Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-29
A FAMILY OF THIEVES.
Phillip Hart Teaches His Young
Sons the Burglars Art.
HIS LONG CRIMINAL CAREER.
First Murderer, Then a Man of Fortune,
Now Thief
TRIED AND SENTENCED TO BE HANGED

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPArCH.I
NEW YORK, Sept. GA sharp whistle
attracted the attention of Policeman O'Con-
NOR, in Brooklyn, while on patrol duty near
the bridge entrance, on the night of Septem-
Der q. Turning quietly in the direction
from which the whistle came, he noticed a
middle aged man and TWO boys emerging
from the yard in the rear of Ellis FL.
Lubey's tailor shop and Aug MiIler's cigar
store.
There was something in the movement of
The trio that excited the suspicion of the
policeman and he asked the man what his
business was in that particular place. The
man replied that he and his sons were on
their way to Brooklyn and that he had just
stepped into the yard for q moment, while
the boys were waiting for him on the side
walk. O'Connor's suspicion that some
thieving project had been under way was
strengthened when he noticed that the
mans hat and clothing, as well as those of
the boys, were covered with dust and cob
webs, and, calling another policeman to his
assistance, he took the trio to the station.
Many Burglaries Traced to Them.
The man gave the name of John Miller,
and said that his youthful companions were
his sons, Frederick and Charles, aged 13
and IL respectively. His own age he gave
as AZ. Captain Eason sent his detectives
out to make an investigation and they soon
returned with interesting particulars. It
was found that burglars had been at work
In each of the stores to which entrance had
been effected from the cellars by cutting
holes in the floors and that q bundle con-
tanning quantity of clothing stolen from
one of the stores had been concealed behind
barrel in the yard. A brace, two bits,
chisel and muffled hammer which had
been used in forcing an entrance to the
stores were also found in the yard.
The prisoners again denied that they had
any knowledge of the robbery, but Captain
Eason placed no reliance whatever upon
their statements, and continued the investi-
cation. He found that the man was Phillip
Hart; that the boys were really his sons and
that they lived in little cottage, and not at
the residence given by the father on the
night of their arrest. In one of the houses
the detectives discovered the larger part of
the $500 worth of hardware which had been
stolen from the store of George R. Craus on
the night of September 8, and Mr. Craus
identified this and also the tools found in
the yard as his property.
hdrCS Long Crln1nal career.
Another $500 robbery at New Rochelle
was traced to the trio, but it was not
until Monday, however, that Captain Eason
learned that Hart's criminal record dated
back to 1860, when he was II years old, and
that it began with the murder of boy
about his own age at New Brunswick.
Young Hart was peddling pictures around
the town and called at the store of John
Roder. During Mr.. Roder's temporary ab-
sence from the store Hart shot and killed
his 17-year-old brother-in-law, and, pocket
ing all the money in the drawer, got away.
He was soon arrested and tried for murder
under the name of Henry Dow.
He was convicted of murder in the first
degree and sentenced to be hanged. His
youth and the influence of his father, who
was engaged in business in Chatham Square,
in this city, and a man of considerable
wealth, saved him from execution, and his
sentence was commuted to Imprisonment
for life in the Trenton State Prison. He
was pardoned on the recommendation of the
low, who. strange to say, had been his at
torney II years before and defended him
for murder. -
Squandered His Fathers Money.
Soon after his release, Dow, who had
tnen assumed tne name OF hart, inherited
over $50, 900 on the death of his father.
Returning to New Jersey, he married
young woman of good family,.who died
less than a year ago. Hart rapidly
squandered the money left him by his father,
and when it was ali gone resumed GRIM
inal career.
In the winter of 1891 he came to Brook
lyn. In addition to the two boys whom he
is educating to be criminals, he has daugh-
ter and two other sons aged 9 and years
respectively.
1t seems to have been Hart's custom to
take the older boys along with him on his
burglarious expeditions, and, according to
Charles statement, it was his business to re-
main on guard while his father and brother
were doing the robbing, and whistle if any
person approached.
Frederick played an important part in the
burglarious work, his business being to
enter the stores through the holes made in
the floors and pass out the plunder to his
father. Charles has told how the robbing
schemes were carried out, and it is on his
own sworn statement in reference to the
Washington street robbery that his father
has been held.