Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1891-09-18
TOLD BY A DETECTIVE
PERlLs IN BRINGING GANG OF GRIM
HNALs TO JUSTICE.

NALs TO JUSTICE.
As Hostler for the Leader Of Noto-
rious Band Of Horse Thieves and Rob
bors This Man Had Exceptional Faoiii-
ties for Securing Evidence.
Seated nthe corridor OF one Of the hotels
was medium sized, pleasant lsoking
man. well dressed and resembling in many
resnects a drummer He was one OF Major
Carers most trusted detectives, the man
who captured the Orange county counter
feiters ~ suppose when old Sam Rivers,
Who Il IN fail for counterfeiting, Is sent
over This time" he remarked to reporter,
- Will end him. Well, Sam has had his
day. and right lively one It was too. DO
YOU know that Sam is the last of oand OF
robbers who infested this state Tor years.
The most complete gang ever organized
was member Of It.
"A member Of a band of horse thievesf
exclaimed the reporter.
Eyes. " answered the secret service o1ncer,
with smile Il belonged to It until goS
most Of them behind stone walls"
The reporter pressed the detective for
history OF the criminals, and this remark
"John T, Riley was born and raised IN
Hartford. Of rich parents. He was wlld'
reckless fellow, and shortly after becom
ing Of age he forged his fathers name Tor
s, 600 and fed to Philadelphia. Here ne
assumed the name of Thomas W. Foster,
and engaged IN the horse business con
Meeting himself with lot Of sharpers,
whose business it was to fleece country
men He made considerable money ana
flew rather high.
Zone night at theater he formed the &C
ouaintance of q woman named Mcbride,
whose husband was an alderman ana quite
wesltbv The filtration was so marked
between the two that the husband was IN
formed and hired me to watch his wire.
This l did, and the information l secured
OF her life in Philadelphia society would
make a startling book. As was about 70
trap the guilty pair they elcped, and tooE
with them several thousand dollars be-
longing to the alderman. ! started AFTER
them; got trace Of them at Cincinnati,
where they bought tickets for st. Louis
and went there.
Il looked for them for months through
the west, and finally gave up the chase
Il seems instead of going to st. Louis they
stopped off ut OsgoOd, Ind, where Foster
with the money stolen by tue woman
went into business, and while was search
inc for them all over the west they were
living verysecluded lives at the little lndi-
ana town.
FOSTERS LIFE IN osGooD.
''Foster had not been In OsgOOd a great
while until he became acquainted with the
notorious Missouri RittenhOuse and Isaac
Levy and his family, all Of whom were
counterfelters and crooks. The whole lot
became quite intimate, and when Foster
bought y livery stable and ostensibly did a
legitimate business, his barn was only
fence for stolen horses. He and Levy
bought horses and passed counterfeit
MONEY and, attending allt6e fairs and
zr.,1ss. soon became acquainted with all the
thieves and crooks Of the country.
"a great many horses were stolen, men
robbed on the highway, stores plundered
and men beaten nearly to death. Crime
was rampant. The people raised fund
and was employed to ferret out the ma
RAIDERS When got to OsgOod ! recog-
nized nv old friend Foster and the alder
mans wife, and made up my mind be was
the man I must cultivate. ] could not get
IN with him, however, and he sold out and
moved to Columbus, o.
sThere he and his wife moved in the best
society, gave grand parties and were the
associates Of the most prominent people OF
the city. Two years of rapid living drained
Fosters resources, and becoming heavily
IN debt he returned to Osgood His wife
deserted him and went TO Washington,
where she lives under an assumed name.
Foster handled crooked money and dealt
In stolen horses, and on July Q, 1884, be-
came hostler in his stable. did not get
good pointer until in the fall, when Sam
Rivers hired a buggy at the stable and was
driven to the country by young Sam Rit
tenhouse. That night horse was stolen,
and when young Sam was arrested my evil
dence cleared him, and was looked upon
as safe man. became Fosters right
hand man. He introduced me to Henry
Underwood, Sam Rivers, Walter Ham
mon, John Kelly, Hiram Kelly, William
Wninscott, Frank Elder, Skinny Douglass,
John Holloway and a number of others
whose names l cannot recall just now. The
thieves would average a horse each week,
and in warm weather the animals were
kept in a thick woods unit. shipmentwas
made.
JUMPED HIS BOND.
WAll tliq time was in communication