The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-11

well and was a clever conversationalis--
Though he was invariably known as
George his name IS William Henry VII
lie was born AT Pittsburg. Pa. March
=, l>il. His brother, Theodore. also went
the wrong way. and Is now serving sem
tcnce in Sing Sing for forgery. He was a
criminal OF much lower type than George
ana when the latter was stricken with par
aylsls two years ago he robbed him OF
every thing he mad The offense for which
cheek for S75.
There was another child. a girl Martha
who married Jonas Redneld the president
OF one or New HaVeus banks, and died
about nNe years ago. her death being ma
tsIlally as5ened by grief and shame over
the misQceds of her brothers
Georee' started out I'm life as q clerk
IN the office Of the Central Railroad Com
pany or New Jersey. When he was q
years Old he left the company 10 become
a professional gambler He went into
partnership with John MOllman Char
ley schater and Henry Wilkes. who was
olten taken Tor him, and kept a faro bank
az Broadway and Fourth street for near
~ tour years. Wilkins was not successful
enough 10 keep up the style in which he
wished to live, and turned 10 forgery
In the next thyee years il is believed
ne cieiSed nearly $o0,Go0 but ne fell into
the nauds or the police In the early part
OF $50 Tor Forging "A large check upOn the
board of education of Bunalo he had
protected himself so we'll however. that
no case could be made against him, and
he was discharged
Then he engineered a whisky deaT' bv
Drlning an appraiser and got enough Wits
XIV through ON duty Of 80 cents a gallon
instead or the regular duty Of g. to clear
The city became too warm for him after
thle ana he went west. where he organ
lzed a scheme Of draft forging. by means
OF winch ne and Joseph Chapman (the nus
band OF murdered Mary chapman and
an Ensllshman named Deveran. victtmiz-
ca nearly every bank between Chicago
Gro NOS 4 a
dred thousand dollars,
They spent their gains as fast as they
maue them. and had TO flee from san
francisco without a cent ON tho Wav 10
Panama they robbed "a fellow passenger
or Sg.o, and made money enough out Of the
banks there to come back TO this city In
Styie. some or them were arrested, but
, Wilkens escaped.
He had married a respectable girl in
BOSTON several years before that ana
KEPT her IN Ignorance of his mode Of life
untli ne found he could use her to ad-
vantage In his schemes Then ne prevail
ca upon her to go TO New Orleans and
hhelp MIN TO defraud the British Bank OF
North America out of 5000 She Went
everywhere with him after that until she
died. In 1873, when he married a woman
also OF good family. whom he had in
tatuated on his first trip to California
where her parents We're wealthy land
holders. He initiated her into a life Of
crime also, and she helped him until after
ne testihed against his comrades in 1899
4
iornia, where she is living now
IN 1917 ne set out with Chapman and
George Barlow In his service on another
'dratt-raising' excursion, and worked
along from Chicago to Montreal with
great success. They then set out on "a
southern trip, but disaster met them.
ana everyone but Wllkens and Barlow
was arrested in one place or another
Then Wilkens tried bogus securities, and
made several large sums with Central Pa
cihc bonds counterfelted by the famous
Charles IN Ia to, h..
gors tutor, and Is now again ia the tolls
Wiikens was so delighted with the sue
cess that he determined to try Europe
with the bonds, but the scheme was dis
covered while he was In mid-ocean. and
ne mad a very exciting time lodging the
English police and getting back here. This
was in 1871 and In the fall Of that year
he made new organization with Chap
man, Joseph Reilly and Bank Burglar
Joe Decker and robbed the bank OF
The party went to Liverpool, but could
not get rid of their plumber. which was
principally railroad bonds, so they came
pack and got the late notorious Andy
Roberts to make them 100000 worth OF
nice new Buffalo and Erie bonds They
returned TO London and Joined a gang
that had $4,000 Of Chicago, Western and
Southern bonds of home manufacture.
They tried to sell these bonds In Ans
terdam, but were discovered and had 20
destroy all the scrip and plate to es-
This fiasco Disguised wilkens, and as
he had saved about 10000 he came
back to this city and lived like a lord
for two years, during which time he
gambled most of Il away. Then he formed
a pool and bought $4,000 worth of coun-
terfeit greenbacks from Charley Ulrich for
5000. Ulrich and his partner. William e.
Grey, We're convicted here for making
this money and nearly all of them were
arrested while passing the counterfeits in
Europe. Wilkens. however, got rid OF $15,-
go In Paris and returned here IN safety
In the next few years he defrauded the
seligmans, Brown Bros. and other large
firms IN this city and Chicago, and al
ways kept himself out Of trouble.
IN 1881 Wilkens' gang which then inclu-
ded the famous SilVio Rixio, ''Shell''
Hamilton, Baranoff and dozen other no
ted forgers, counterfeiters burglars and
confidence mon, sWooped down on Milan
Italy, with forged and stolen bonds and
bank notes Of over sl500,00O total value.
There Wilkens met his Waterloo and had
MS hrst taste Of prison life. lie could not
stand It, and secured his release late that
year in consideration Of making a full
confession OF all the crime Of his confed-
crates and himself. Many OF them are
OF them, John Jennings, preferred death,
and cut his throat in the Desbrosse street
ferry house on being arrested.
After returning here Wilkens kept quiet
for a few months, but some time In june
of the following year he patched up a re-
Cancellation with Joseph Reilly, or FL
lott and worked the raised draft
game" to the extent Of SsS. 900 on banks
In Cheyenne Butte City. San Francisco.
Albany, oregon and Rochester They fed
to Canada and settled matters with ali
their victims but the Commercial Bank OF
Rochester. Inspector Byrnes was asked
to find them, and arrested them at EiRhth
avenue and one Hundred and TWENTY
fifth street on st. Patrick's day, 1891
They were sent on to Rochester, and Reli-
ly with a young man named Edwards
whom they had used as a catspaw. was
imprisoned, but Wilkens' family put for
ward all its influence and he again es-
capped
WIN t,fe eboro % tJ,a sv,o.tr, L - -. .
London, where he lived higher than ever.
and soon became penniless, when he re-
turned to this city. He went from. bad to
worse, until he landed in Bellevue.