The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1902-12-11
DAVID LEWIS.
The Noted iiighwayman and
COunterfeiter.

lines, | became disgusted with
military life, and gave up every
view of enlisting again; the dis.
appointment, vexation and terror
| experienced in my associations
with the counterfeiting gang who
had fixed their establishment
near Stoystown, and the risk l
ran IN being apprehended by the
officers of the Carlisle bank for
my attempt to pass the counter
felt money with Martin, increas-
ed my anxiety to visit my mother
and brothers. After leaving Car
Isle | acted with caution, and re-
Trained from committing any dep
relation on the road to my moth.
er's. My relatives received me
with better welcome than | had
any reason to expect; and while
they expressed their satisfaction
at seeing me, they renewed all
their argument in the most
friendly and persuasive style to
impress my mind with the wick
edness and dangers of the course
of life L was following. They al
most persuaded me to settle and
become Industrious and sober,
but the bad habits | had con-
tracted in the army, together
with my natural disposition for
rambling, predominated over
their good advice, and renewing
my acquaintance with some of
my late companions in arms, who
had been to Canada, | readily en-
tered into their services, and hav-
ing procured the necessary ma
terials for counterfeiting, | be-
came a partner in this tempting
species of fraud. The period was
extremely propitlous for the sue
cess of the project. The Legisla-
ture of Pennsylvania had recent
ly established by law a great
nun mber of new banks in every
part of the State which we and
many others considered little
better than legalized system of
fraud, robbing and swindling.-
Determined upon selling the
golden opportunity of making
our fortune, we returned to Cum
berland and erected a small hut
in the South Mountain, near Mr..
Brewster's tavern, and boarding
at a gentleman's house in the vi
cinity, we proceeded to manufac-
ture all sorts and sizes of coun-
terfeit bank bills, but principally
notes on the Philadelphia bank,
of the denomination of one hun
dred dollars. Having struck off
what we supposed to be Il suffi-
cient number, we separated for
the purpose of passing them off.
l proceeded to Landisburg where
| passed off a 500 note to Mr..
Anderson, merchant in that
place; from thence | went to
Newville, where l succeeded IN
putting off another note of the
same description on a Mr.. Geese,
a storekeeper in that town. l
was extremely fortunate in both
cases, not only in procuring
change in good money, but in
walking off with the booty with
out detection or even suspicion.
At that time city money was
scarce and in great demand, and
the country merchants being
anxious to make their remittance
in city notes, seized with avidity
the opportunity of making the fa-
vorable exchange, and never took
time to examine whether the
notes were genuine or not. Pass
ing through Roxbury, Strasburg,
and Fannetts burg | exchanged
about 1000 dollars in notes of va
rious denominations, purchased
, a horse at the Burnt Cabins,
, traded him off for better one,
paying the difference in counter
felt notes, and in this manner
proceeded to Bedford, where aft
er several lucky trades and pass
, ing of a mum ber Of spurious bills
| found myself in possession of
} handsome sum of money, tifteer
J hundred dollars of which | de
| posted in the Bedford bank
. and sported for some time OF
! the residua. when wishing IA