The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-06-01
Confession OF n Dying Thief.

Confession OF n Dying Thief.
A few weeks since an old man was ar
rested in Troy, N. Y, having in his pos
session horse and buggy which he had
stolen from livery stable in Norwich,
Chenango county. The man gave his
name as Burr Demlng, and was notice.
able for the absence of hair on his head
and face. Shortly after his arrest he was
taken i'll and continued to grow worse I'M
til Saturday. when he died. The day be-
fore he died he requested clergyman to
be summoned to his bedside, as he de-
sired to make certain revelations and
confessions before he died. The story
he told, or portions Of it, have Just been
made public. and is one Of the most ex-
traordinary narratives known to the rec
ords of crime.
He was born, he said, in Sharon, Litch-
field county, Conn.,, and the fact of his
having no hair attracted the attention of
r. L. Barnum, when that Snowman first
started out, and who engaged him to
travel with him. Barnum advertised him
as "Vancouver, the no-haired man of Van
couver's Island," \ feature of the early
exhibitions of Barnum which will be re-
membered by many yet living. de was
with Barnum seven years, end then left
him to follow life of crime, which he
adhered to ever after. He was married
eight times, and seven of his wives he de-
clares, are yet living---one in New York,
two in Philadelphia, one in Connecticut,
one in New Orleans, one in Lockport and
one in Boston. he said he had been con.
cerned in no less than three hundred
burglaries since he left Barnum, three of
which we're attended with murder. He
had been arrested lis times, and served
many times in prison, ranging from six
months to two years. The last time he
was sentenced was in Buffalo. He was an
accomplice of Dan Noble in the cele-
brated bond robbery of 1859, and in 1870
he was tried at Buffalo and sentenced BY
Judge Boardman to five years in Auburn
Prison. He served two of it, and was
at the petition Of friends.
After leaving Auburn, Deming went to
Canada. He had been there but a few
months when he joined a gang of burglars
and planned and helped to execute the
robbery of the St. Satherines' Bank. He
was arrested before he could leave the
province, all the rest escaping. When
put upon trial he succeeded in establish
ing an alibi through the testimony of one
Mary Washburne, a supposed respecta.
BILE seamstress Of St. GATHERINGS, but in
reality the wife Of one Of the gang and an
accomplice in the robbery. There is =
reward, Deming said, Of $4,000 standing
for the arrest of the parties engaged in
the St. GATHERINGS robbery. They got
away with about $4,000 and a large
amount of bonds. These latter, accord
ing to the dying criminal, were buried in
Delaware county, near the Ulster county
line, and arc there yet for all he knew to
the contrary. Deming said that the rob.
berry of the United States mail Of i've
bags of valuable matter at Utica a year
ago was planned by him, but he did not
participate in the robbery, although he
knew all the parties engaged in it, and
how they have managed to elude justice.
He was one of the gang who committed
the Comstock robbery, also in Utica,
which, he said, did no yield the amount
that was reported as taken, it being, in
fact, an Improbable job. Besides these
leading crimes in which he was con-
cerned. Deming confessed to being a
leader in numerous others which &C.
quired but locsl reputation, but which
were important as to the profit they
yielded. He claimed to know who broke
opsn the Port Jervis Bank in 1889, when
about $4,000 in money and, bonds
were stolen, and said he was one of the
watchers outside when it was done.
Deming also said that he knew who
robbed and murdered MIR. Edwards few
months ago at Cooperstown. 1t will be
remembered that Edwards, who was a
wealthy resident of Cooperstown, was at
tackled at eight at his residence, robbed
and murdered. By hat which was left
behind by the murderer or murderers a
supposed clew was obtained to a party
concerned in the crime, and he was ar.
rested. Deming said they had not cot
the right man; that he knew to whom
the hat belonged. He gave detailed
account of that crime, mentioning the
names of those concerned in it, and
made many extraordinary Developments.
which the authorities who now have the
sworn confession will not as yet divulge.
Deming lived but few hours after max
ing his statement and was fully aware of
his approaching dissolution. Opinion az
to the truth of his confession is consider
ably divided; many believing that a
dying man would not trump up the sto-
RES ne told, and others claiming that
Demlng was crazy. An investigation Of
the statements will be made, and their
truth or faisitv aok,loI ~