dejected and squalid appearance of Barrington, made a most successful
use of his influence with government to obtain Barrington’s release,
upon the condition that he should leave the kingdom. To this as
Barrington gladly assented, he generously supplied him with a sum of
money to defray the expense of his removal to Ireland, where it is
understood this unhappy offender always persisted in stating that he
had friends and relatives of credit and character. In London he did not
think proper to stay longer than was needful to procure necessaries for
his journey; he therefore took the Chester coach, and in the course of
a week was enabled to reach the Irish capital, where his fame having
arrived before, he was looked upon with such an eye of suspicion, that
he was shortly apprehended for picking the pocket of an Irish nobleman
of a gold watch and his money at one of the theatres, and was soon
after committed to the New Gaol to be tried upon the charge, but was
acquitted for want of evidence.
Though he was acquitted on this occasion, he was perfectly convinced
that the Irish capital would be too warm to retain him. He quickly
determined to leave Ireland, and accordingly removed to the northern
parts of that kingdom, through which he took his way to Edinburgh,
where he concluded that he might, for some time at least, commit his
depredations with greater safety and facility than he could do either
in London or Dublin.
But, in the opinion which he had formed of the character of the Scots,
he soon learned by experience that he was grossly mistaken; for he was
quickly observed in the capital of Scotland, where the police is more
vigilant and severe than in most other parts of the British dominions.
He therefore thought it prudent to depart from Edinburgh, where his
gleanings were comparatively small.
However, being determined to return to London, he took Chester in his
way, and it being fair-time there, he is said to have contrived to get
possession of the amount of six hundred pounds in cash and bank notes,
with which he got clear off.
Such are the delusions of vice and the fatal sweets of ill-gotten
wealth, that, though additional danger attended his public appearance,
from the infraction of the terms on which he was liberated from his
confinement on board the hulks, (which were those of his leaving the
kingdom and never more returning to it,) still he frequented the
theatres, the Opera House, and the Pantheon, with tolerable success.
But he was now too notorious to be long secure: he was closely watched
and well-nigh detected at the latter of these places; at least, such
strong suspicions were entertained by the magistrates of his conduct on
the occasion, that he was taken into custody, and committed to Newgate.
Here again, for want of evidence, he got clear of the charge brought
against him; but, notwithstanding this, he was unexpectedly detained
at the instance of Mr. Duncan Campbell, the superintendent of the
convicts, for having returned to England in violation of the condition
on which his majesty was pleased to grant him a remission of the
punishment which he was sentenced to undergo on board the hulks; and
the consequence of the detainer was, that he was made what is called
a _fine_ at Newgate, during the unexpired part of the time that he
was originally to have served on the Thames. When the period of his
captivity in this prison expired, he was, as a matter of course, set at
liberty; and as usual, no sooner obtained his liberty, than he returned
to his former practices. He, however, was now more cautious; and being
connected with some accomplices of his own cast, he was not so easily
detected as he might have been with others less experienced.
In a state of alarm and anxiety, he lived a considerable time in
the society of the most profligate and abandoned characters of the
metropolis, when he was seen to pick the pocket of Mr. Le Mesurier,
at Drury-lane playhouse, and was immediately apprehended. Charge of
him was given to one Blandy, a constable, who, through negligence or
corruption, suffered him to make his escape. The proceedings against
him were carried on to an outlawry, and various methods were made use
of to detect him, for nearly two years, without effect.
But while the lawyers were outlawing him, and the constables
endeavoring to take him, he was travelling in various disguises and
characters through the northern counties of this kingdom. He visited
the great towns in those parts as a quack-doctor, or as a clergyman;
sometimes he went with an E. O. table, and sometimes he pretended to
be a rider to a manufacturing house at Birmingham or Manchester; and
travelling on horseback, with a decent deportment and grave appearance,
the account which he thought proper to give of himself was credited,
without any difficulty, by those who questioned him.
But, in spite of all these precautions, it sometimes happened that he
was known by gentlemen whom he met, once particularly in Lincolnshire;
yet no one offered to molest or intercept him, until he arrived at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where, on being recognised, he was suspected of
picking pockets, and, on inquiry, was discovered to be an outlaw:
upon which he was removed by a writ of habeas corpus to London, and
imprisoned in Newgate, where he arrived miserable and so dejected, that
on learning his circumstances, some of his friends made a subscription
for him, by which he was enabled to employ counsel, and to take legal
measures to have the outlawry against him reversed.
This being effected, he was tried for the original offence, that of
stealing Mr. Le Mesurier’s purse; but, through the absence of the Rev.
Mr. Adeane, a material witness for the prosecution, he was acquitted.
Being once more enlarged, he again set off for Ireland, in company with
a young man of the name of Hubert, well known in town for his fraud
on the duke of York. With this accomplice, he was so infatuated as to
endeavor to carry on his depredations in Dublin, where it was never
his fortune to remain for any length of time undetected; for, Hubert
being taken in the act of picking a gentleman’s pocket, and handing the
property to Barrington, he with great difficulty made his escape to
England, where he rambled about for some time previously to his arrival
in the capital, which he had scarcely entered, when he was taken into
custody for picking Mr. Henry Hare Townsend’s pocket of a gold watch.
Hubert, his accomplice, was tried at Dublin, and sentenced to
transportation for seven years; but he afterwards contrived to make his
escape.
On Wednesday morning, September 15th, 1790, Barrington was put to the
bar to be arraigned on an indictment charging him with stealing, on the
1st of September, 1790, in the parish of Enfield, a gold watch, chain,
and seals, the property of Henry Hare Townsend, Esq. Upon this occasion
Barrington displayed all the talents which it has been universally
admitted he possessed; but in spite of a long speech, which professed,
whether sincere or assumed, great contrition for his past offences, and
a determination to amend his life for the future, he was convicted, and
sentenced by the judge to seven years’ transportation.
During the voyage to Port Jackson, Barrington rendered an essential
service in quelling a mutiny in the vessel. Upon this occasion the
captain evinced his gratitude for the services he had performed, and
when they had reached the Cape, at the recommendation of the former, he
received a hundred dollars reward for his zeal and activity.
On their arrival at Port Jackson, Barrington having been recommended
to the governor, was placed in the first instance at Tamgabbe as a
subordinate, and was soon advanced to be a principal watchman, in which
situation he acquitted himself as a useful and active officer; insomuch
that the governor determined to withdraw him from the convicts; and at
the same time that he received his instrument of emancipation, he was
presented with a grant of thirty acres of land at Paramatta. He was
subsequently appointed superintendent of the convicts; and although not
permitted to return to England, was invested with all the immunities of
a freeman, a settler, and a civil officer, and had the satisfaction to
know that his diligence and activity were not only without suspicion,
but were fully appreciated.
It was here that Barrington resolved to revise the notes he had taken
during the voyage, and of describing more fully the places they had
touched at. He has accordingly produced a very useful and instructive
work.
In addition to this performance, he compiled a complete history of the
country itself, from its first discovery, comprehending an account
of its original inhabitants, their customs and manners, accompanied
with an historical detail of the proceedings of the colony from its
foundation to his own time.
He continued in the situation in which the governor had placed him till
his death; and performed the duties of his office with an unwearied
assiduity, which at last superinduced a general decay of nature, of
which he died in the year 1811.
JAMES PORTER
Was an Irishman, and a weaver by trade. He had been a robber in his
own country. We know not what events induced him to seek a refuge
in America, or what were his first adventures on this side of the
Atlantic. We first find him in Philadelphia, ostensibly working
at his trade, but in reality gaining his livelihood by dishonest
practices. He had two accomplices, George Wilson and Abraham Poteet,
weavers, who had learned their trade in the penitentiary. The former
was but twenty-three years of age; yet, though his days were few,
his iniquities were many. Poteet had been convicted at the Baltimore
city court of stealing four handkerchiefs, for which he was sentenced
to five years’ imprisonment. For a second theft he was sentenced
to imprisonment. He had also been convicted of breaking prison, of
attempting a stage robbery and wounding the driver, and of shooting at
the keeper of the Baltimore penitentiary. He was a native of Baltimore,
and Wilson also was an American. They became acquainted in the
penitentiary, and were jointly concerned in the attempt to break out,
in which the life of the keeper was endangered. Such were James Porter
and his associates.
Porter and Poteet became tired of stealing _wee things_, for so silver
spoons were denominated by Porter, and resolved to rob the Reading
mail, in order to make their fortune at once. To prepare for this
exploit Porter and Wilson crossed the Schuylkill, on the 20th of
November, 1829, and broke into the shop of Mr. Watt, a gunsmith. They
took thence five pistols and two powder-flasks. After this the three
companions repeatedly practised with their pistols to ascertain their
qualities.
On the 6th of December, the mail stage started from Philadelphia at two
in the morning, driven by one Samuel M’Crea. There were nine passengers
inside, and another on the box with the driver. The night was dark and
cloudy. When the stage had got two miles from the city and was nearly
opposite Turner’s lane, Porter started from the road-side, took the off
leading horse by the head and turned him round. At the same time Wilson
and Poteet came up, one on each side of the coach, with presented
pistols, bidding the driver stop, “or they would blow his d--d brains
out.” He struck the horses with his whip, but could not make them go
forward. Poteet then ordered the driver and the passenger who sat
beside him to come down. The driver obeyed, and the passenger was about
descending, when Porter swore at his comrades for not putting out the
lamps. Poteet put out the lamp on his side with the butt of his pistol:
Wilson merely broke the glass of the lamp next him. Porter then left
the horses’ heads, ran up and dashed the light out with his pistol. He
asked the passenger if he had any weapons, and being answered in the
negative, took his handkerchief and tied his hands with it. The robbers
then rifled the passenger and bound the driver. Poteet asked the driver
if he did not think this a very rough introduction. He answered that it
was. The robber then asked him if he got his living by stage driving,
and he replied that he did, and “it was a hard way too.” “Well,” said
the ruffian, “this is the way we get our living, and ’tis very hard
with us sometimes.” While these matters were going on Poteet and Wilson
held their pistols in their hands, but Porter, more collected, thrust
his into his bosom.
This done, Porter and Poteet went to the doors, while Wilson watched
the two bondmen. Porter told the passengers they should receive no
injury if they did not resist. A Mr. Clarke proposed to attack the
robbers, but was overruled by the rest of the passengers. The gentlemen
then concealed some of their valuables. Porter asked if any of them
were armed, and being answered in the negative, answered sneeringly,
that “it was a pity.”
The thieves next compelled the true men to alight, one by one. Porter
searched them, and tied their hands with their kerchiefs. As fast as
he tied them he turned them over to Poteet, who kept them quiet with
his pistol. One of the passengers, after being tied, asked the robbers
for a quid of tobacco, which was put into his mouth by Poteet. Another
was very reluctant to part with his watch, which he said had been long
in his family, and at his urgent entreaty Poteet restored it. From
another, who was a physician, Poteet took the seal of a corporation and
a case of lancets, but put them back into the doctor’s pockets on being
told what they were. The gentleman then asked Porter for half a dollar
to pay for his breakfast, and the robber complied. Another of the
passengers asked Porter to restore his papers. “O,” said the ruffian,
“I dare say all this business will be published, and then I shall know
where to direct the papers. I will send you a letter.”
Mr. Clarke was the last but one who came out of the coach. As Porter
was plundering him he said, that if the other passengers had followed
his advice they would not have been robbed. “Well done!” replied the
robber. “I like to see a man of spunk.” After being tied, Mr. Clarke
walked up to Poteet, in order to be able to recognise him if they
should meet again. The rogue bade him stand off. “I hope,” said Mr.
Clarke, “you are not afraid of a small man, and he bound too.” “No,
sir,” said Poteet, “but I don’t want to be better acquainted with
you.” “I hope,” rejoined Mr. Clarke, “that we shall have a longer
acquaintance than this yet.” “I hope not, sir,” said Poteet. On Mr.
Clarke’s again observing that the passengers would have done better
to resist, Porter remarked that if they had, they would have seen the
consequences.
After the passengers had all been examined, the robbers took the
baggage out of the coach and from before and behind it. They then tried
to open the boot in which the mail bags were contained, but finding
some difficulty, they compelled the driver to do it. Mr. Clarke now
remarked that another stage would soon be along, and this intelligence
quickened their proceedings. One of them busied himself in rifling the
mails and trunks, while the other two put the passengers into the coach
again without untying them. They tied the driver again and lifted him
into his seat, after which they tied the leading horses to the fence by
the road side. This done, the robbers went off, so softly that neither
the driver nor any of the passengers were aware of their departure.
The gentlemen sat still in the coach some minutes after they were gone,
till one of them contrived to untie himself, and unbound the rest.
After some consultation, it was thought best to return to the city.
When they arrived at the post-office a person was despatched to the
scene of the robbery, where he found the mail bags cut open and the
packages and newspapers scattered around, but the villains had carried
away the letters.
On the 16th of December, Wilson carried one of the watches they had
taken to Crosswell Holmes, a pawnbroker, and pledged it for twenty
dollars. He said he was a carpenter unable to get employment, and
was therefore obliged to raise money on his watch. He agreed to pay
Mr. Holmes in -- days, with two dollars commission, and signed the
obligation “John James, North Second street.”
On the 21st, Porter carried another watch (a golden one) to a Mr.
Prentiss, a pawnbroker, and asked sixty dollars on it. Mr. Prentiss
refused to advance more than forty-five, when Porter left him, saying
he could get fifty anywhere. On this occasion he represented himself as
a carpenter, who wanted money to repair his house. The next day Wilson
called on Mr. Prentiss with the same watch, saying the gentleman who
owned it had made up his mind to take the forty-five dollars offered,
and that he would act as his agent. Mr. Prentiss gave him the money,
and wrote a receipt, which Wilson signed “George Brown, for John Keys.”
Nothing occurred to direct suspicion to either of our rogues as the
robbers of the mail till the middle of January, when a Mr. Jeffers, a
police officer of Baltimore, found reason to believe that Poteet and
Wilson were the persons who shot at the keeper of the penitentiary and
at the stage driver before mentioned. He sought them, and found Wilson
first, in a tavern. The robber drew a pistol from his pocket and bade
Mr. Jeffers stand off, but the latter seized him by the wrist and
collar and held him till the landlord came into the room. The landlord
took the pistol from Wilson at the request of Jeffers, who then asked
the culprit for the other, but he denied having any. However, after the
police officer had nearly strangled him he gave up another. Mr. Jeffers
thrust him into a chair, when he said, “Let me stand up, and I’ll give
it to you.” With the landlord’s assistance, Mr. Jeffers took him to a
magistrate’s office. He was committed to prison.
The next day Mr. Jeffers visited him, and told him he had heard that
two men had offered to pawn a gold watch, and he believed from the
description that he was one of them. At the same time he gave Wilson a
description of the other man. Wilson replied that it was Porter, and
but for him, he, Wilson, would not have been in this difficulty. He
added that Porter had a better right to suffer than himself, and he
would therefore disclose the whole matter. His story, as told to Mr.
Jeffers, was as follows.
He had gone out three several times with Porter to rob the Lancaster
mail, but his heart failing him, they returned without effecting their
purpose. When Porter and Poteet proposed to rob the Reading mail, he
would have had nothing to do with it, had he not feared that Porter
would kill him if he refused. He then described the robbery, and the
part each had taken in it, pretty much as we have related above. While
the pillage was going on, he said, he was very anxious to get away, but
Porter declared he would not hurry himself. He added that he was sorry
he had ever seen Porter. He was steady at work in Philadelphia till he
came and seduced him from his employment. He believed Porter would as
lief kill a man as eat his breakfast. All this confession took place
without any inducement on the part of Jeffers.
This confession put the police of Baltimore on the look-out for Porter
and Poteet. On the ninth of February, Mr. Stewart, a constable, met
Porter in the street, and accosted him with a question concerning his
health. He added that he had been looking for him all day, and must
now take him with him. Porter asked him what he wanted, and on what
authority he arrested him. The officer replied that he carried his
authority in his face, and then asked if he knew Wilson or Poteet, or
could tell where they might be found. He denied all knowledge of them,
but followed Mr. Stewart quietly to his house. The officer searched
him, and took from him a powder-flask and a pair of pistols. Porter
asked if he meant to keep them, and the constable replied that he did.
Porter very sternly said, “I hope I shall live to buy another pair for
somebody.” He admitted before a magistrate that he knew Poteet.
Mr. Stewart conducted Wilson to Philadelphia first, and Porter
afterwards. After they got into the stage, Wilson said that he believed
his case was hopeless, and that he would plead guilty to every charge
brought against him. Mr. Stewart asked him if he were not afraid to
undertake to rob a stage so full of passengers. “No,” replied the
villain, “three good men could rob a dozen at any time.”
Poteet was also arrested, and consented to save his own life by
becoming state’s evidence.
Porter’s demeanor after his arrest was marked by that cool courage that
seems to have been the only favorable trait in his character. He spoke
freely of his past life, without showing the least compunction, and
said that if the passengers had resisted, he would not have scrupled to
shed blood.
On the 26th of April, 1830, James Porter and George Wilson were brought
before the circuit court, and the grand jury presented six bills of
indictment against them.
They pleaded not guilty to all these indictments, and applied for
separate trials, which was granted.
On the trial Wilson was identified as one of the robbers, by the
evidence of some of the passengers, as well as that of Poteet. The
watches taken from the passengers, and pawned by him, were produced in
court and sworn to. So were the weapons stolen from Mr. Watt’s shop.
The other facts relating to the robbery were proved, in substance, as
we have given them.
The jury found a verdict of guilty.
Porter was next arraigned, and found guilty on the same evidence.
Sentence of death was passed upon him and Wilson. After sentence Porter
showed contrition, but suffered with the same hardihood that he had
exhibited throughout. We can accord him no pity. He was the master
spirit, the ringleader, the captain of a band of highway robbers. He
had collected a gang about him, drilled, marshalled, and equipped them,
and led them forth to an unholy warfare against the peace and interest
of society.
Wilson was pardoned by president Jackson; for what reason, we cannot
pretend to divine. The pardon set forth that certain disclosures were
expected from him but we never heard that he made any.
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious errors in punctuation were fixed.
Some of the illustrations were relocated to be closer to the relevant
content.
Page 38: “not much dis-disposed” changed to “not much disposed”
Page 74: “question whe- the loss” changed to “question whether the loss”
Page 115: “he ad not made a word” changed to “he had not made a word”
Page 186: “he barricadoed” changed to “he barricaded”
Page 193: “two of the villians” changed to “two of the villains”
Page 233: “considerable innkeeqer” changed to “considerable innkeeper”