Year: 1878




The casket was found broken open and the
body removed. The decomposition OF the re-
mains is SO offensive that they cannot be con-
cealed. This is apparent from standing at
the opening of the vault this morning. Con-
seuuently it cannot be taken across the
ferries or placed anywhere above ground
without discovery Cause diIigent search to
be made in your precinct as the remains were
evidently stolen In hopes OF O. reward
The FRaCe where the Remains Were me"


posated-RsOw the Grave Was Robbed.


NEW YORK, Nov. THE vaultin St. Marks
Church yard, from which Stewards body was
stolen, is an arched brick chamber about ten
feet square. This is reached by q flight OF
stone steps. In 1t are the collins, two OF them
very small, containing the bodies OF Stewards
children and one with an undecipherable In
scription on it which is SO old that the wood
has fallen in In the little triangular space of
ground surrounding the church are the family
vaults of many of the oldest New York fami
lies. On brown stone slab, close to the
church, Is traced in old-fashioned characters,
''In this vault lies buried Petrus Stuyvesant,
late Captain General and Governor In chief
of Amsterdam, New Netherlands, now called
New York. The graveyard is inclosed by q
hieh iron railing.


Ex-Judge Hilton was promptly informed OF
the robbery, and at once put the case In the
hands Of the police, who are now making most
dligent inquiries in all parts of the city. He

serted vault. The gates leading to the church,
yard were locked and nobody was allowed
within the incIosure but Mr. Hilton, the police
com mmissioners, sexton and under-sexton, TO-
gether with the reporters The ground d.
rtctly over the entrance to the vault was as 1t
had been left by the robbers, Clay was scat
tered around, and one of the three stones
which covered the opening of the vault
aperture about eighteen inches wide aud
thirty inches long, through which the per-
sons who stole the body effected an antrance
and after unscrewing the lid Of the outer box,
leaden box which enclosed the oak casket
with q knife and gradually cut the cover off.
It was then an easy matter to open the casket
and take the remains out and hoist them to
the surface, where they were evidently placed
in wagon and taken away. The robbers
wrenched the plate off the casket and left o
small galvanized iron shovel, with which
they dug two feet of earth covering the en-
trance 10 the vault away.


Judge Hilton was Interviewed and In an
swer to questions said that when he first re-
Ceived the news he was thun erStruck, and
determined to keep the matter quiet, but up
on reflection thought the best thing ne could
do WAS to have q general alarm sent out by
the police. whom he then notified, and the
alarm was sent out by Inspector Dilks. He
said that about IL month ago the sexton OF
the church reported to him that the marble
slab covering the entrance to the vault had
been tampered with. He ordered the sexton
to employ a night watchman, and had the
slab removed about twenty-five feet in q south
westerly direction from where the vault was, In
order to deceive anyl persons intending to rob
the grave. A watchman Was employed and
was kept on duty every night until last Mou~
day, when for some unexplained reason the
seXiOn discharged him, and ut the time OF the
I robbery the vault was ungualded. 1he pre-
val ing idea, Judge Hilton said, has been that
there was u great deal Of gold, silver and
vaIu bes buried with the body, but this was
a mistake, as the most valuable thing about
the remains was the massive silver plate on
the casket aud that had been taken
with the body. The deed could not have
been done by professional thieves Or burg lars,
because instead of using "jimmy,' or other
effective tools, the robbers cut the leaden box
with 81 knife and carefully unscreWed the
cedar box i'll which both the leaden box and
casSet wsre encased. The man employed to
watch did not know that he was employed to
watch the grave but thought his duty was to
watch the church. no one being In the secret
but the rector and sexton; but he was dis
charged, as it was thought other attempt
would be made IT, rob the grave.


The entrance to the vault had been marked
| by the thieves in the following manner: On
q post opposite the vault on the Second Ave
nue. side the letter B was written with a blue
lead pencil; on the Eleventh street side on
line with the vault, two pieces OF paper were
| posted. Draw q line from the post marked
| "B" to the tree that stood next to the church,
and another line from the post marked with
paper to q tree TN the Sturtevant street side,
and the intersection would be Immediately
over the entrance to the vault. his point
! ascertaned, there was no further difficulty TO
overcome.


| The robbers were evidently accompanied
| by twO-horse wagon. They must have
| entered the vault between midnight and day
light, and had with them an india-rubber bag
| After having opened the box and casket. the
body was exposed to view and must have been
In a fearful state Of decomposition, nothwth-





receptacle, for the Innings were very, much
saturated and discolored, and the bottom OF
the casket was filled with q dark-colored
vscous fluid, which had gone through into
| the leaden covering. It is thought that some
undertaken, medical student, or other person
accustomed to handling dead bodies, must
have been in the iob--othor persons could not
| have stood 1t.


The theory is that the remains were lifted
out and placed in an india rubber bag. No
stains were found upon the grass or railing,
as would have been the case had 1t been an
ordinary bag It must then have been taken
to some place pl epared for it, as it could not
be kept about d house.


| The motive of the crime Is generally thought
| to be a reward which the robbers believe will
be offered for the return OF the body, utJudge
Hilton is reported to have said that he would
| not offer dollar,


The boldness of the robbery is q surprise to
the police and to every one else. The thieves
must have watched the movements OF the
| police closely SO as to avoid being seen by
them They must have known also that the
watchman employed chad been discharged.
This fact furnishes clue by which the thieves
| may yet he discovered. The night was also
very dark and stormy, which also aided the
robbers.


4 gentleman, member of Mrs Stewards
household, in answer to inquiries his even
ing at her mansion, said Mrs, Stewart as yet
does not know OF the terrible crime. They
were most anxious to keep it from her, rs
they did not know what might happen if it
reached her ears.


Mo fine Vet Discovered