Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-10-28
c9FZHWE 2FZZPTCH ID. TTRRELL.

our his history since is a romance Of
crime. His whole life was devoted 10
crime as a chosen profession. and His
principal pursuit had been the exact
ing one Of a wholesale dealer in coun-
terfeit money. In this business he had
gained the souhriquet OF the great
southwest koniacker"
The readers OF this narrative WHO
read my recent account OF the events
leading up TO the attempt TO steal the
body OF Abraham Lincoln will recall
that then made clear the different
! hands through which counterfeit
money passes before Il reaches the
public. The engrsver, printer, dealer.
shower and Doodle carrier each has his
distinct function TO perform in the
process OF robbing the people. The
dealer IS the circulator. and. II he Las
suitable plates or dies. can food the
country with counterfeit money long
after every engraver or die cutter IN
the business is behind prison bars.
To the business OF dealing in "coney''
Biebush had devoted his time and
genius. yet he found leisure to act as
a receiver Of stQien goods and was the
patron and financial hacker OF thieves
and burglars He furnished the en-
gravers OF counterfeit plates with cap
ital, helped produce the plates. bought
plates. bought presses ink and paper.
and then found trustworthy men 70
act as his AGENTS in the circulation
OF the spurious currency. For 90 years
he had followed his chosen calling with
unequaled success. his bold and profit
able operations extending from Illinois
20 Texas.
within year OF his arrival in the
United states Fred iBcbusl began his
criminal career. Fe was then a broad
shouldered nan Of fine physical aD-
pearance. The year 1850 found him
keeping a saloon called the War Eagle.
after a famous steamboat OF ante
bellum days In Third street. St. Louis
His place was froquented by river men
OF the better class. for he was a jovial
chap and a good business man as well
! am not familiar with the way in
which suspicion first attached to him.
but one day the St Louis police raided
his saloon. and. buried in the walls.
they found an immense lot Of stolen
silverware. plate and jewelry There
Is said &c have been found a good
sized sack OF watches. He was ar
rested. but escaped punishment A..
this time his permanent headquarters
were established IN St Louis. but his
agents worked throughout the entire
Mississippi valley. Personally he dealt
at Wholesale only. negotiating with ex-
IRENE caution and keenness Of discern
ment for the sale OF very large guam
titles OF his wares.
IN Missouri at that time there was
state law which provided that the
testimony OF no man who had served
penitentary term was admissible in
the courts OF the state. Fred Bie5ush
was familiar with this provision and
followed one rule--as immutable in his
business as the laws OF the Medes
and PeTsians-never 20 deal directly
with any man who could not prove
he had been convict. And he went
even further toward the extreme OF
caution. for while he would negotiate
in person for the sale OF counterfeit
money with an ex-convict and would
receive from such a one the honest
money in payment for the bogus cur
rency. he would invariably deliver the
"couey" through the hands OF a third
party. So far as / know there is no
man who can say he ever received
''coney" from Fred Biebush except his
timetested personal agents His rule
against doing business with any ex-
cept ex-convicts was the thing that
rendered II practically impossible 20
convict him Besides observing the
precautions mentioned. he usually sue
ceeded in bringing his subordinates
under his power so that his safety was
theirs. For % years he. pursued his
criminal career UNPUBLISHED.
Before the present system Of nation
al banks was established Biebush L0ur-
ished wonderfully in his operations In
the counterfeits OF the bills OF the old
state banks He did no manufacture
ing in those days. but from his head
quarters ia St. Louis he jobbed the
"coney' In enormous quantities all over
the country through such distinguished
dealers as Nelson briggs, Louis Sleight
and others, the amount OF representa-
tive dollars running into the hundreds
OF thousands. In this way he accumu-
lated a large fortune. Then he went
into the manufacturing business him
self
Notsbeing an engraver nor a printer,
he had TO hire these artisans, and soon
formed a partnership with John Peter
Mccartney. for whom he had former
ly been an agent Mccartney was an
engraver OF high rank and the new
criminal team was q strong one. Nc
Cartney did the engraving and Bile
bush superintendent the printing and
circulating. Later he acquired plates
engraved by such high-class cutters as
BENJAMIN Boyd and William Shelley.
His fortune grew by tremendous leaps.
He was arrested 50 times In all; but
the early arrests never resulted in con-
viction for two reasons-hls caution
with whom he dealt and his wealth.
Many times he was arrested IN
doubtedly SO that the officers making
the arrest could bleed" him Never
was malesactor more adroit in the
use or money with public officers. DO
lice and court officers than Fred Rfo-