West-Jersey pioneer., 1867-04-19
GREAT ROBBERY

GREAT ROBBER
OF the New Jersey State Treasury!-Ten
Thousand Nine Hundred and Fourteen
Dollars and seven Cents Stolen mo
Clue to the Burglars
Start not, taxpaying citizens of the State
We are taking you back sixty four years from
date, and to a generation of which bnt a
spared monument here and there remains
On the morning of the 21st day of October,
1909, party Of burglars entered the residence
of the State Treasurer in Trenton and perpe-
trated the robbery, an account of which is
hereunto annexed We found it in an old,
yellow, and dilapidated copy of the True
american, bearing date Nov. 7, 1903. 1t is
singular fact that the perpetra tors of this bold
outrage were never de etected. The account
will be read with interest
The following affidavit of James Saltar, ESQ.
Treasurer of this State, will afford our readers
an ample and correct knowledge of the circum-
stances of the robbery lately committed upon
| the treasury. The committee of the Legisla-
ture before whom this affidavit, and a number
of others were taken, reported that '.they
have no hesitation unanimously to acauit the
| Treasurer of any, even the smallest degree, of
| intentional misconduct or deviation from the
most perfect reetitude of conduct" The lead
ing circumstances of Mr.. Salters affidavit, are
corroborated by other affidavits.
| James Saltar, ESQ.,, Treasurer of the State,
maketh oat, That on the morning of Friday,
the 21st of October, 1868, about two O'Clock,
| he heard noise in the yard at the back part
of bic whnn ha frct hoord - bo
doubtful whether it proceeded from rats,
with which the house is much infested, or
| from his mare in the stable. After a few
minutes he got up and dressed himself He
| lighted the candle by lamp which was usual
! ly kept burning in his chamber, and went
| down stairs with an intention of discovering
the cause of the noise. He was prevented
from awakening Mrs Saltar from an appre-
hension of alarming her. as she had been
| frightened the night before. On descending
| the stairs, and proceeding to the back door,
| he observed the door of the southwest back
room. t-hinh was usually kent shntl 20 he ~r----
on entering this room, he perceived small
window on the south side to be up and the
shutter open. He was then alarmed by an
apprehension of thieves having entered the
house, and at the same moment hearing a
rustling noise behind him, he turned round,
and discovered four men, who were within
three feet Of him, and prevented his retreat:
two of them appeared to be armed with dirks,
the others wikh knives they approached
within three feet of him. After momentarv
pause, one of them addressed him in a low
tone of voice, cautioned him against making
noise, said that money was their object, and
| that unless he opened the iron chest they
would Immediately put him to death, or words
to that effect. Seeing no means of resistance
ho off H.
iron chest, the keys of both being in his pocket
except one of the paddock keys of the chest
which was in a case in the office At this
time, the man who appeared to be the leader
of the gang cautioned him against making a
noise in opening the chest which migla awaken
any of the ia mily, under pain of immediate
death. The same man then waved his hand
for him to retire from the chest. He moved
back and sat down; one of the men st ood near
him with drawn weapon; the three others
were employed with their backs towards him.
examining the contents of the chest In
short time the leader came to him, and asked
him if a bag which he held IN his hand, with a
number of bundles of bank notes, contained all
that description of money which was in the
treasury. He told him it did. and BY way of
accounting for there being no more notes in
the chest, told him that most persons prefer
red receiving payments in notes, from their
being of more convenient carriage The man
then returned towards the chest, and took out
several bundles, apparently five or six. of
four to seven hundred dollars each, and placed
them on the floor near the chest. After this
the same leader, turning to his comrades
demanded of them what ought to be done with
him, the deponent, to prevent him from telling
tales, as he expressed himself. The man who !
stood guard over the desonent, turning toward
trunk cord which hung on nail over the
chimney, took it down and handed it to the
leader, who cut it in several pieces; he then
tied the deponent round the ANGLES. knees and
hands. with his arms behind him, gagged him
by putting the key stick used in opening the
chest through his mouth, with the ends tied |
by strings which were fastened round his neck. |
They then laid the deponent on the floor upon |
his side, with his face towards the back part
of the ROOM The deponent then heard them
take up several of the bags of silver with
which they left the room, locking the door
which communicated with the entry, and went
out through the back door, which the deponent
thought he heard closed after them. From
the time the thieves first entered the house,
until they left it, the deponent thinks was
about q quarter of an hour. They left the
candle near the door, on chest. After strug-
Cling nearly an hour, the deponent contrived
to move his position, and with difficulty got to
the door, W which he kicked for some time with
his stocking feet, until the noise awakened
the family. When Mrs Saltar came to the
door, he was much exhausted, and found great
difficulty in conveying to her q knowledge of
his situation, from the impossbility of articu-
lating with the gag in his mouth Mrs. Sal
tar, not finding the key in the door, went
back to the chamber, the window of which
she opened, and by loud and repeated screams
alarmed Mr.. Hunt, the next neighbor, who
came first to his assistance, and broke open
the door by knocking the lower panel out.
Mr.. Hunt and negro woman IA servant in the
house of the deponent) then united and cut
the ropes and strings which had been used to
bind and gag him. His great weakness from
the violence of his treatment, added to the
impaired state Of his health, obliged him to go t
10 bed Immediately after. The deponent has :
no knowledge of any one of the thieves; they !
Kept their faces much hid by their black
round hats and their great coats; they uniform
y spoke in low whispering tone of voice.
He fancied their leaders voice to denote him
% be of German extraction, but of this he can
'orm but an imperfect idea from their extreme
,aution in sgeaking low. The deponent recol-
ects that three of the men had on dark -colored
yreotcoats, the other was without one.
The person who appeared the principal. an.
,eared TO be about 5 feet 9 inches high, two
lbout 5'feet 8 inches, the fourth about S feet
inches. One had half boots, the others
hoe es. About ten O'Clock of the day of the !
obbery. the deponent recollecting tina large
um, amounting to about sixteen thousand