Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-12-14
HORSE THIEF SARGENT.
Some New Facts Relating to Him.

Readers of the BANNER will remember
that about year ago Henry L. Sargent
and William Shaw escaped from jail here
one Sunday night just before people be-
gan to go home from church. No def
mite trace of either has been found since
the night they went away,
A part of paper published in Boston,
Dec. LIST has been sent to one of the BAN
NER staff, giving 2! columns of inter-
estirg reading matter about Sargent
some of which has been published. Con-
siderable of the article has already APP
peared in our columns. 1t says:
Frequent thefts of horses in Vermont
and New Hampshire aHd Western New
York, lately, have caused a more than
usual anxiety among the police officers
of the New England states to capture the
notorious Harry A. Sargent, by all odds
the greatest robber of live stock that this
section of the country has ever known.
Half dozen warrants are in existence
in different states in which he is
charged with crimes of this nature.
In Boston an indictment warrant is in
charge of Special Officer PinkertOn of the
inspectors department, which charges
Sargent with being an habitual criminal.
If tried and convicted on this indictment.
Sargent would go to state prison for %
years, the statute making the imposition
of that penalty compulsory on the part of
the Judge.
At the present time Sargent is an es-
capped prisoner and has been so for about
year. He cut through the bars of the
pountv ri of vaap
ago. He was held there for horse steal
ing, and, had he been convicted, a SEN
tenCe of 10 or 10 years would probably
have been his.
There Is no more desperate or success
full horse thief in the country than Sar-
gent He has made the business his
careful study since early youth. He
would rather steal horses than do most
anything on earth. TIE excitement of
the business fascinates him. AS he says
himself, whenever he sees horse that
takes his fancy, that horse must fall into
his hands. The horse usually does.
He has tho rarest taste in horses. While
he does not cOnfine himself to the stealing
of full.blooded steeds, he has partially
for those of high-bred quality, which
makes it extremely disastrous for the
horses when they and Sargent meet.
Sargent was born in Canada. His par
ents were farmers, and he was brought
up to work on farm. He always eI-
hibted an abnormal love for live stock.
There were several brothers in the fam
lily, and one of these brothers displayed
most unusual fondness for chickens.
This fondness afterward got him into
state prison in several states, just as
Harrys love for horsehesh got him into
the same fix.
Sargent went into Massachusetts again
In tho early part of 1878 he made his
presence felt in and about Boston. A
great many horses and wagons were re-
ported stolen in Quincy, Melrose, NAL
den, and other l-by towns. All these
losses were in day time. The rigs were
stolen while the owners were in nearby
houses, and they had been left unguard-
ed. In all there were at least score Of
teams stolen in the first few months of
the year.
The police of all the towns went to
work on the cases vigorously. They all
recognized that some expert thief was at
work, but of course had no idea of his
identity. Some of the teams were after
ward recovered, but the officers failed to
get the thief
Then suddenly the thieving stopped.
In short time, though, constant reports
of stolen teams came from different parts
of Worcester county. Detective O'Day
of Worcester was put to work on the
case. After almast two months of hard
work he succeeded in running down the
thief. He arrested Sargent in Worcester
in May, 1878, where he was in the act of
disposing of stolen team. He was tried
on several charges of horse thieving, and
was sentenced to eight years at the
Charlestown State Prison.
He served this sentence. He was a
good prisoner. AS result he had about
200 days of his sentence remitted. He
kept pretty quiet for few months after
his release. He was heard from in vari-
GUS parts of the State, but the reports
were that he vas working on farms and
doing well. 1t was thought he mightre.
form, but some of the older officers knew
him too well for that.
In April, 1886, he was in Norton. One
night the stable of o. II. Lane was bI ok
en- into and valuable horse, buggy and
harness taken. The rig was worth 500.
Sargent was at once suspected of the
burglary. The ris was traced to New
Bedford and recovered, and Sargent was
dIIGSIGu III JudJ ClOys ClllllO was
traced to him, and in the Superior Court
ne was convicted fol the offeuse and got
a sentence of four years at the Charles
town State prison. He WAS liberated
from that institution in 1889, after serv-
ing his full term.
While he was in prison, the police of
Cambridge, N. Y, who had been work
ing on a robbery of rig in that town,
decided that Sargent was the thief. The
stable of Isaac Collins had been broken
into just previous to the break at Norton
in this State, and a rig worth 5000 stolen.
An indictment was found against Sar-
gent for this offence. Collins rig had
been traced TO Worcester, where it had
been driven by Sargent after the rob
berry, and recovered.
A warrant was sent on to Boston and
placed in the hands of Special Officers
Walter Abbott and George Pinkerton,
then of police station 3. They went to
the State prison on the day of Sargent's
release, accompanied by Under Sheriff
Coon of Salem, N. Y, and arrested him
as he left the institution. He was taken
back to New York State for trial.
A day or two after he left Boston, the
grand jury of Suffolk county reported an
indictment against Sargent, accusing
him as an habitual criminal. He had
been convicted of at least two other
State prison offences previously. The
Indictment was put in the hands of the
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