New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-17
OLEEN"TN GALAXY OF NO1ED WOuAN CNOOho
Others of Her SEX
Have Made Some
Striking Police
History.

HtSkOS y
Stewart in Denver, as Mary Ray IN
Albany. as Ida Green in Pittsburgh
as Mary Schwartz in New York CT
where she went to the city prison for
two months), as Dora Williamson In
Ontario. as Mary May, again. In Phils.
delphia, and as Mary Ross in Ontario.
where she also jumped her bail. Most
Of these arrests were for pocket-pick-
ing and stealing.
ANNExING THE BAGGAGE OF
OTHER FOLKS.
One OF the famous odtimers was
Sophie Lyons. Queen OF the Burglars"
and Empress Of the Bank Robbers
who has since written her memoirs
for New York paper. In which she 4.
declares that she started stealing wnen
she was six years old. her "wretched
stepmother" patting her curly mead and
giving her candy as a reward for her
successes.
She began as a pickpocket and be-
came shoplifter. after which She Nas
promoted to the position Of black
mailer But It was only after her
marriage that she really settled into
the harness as a professional criminal
In 1869 she was caught stealing lace
and got six months on the island.
While there her husband did sl500o0
job. for which he got seven years in
Sing Sing. Six months after this So
phie. again at liberty. was sent TO join
her husband for stealing $1,000 worth
of goods from A. T. Stewards store.
She got five years
SOPHIE ESCAPES WITH HUSBAND
IN sNoWsToRM.
Lyons made his escape and drove up
to the door Of the woman's prison dur
Ing a binding snowstorm in Decem-
Der, 1872 He rang the bell and Informed
the guard that he was the bearer Of
fruit for an ailing prisoner. AS the
guard stretched out his hand for the
fruit Sophie made a break She jumped
into the sleigh with her husband and
drove off into the storm
They went TO Canada. robbed a
pawnbroker of $4,000 worth OF Jewell
~. and returned to settle down TO mar
ried life on Long Island. But at a
county fair Sophie was pulled for
picking pockets, and when her husband
visited her in Jail he was sent back 10
Sing Sing as an escaped convict
She got out first and lived with a
crook named Brock. When Lyons was
freed he tried TO shoot Brock, who got
the drop on him first Lyons recovered
and started 10 rob a store. Brock.
who heard cf 1t, warned the proprietor
and Lyons was shot again. When So
phie heard OF this she left Brock and.
working for herself, was landed on
BlackwelPs Island. When Lyons was
free he visited her there, but she re-
fused TO return TO him. Going West,
Sophie continued in her career. She
was sent to Jail in Detroit.
Space does not allow a thorough re-
cital OF the misdeeds Of Ellen Peck. the
confidence queen. who is perhaps the
greatest Of them all. With Sophie
Lyons she stands head and shoulders
above the rest OF the company OF
American woman crooks. She swindled
for thirty years, using rouge and cheek
bumpers in her old age to make her
self attractive to the males that she
planned to victimize. Most of herr
game was in the form Of the rich oldy
man with a long bank roll and shof
Judgment. Her last and most famous
swindle was in connection with a land
grant in Virginia, in which a dispute
arose concerning the state boundary
line. 1t was proved that the grant
after all was in Kentucky, and that
the heirs of the grant had no right 10
IT, as it was made out by Governor
Monroe of Virginia in 1875
nv NNNoS III the UdulS OF a
Brooklyn woman. from whom they
were transferred TO Ellen Peck. who
had given out her name as Eliza
knight She then brought numerous
parcels OF the grant 10 different buy
ers. She showed the abstract Of the
title and consented TO take out the
price in stock Of a new corporation
which was TO be formed. Next day
she asked leave to mortgage her
stock for $1,000 down and as much
again on the day after. In the mean
while the game was discovered. and
old Ellen. then nearly eighty. roasted
IN the Tombs and then in Auburn. Her
was committed, and she has
done some writing for certain news
paper In her time this famous ad-
ventures stole nearly million dol