, 1877-12-01
NUMBER 4
curiosities Of Crime.


The st. Louis Republican has
published a story from the lips
of C. d. Hildebrand, a convict
recently released from the Jail
at Jeffersonville. It was recelv-
ed by him from fellow crimin-
alnamed Hawkeye, alias Raleigh
Bill, who recited it on his death
bed. His first crime was the
killing Of a man in Charleston,
in 1850. Two years later he
committed murder and arson in
Milledgville. In 1854 he killed
a man in New Orleans. In 1858
he was IN st. Louis, working.
with some confederates, with
whom he quarrelled, and as one
of them knew all about the New
Orleans homicide he was very
anxious about his own safety.
One night he saw them exceed
ingly drunk, and Hawkeye met
them as they were going to the
Pacific Hotel, where they were.
stopping. AS they staggered
along he shadowed them, and
conceiued the idea Of burning
tbs hotel and them too. After
waiting until they probably fall
en- asleep he attempted to force
an entrance to the laundry, but
was driven away by a large
watch dog. Later, however, he
got into an unoccupled room
through a window and there
started the confagration, MAX
ing good his retreat, undetected.
The fire spread SO rapidly that
many of the guests were smoth-
cred in the smoke and flames, or
killed in attempting to escape
from the windows. The two
men whom Hawkeye feared had
rooms close to the roof, and in
their drunken stupor suffered
the fate designed for them. AS
they never gave any further
trouble to him it Is probable that
they were roasted IN bed.
Hawkeye's after career did
not abate in ferocity a title. In
1860 he started for Canada in
company with a gang of horse
thieves, four in number On the
way they decoyed a girl off a
train Of cars near Pontiac, His,
and after outraging her in the
most brutal manner, completed
the crime by murder. An inno-
cent man, negro, was afterward
hanged for this, and the doctors
got his skeleton. A few days
later the gang committed anoth-
er similar murder and escaped
the country. Hawkeye always
denied having anything to do
with these two crimes, and said
the same on his deathbed. In
the following year he helped to
kill man at the residence of
counterfeiter named Biglow,
about twenty miles above Rock
Island. The next great crime
in the calender was the burning
of a stable in Galesburg Ills, to
create an excitement while the
gang could beat the bank in that
place. The stable burned, but the
scheme failed. The next was the
murder of an cid man, his wife and
three daughters. on the road near
De Witt county, Iowa.
Three horse thieves were with him
in this, and they got $500, three
horses and wagon; this was in
1862. In 1864 he was in a bank
robbery and murder near Hamilton.
Canada, for which one of the gang
was sent up for three years. After.
wards he decoyed a man from To-
edo to Windsor. Canada, and there
put him under water after robbing
him. On the same night heavy
silk robbery was perpetrated in De-
troit. In January, 1865, he killed
negro sub Broker in Dunklrk, N. Y.
This was the list of Hawkey's Of
fences, which weighed heavy on his
soul. He died soon after telling his
story, and in accordance with his
express request his body, instead of
being buried. was packed in box,
and sunk in the Mississip-
pi. Hildebrand sent word to his
relatives where they could find the
body, but does not know whether
hey ever took it up or not.