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Villainy on a Large Hcalc.The Sluiwueetown Advocate, of the 6th, contains a long article detailing the particulars of the discovery and arrest of a gang of villains, who have carried on. for years past, a regular system of kidnapping slaves, forgery, thieving, and perhaps murder. Their head-quarters wers 011 Wolfs island, K\\. near the corner of the States of Ken-kv. Tennessee. Illinois, and Missouri. TheiiCband was discovered not long since, through the fai I ure of a 11 a 1 tenipt by .one of the ring-leaders, to murder a Dr. Swayne, who had recovered a judgment for some 810.000 against Newton E. Wright, another prominent member of the gang. In May, iSOO. Wright gave Abe Thomas, a man of desperate character. 81*30 to kill Dr. S. Accordingly. Thomas, pretended to wish the Dr. to visit his sick father, enticed him from home, and aKemnted to murder him; but the Dr., af-4 ■*tor bring shut in the arm. gave the alarm, and the desperado escaped. Notwithstanding every ev.rtion was made to ferret out the villain, so deeply was the plot laid, that he was only accidentally discovered a short time ago; and hisdiseovorv led to the disclosure of the whole af-*»fairs of the company.Thev seem to have made a regular business oflt;i _ _stealing slaves in one State, running them ofF to another, and there selling them. Another of their modes of sjeciilating in negroes, seems to have been as follows: Some of their emissaries would make a tour through one of the neighboring slave States, enticing slaves to runaway and providing their victims with means to get intoSouthern Illinois. Arrived there, the fugitives were arrested by others of the gang, on the lookout for the runaways; fictitious claims to them were then set up. and maintained by false testimony and perjury. The slaves were then taken into one of the slave States and sold.They carried on another species of swindling upon an extensive scale, by means of fictitious claims against estates of deceased persons. Having forged notes for large amounts against such estates, they would prove the validity of the claim by some of their gang. In some cases, they had gone so far as to take depositions; and were orovided with countv seals, and every thing re-4 «• • oquisite to give their proofs the semblance of 1 a ga 11 r v.— Vince rtties Gazette.
Newspaper Details
Newburgh Warrick Democrat
Newburgh, Indiana, US
Tue, Jun 24, 1851
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Sullivan C.
IN, USA 23 Apr 2022
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