Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1856-02-09
of the war, and feeling measureably alarmed

W OF the surrounding nils seemed clOthe
with supernatural grandeur, when suddenl
the door Of their residence was burst open
party OF four men, who had been engage
as workmen at the Tory Blast Furnace,
under the command OF Cluudius Smith q nc
torious leader of the Tories in that part G
the State. Their faces were besmeared wit
paint, giving them frghtful and terrifyn
look. in order. no doubt, to prevent bcn
recognized by Captain Iloif Without
word Of ceremony they walked into the house
Mr.. lloil, at first not suspecting their inten
tlons. They were not long, however in ma
King their purpose known for they presented
a pistol his breast. with the demand "Lq N
name IF he king, dclirer up your money an,
other raludJfes."
Surprised at this strange procedure. th,
young captain began 10 demonstrate, but the,
declared that they would have his money o.
his life. Still undauntcd, Captain Hoff deter
mined to give them as warm reception a.
the nature of their visit deserccd. Quietly
moving himself back from the table, as if il
the act OF handing his money over to them
he darted furiousy at the leader of the Tory
band and irlled him to the floor with his fist
This was the signal for general melee, du.
ring the continuance OF which the lights were
extinguished, and neither of the beIigerents
dared to fire in the dark. fearing that they
might lnjure their own party, and thus do
more harm than good. The confusion in the
dlnlng-room attracted the servant to the scene
of conflict. anu as she entered the room. one
of the tories ordered her to produce the light,
but as she attempted to do so the candle was
knocked out of her hand by Captain lIoff-
At this iuncturo Of affairs the tories endea-
vorcd to tie him, but, like Curtius, he bravely
contended with them. declaring--"l never
viii he tied. ] never will be carried away
uW d'e Ike soldier ut mg post :"
| AT this reSolute determination. and seeing
| that he had at least one of their lives IT, his
power--for he had good pistol-they relaxed
| IN their efforts to make him prisoner, and
| sought compromise. He answered them
that he would never consent to any such ar
| rangement, unless they solemnly pledged
| themselves to njure none of his family. To
this proposition they readily assentct. and
seeing that further resistance might result in
consequences Of q serious character. through
the earnest entrraties Of his wife, Captain
Ion gave the robbers his keys. Ind informed
them that they might find all they could
This unceremonious visit of the robbers was
prompted by the impression that they should
he able to obtain handsome sum of money
which had been received by Captain Hoff. in
exchange for lot Of bombs and cannon balls
which had just been disposed of, but which
however, the Captain had buried in his yard
for safe keeping Having the keys in their
possession, the robbers proceeded to search
the house. Every drawer and desk was care
fully examined, bnt not finding as much mon
ey as they anticipated, they commenced col
lecting together everything the house con
tanned in the shape of clothing, and other
articles. and tied them up in bags They
even stripped the beds. and every particle Of
wearing apparel had been seized. At this
iuncture. however, Mr.. Hof' interlered, say
ing, very modestly:
Il hardly think You are acting the fair
thing to take my wedding suit"
Looking him steadily in the face with
sort oi grave perplexity, one Of the gang re-
piled:
at isn't fair--and we won't take the suit"
Saying this, lie handed it back to the own
or. Mrs. lloT was less fortunate. The
thieves took all her wearing apparel even
rndely snatching from her cap an ornament
which she had worn there. There we're sew
eral things priced by her very highly, which
we're seized, aud in kind tone of entreaty
she said to them:
"Oh. leave me that scarlet cloak that !
may wear it when 60 to see my mother"
But, the leader paying little attention TO
her solicitation, threw it over his shoulder,
remnrking:
This cloak will shine in New York :"
Upon discovering the character of this par
ty Mrs. Hon ut once set to work, in man
ner which deserves the greatest comnenda-
ton. to secure such of her property us she
could. unpcrceiyed by the tories. She care
fully gathered up what silver she had on the
table, and some other trnkciS cf value. which
= .sin ir ',nr IL
TWO watches. one belonging to her husband
and the other to his brother As i'll luck
would have it, in the struggle these spoons
made an unfortunate rattling. which arrested
the attention Of one of the thieves Instantly
placing pistol at her breast, lie demanded
and made her give up the treasure. All that
this heroic woman succeeded in saving was
three rings, which, in attempting to put into
her pocket. fell on the floor and basket Of
bed-clothng which she had managed To put
under the bed umobsPrved by the tories. One
of these rings is said to be still in the posses
sion OF member Of the family.
Capt. liol resorted to several experiments
to induce them to desist pillaging his house.
but finding all attempts unavailing, he made
an attempt to overcome them by strong drink. !
They were, however, too nistrustful to be
caught in that way, and finally decamped Ia
hluS Win tHcln All Tue SOous tHey Cuulu pack |
upon five horses They took all the horses
belonging to Captain IIoiI. and, before eav-
ing. Smith, the leader of these unwelcOme !
visitors, approached Mrs. Hotf. and, with an
mir OF perfect sauvity, saying, as he took her
by the hand
Il feel exceedingly sorry for you, madam,
but have been robbed myself and this is |
the way take revenge.
Having secured all they could at this house |
they proceeded on their journey over the |
mountains towards New York. committing on |
their route all the depredations which the |
strength of their party allowed. Among the |
mountains their overloaded horses became |
lame, and for their own safety they were obli- |
ged to turn them loose in the woods, where |
they.were afterwards found by party sent in |
pursuit OF TIE robbers by General Wines. and |
returned to their owner. Their saddles aud |
brides were also found hidden among the |
rocks. Captain Hotf entertained strong
suspicious against three of his neighbors, |
named james Babcock. Isaac Babcock and
james Allen, and although the paint on their
faces at the time prevented positive idrnti-
fcation, yet his suspicious were more than
confirmed in letter which he received some
years afterwards. from an intimate friend. 1t
was as follows
"RISGwoop, April IL, 1870.
"SIR 81 would inform you that you wero
robbed by Ioaac Babcock, James Babcock