The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-11-19
The briggs Gang of lounterfeiters and
Their MOdnS Operant

The Davenport Nowa) DeD0cro1 az
Nov. , says We have been ina posses
sion for a considerable time af certain
facts connected with the notorious band
OF counterfcitcrS Of which Nelse Driors
was lcader. and which, for obvious r,.l-
sons, we nave not made public. until
the arrest recently of the principal
members of the gang renders secroc,no
longer necessary. The Gn,rn.. 4 f.vr
days ago, gave the history Of some ~
these fellows, while residing in thi, cilv.
80 we Will pass that over. They were
not unknown 10 many of our citizens.
but there is n of the gang that WAS
not mentioned, and rs we do not Ike ~
see any Of the " distinguished'' charar-
tcrs sighted, We want Ia give him due
credit for his share Of the work.
Some of our readers will remember.
no doubt, the notorious =. Nike Cullen
-at one time arrested here by mistake
for mickey" Mike Ono less notoriou,)
and subsequently arrested about 4
year ago for the burglary Of a hotel In
Le Claire. For this oilense he was tried.
found guilty and sentenced at the Feb
ruary term of the District Court. by
Judge Brannan, TO three years al Fl.
Madison.
lille Cullen was confined i'm iail i'm
this city, he made n confident OF a citi-
zen here, with n view of obtaining Nelse
briggs assistance to help him ont Of
The scrape-this was before his trial
aud two or more communication, were
Smuggled to briggs, mt C~cntralia. IN.
But whether the latter was out Of funds.
or whether he thought best 10 let Cullen
get fixed" we do not know "a any
rate. he made no effort in his behalf,
and Mike went mp
According To : Mikes statement. he
was with briggs party two Years, and
during this time, thoroughly secured
the western and southern country, dis
tributing untold amount, Of Boyd', best
. queer"-of all denominations, from
tifties 10 fives.
The party generally consisted Of four
men. besides briggs, and they travelled
almost exclusively on foot, and in the
night time. On arriving near a town
in the morning they would select some
secluded spot where they could lay by,
rest and sleep until after banking hours
provided the town afforded "A bank.
when two II the party would visit from
five 10 eight stores each-generally gro
Gerry st0res-in the outskirts Of theiown,
and buying some small articles, and
tendcringa genuine "ten' or twenty
find out whether the proprietors banked
their funds or not. and how they were
of for change. Then. after "spotting''
the requisite numbered places for opera
aim "a. f,-, ,tbar t,np,bar. az tI.
party would follow about nightfall, buy
from two To five dollars worth Of goods,
pay with a bogus twenty or fifty. gctthe
change, then leave the goods 70 go
down town 10 bring up their team
and. of course. never return.
Cullen stated that he frequently pur-
chased, among other things, a barrel u
salt. the showers" always represent
ing themselves as farmers, "new-com-
ers." and living "A few miles off.
briggs always carried the funds him
self, both genuine and queer but
never "shovcd'' any, always remaining
at the place Of rendezvous until the
boys reported. when he would settle
with them and mOyeOn-they receiving
twenty per cent. OF the net proceeds,
and the " old man. standing ali the loss
of goods bought-which were generally
thrown away OF never called for, and
the travelling expenses which cost Moth
ing but the provisions actually used,
consisting principally Of bread and
canned fruits.
Their route usually extended across
the country from the leading towns on
one line Of railroad to leading towns on
some parallel line Of road. and the
nights travel usually extended from
twenty to forty miles. mike" said that
briggs never drank any thing stronger
than water, nor would he allow his men
to drink. This was the cause Of the
rupture between them finally, for tul-
len was fond Of a drop and occasion
ally wandering into saloons would soon
render himself unfit for business, ami
endanger the whole gang. He claimed
to have been with briggs first for two
years, ending i'm the fall Of 1872, and
twice since that time.
Since leaving briggs. Cullen Jay, that
on two occasions. when he was 10 the
hands Of the cops the old man pir-
chased his silence by putting mp Tor
him, and getting him out of the scrapes'
The material facts in the foregoing
statement were known 10 the Officers "i
this city last spring, and have since
been verified by the operations OF tho
gang this summer. Cullen says ina
briggs, although at that time ,lNlA
eight years old, WA the best traveller I'D
the crowd, and never seemed to tire 81
relax in vigilance after the most cN-
hausti,c marches. But his marching
DAYS a, well a. those Of the rest p ih'
rang are over. After the doors OF Joll'i
closes on Nelse briggs he will he dean
TO the world.