The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1897-11-03
JOLLY JOE DISBERRY
CAREER OF A THIEF OF REVOLU-
TlONARY TIMES.

llOlNAtNh llMtS.
Nothing Could Cure Him of His Pufcring
Propensity All His Property Conds-
Gated. His Ears Cut on and Imprtson-
ment For II Years Imposed Upon Him.
About the close Of the Revolutionary
war a notorious character named Joe
Dishery lived about Selinsgroyo aud
Sudbury, on tho Susquehanna. Whouee
he came is unknown but he is supposed
to have been eff Connecticut origin. He
Is reputcd to have been possessed of
great physical strength and powers of
endurance, could excel i'll running and
jumping and in thieying aud lying had
no equal along the river. Ho was Of Il
humorous disposition also and fro
quently INDUCED in amusing pranl1s
while engaged i'll plying his avocation.
1t is related of him that ON moro than
ono occasion he was known slyly to en-
ter the kitchen of n family when al
were i'll bed, start up the fire and coot
himself meal and loisurely eat it. II
discovered, he relied ON his swiftness el
foot to escape. Finally his thefts be-
came so numerous that the whole neigh.
borhood arose against him, and no was
arrested and confined in the rude Jail al
Sunbury, but rs it was not very secure
he escaped, and Sheriff Antes offered Il
reward for his apprehension. Joe took
refuge on the isle Of Quo and concealed
himself i'll dense thicllet He might
have eluded pursuit but for his inordi-
nate love for perpetrating jokes. While
lying i'll his place of ooneealment near
the road which crossed tho island Joe
heard the footsteps of horse and, slyly
poeping from his covert. discovered the
sheritf's wife approaching ON horseback
on her way To Selinsgrovo Quickly
stepping into the road, he pulled off his
hat, mado n polite bow and as quickly
disappeared in the bushes. The aston
ished lady, who knew him, hurried on
TO Selinsgrove and gavo tho alarm
party headed by George Kremer,
| atterWard member of congress, was
i hurredly made up and went i'll pursuit
of the refugee. lie was captured and re-
turned to the custody of Sheriff Antos
ut tho Jail iii Sunbury IIo was tried
and convicted, and his sentence is ono
of the strongest found i'll tho annals of
criminal history i'll Pennsylvania Tho
quarter sessions docket, still preserved
among the court records at Sunbury
for September term, l78i) shows that
no WAS convicted Of felony, and tho fol.
lowing sentence was imposed
Judgment 49, that tho said Joseph
Disbcrry receive 80 lashes between the
hours Of aHa o'clock tomorrow; IL
stand i'll the pillory ono hour; to have
his cars cut off and nailed to the post
TO return tho property stolen or tho
valuo thereof; remain i'll prison three
months, pay fine of ESQ to the honor
able tho president of this state for tho
support of the government and stant
convicted until iine, fees. etc, NJ,
paid
This remarkable sentence shows III,
estimate that was put ON Joe us Grim
inal Tho whipping post and pilloiy
stood IN the public square in Sunbury.
and the spot can still be pointed out
Colonel Henry Antics, the sheriff, di-
rected the whipping ii he did not do it
| himself There * no record to show
who did the ear cropping, but as the
surgical operation fell to tho sheriff 1t
is presumed that he did. Among the ~
men who composed tho Jury were scy.
cral noted Indian fighters aud Rcvolu.
tionary soldiers Peter Ilostermnn, fore.
| man, was active MS militiamnn and
had command at ono time of company
to repel Indian attacks Adam and Mi
| chael Grove were famous as Indian
scouts and were engaged IN several
| bloody encounters with tho sayages
! This severe sentence did not cure Joe Of
| his thicvng propensties. for tho quar-.
ter sessions docket fer August term,
! l708, shows that he was arraigncd aud
tried on three indictments for robbing
tho houses of Philip Bower, Peter Jones
and Isaiah Willitts and convicted ON
each The Hon Jacob Rush, president
Judge Of the Judicial district, was on
tho bench and imposed the following
| sentence
That the prisoner, Joseph Disbcrry,
forfeit all and singular his goods and
! AhiAt'l1i idii'A anu i'iitIlNiitHf w anu
for the use of the commonwealth, and
/ undergo seryitude Of seven years fol
| the burglary committed IN tho house Of
| Philip Bower, and DO committed to the
house OF correction, pay tho costs Of
prosecution, etc Tho court then son.
fenced him ON the two other indictments,
seven years each, aud continued: "That
tho defendant be conveyed to tho Jail
and pcuiteutiary house of Philadelphia
to undergo the scrvitudo aforesaid foi
the term Of 2 years And that the said
Joseph Dlsberry DO kept for tho space
Of two years in the solitary coll out ol
tho term Of years
When tho sentence was being de
/ liyered. JOG was an attentive listener,
| aud when the last "seyen" was pro.
nouuced he broke in with the remark,
Why, Judge, three times seven arr
2IP which caused tho audience t
smile, Joe was brought TO this city and
served his long sentence, which expired
in 1919 Ile returned to his Old haunt
about Sudbury and SolinsRroye an ole
man, but us merry as ever His lont
aud frequent punishment failed to MAKE
an honest man Of him, and ne continued
to pilfer wherever an opportunity offer
ed The date Of his death is unknown
but it is said that no went one night I,
a mill in Union county to steal flour
and, falling through hatchway, sus
tanned injuries which finally killed him
Philadelphia Times
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