The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-12-19

LN- ANNN
st. Adams raid. with o%ccurred jlsi
years ago. will hardly realize that Il ,
nearly a quarter Of a century since ~.
close O fthe war Of the reoeihon ano
there is a new generation TIA. have 70
remembrance Of this affair any more
than they have ofthe war, except sra
they have read oft in books, and VIA
they have heard from plricipatofs in Be-
The s.. Adams raid is one of the peculiar
episodes Of the rebellion, and is nenl9fa
bic as having occurred on The Gay on
which the battle Of Cedar Creek was
fought and tie arms 81 the Shenandoah
driven back, until the arrival Of 9eneia
Sheridan, when the ranks were re-iornea
the offensive taken, and a decisive vic'o'
~ achieved for the raion rus Aliuis
has been brought 20 mind by consr
ton with Mr c. n Bishop nov ofBos-
ton. bat ar the time ofthe raid an assist
ant cashier ia one Of Toe - AlDaos
Banks. In speaking about the AFFAIR he
sid
Il remember that raid. YOU may de-
pend upon III and the l9ih DAY OF 0eia-
Der. 1864. Icannot forget that on ihat
day, among oihere experiences ] was com
PEELED to swear allegiencet 10 the southern
Co~ufederacy ST. Adams is one Of the
frontier towns Of Vermont, and al The
time Of the raid had between 600 and
7.O01 inhabitants II had three banks
the 81 Adams, where ] was employed,
the First National and The Gankiin Co.
banks. The raiders. 50 in number. we've
under command Of one Bennet H. Young
who claimed to be a Confederate officer
Their headquarters were at Montreal
Daring the summer Of 1864 these men.
probably al OF them, visited St. Adams
at various times ia order 10 hmiiiarize
Themselves With the place. AMI So that
when the time f1r action came they could
do their work more systematically.
The autumn had been, 10 many IT,
spscts, like the present one, with a great
deal Of rainy, wet weather. The 18Th Of
October vas a wet, disaereeable day. The
raiders bad arrived IN small squads tie
day previous and on the morning Of The
day Of the raid. Everything had been
planned beforehand, ANA there was a
concert ofaction among the raiders which
revealed the guidance Of one mind. De-
tails Of men were made Tor the purpose
Of visiting and robbug the banks, and
Others were detailed 10 visit the livery
stables and sccsse suounts Tor the raiders
or seize horses on the street OF wherever
they could end them. The time chosen
Tor action was 2f5 in the afternoon. Al
that time wss sitting at a table behind
ting counter Of the bank sorting out bills
and specie. Of which there wers on the
table some $1,000 or $1,000 IN amount
While engaged in this work two men en-
Tered the bank and came up to the coun-
Ter. They had Overcoais on aud travel
ing bags slung from their shoulders. As
these men approached / got up. and
stood before them with my hands on the
counter, waiting 10 learn their business.
They beth fumbled fora homer in their
breast pockets, and Chen the first thing
realized was that two revolvers we've
pointed al my head. On my right, al the
n Of the counter. was the door Of the
directors room. Utiering a cry Of Muir
der. sprang Tor that room. ! succeed
ed in getting into il, aud had nearly clos
ed the door when the robbers reached il.
and having The end Of the c3uaier back
Of them % brace against, easily pushed
the door back and came in on me. A
clerk named Seymour was in the room AZ
his desk. lie WAS an Old man and SEEM
ell dazed al the occurrences taking place.
When the uTlians got into the room both
grabbed me by the collar and threatened.
ii l made any resistance. they would
bloW my brains ont. AZ this time, three
of their e~oafederates entered the bank
and came intoihe room where | sas held.
Mr.. Seymour was ordered 20 stand "a pbe-
side me, and two Of the ihcn we're detail
cd TO guard Us. Then We were ordered
10 hold ep orr right hands and TO take
the oath Of allegiance to the Southern
~Coniederacy. Did we really do il OF
course we did. What else could we do
with pistols pointed at our heads 4? linen
asked what they proposed TO do After
informing US that they were soldiers OF
the Confederate ARMY of the Shenandoah
valley, and we're On a raid Of retaliation,
they said they had determined to take
all the money in the banks and burn the
town. Then they ordered me 10 show
them where We kept u bonds, securi
ties and money. The safe was open, and
everything in il exposed. I told them We
had no bonds, bat showed them what
money We had, all 81 which they took,
and IA II evening our cash was short by
some So, 520 and sdi dollars While the
bank was in possession OF the thieves
two or three citizens. not knowing what
had occurred, so quietly and so rapidly
had the m~arauders operated, came in TO
make deposits. They were compelled 10
deposit. however, with the robbers, who
did not allow them - depart, but kept
them prisoners until they themselves
were ready to 90. All this that ! have
related occurred in about Is minutes Of
time, aud when the unwelcome visitors
took their departure they backed put Of
the door. still covering rs with their pis-
tolls On the outside they found horses
awaiting them, and soon were in the
saddle,
At the Franklin County Bank. after
obtaining possession Of the money and
other valuables OF the bank, the robbers
thrust the cashier and an Old wood saw
yer. who had been doing work for the
bank aud Was there at the time, into the
vaali and boiled the ioor on them. A
man came into the bank soon after, and
nearing q noise in the vault opened the
door and let them out. thus saving them
from sudocation.
At the First National Bank there
were a numbered Government so bonds
which. together with al the money. were
taken by the robbers. This w&s the only
national bank at that time IN 81. Alban-.
the others being state banks. In sll the
rAiders secured about $4,000 in money
and the government securities. AFTER