Smith’s Wanderings Through the Province—Leaves a Trail of
Larcenies—Arrested and Brought Before the Court at Fredericton He
Admits Escaping from Kingston Gaol and is Sent Back by Judge
Saunders—Escapes on the Way—Burglarizes the Home of the Attorney
General and is Re-arrested, and After a Month of Liberty is Again
Placed in Kingston Gaol.
Nothing was heard of our adventurer till after the return of Mr. Knox
with his party from a fruitless search of ten days in the Province of
Nova Scotia, and as far as Richibucto. The day following, Mr. Foster and
Mr. Deforest returned from their chase, and reported that after they had
proceeded to within three miles of Fredericton they heard of a stranger
answering to his description, having lodged all night at a private
house; but had gone on the road towards Woodstock. They continued the
pursuit and found that he had stopped at Mr. Ingraham’s tavern the night
following, slept late in the morning, being fatigued, paid his bill and
went off; but not without giving another proof of his characteristic
villainy. He broke open a trunk, which was in the room adjoining the one
he had slept in, and carried off a full suit of clothes belonging to Mr.
Ingraham, that cost him forty dollars, and a silk cloak, with other
articles, which he concealed so as not to be discovered. This
information gave his pursuers sufficient proof that he was indeed the
noted horse-stealer. But Mr. Ingraham, not having missed his clothes
immediately, the robber travelled on unmolested, and the next day went
only as far as Mr. Robertson’s, where he found a collection of young
people, played the fiddle for them, and remained the next day and night.
He then proceeded towards Woodstock, leaving the spoons with Mrs.
Robertson in exchange for a shirt, and taking passage in a canoe
happened to fall in company with another canoe that had been at
Fredericton, in which the Rev. Mr. Dibble, missionary at Woodstock, was
passenger, with a young man poling the canoe. The young man had seen Mr.
Bailes’ advertisement at Fredericton, describing the man and watch,
which had a singular steel chain; and observed to Mr. Dibble, that they
both answered to the appearance of the stranger. Mr. D. remarked to the
young man that he might be mistaken, and asked the stranger to let him
see the watch. The stranger handed the watch with all willingness, and
it was found so exactly to answer to the marks of Mr. Bailes’ watch that
Mr. D. challenged it as the property of Mr. Bailes. Smith very gravely
replied, that it was a favorite watch that he had owned for a long time;
but that if he had heard of one like it having been stolen, he had no
objection to leave it with him until he returned, which would be in
about two weeks. Mr. D. replied that the suspicion was so strong, that
he thought he would detain him also, until he could hear from
Fredericton. Smith rejoined that he was on important business and could
not be detained; but if he would pay his expenses and make himself
responsible for the damage incurred by his detention, he would have no
objection to stop till he could send to Fredericton. Otherwise, he would
leave the watch, as he proposed before, and would return in ten or
twelve days, during which time Mr. D. might satisfy himself as to the
watch. He appeared so perfectly at ease, without discovering the
slightest indications of guilt, that on these conditions they suffered
him to pass on. He continued his march until he came to the road that
leads to the American settlement, and as it drew towards evening he
enquired of a resident by the way concerning the road to the American
side; but was asked by the man to tarry till morning, as it was then
near night and the settlement yet twelve miles distant. He did not
choose to comply with the invitation, and advanced, as an apology, that
two men had gone on before him, and he feared they would leave him in
the morning if he did not proceed. It happened in a very short time
after, that two young men arrived there from the settlement, and being
asked whether they had met two men on the road, they answered in the
negative. It was then concluded that Smith was a deserter, and they
turned about and followed him to the American settlement, but found
nothing of him. The day following, Mr. Foster and Mr. DeForest arrived
at Woodstock, and finding themselves still on the track of him, they
pursued on to the American line, but could hear nothing concerning him.
They then informed the inhabitants of Smith’s character; and proposed a
reward of twenty pounds for his apprehension. The people seemed well
disposed and promised to do their utmost.
Messrs. F. & D. then made their way back to the river St. John, and
there, most unexpectedly, came across the path of our adventurer again.
They found that he had crossed the river, stopped at several houses for
refreshments, and called himself Bond. That he had assumed the character
of a pursuant in quest of the thief who had broken out of Kingston jail;
said that he was a notorious villain, and would certainly be hung if
taken, and appeared to be extremely anxious that he should be
apprehended. They traced him down to the river where the Indians were
encamped, and found that he had agreed with an Indian to conduct him
through the woods to the United States, by the way of Eel River, a route
not unfrequently travelled; and hence had baffled all the efforts of his
pursuers, and finally escaped. Messrs. F. & D. thought it was now time
to return and make their report. It afterwards appeared that the Indian,
his conductor, after having gone about two days on the route, began to
be weary of his job, (perhaps finding that it might not be productive of
much profit,) and discovered that Smith carried a pistol, which he did
not like very much, refused to guide him any longer, gave him back part
of his money and returned. This materially turned the scale with our
adventurer and fortune, that had hitherto smiled on his enterprise,
refused, like the Indian, to conduct him much further. Unable to pursue
his journey alone, he was, of course, obliged to return, and he had now
no alternative but to try his chance by the known road. It was now the
tenth of October, and he re-appeared on the old ground, wanting
refreshment and in quest as he said, of a deserter. While his breakfast
was preparing, information of his presence was circulated among the
inhabitants, and Dr. Rice, who was a principal character in the place,
effected his apprehension, and had him secured.
The clothes he had stolen from Mr. Ingraham he had on, excepting the
pantaloons, which he had exchanged for a pistol. He said he had
purchased the clothes very cheap from a man who he believed was a
Yankee. He was then taken in charge by Mr. A. Putnam, and Mr. Watson,
who set out with their prisoner for Fredericton. On their way they
stopped at the Attorney General’s, three miles from Fredericton, and
then proceeded into town, where the Supreme Court was then sitting. The
prisoner was brought before the Court in the presence of a large number
of spectators. The Honorable Judge Saunders asked him his name, and he
unhesitatingly answered, “Smith.” “Are you the man that escaped from the
gaol at Kingston?” “Yes.” On being asked how he effected his escape, he
said the gaoler opened the door and the priest prayed him out. He was
then ordered to prison for the night, and the next day he was remanded
to Kingston gaol. Putnam and Watson set out with him in an Indian canoe,
one at each end, and the prisoner handcuffed and pinioned, and tied to
the bar of the canoe, in the centre. They were obliged to watch him the
first night at the place where they lodged, and the next day they
reached the house of Mr. Bailes, opposite Spoon Island, where he had
stolen the watch and the money, etc. It was near night, and the passage
to Kingston rather difficult; and they being strangers, Mr. B. proposed
that if they would stop with him till morning, he would conduct them to
Kingston himself. They willingly complied and having been up the
preceding night, Mr. B. proposed that if they would retire and take some
rest, he with his family would keep watch of the prisoner. After they
had retired, the prisoner enquired the way to Saint John, and whether
there were any ferries on this side the river. He then asked for a
blanket and leave to lie down. Mrs. B. made him a bed on the floor; but
before he would lie down, he said he had occasion to go to the door. Mr.
B. awakened Mr. Watson, who got up to attend him to the door. Smith said
to him that if had any apprehensions, he had better tie a rope to his
arm, which he accordingly did, fastening it above the handcuffs, with
the other end wound round his own hand. In this situation they went out
of doors; but in an unguarded moment, Smith watching his opportunity,
knocked him down with his handcuffs, leaving the rope in the hands of
his keeper, having slipped the other end over his hand without untying
the knot.
Thus, handcuffed and pinioned, and bound with a rope, the ingenious
horse-stealer, by another effort of his unfailing ingenuity, akin to his
mock-sickness, in the gaol, had effected a second escape from his
keepers, leaving it as a matter of choice, whether to institute a
hopeless search for him in darkness of the night, or sit down in sullen
consultation on what plan they had best pursue in the morning. Nothing
could exceed the chagrin of Putnam and Watson on finding themselves
robbed of their prisoner, except the confusion which filled myself and
the gaoler on the knowledge of his unexampled and noted escape from the
gaol. To pursue him in the night, which was unusually dark, and rainy
besides, was both hopeless and vain; it was therefore thought best to
inform the sheriff in the morning of what had taken place, and receive
his advice as to future proceedings. In the morning, accordingly, Mr.
Putnam proceeded to Kingston, and on communicating the news to the
sheriff, received a supply of money, with orders to pursue the road to
St. John, while the sheriff, with two men, proceeded to Mr. Bailes’.
There they received information that Smith had changed his course, and
crossing the Oaknabock Lake in the night, was directing his course
towards Fredericton again.
It will be remembered that previous to his escape, while a prisoner at
Mr. Bailes’, he made particular enquiries whether there were any ferries
on the way to Saint John, on this side the river. At this time it would
seem that he had looked upon his scheme as successful, and evidently
directed those enquiries concerning the road with a view to mislead,
while it was his policy to return upon the course which would be judged
the most unlikely of all he should take. But to return to our story. He
came to the lake the same evening he had got clear of Mr. Watson and the
rope, and there urged as a reason of his haste in crossing the lake in
the night, that he was on his way to Fredericton to purchase land, and
that he had arranged it with Putnam and Watson, who had gone to Kingston
with the thief, to take him up in their canoe on their return, and was
to meet them at the intervale above, early the next morning. This well
varnished and characteristic story procured him a speedy passage over
the lake, and now our adventurer is in undisputed possession of the
country, at liberty to choose which way he should turn his face.
On being put in possession of these particulars, we immediately and
naturally supposed that he was wisely and prudently directing his course
to the United States, by the way of the Oromocto; and so we followed up
his retreat accordingly; but in that direction no intelligence could be
obtained, and we remained in total ignorance of his proceedings and
history up to the 26th of October. At this date, when it was supposed
that he had transported himself into the United States, to our
astonishment and surprise we find him again in the prosecution of his
usual business in the immediate vicinity of Fredericton. His first
appearance there again, was in a bye-place, at a small house not then
occupied as a dwelling. It was drawing towards night, and the day having
been rainy, he came to the house wet and cold. An old man by the name of
Wicks, with his son, was engaged in repairing the house, in which they
had some potatoes. There was also a quantity of dry wood in the house,
but as the old man was about quitting work for the day, he had suffered
the fire to burn down. The stranger was anxious to lodge in their humble
habitation for the night, but the old man observed to him, that they did
not lodge there at night, and gave him an invitation to the next house,
where he could accommodate him better. He did not accept the invitation,
but said that he must go on eight or ten miles that night, and so he
departed.
The old man and his son secured the door and retired to their lodgings;
but when the morning came it was found that Smith had returned to the
old house, spent the night, burned up all the wood, regaled himself on
roasted potatoes, and again took his departure. The following night he
paid a sweeping visit at the house of Mr. Wilmot seven miles from
Fredericton. Finding a large quantity of linens, sprinkled and ready for
ironing, he made a full seizure of the whole, together with a new coat
belonging to a young man belonging to the house. The plunderer, finding
his booty rather burthensome, took a saddle and bridle, which he
happened to discover, put them on a small black pony, which was feeding
in the pasture, and thus rode with his luggage till he came within two
miles of Fredericton. There he found a barrack or hovel, filled with
hay, belonging to Jack Patterson, a mullato, which presented a
convenient retreat where he could feed his horse and conceal his
plunder. Here he remained some days undisturbed; would turn his horse
out to feed on the common in the day, concealing himself in the hay, and
would catch him at night, ride into town, make what plunder he could,
return to his retreat, and conceal it in the hay.
Our adventurer thought it was now high time to pay his respects to the
Attorney General himself, who lived about three miles distant. Here he
was not altogether unacquainted, having made a previous call on his
passage as a prisoner from Woodstock to Fredericton. He arrived on the
spot about nine o’clock in the evening, retaining, no doubt, an accurate
remembrance of the entrance to the house; and everything proved
propitious to the object of his visit; for it happened that there was
much company at the Attorney General’s on the same evening, whose
overcoats, cloaks, tippets, comforters, &c., &c., were all suspended in
the hall. He did not obtrude himself upon the notice of the company, but
paid his respects to their loose garments, making one sweep of the whole
consisting of five top coats, three plaid cloaks, a number of tippets,
comforters and other wearing articles! Having been more successful than
perhaps he expected, he rode back through the town to the place of
concealment, deposited his booty, and gave his horse, after his travel,
a generous allowance of hay. This generosity to his horse led to his
detection, for Patterson happening to perceive that his hay was lying in
an unusual manner out of the window of his barrack immediately formed an
opinion that some person had taken up lodgings in the hay, and in this
he was not mistaken; for on coming to the spot, he found Smith lying in
the hay, with a white comforter about his neck. On perceiving him to be
a stranger, he asked him where did he come from, and was answered that
he came from the Kennebeccasis, was after land, and getting belated had
taken up his lodging in the hay, and hoped it was no harm.
After Patterson had gone into his house he perceived that the traveller
had retired from the barrack by the window and was making towards the
woods. Upon perceiving this, the idea of his being a deserter instantly
presented himself to his mind and calling for assistance, he soon made
the stranger a prisoner, which was easily affected, as he did not make
much effort to escape. It was soon discovered that their prisoner was no
less a person than the far-famed Henry More Smith, and no time was lost
in committing him to Fredericton gaol.
Patterson, not seeing the comforter with him which he wore around his
neck, in the hay, was induced to examine the hay if perhaps he might
find it. This led to the discovery of his entire deposit; for, he not
only found the immediate object of his search, but also all the articles
previously mentioned, with many more, which were all restored to the
owners respectively.
Upon the examination of the prisoner, he gave no proper satisfaction
concerning the articles found in the hay; he said they were brought
there by a soldier, who rode a little pony, and went off, leaving the
saddle and bridle. He was then ordered to be taken by the sheriff of
York County and safely delivered to the sheriff of King’s County in his
prison. Accordingly, the sheriff prepared for his safe conveyance an
iron collar, made of a flat bar of iron, an inch and a half wide, with a
hinge and clasp, fastened with a padlock. To the collar, which was put
around his neck, was fastened an iron chain, ten feet in length; thus
prepared, and his hands bound together with a pair of strong handcuffs,
after examining his person lest he should have saws or other instruments
concealed about him, he was put on board a sloop for his old residence
in Kingston. They started with a fair wind, and with Patterson, the
mulatto, holding the chain by the end, they arrived with their prisoner
at Kingston, a distance of sixty miles, about 12 o’clock on the night of
the 30th of October, which was better than one month from the time of
his triumphant escape through means of his pretended indisposition. On
his reappearing in the old spot and among those who had ministered so
feelingly to his comfort during the whole period of his affected
illness, and whom he had so effectually hoaxed, it might have been
expected that he would have betrayed some feeling or emotion; or that a
transient blush of shame, at least would have passed over his
countenance; but ah! no; his countenance had long since become seared,
and there was no sensibility within, strong enough to give the slightest
tint to his shame proof countenance. He appeared perfectly composed, and
as indifferent and insensible to all around him as though he were a
statue of marble.
On the ensuing morning he was conducted to the gaol, which he entered
without hesitation or seeming regret. After his former escape, it had
been cleared out of everything, and carefully swept and searched. In the
course of the search there were found several broken parts of a watch,
and among the rest, the box which contained the main spring, this
convinced us that the watch, (which he received from the young man
before his escape, in exchange for the spy-glass,) was intended to
furnish him the materials for making a saw in case all other plans he
might adopt to accomplish his release should fail to succeed. We found a
large dinner knife cut in two, which we supposed to have been done with
a saw made of the mainspring, as a trial or experiment of its utility.