wise Commissioners…”: Bedford Gazette, April 13, 1816, reprinted in American Volunteer, May 9, 1816. Reward for Lewis: American Volunteer, May 9, 1816. News of the sheriff’s failed expedition and the demand for an inquiry: Bedford Gazette, March 18, 1816, reprinted in Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 33. Lewis’s capture: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 34.
126–127, Lewis arrived in
Lewis’s date of arrival: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 34. The weather and its impact: C. Edward Skeen, 1816: America Rising (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2003), pp. 1–4, 7–11. Temperature estimates: Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, June 12, 1816; June 5 was reportedly 82 degrees, and June 6 and 7 were approximately 52 degrees. Plentiful ice: J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1884), p. 938. Mary Shelley and the origins of Frankenstein: M. K. Joseph, “Appendix A: The Composition of Frankenstein,” in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 224–227.
127, While passersby huddled
Description of the jail: James Mease and Thomas Porter, Picture of Philadelphia, Giving an Account of Its Origin, Increase and Improvements in Arts, Sciences, Manufactures, Commerce and Revenue, vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Robert Desilver, 1831), pp. 179–180, and Negley K. Teeters, The Cradle of the Penitentiary: The Walnut Street Jail at Philadelphia, 1773–1835 (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Prison Society, 1955), pp. 18–19, 93.
127–128, These buildings were
The band of reformers was called the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, founded in 1787; see Teeters, The Cradle of the Penitentiary, pp. 29–35. Implementation of reforms: Cyndi Banks, Punishment in America: A Reference Handbook (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005), pp. 36–37; Mitchel P. Roth, “Walnut Street Jail,” Prisons and Prison Systems: A Global Encyclopedia (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2006), pp. 292–293; and Teeters, The Cradle of the Penite
ntiary, pp. 36–44. The average number of prisoners from 1815 to 1824 was 331, according to LeRoy B. DePuy, in “The Walnut Street Prison: Pennsylvania’s First Penitentiary,” Pennsylvania History 18.2 (April 1951), p. 136.
128 The Walnut Street Jail housed
Decline of the Walnut Street Jail: DePuy, “The Walnut Street Prison: Pennsylvania’s First Penitentiary,” pp. 141–142; Teeters, The Cradle of the Penitentiary, pp. 96–103. Convict who sawed the iron off his leg: Teeters, The Cradle of the Penitentiary, p. 100.
129, The Walnut Street Jail’s lawlessness
Use of informers: Teeters, The Cradle of the Penitentiary, p. 95. The text of the Walnut Street authorities’ recommendation: The Franklin Gazette, June 5, 1820, published a response to allegations that Findlay pardoned Lewis for self-serving political reasons. Dated August 30, 1819, it read “The inspectors are induced to consider the said David Lewis as a suitable object for the clemency of the Governor, and respectfully recommend him to his excellency, for pardon of his offences, and remission of his fine, in consideration of his communicating information of an attempt to force the prison, by those confined in the same room with him.”
129, When Lewis’s pardon
Policy of freeing cooperative prisoners: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 35, and American Volunteer, July 6, 1820. Election of 1817 and its aftermath: Isaac Sharpless, Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1900), pp. 276–278, and Philip S. Klein and Ari Hoogenbloom, A History of Pennsylvania: Second and Enlarged Edition (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University, 1980), p. 133. Biography of William Findlay: William C. Armor, Lives of the Governors of Pennsylvania, with the Incidental History of the State, From 1609 to 1873 (Norwich, CT: T. H. Davis, 1874), pp. 323–332.
129–130, On September 9, 1819
Date of Lewis’s departure: Dugan, The Making of Legends, p. 35. Unemployment figure: from a city report commissioned in August 1819, summarized in Edward S. Kaplan, The Bank of the United States and the American Economy (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999), p. 67. Portions of the report were printed in local newspapers; see Grotjan’s Philadelphia Public Sale Report, September 13, 1819, and the Weekly Aurora, September 13, 1819.
