The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1909-04-08
BANK ROBBER WHO
WON PARDON DEAD
George M. White, Long an Ex.
pert Thief, Ends Days in Hon.
esty at keene, N. H.
ESCAPED FROM SING SING PRISON
{ lined Freedom by Paying $4,000 TO
Guards and Received Clemeney by
Restoring Government Bond Plates
Faithful Wife Stood by Him.

Keene, n. H.-George NJ. White,
once notorious as a bank robber. died
recently at the Elliot City Hospital.
in this city. at the age of seventy.
two years.
White was a member OF a good New
England family, and was brought up
in puritanical surroundings. He be-
came one Of the most expert bank
thieves in the country, and was sen.
fenced to long term OF imprison.
ment in this State. He escaped from
Sing Sing, and then rendered impo-.
tant services TO the government by re.
vealing the location of forged bond
plates. At the special request ~
United States Attorney General
George H. Williams he was pardon ed
by Governor Dix of New York, tle
only instance, it is said, where a Da".
don has been granted to an escaped
convict while still at large and win
an unexpired term to serve.
White went into business and had
the good will and respect Of his Mega.
bors and acquaintances. He did not at
New York Herald OF March H.
1906, printed a long interview VITA
him in which he declared that 1t had
cost him $4,000 to get out of SIM
Sing.
II was under the alias of George
Bliss that he began his operations
against banks He was associated
with the most expert criminals of his
day, including Mark Shinburn. Fairy"
MCGUIRE, Charlie" Bullard, Dave"
Bartlett, Ike" Marsh, big John
Brady and Sandy" Mccormack. His
intelligence and ingenuity made him
the recognized leader
With two others he was arrested IN
March, 1871, charged with attempting
to rob a bank at Adams, n. Y. He was
convicted and was sentenced to ten
years in Auburn Prison. He had
plenty of money put away outside and
gotiations for escape were quick.
begun. The first step was to have
transferred to Sing Sing. This
ost $1,000.
He avoided hard work from the out
''t by paying fee Of $500 to the
.ison physician, who reported that
he was too delicate to stand hard la.
bor He became the physicians hos.
tier and later went to work in the dis
pensary.
His wife was permitted to visit him
frequently, and she invariably left a
five dollar bill in a book which she
handed to the man in charge of the
visiting room. The first arrangement
made was to have White escape By
means of a tug which would pass the
prison dock at specified time. He
boarded the tug, and so did eight
other prisoners, with the result that
all were caught.
He finally escaped by hiding in a
wagon that was brought into the
prison grounds. For this privilege he
paid $4,000 in advance and $4,000 in
New York after his escape He me;
the prison guards at Delmonico's and
paid them the money. He continued
to reside in New York, going about
without concealment and attending to
various business interests.
Colonel Whitley, then chief of the
Secret Service had instructions from
the Secretary of the Treasury to SPAR
neither time nor expense in recover
ing stolen Treasury note and bond
plates White put him in a position
to get them and as result he was
pardoned in 1873