Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1878-07-19
TON BALLARD.
A Sketch Of the Most Noted COun.
terfeiter in the World.

A Sketch Of the Most Noted COun.
terfeiter fn the world.
Washington Post. July 13th.l
Visitors to the secret service Office
of the treasury department have
invariably had pointed out to them
the picture of Tom Ballard, a man
who has given the secret service
officers more trouble than all the
rest of the counterfeiters put to-
gether. His last sentence was for
thirty years in the Albany peniten-
tiary, and Thursday last he made a
desperate effort to take his own life.
Ballard's career is an extraordinary
one. He is the eldest of four bro
theirs, Thomas, John, Benjamin
and George Ballard, all counter
feiters, who were born near Watkins
Glen, New York, their father being
an ex.convict. He learned to en-
grave and became one of the finest
workmen in the country. He exc
cuted unnumbered counterfeit
plates in the West, but his first ap-
pearance in this city was on the
night that Joshua d. Minor, the
contractor, was arrested. He had
been suspected for some time by the
secret service officers of counter
feiting, and Harry Coles was in
duced to betray him.
On the night of October 25,
1871, Ballard handed a package to
Minor in the boulevard, and was
arrested. Minor was also captured.
The package contained counterfeits.
Ballard confessed to Colonel Whit
ley that he was the engraver, and
surrendered several printing presses,
plates, and an iron tank full of
pulp used in initiating the govern
ment fiber paper. He escaped frem
the Ludlow street Jail on November
l5, 1871, with Billy Brown, of Gin
cinnati, and james Quimby, Of
Philadelphia, also noted counter.
feiterS. On October l3, 1874, De.
tective Perkins arrested him in {
lonely house on the outskirts O
Buffalo. Ballard, who had $115,.
OC0 in counterfeit money was Sc
verely wounded before he surren
dered. On the evening of January
16, 1875, he escaped from the Alba
ny penitentiary with four others
They cut through two floors to the
roof of the Jail and lowered them,
selves from the roof with sheets.
Ballard was recaptured two days
later, and on the 2lst of January
1875, he was sentenced to thirty
years Imprisonment. On the fol
lowing day his wife was found
guilty and sentenced to FIVE years
imprisonment in Onondago county
jail.
He wrote on May II last a lettel
to the chief of the secret service
wherein he recommended the usC
of fiber paper in the manufacture
of government notes. Ballard wa
a shrewd, capable fellow, with bu
little education, and his letter does
him credit, for whatever motive i
was written. 1t begins: " Seeing
of late that the government ha
taken active steps in the suppress
sion of crime, it induces me to lav
before you an improvement, trust
ing that by some suggestion o
yours many may be saved from {
life of Imprisonment and misery
The letter then goes on to speak o
the facility with which the pape
money, printed on the ordinari
white paper, was counterfeited, an(
the rapid increase Of the business
The plan which he proposed, which
could only be accomplished by ma
chinery, was copiously illustrated
by diagrams, very nicely drawn
The main idea was to run two col
ored lines of various shapes through
the paper, rendering it impossibl,
to initiate it by hand work. Bal
lard evidently thought he woulC
get his liberty, but no notice wa
taken of his latter