American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-10-10
A GinsV Character.

history oil the ulpsles
Young Charlie Graham son and sue
cessor, as chief, TO old Cha,lie, was eye
cuted, about thirty years ago, for horse
stealing. The anecdotes which are told
Of this singular man are numerous
When he was apprehended, a number of
people assembled to look at him, as an
object of wonder; it being considered a
thing almos. impossible to take him
His dog had discovered to the messen-
gers the place of his concealment, hav
ing barked at them as they came near
the spot. His feelings became irritated
at the curiosity of the people, aud he
called out in great bitterness to the off.
GERS " Let me free, and give me stick
three feet lang, and I'll clear the knowe
o them" His feet and hands were 50
handsome and small, in proportion to the
other parts of his athletic body, that
neither irons uQr handouts could be kept
on his ankles or wrists without injury
to his person the gives and manacles al
ways slipped over his joints. He had .
preposscssing eountenauce, an elegant
figure, and much generosity Of heart; /;
and Notwithstanding all his tricks, was an
extraordinary fyorite with the pub ic
Among the many tricks he played, it is
related that he once. unobseryed, in
grass park, converted young colt into a
gelding. lie allowed the animal to re
main for some time in possession OF the
owner, and then stole it. He was imme
diately detected and apprehended but
as the owner swore positively to the des
cription of his horse, and Charles being
golding, he got off clear. The man
was amazed when he discovered the trick
that had been played upon him, but
when, where, aud by whom done, he
was entirely ignorapt. Graham sold the
animal to a third person, again stole il
aud replaced it in the park Di the orig
iual owner. Tie seemed to take grea
delight in stealth in this ingenious man
ner, trying how dexterously he could car
ry Of The property'of the astouished ma
tiycs He sometimes stole from wealthy
individuals, and gayc the booty to the
indigcnt, althou. h they were not Gipses;
and so accustomed were the people in
some places to his bloodlesE' robbcries,
that some only put spurs to their horses
calling out as they passed hi a: /" All
ha, Charlie lad, yc hac missed your mark
tonight |" A widow, with a large fam
ily at whose house he had frequently
been quartcred, was in great distress for
want OF money to pay her rent. Charlie
lent her the amount required; but as the
FACTOR was returning home with it in his
pocket, Charlie robbed him, and with
out loss Of time, returned it to the wo.
man and gaye her full discharge for
the sum she had just borrowed from
him.
He was as ked Immediately before his
execution if he had ever performed any
good action during his lite, to recommend
him to to the mercy Of his offended God
That of giving the widow aud fatherless
the money of yhich he Immediately
after robbed the factor, was the only in
stance he adduced in his favor; thinking
that thereby he had performed u yirtuous
deed. In the morning Of the day in
which he was to suffer, he sent message
to one of the magistrates, requesting
razor to take of his beard at the same
time in calm manner, desiring the per.
son to tell the magistrate that unless his
beard was shaven, he could appear before
God nor man. A short lime before he
was taken out to the gallows he was OBJ
served reclining very pensively and
thoughtiully on seat. All at once
he started up, exclaimlng in mourniu
tone of voice, "Oh, can any o ye read,
sirs; will some o ye read psalm to me?'
at the same time regretting much that
he had not been taught to reed. The
fifty frst psalm was accordingly read to
him by gentleman present, which
soothed his feelings exceedingly, and
gave him much ease and comfort. He
was greatly agi,ated aiter ascending the
platform-his knees knocking against
each other; but just before he was st
off, his inveterate Gipsy feelings return