Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-25

Sophie Lyons's real story makes TIC
lives Of many other extraordinary
criminals dull reading. She was crime
expert by heredity and always lived up
to and excelled the family reputation
in first class crook work at home and
abroad. having operated In nearly ev-
ery part of the so-called civilized world
and having been at one time or anoth-
er in every Worthwhile prison In Eu-
rope and America.
"Where is Sophie Lyons?" I asked
the WHO'S Who authority at Police
headquarters. the Second DEPUTY
Commissioner, George s. Doughtery.
was courteous. Courtesy is fine art
with him. Sometimes think he dis
covered Il. Anyhow, he makes the
quality popular and deserving to be
placed at the head Of the list OF an ac-
tive mans daily necessities and ac-
complishments.
81 really think she has reformed" he
answered, though there was no shade
of regret in his tone. who would nave
thought 1t Of Sophie Lyons? She new
er was a mind reader so far as know,
but surely she never looked forward 10
such q finish. Sophie was the hveliest
thing moving when she was on the job,
and she hit every human angle known
to crime Notwithstanding murder;
that was too obvious for her; she was
too smooth for murder. Sophie, didn't
have temperament-she had a call"
Then Mr.. Doughtery told me Of the
perpetually thrilling career OF the wo-
man. In her best crook days she was
fond Of tracing her ancestry back Tor
two or more generations and finding
leading thieves and criminals on both
sides, In whose deeds Of daring she
took as much pride as Colonial dame
does in her ancestry. They were CHI
yalric achievements In her estimation,
and she boasted that her grandfather,
who had lived in London, was a
'cracksman to whom Scotland Yard
took or its cap"
For years she gioried in the audaci-
GUS robberies Of her husband. Ned Ly-
ons, who stole millions from bank
vaults Of this country and furnished
her with wealth to supply her culti-
waited but extravagant tastes.
Oh, Ned liked to steal He wasn't
martyr nor a suffering hero. and So
phie wasn't his favorite vampire In the
beginning. He didn't put the blame on
any one.
But when gunshot wounds and sick
ness impaired his usefulness In crook
dom she left him for burglar VINO
gave promise Of even more brilliant
enQeaVOI. SOpul6 1kOih SASStA
stock, lest we forget, where excuses
never went-only the goods delivered
had any show in her reckoning. He
was able and willing to steal for two,
was Ned Lyons, but he was down and
out, and Sophie wasn't living In the
past.
One Of her chief regrets was that
death cut short her plans to educate
her son, George Lyons, In the way ne
should go to perpetuate her fame and
further illustrate the theory OF heredi-
ty. He died in Auburn prison, and MS
mother spoke Of him as being cut on
in his promise.
She has two daughters-and here Is
her sorrow. The girls when little were
sent to a convent near Toronto: At in
tervals, made irregular by her frequent
confinement In prison, she went to see
them. In the summer Of 1888, after her
return from Paris, they were her guests
at a hotel for two weeks, during which
they learned the secret Of their moth
er's life.
Sophie Lyons was heartbroken. She
attempted to explain. The girls, con-
vent bred, were amazed and crushed.
Their mother spoke foreign langu-
age to them.
She said she would reform. Even
then the daughters did not know how
to listen; all their training had not
prepared them for the test.
They went back to the convent ana
took the veil, and Sophie was In de-
spair. She had fancied by the time the
girls were old enough to vote she would
have earned enough to retire with them
and live quietly forever after. But
destiny caught her unaware. She has
not seen them since. Her blum, which
had stood her faithful ally for years,
deserted her.
Bluff was her great game. She could
make one that upon more than one oc-
casion staggered q chief OF police with
evidence in his possession sufficient to
convict her in q court Of law, but she
convinced him that he had made an
unaccountable mistake. She did this IN
Paris before the memorable time she
met her daughters, when she was
caught in the act Of stealing, but so
audacious were her statements and so
natural was the womanly indignation
which she feigned that not only did
the police release her, but the whole
American colony demanded an expla-
nation, while newspaper there de-
manded an apology by the government
for what II called an affront placed
upon "an estimable American lady OF
high social connections"
But Sophie Lyons had beginning
and here 1t is:
Deputy Doughtery explained her
first appearance in America according
to his best information.
It was Immediately after the close
of the war that Sophie Levy came into
the life Of Ned Lyons, her husband
She was a slender, bright-eyed girl
chaperoned in her particular circle. by
Nine. Mandelbaum, the queen OF
fences" Her mother. Ann Levy, was
at that time serving a four-year sen.
tence in Sing Sing, the last OF several
for shoplifting, and all Of Sophie's ac-
quaintances recalled with fervor the
expertness in a house-breaking way
Of her father, Sam Levy.
Ned Lyons met the patrician-he
recognized her charms and talents
and they were married.
Lyons had in the meantime formed
an alliance with Jimmy Hope, Max
Shinburn and Charley Bullard, all men
who have assisted in making criminal
history. They planned the robbery OF
the Ocean bank located at Fulton ano
Greenwich streets. This was in 1858
and cost the bank an even million.
Lyons returned to his Long Island
home and lived quietly but luxurious
ly on his share Of the spoils: His wife
was proud of him-life seemed bright.
er anQ George was DOTH.
One night she chided him on his lack
of ambition. She said If she were g
man she would have more to show FOL
her work, and that as 1t was, she was
anxious to get into active service.
Il can steal enough for two" he In
sisted
II am a better thief than you." she
retorted with a touch Of professional
jealousy.
And she went out the next day tc
demonstrate that the blood of hel
forefathers no longer was dominant IT
her.
When her baby was six months ole
she was caught in the theft Of quaint.
ty Of lace in the shop Of Koch & Co.
Lyons spent money and kept his wife
out Of state prison, but she was sen.
fenced to six months on the Island
Early in 1870. when she was still 8
prisoner, Lyons, in connection with
Jimmy Hope, George Bliss and Ire
Kinsland, took trip to Waterford, N
Y, and cracked a bank safe, getting
away with s150.O00. Lyons, Kinslant
and