Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1878-11-14
The Grave of the New York
Millionaire Robbed.

AN intense eXcitment was aroused .
in New York on Thursday by the an
that the remains of the
late A. L. Stewart had been stolen f,
from the family vault in St. Marx .
Church yard, at Stuyvesant Place and
Second avenue. The vault had been /
broken into, and the body removed |
frOm the three coffins in which it was
enclosed. y month ago an unsucceSS-
FIJI attempt had been made TO enter
the vault, and watchman was placed .
in the yard, who had but recently been
withdrawn This outage is supposed I!
to have been prompted by the eXpecta- |
ton of large reward being offered for
the restoration of the remains. 1t will
be remembered that an attempt was
made to steal the remains of President
Lincoln. The police are endesvoring
to capture the authors of this ghOulish
outrage. Twenty five thousand doll
lars reward has been offered for the
return of the body and apprehension
of the robbers.
THE New York Evening Post has the
following additional particulars in ref
erence 10 the desecration of Mr.. Stew
arts grave:
As precaution against any attempt
to rob the grave, the simple tablet
which marked the opening to the vault
was put in another place; but this de-
vice did not for an instant deceive the
robbers, who were evidently perfectly
we'll aware of the exact spot beneath
which the vault lay. The letter "B'
written in blue pencil. was found upon
one of the posts around the churchyard,
and two pieces - ;'lD-t ,Tere attached
to another past. II i siiE that line
drawn from the Ietter"B" to the pieces
of paper crosses the vault, while a
second line drawn to the first from a
tree on the Second avenue side of the
yard intersects the line at the exact
spot where the opening Of the vault
lies beneath the turf.
In order to show how Systematically
the robbers Welt TO work and with
what certainty and rapidly they work
ed, it will be well to describe the
vault. This is chamber ten feet deep,
the opening to which is covered by
three large stones, measuring in all
four feet six inches in one direction
and three feet six inches in the other
Above those stones WIS earth to the,
depth of three feet. covered with turf,
which was level with the rest OF the
surface of the churehyard. There was,
therefore in the absence of the tablet
removed by order of Judge Hilton, no
outward indication of the VAULTS posi-
tion, and the ease with which the
opening was discovered by the de
pred ,tofS proves that their plans had
been perfected with the utmost care.
Just when the robbery Was effected Is
uncertain, unless the police have some
intelligence cJnceruing it which they
are cOncealing for their own use. Tn"
st Xton of the church, Mr.. HAmill, says
that he was in the churchyard 1T +
o'clock last evening, and that every
thing was all right then. At 9O'cl"ck
this morning his assistant, Deputy
Sexton Parker, visited the church, and
the grave was empty. Mr.. Parker,
when he had some ~ hat recovered from
the shock OF the discovery, sent for
Mr.. Hamill, AMI after brief cOnSulta-
ton intelligence of the outrage was
sent to Judge Hilton, who promptly
communicated tha facts to Inspector
Dilks at Police Hea.iqIirters, and In
spectOr Murry, in whose district the
outrage was committed. These Officers
Immediately proceeded to make Il
careful investigation, sent out general
alarm, and detailed number of de
tectiveS to make inquiries IN all parts
of the city.
The robbers, who were probably five
or six in number, having entered the
churchyard, proceeded 10 remove the
earth from the opening t. the vault.
This Was soon accomplished oy the aid
of shOvel-an ordinary fire hand
shOvel-Which, with dark Ian
tern, they left behind them. They
then prize up one Of the stones cover
ing the opening, thus making an open
ing, just enough to permit the entrance
of two men simultaneously. They
were several cOffins in the vault, but
/ the robbers do not appear to have
hesitated in choosing the right one.
The outer casing of cedar Was easily
broken open, and the second or leaden
coffin was ripped open apparently with
large knife. There then remained the
oaken coffin, which was also broken
open. The body was then taken out
and placed in some sort of sack, lifted
up toward the opening, where there
were probably other hands to receive
it, and carried to the iron railing
around the churchyard.
The weight of the body was not very
great, but it is still a question how it
was passed over the railings. The
work was performed somehow, for all
the gates were locked; and the body
was then probably put into a wagon
and driven quietly away. 1t is worthy
of notice that no fOotmarks were found
in the cburchyard, although the sur
face was soft after the fall of rain and
snow last evening. 1t is, therefore,
surmised that the robbers stepped from
gravestone to gravestone, and thu
made their exit on Stuyvesaut street
or Eleventh street.