Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-10-17
A GENEROUS ooNWcr,s OFFER.
Brooklyn Woman's Story of Negro
Burglar and His Wealth.

burglar and His Wealth.
"Some years ago my father rented a
house in Wetherslleld from Capt. Willard,
who was then the warden of the Connec-
ticut state prison. He was afterward stab
bed to death, as you may remember, by one
| of the prisoners, who WAS hanged for tic
murder" said a Brooklyn lady MY
fathers family was very large, but SO was
the old house, and there was plenty of room
for us all. The grounds were spacious,
and required good deal of care, SO that
five oar six colored gardeners were often
working on them. These men were all
| conviets, hired by my father from the pris-
on, which was about a quarter of a mile
from our house. Capt. Willard said they
were a dangerous lot, and warned us to
watch them closely, and advised my father
| not to allow any of us girls to speak to
them or go near them alone. Icannot say,
however, that any Of the gang allotted to
US ever Observation-Disclosures, indeed, it was
the one about whom am going to speak.
"This was big, good natured fellow,
very black, capital hand with the banjo
| and about 40 years old. His wife and chill
dren went to see him in the Jail every visit
ing day, and they all seemed to be very
hopeful of the future, for the prisoner was
serving a term of only five years. He was
suspected of having participated in a num-
Der of burglaries, but was convicted of but
one, the robbery of jewelry store in Hart
ford. Very little property was found with
him when he was arrested, and, though
the store was completely emptied of its
valuables, it was supposed that he had
| played but very small part in the raid
upon it, and his sentence was light.
"Rut one day, this man, to whom my
| father had been very kind, told him conf
| dentially that he had been entirely alone
| in his last robbery and dozen others, and
that the day before he was taken into Gus
tody, knowing that his arrest was immi-
nent, he had buried all his booty, amount
ing in value, he thought, to close on to
| $4,000, in an unfrequented place. H
offered to tell my father where the treasure
lay and share it equally with him if he
would unearth it, turn it into cash and
hold it until his term Of Imprisonment had
elapsed. OF course, my father refused tc
listen to such a proposition and tried tc
worm out of his informant where the
wealth was hidden; but the prisoner was
too cunning for him. He detected his OBJ
| ject and became very reticent.
"About month after the man had been
released my father received by express q
package containing fully $500 worth of Jew
elry, in the shape of ladies' rings and brace
lets. There was no letter with the bun.
die, but there was no doubt about the &C
curacy of the address, The things were
shown to the jeweler who had been robbed
but he said none of them had ever belonged
to him, SO we kept them, subject to al
original owners claim.
zone winter I was in New Orleans will
my husband, and one afternoon an elderly
colored man accosted me as I was walking
in the street. He was dressed in the mos
fashionable material, 4s5 in the --latest
style, and he literally tWinkled with dia
monds; but I easily recognized our ole
Wethers1eld gardener. He was evidently
quite rich, and asked him when and how
he had acquired his wealth.
Missy he said, forgetting that wa.
an elderly married woman, it was befo'
went to prison. done tole yer pa all 'bou
it, but he give me de cole sholdah. '"-Nev
i Vorlr Sun