Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-08-03

| Rejoiced to quit this lonely life,
| I'll brush my beaver, cease to scold,
! And look about me for wife. -.. ....
An Old Swindler Turned Up Again
-Aais Operations ON a Cincinnati
Bank-Benj. w. Allen, late of
Springfield, Oils Late Career.
The greater portion OF our readers will
remember the cashing of an altered check
| from 500 to $4,000 by a Cincinnati bank,
cal, one Benjamin w. Allen. The following,
from The 50. Paul Pioneer, furnishes the
later history of this forger:
Our citizens may have noticed for few
weeks past, in the streets, genteel-looking
| individual, a stranger evidently, and, from
| popularity. in his dress, generally known
as "The Man in the Velvet Coat" He usu-
ally wore a sort of u violet-cOlored velvet
coat and carried cane-his whole cut
| somewhat savoring of fancy sporting man,
or upper-crust gambler. 10 the few who
managed by accident to become acquainted
with him, he was known as the 'HOn. John
w. Harris" formerly of Texas, and gen.
| tlemen of great wealth, stopping at the In
| ternational with his wife.
This apparently quiet and respectable
man, however, is the nero of a strange story
of crime-the perpetrator of series of vii
| lainies rarely equaled for boldness and de-
pravity, which we will cndeavor to narrate,
commencing at the beginning Of his career
of rascality.
In 1856 a man came to the city of Spring.
field, Ohio, calling himself Benz. w. Allen
He was destitute of means, but in some way
managed to get about hundred dollars,
when he disappeared. After time, he re-
turned, bringing with him considerable
money. How it was obtained, no one ever
knew-nor was anything known about him
or his past history, indeed. He started a
small brokers' shop, and managed to secure
the confidence of the people OF Springfield
to such an extent, that small deposits were
made with him, and finally heeXtended and
enlarged his business, until he came TO
transact considerable banking. He was
| well known to bankers in Cincinnati hav-
ing dealings with some of them, and being
considered by them as ''sOund" and ''good 3
His banking-hOuse was called the SIX
change Bank" of Springfield. .TI
In the winter of 1864 he proposed for
the hand of an estimable and ACCOMPLISHED
young lady of Springfield, daughter of a
man of wealth, and very respectable. AS
his character and standing seemed what
they should be, he was accepted, and they
were married in February, 1854 They
lived very happily for a few months. when
the first step in crime was taken by Allen.
A bank at Cincinnati had occasion IN
send package of about $l0O to Allen, and
on the same day to send package of Sl0-
| 600 to a bank at indianapolis. BY an error
of the clerk, who made up and sent the
packages, the larger amount was sent to
Allen, and the smaller one to the other
bank. This was in June, 1864. : G'''N
Whether Allen was depraved and bad at
heart previous to this we cannot saw. He
told an officer atterward, who asked him
why he did it, that when he found tbe mis-
take the bank had made-that he
could make $9,000--he was overcome bv the
temptation and fell. Men do not alwavs
fall so suddenly and so easily, however,
The heart and conscience must have been
prepared IN some way for it. But Allen
did yield to 1t though. He gathered up all
the money of his depositors, and forged ac-
ceptances on his father-in-law and other
wealthy business men of Springfield for
| large amounts. With these he made hur-
ried visit to Cincinnati, got them cashed at
banks where he was acquainted, and with
the ill-gotten booty decamped between two
| nights. 1t is not known how much he took
| with him, but it is reported at $SO.0OO.-
| This is probably too large an estimate. but
| it must have been considerable sum. His
wife and family were overwhelmed with
shame at the affair. They now live in Gin
cinnati, we learn.
A forger, a thief, a vagabond, fleeing from
| Justice. "Allen" was now adrift on the
world, seeking only to escape detection.
The bank aforesaid, and other parties swim
died by him, had accomplished detectives
on his track, but although, under varions
disguises and dltdses-eight in ali. we learn
-he was traced to st. Louis and CHICAGO.
and in the oil regions, and Saratoga and
other places, they did not 90 to where he
might have, been easily nabbed-and that
was st. Paul.
He came here some time during last sum-
mer, as an invalid, or pleasure-seeker, and
remained some time. He subscribed to The
| New York Herald at Coombs', and that gen.
| tleman managed, through his daily visits, to
become quite well acquainted with him, but
Allen kept up his assumed character quite
cleverly. r
He stopped atone Of our first-class hotels,
associating with the multitude Of pleasure
seekers and invalids who then thrOnged st.
Paul, spending much of the time with the
tender sex, much of his money for wine, in
dulging frequently in amorous dalliance
upon the shores OF Lake Como" where. il
/ is said, he and his charmer (another mans
wife) were won't to reeline meath the sylvan
shade, gambol on its mossy banks, and lave
their limbs in its limpid tide. ,'... -, ..,,,
His next appearance was last winter, at
the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York, where,
under the name OF the "Hon. j. w. Harris
late of Texas" a man reputed to be worth
a million, he readily made his way into
society. His manners, his profuse expendi-
ture of wealth, and his style, all tended to