The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-08-21
Made Bogus Notes That
Were MarvelS of En-
gravcr'S Art.
Family Has Been in This
Illegal Business for
Forty Years.

- two members Of which. Edward
and David, were released the
other day from the Federal prison al De-
troit' after serving terms Of seven
years duration for the making and mass
ing or counterfeit money. A family Of
criminals. and yet-ln no strained sense
a family Of chivalric men.
For tksee generations they have nut
the law and It's officers at defiance. have
committed crimes to arouse the vigil
lance and uaceasIng effort Of the Secret
Service agents OF the Government and
the police OF the country; have produced
counterfeits that have won the reluctant
admiration Of experts-and then the men
have willingly made confessions. yielded
up important evidence-the fruits Of
years Of effort-and served long terms
/ In prison that the women Of the family
might be spared even temporary hard
ship
Made e. Notes.
They we-e the makers Of the "WIn-
dom and Hancock counterfeit two
dollar notes, with which for eight years
-undetected and unmolested-they flood
cd the country. How much Of this prod
Uct Of their skill and ingenuity they sue
ceeded in palming OF on ar unsuspecting
| public nobody knows but the surviving
! JohnsOns-and they are not likely 10 tell.
! Other Of their counterfeits are scarcely
I less remarked bic and have been scarcely
! less widely circulated
IN Detroit they lived the lives Of re-
/ spectacle members Of society They
2 bode I'm dwellings where comfOrt-even
elegance-was the prevailing note: they
went regularly TO church; they conduct
( ed themselves with every outward sem
I blance Of propriety and enjoyed the es-
| TEEN OF their neighbors. When the ar
rests came. six years ago, it was like a
/ thunderbolt out OF clear sky.
Surrendered the Plates.
And then David and Edward johnson
/ surrendered the plates from which the
/ Window notes had been made, that Mrs
/ David johnson and Mrs. Frank Bayliss
/ the latter one of the Johnson girls
might go free and unwhipped Of justice
/ The strain Of chivalry had cropped out
again.
/ Elijah Johnson, the grandfather OF
the present generation. was a criminal
/ and counterfeiter of parts long before
/ the war. John Johnson, David and Ed
wards father, was actively engaged
with them i'm their earlier operations.
Thomas Ira Johnson and Charley
! Johnson. both now dead, were the def
hands Of the criminal conspiracy and
the engravers of the plates which were
used to such good-or such cvil-purpose
| Elijah Johnson, another brother an,
ally. died many years ago. Mrs. Baylis,
was arrested with David and Edward il
/ Detroit
Joined Reno Gang.
1 II was In 1854 that the johnson family
sprang first into large notCriety. though
its members had been active long be
fore. Then they formed an alliance Will
the famous Reno gang OF outlaws, o
which Peter Mccartney. known as tn
king of Counterfeiters, was the &C
tive head The gang operated in tn
neighborhood Of Seymour. Ind, an'
there vas no crime I'm the calendar
which did not necessarily involve tn
destruction of human life. which il
members would not or did not commit
Mccartney had grown up in an dtmOs
[ phere OF crime and IawlosS' defiance IA
had been taught counterfoitinS by VII
liam r Johnston. whose grandfather
! father. and brother had all been con
: victed and served terms in the pcniten
tiary. Mccartney married Martha ACk
crman. whose father died I'm prison Will
r serving term for CounteTiCitiug. lie
= stepfather. John Boyd. and her step
brothcr. Ben Boyd. also served term
for the same ohensc.
,, Educated as Criminals.
In such Il school the Johusons perfect
ed and completed their education. Tn
, most apt Of the johnson pupils WA
Thomas ira johnson, whose skill as "a
f engraver was soon made manifest i
D the production Of a $50 legal tender not,
, of the series Of 1862. Ii had scarcel
8 been put on the market" before IN
entire Reno gang was arrested.
[ Mccartney managed TO escape b
! jumping. while manacled. from mo,
ing train. but the others, including tn
Johnsous, were safely placed benin
the bars.
Thomas Ira offered himself as a sac
& lriicc for his family. The others wcr
I relatively young. as his brothers an
p sisters. or quite old as his father an
: mother. He secured the release Of a
of theIl by confessing he was the eI
, graver Of the plates. the principal
! the crime, and surrendcring the plat,
to the Government.
, His Term a Short One.
y His term. however. was "A short on
: and two years later, almost immediate
e ~ following his release, he engraved an
printed a counterfeit $50 note on a
4 First National Bank of indianapolis. tt
: family put this addition to the country
5 currency into active circulation. 1t Wa
/ followed a few years later by a coW
terfeit $40 greenback, OF the series
e 1870.
BY this time Charley WAS rapid
Il learning the art. under the able tutelal
= of his elder brother. The first produ
/ OF their Joint efforts was a fine coul
terfeit of the 50 legal tender note Of Il
u series of 1879. which was adorned wit
: the head Of Andrew Jackson. In oC
: moments and merely as pastin
e Charley had also made plates for Il
u production Of 81. s., and 81 notes OF II
- Dominion Bank of Canada These afte
n ward got him into trouble.
For GhsE4AB V@0 arra@aC - IA