The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-30
clever C|OUNTERFEITER
,yc.RTNEY'S CAREER UHPIR-
bi,, FLED IN CRIMINAL lNNALS
d Scores Of Times, He Bought HIS
Anr"s opt OF Prison or Procured His
We" ,i,aso by some other 1rssns-His Dar
E,eapes from Trnins-Died in Jail.

-
.u,,oroy. Oct. 2~o.-"Several weeks ago.
did Secret Service detective TO . suS
yesterday, I'm discussing the capture
w. 1obnson gang nt Detroit l referred to
wy pS,or Mccartney, known az the King Of
opn vaUI,cto,s' The history Of this man ls
. rnuoh a part OF tho records OF counterfeit
:, IN the United states hat a thorough un-
handing Of the subject Is impossible with
~, knowledge Of his career. Not only was
oreat countorfeiter and q master at the
Y, !, slpdlng punishment, but he taught the
y "a oth,gs. and. in fact. founded a new
III n eountcrfeiting. the pupils OF which
,,rI giving the Government trouble. the
y, n he arrested being the johnson family.
y, n whom got his first lesson In counter
sri,r from Pete Mccartney.
Mccartney grow upsin the days or wildcat
nav, Paper currency was issued by the
..SIons. which. though lawfully Issued. was
IN M more than the value OF the paper on
AN n was printed. but q great deal OF 1t
~ circulated in parts OF the country where
w.. we're little means OF telling whether
~ r,ner was good or not. The Hood OF
-ldoat money became so great that 1t was a
.nmon saving among business men that
NJ, much preferred u good counterfeit on a
IA hank 10 a genuine bill Of one OF the
,sr,,sr institutions. For this reason counter
satno became almost a recognized business
"a tho counterfeiters argued, with some de-
-. NJ reason, that they were no more enc
4 .tss 10 the public welfare than were the men
rSo organized banks without capital and then
,,snsd unlimited quantities OF notes against
nam A little later the immense amount Of
apl 1rannhanGn taat1nI
in,na tho civil war gave an opportunity for
IN. showing OF an enormous quantity OF q
,ot.s. for greenbacks became so common and
we're 90 far below par value in gold or silver
that people did not exercise the same scrutiny
which they now employ in regard to notes.
Thus Il was that Mccartney grew up during
hA perlod Of the wildcat. banks and Rradu-
,tsd into the period OF the civil war.
ut was, in fact, due to the flood OF counter-
tt money issued during the war that the Sc
tret Service Bureau became a permanent In
,titution Of the Government. 1t had been or
rnnized during the war and afterward was
continued, and, / am safe In saying. no one has
ever regretted It's continued existence unless
Il Is the thousands OF men who have been
brought to Justice by it. Mccartney was born
1about 1924 in Shelby county. Ill. and spent
Bthe earlier part OF his life at Neoga, ILL.,. and
MLtoon, III. 1t was at the latter place that
Mccartney met William r. Johnston, Johnston
aeame from q family OF counterfelters. his
.fr1ndfather. father and brother. and himself,
Having teen convicted Of counterfeiting.
Mccartney soon learned the art OF engraving
from the Johnstons and became quite expert.
Hs first venture in the field OF counterfeit
i,1 hnrarar no n about IN q vArv noarlior
manner. He had started on a trip to north
tnIIinois to see some friends. and had taken
With him a wagon and a small supply of goods
70 last him while en- route. One day while on
the prairie he CHANGED to count oyer his stock
Gbdls which we're ali ore-dolIar bills. The idea
occurred to him-why make one-dollar bills,
WIEN 1t Is lust as easy to make flve-dollar and
eadollar bills; The more he thought Of this the
ktter. he liked the idea OF increasing the stock
" changing the figures. So he tried 1t. by
carefully scraping out the ones and pasting
,tIes' and tens over them.- cut from the
Ineed him that the raising of notes could be
ltuue successfully. and an easy road to wealth
p thus opened, to his vision, His first bill
g passed In INDIANAPOLIS. where he en-
|Gisd one Of his raised 4bhis. Nee artney al
lost died of heart, failure when the, grocer
StS SsSrSt /. ! na a9 disco Eso% s bpf T. nnoSed f9 to be be
only the doubt VI the grocer's ability to change
Me note. He found he was able to do this, @
Mccartney went into the business.
20 common counterfe tier. and followed his
business with diligence, pertinacity. and sue
eoss,, he took q postgraduate course In en-
craving from the famous cutter Ben Boyd.
who had served a regular apprenticeship in
engraving and had completed mis- education I'M
der the tuition Of Nat Kenzie. Mccartney found
employment asa full-dedged counterfeiter with
4 firm Of counterieiters In Walnut Hills. The
mead OF the firm was q prominent citizen OF
cincinnati. a church member. and one OF the
sScnool Board. named Taylor. He and Mo
"a German counterieiter. and her daughters.
hhartha, Alderman and Almiranda Ackerman.
. ION children had been brought up in the
SauaitfSf ae Ing business. and although Martins
eIiiLul Years later Martha became the wife
q Mccartney. In 1852 Mccartney returned
. indlaIapolis. where he osteusibly began
CGSihssS A. a,horse dealer, lie accumulated
considerable real estate here and his prop
cry was valued at over $4,000.
e9arhe had never had any serious trouble,
Y American Briber.'' because he never hest
Itaea % buy his way out when he could. or to
AsGAe the most desperate chances at escape
t fTS unable to procure his release ny bribery.
~ list escape was in 1852. when he had
I'M ~ arrested In q military camp IL West Ylr-
HTadfir ana started under a guard OF soldiers
i Al n .pd Mccartney was, shackled
vs guards, trusting, TO the manacles and the
speed Of the train. relaxed their vigilance. The
S SSruerieiter stepped 20 the door OF the Q
sSI makihR ms. way laboriously to the water
S Y fretending to be busy in getting q
w SW " Re cautiously opened the door. stepped
t y sae platform, and threw himself of. the
mn. a. ~ tRat Tune running about thirty-flve
m SHes dn hOur; Fortunately for him. he fell
Inksa Deg 81 loose gravel, and, although he
Tndspb swoS' MS rihs. he made his way into the
VA ' sioDSad and hid for two days; The train
tnss 6Tp \ and a search made for him, but
th y iutlie. He battered OF his irons with a
M \ snq dragged himself to the house OF
lien m SnG who cared for him. Mccartney
com AZ MaS a . ms way West again., and settled
Y arehyille French OF Springfield. Iii.
1etsTmosh ne again caught sight OF Martha
Jsars hsI, whom he, had known twelve
nGS.r oe boGe as q child In Cincinnati. Her
Trout n nad married the notorious John B.
Gs " Valley. Mccartney proposed to
VA s' a. ana they were married in 1884. He
Ud KY devoted to his handsome young wife,
Is VIZ "as as devoted to him. Assisted by
DanterieItssnro nad lived all her life among
A. X once more to counterfeiting and located
kt Sl III 4 III, where he produced a counter
Zoe ws.a iedsIry note. The plates OF this
IuTendsrssd used until 1868. when they were
ld. Tocau by Mrs, R~ittenhouse OF OsRood.
viii sS aVs but bought his way out and got OF
hs sttsSEVtIIUW n good money. He then turned
lime ~ IESIh 20 a new scheme, and under the
thlse ysa raoii Joseph Woods he travelled for
'Counterisg, through the West lect ring on
Iats meantime Mccartney was at WORK ON n
dlHES ttne s2p United States Treasury note
were IrinttsUah which many thousands Of notes
tene % tins alll which he retouched from
E9lAAsd and uurlng his career, until II was Q
tuntvSuey, was confined In tha Sanoamon