1798 Robbery of the Bank of Pennsylvania

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. The first recorded bank robbery in the US resulted in the wrongman sitting in jail for quite a while, a very strange confession from the actual perpetrator, and a rather serious lawsuit for the administrators of the bank that was robbed. Today, we are going to talk about the Bank of Pennsylvania and the robbery that took place there in seventeen ninety eight, as well as quite a bit about the prime suspect, who was a blacksmith named Patrick Lyon. In seventeen ninety nine, a book was published titled The Narrative of Patrick Lyon, and in its opening it shares the author's early life story quote, I began my mechanical study at an early age, being only turned of eleven years, and after spending nearly fourteen years in London in different manufactories, and having previously studied mathematics, et cetera, I resolved to come to America, which displeased by relations and friends in a great measure, I, however, undertook the enterprise and arrived in Philadelphia on the twenty fifth November seventeen ninety three. And if ever there was a mechanical volunteer came into America, I certainly have fair claim to the title. That certainly sounds like it's going to be the story of finding a new life in a new country, and to some degree it is. But the real focus of that narrative is how Patrick Lyon was accused of what is often considered the first bank robbery in the US and the time that he spent behind bars. Things had gone wrong for Patrick in the summer of seventeen ninety eight. But before we get to that, we'll talk about a building. That's carp Hall, which has an important place in US history. Carpenter's Hall was built starting in early seventeen seventy. It was to be the home of the guild known as the Carpenter's Company of the City and County of Philadelphia that had been in existence for nearly fifty years when it purchased a plot of land and broke ground. But the hall was not used only by the Carpenter's Guild. It was also used by other societies for their meetings and events. Carpenter's Hall was also home to the first free lending library, had started there in seventeen seventy three as part of Ben Franklin's Library Company. That library was the first Congressional library, and it remained in the building until seventeen ninety. The First Continental Congress convened there in the building in seventeen seventy four. During the Revolutionary War, the hall was used as an infirmary for both sides of the conflict. It is also sometimes called the First Pentagon, as it served as the main office for General Henry Knox, the first US Secretary of War, in the early seventeen nineties. It has served as the site of many important moments in North American history. But the part of Carpenters Hall's history that's germane to today's topic is that it started to be used for banking in seventeen ninety one. That was the Bank of North America, which stayed in that space for two years. Starting in seventeen ninety four, the first Bank of the United States was housed there. It was there for five years as the institution's own purpose built building was constructed, and in seventeen ninety eight it was leased to the Bank of Pennsylvania, which had been incorporated in seventeen ninety three. On the night of August thirty first, seventeen ninety eight, the hall was home to another first, and that was the first bank robbery in the United States. The thief or thieves got away with one hundred and sixty two thousand, eight hundred and twenty one. In modern terms, that's comparable to a little more than four million dollars, although, as we always say, it's hard to accurately convert the value of money over time because there are so many variables involved. However, long story short, a lot millions of dollars. As for the break in, there really wasn't one. Nothing was broken. There was no indication of forced entry. The access points to the building and the bank vault were entirely undamaged, so it seemed to be the work of someone who knew the building and its locks. The bank had only just moved into the space at Carpenter's Hall, and as part of that transition there had been new carpentry work done, and the vault doors had gotten new fittings and locks. Naturally, the first person suspected was the blacksmith who had worked on the vault. That prime suspect was, of course, Patrick Lyon. He'd been born near Aberty in Scotland in seventeen sixty nine. As a child, he went to school in the local parish and was drawn to astronomy and mathematics. Then, as we mentioned in the opening, when he was eleven, he left school and moved to London to work as a blacksmith until seventeen ninety three when he moved to Pennsylvania. Lyon's first boss in Philadelphia was a blacksmith named Samuel Wheeler, but according to Lyon's account, he discovered Wheeler was taking advantage of a stranger with regard to wages, et cetera, and as he had no great idea of cultivating the profession, I left him and went to another. Lyon went into business himself, and after having built up a professional reputation over several years, he was recommended to the Bank of Pennsylvania. Before that move into Carpenter's Hall was planned, he had worked on various projects for the Bank of Pennsylvania and the Bank of North America starting in seventeen ninety seven, and then after an attempted robbery at the Bank of Pennsylvania. That institution was hurriedly moved from its Lodge Alley location to Carpenter's Hall, and Lyon was asked to do a rush job so they could secure the vault there. The attempted robbery that caused the move had taken place on August fourth, seventeen ninety eight, and that had involved someone trying unsuccessfully to pick a lock and then also to pick open an iron chest. Lyon and the bank directors apparently argued about the nature of the locks on the vault. For the new space, the bank wanted imported locks, which Lyon told them were not the correct option for their vault doors. They were adamant in their choice, though in the time between his move to Philadelphia and his work for the bank, Lion had been through a lot. He had married a woman named Anne Brindley on July fourth, seventeen ninety five. Patrick and Anne welcomed a daughter named Clementina in seventeen ninety six. The timing of the bank robbery was rather unique in that it happened during a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia, and this was a very serious situation. Hundreds of people died, including Patrick's wife, and daughter. He lost both of them in seventeen ninety seven. As the epidemic continued to claim victims, people with the means to do so left the city, and one of the people who fled was blacksmith Patrick Lyon. After he wrapped up his work on the bank vault, he had arranged to travel with his apprentice, James McGinley, by boat to Delaware. They made it to the port at Lewiston, Delaware, but Lion's apprentice was ill. Although he seemed to get better briefly, and though Lion hired two doctors to see him, James died just a couple days later. Lyon stayed in Lewiston to wait out the epidemic. When news of the robbery reached Delaware, Lyon, of course, was invested in the story. He had just worked on that vault, and Lyon found out through a friend who had also made his way to Lewiston to get away from the yellow fever epidemic. He was the suspect. We'll talk about what he did after we pause for a sponsor break. When Lyon realized that he was being sought by the law in connection with this robbery, he took a head on approach to dealing with it. He went back to Philadelphia as quickly as he could. Not only did he want to make sure he was cleared, but he also wanted to tell authorities about the men that he suspected. That was carpenter Samuel Robinson and a friend of Robinson's who had visited the hall as work was being done to prepare the space for the Bank of Pennsylvania. Lyon got in touch with the authorities and met with bank directors and alderman Robert Wharton. He told them everything he knew, including his suspicions about the two other men. He later wrote about his encounter with them in detail, and this is how he described it quote. On Friday, I began to operate on the doors. In the afternoon, I was visited by Robinson, the carpenter, who brought a person with him, a stranger to me. They both took a particular observation of the locks, keys, et cetera. I told Robinson at this time that those locks were not fit for a bank. In the hearing of this stranger, the reader will please to keep in direct and point blank view this stranger, and there may be a possible surmise of the character of some of his connections during the whole work. Robinson informed me that Smith the cashier would not employ me after this was done, owing to the delay. I answered, it made a little difference to me. I gave Robinson and his companion something to drink, and they both went away towards Second Street. They had not been gone above ten minutes when Robinson's companion, the stranger, came back and went into my shop while I was answering a young woman at the door. I took no notice of him, as he appeared to be Robinson's confidential friend and companion. He did not stop above a minute and came to the door. I said, I was in a hurry and must work all night, as the bank was in such haste for their work being done. Robinson's companion answered that he would see all banks damned before he would kill himself in this hot weather. Then he took his course towards Front Street. He did not follow Robinson. Whether they met again immediately or not, I cannot tell, but suppose they did so. Of course, he was establishing that he was not the only person who had access to the locks for the vault. Yes, and that mystery stranger is going to come up again. Uh. But the bank and the alderman thought that when Lyon told them all of this, that he was lying. And one of their reasons was that his account of what happened with Robinson and this mystery man was just too detailed. It seemed to them unnecessarily so, so they thought that made Lion seem guilty. It was believed by everyone involved that the blacksmith must have made himself a key while working on the vault. Lyon was arrested, sort of, not charged, just arrested and held at Walnut Street Prison. This was a very grim situation, as was relayed later in court quote. They decided that Lion should go to jail. There was no circumstance alleged against him, but that he had had the doors in his possession before the robbery. The bail required was one hundred fifty thousand dollars. It was impossible he could procure it. He was therefore committed to jail, in which there was twenty or thirty cases of yellow fever, and a number of deaths followed. He was neglected while there, reduced to extreme want. The excess of the few friends he had was denied for some additional clarification and detail. There was no formal charge against him. He was just detained for being suspected. Because of his lack of charge, the jailer felt he should be kept separate from the other incarcerated men, so he was put in a root seller that wasn't being used. This was not in any way set up for a person to be housed in Patrick Lyon didn't even have a bed. He literally slept on the ground, malnourished and without much human interaction at all. He later said he never expected to make it out of Walnut Street alive. It seemed like Lyon was doomed. There was no way he could clear his name or even make a case for himself when he didn't even have a charge to fight. But then something happened. The Bank of Pennsylvania had received several sizable deposits of money from one new account holder, Isaac Davis. When Isaac Davis, a carpenter who was not especially wealthy, suddenly had a lot of money, started to raise eyebrows, specifically the eyebrows of the bank. Here's how it was described in a statement made by a bank committee, which was read in court and entered into court documents. Quote one Isaac Davis, a carpenter by trade, had an account opened in this bank, and the first circumstance which excited the suspicions of the president and cashier against him was a deposit of sixteen hundred dollars. Inquiry was made as to his circumstances and character, which were found to be such as to induce the officers to watch his conduct. On Saturday, the thirteenth November, just before the bank closed, he deposited three thousand, nine hundred and ten dollars. The suspicions were then increased, and it was thought proper to inquire the banks of the United States and of North America whether he had accounts open with those institutions, And on Monday mornings, such information was obtained as left no doubt that he was the robber. So Isaac Davis was brought before bank officials. He was kind of invited for a chat, and when he was confronted and asked how he was able to make those large deposits, Davis completely folded. He confessed that in there that he had been the one to rob the bank, the same bank where he was now depositing the stolen money. He also had an accomplice, and that was Thomas Cunningham. Cunningham was the bank porter and he had spent the night in the bank the night of the robbery, but he had come down with yellow fever the day after the robbery and then died a few days later. Davis said that he and Cunningham had split the money, but the porter's untimely death meant that his portion was still in his house. Isaac returned the majority of what he had not already deposited with the bank, but it also turned out that Davis lied. When Cunningham's home was searched for the remaining money, there was nothing there. Davis eventually confessed that he actually had the rest, except for some that he had spent, and the bank recovered almost all of the money. Davis told them that Cunningham had procured a set of keys, but that he Isaac Davis, did not know where those keys had come from, and that was a detail that the bank officials at Lawman would really hang on to enter. Benjamin Brannon Esquire, the Associate judge of Delaware County and Isaac Davis's uncle, He visited the bank cashier and made some effort to make up the gap and the recovered funds through some legal doings, with the intention that Isaac Davis would be pardoned. At one point, the committee we just quoted a moment ago had intended to prepare charges again against Brannon because he, quote, contrary to the duties of his office, endeavored to prevent a certain Isaac Davis from being punished whom he knew had robbed the Bank of Pennsylvania. Brannon continued to wheel and deal, promising that his nephew would give up all the information on where the keys had come from and all of that in return for a pardon. And although this seemed like something that should have gotten Brannon into a whole lot of trouble, the office of Pennsylvania Governor John Dickinson did make a deal with Isaac Davis, which was return the money and tell us how you did it, and we'll forgive everything. So Davis walked away from this entire affair with pretty much no repercussions. On November twentieth, seventeen ninety eight, the following story ran in the paper The North American under the somewhat odd title of Democratic Mystery Unraveled quote. It is with great satisfaction, ain't our reader, that the notes robbed from the Bank of Pennsylvania at the commencement of the fever have been recovered to within four thousand dollars of the whole amount, which there is also a further prospect of getting hold of. It appears that one Isaac Davis, a carpenter and a noted democrat, in conjunction with a porter belonging to the bank, who died of the fever, were the sole agents in this nefarious business. Davis had set up his carriage and pair and pretended that an Indiaman had arrived at New York in which he sent out an adventure. On the death of his accomplice, he took the whole of the cash, of which a dividend had been made, into his possession, and was detected by means of the large deposits he had made in each of the banks NB Citizen Davis has made off. With the crime solved and the money recovered, it would seem like Patrick Lyon's life should get back to normal, but it did not. We will talk about that after we hear from the sponsors that keep the show going. Although a full confession from the actual thief should have resulted in an immediate release for Lion, it did not. The bank was still entirely convinced that he had been involved and that he had made an unauthorized spare key to the vault, and Philadelphia law enforcement backed up the bank, so Lion sat in jail. Moreover, he was finally formally charged with the charge of accessory before the fact. He went before a grand jury in seventeen ninety nine, but as there was no real evidence against him, the grand jury returned to judgment that the case was insufficiently proven. It is worth noting that the bank never disclosed during that grand jury pri that Isaac Davis had confessed to the crime and said that Lion was not involved, so even though they had not shared that information, Lion was at last released, But that was hardly the end of it. After all he had been through. People still believed he had somehow been involved in the robbery, and that was due in no small part to the leadership at the Bank of Pennsylvania. They continued to spread their belief that he had somehow gotten away with theft, even though the bank had its money back and a confession from the actual thief, but even worse for a blacksmith who had done most of his business with banks and other sizeable companies in Philadelphia, being accused by one bank tanked his reputation with the rest of the city's businesses, so his income suffered considerably. After his release, Lion wrote a book, the one that we quoted at the top of the show, which the short name of it is the Narrative of Patrick Lyon. He makes clear his intentions in that document, writing quote that the conduct of the Bank of Pennsylvania on the late robbery cannot, in my opinion, be pardoned, either on the score of public justice or national policy. But as the affair stands, the public still entertain their suspicion, and the matter remains unraveled. Owing if my suspicions are well founded, and my judgment right, though not competent in law, to know to a certain peculiar incomprehensibility, as several glaring reports are in circulation, which in the body of this work I shall endeavor to explain, And as persons are generally the last to hear what materially concerns themselves, I shall take notice of them that such suspected characters may have an opportunity of contracting the rumor that they have made it in their power to clear their conduct of the heavy suspicion which has leveled against them. For my own part, I have a right to speak because I suffered innocently, and as I am informed, no legal steps can be taken to enforce a recompense for false and severe imprisonment. I therefore take the liberty to lay my case before my fellow citizens. Ads for this book ran daily in Philadelphia newspapers, basically saying, Hey, you want to know what happened to that guy they put in jail. He'll tell you all about it. Lyon wanted to make sure that his version of the story got out, but this book was actually a precursor to legal action on Lion's part. He filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit against bank president Samuel M. Fox Head, cashier Jonathan Smith Alderman, and bank board member John Clement Stoker, and Constable John Haynes. The case was heard before the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in eighteen oh five. During the trial, there were witnesses called to testify that members of the bank's leadership had basically said they could do what they wanted regarding patrick Lyon, and that he was powerless in comparison to them. There were plenty of witnesses who relayed conversations with bank's staff at all levels, establishing bias and presumption of patrick Lyon's guilt. There was also testimony that it had been Samuel Robinson who had pushed for the locks that Lion said were not usable, and that Lions had made clear that they would be easy to open. Lyons also thought the manner in which the doors were to be mounted was unsafe. Reading through all of that testimony, it really starts to seem like the bank was more interested in scapegoating and punishing Lion than really anything else. Another interesting bit of testimony came from one of the bank guards, a man named Philip Coldwater. He explained that he worked with Thomas Cunningham and another porter named Potter, and him was routinely trusted with the vault key. Coldwater incidentally quit the bank when the money was returned, exasperated that he and the other guards had been suspected. Another witness, John Cornick, who ran a lodging house, also testified that Thomas Cunningham had stayed at his house the night before the robbery, and that he wore a large key on what Cornick called a garter around his neck. Witnesses verified Lyon's claims about the conditions of his incarceration, but more than anything, his counsel sought to prove that the four accused men had conspired to keep Lyon in jail well after they knew he was innocent, to keep him from retaliating against them for everything he had endured. His legal team of Alexander J. Dallas and Joseph Hopkinson argued, quote, after the grand jury had refused to consider Lyon as the accomplice of Davis and Cunningham, what could induce his persecutor to continue their endeavors to put and keep Lyon down? But malice and malice too, the most execrable kind. But they assign another motive. They justify themselves on the principle of self defense. We must put down Patrick Lyon, or he will put down us. We must cripple him in his cause and in his means, or he will dare to meet us in a court of justice. And they have hitherto pursued the road they laid down for themselves. But it is hoped you, gentlemen of the jury, will stop their career. There was a clear display of prejudice against Lyon On behalf of the bank, as shown by the arguments of the bank's defense attorney, William Rawl. Even though Davis had confessed and had stated that Patrick Lyon was in no way involved, and even though there was ample evidence to place Lion in Delaware when the heist happened, Rawl continued to suggest that Lion had to have been involved. It was claimed that he was the best key maker in Philadelphia and was the only man who could have possibly unlocked the vault outside of bank staff. The defense also argued that everything it did it did quote for the interest of civil society. Ral argued that quote it was an important and imperious duty imposed upon the defendant, who were entrusted in perilous times with great property and founded on correct principles. There were others as well as Lyon to be considered principle and duty, and not rancor and malice were the only motives that influenced the defendants. There was a great deal of discussion about the procedural use of the bank's keys, who had them, and when, and whether the porters and guards had carried out the procedure as usual the night of the robbery. They claimed that Cunningham couldn't have gotten into the vaults, only into the bank itself. Then there was more suggestion that's somehow Lyon was involved. Rawle also once again invoked the specificity of Lion's account to the bank management as suspicious, noting quote, mister Lyon gave a minute account of all of his proceedings. This from the time he left Philadelphia till his return. Minuteness and particularity appeared very remarkable and extraordinary to mister Wharton, Stalker, and Fox. Upon his being told that they could prove it against him, he immediately became confused and called for a glass of water for that he was almost fainting. Mister Wharton, then, supposing that he was about to disclose the whole affair, said if you discharged him, you would do wrong. You ought certainly to commit him. So the defense also clearly stated that Lyon was held that's committed based on nothing other than suspicion. Incidentally, when Wharton was called to testify, he clarified that he said to the other men involved in Lyon's questioning quote, the importance of his examination and the embarrassed situation he appears in, would if I were the magistrate, induce me to commit him. I believe mister Stocker then committed him. Patrick Lyon was extremely minute in his narrative, as I have mentioned before, and this formed, in my opinion, the ground of my advice where I was convinced that he had been concerned. Yeah, Wharton is definitely trying to be like, no, No, I didn't do it. I just said like I would do it based on what he said. Uh. When it was time for jury deliberation, the judge made clear to them that they had to determine if the bank had probable cause to detain Lion, and if the bank did, the malice charge could not stand. After just four hours of deliberation, the jury found in favor of Lion, and they awarded him twelve thousand dollars. He didn't actually get that much, though. The defendants appealed and the new trial was scheduled for March eighteen oh seven. But as that second trial date approach, the bank and Patrick Lyon reached an out of court settlement, and he received a payout of nine thousand dollars. Once Lion's suit was concluded, he went back to his life and his business. He had remarried to Catherine Taggart even before the eighteen oh five trial had started, and he didn't go back to blacksmithing. He had worked on various mechanical projects even before he was wrongfully detained, and he focused more on that after he was released. This may have also been a pivot that was necessitated by the damage to his blacksmithing reputation, but even so, it also turned out to be quite lucrative. He started making pump engines. That's early fire engines. He's credited with building several dozen fire engines that were put to use in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states, and several still exist in museums. In addition to focusing on engineering, Lyon invested his money in real estate. Yeah, there is. It'ld be a whole other story about his pump engines. There are people that really really love, specifically Lion designed fire engines, and you can find lists of where you can go visit them, which is just kind of an interesting thing. In eighteen twenty five, Lyon commissioned a portrait of himself by painter John Nagle. That portrait titled pat Lyon at the Forge or it's much longer name, full length portrait of mister Patrick Lyon, representing him as engaged at his anvil, is an unusual portrait for a number of reasons. For one, it's considered one of the great examples of early US portraiture. For another, the artist Nagel was young, just twenty nine at the time. But the most unique attribute of this image is the way in which Lion chose to be represented at this point. Lyon, who was in his late fifties, was wealthy and successful and had not had to work at the forge in quite a while. But that is how he wanted to be painted, not informal atti looking like a well to do businessman, but as a blacksmith where he started. This is believed to be in part because he associated the portraits of men in their finest attire with the type of men who had seen to it that he was wrongfully imprisoned. This is kind of supported by something he asked to have included in the artwork in the top left of the image, through a window in the blacksmith workshop. The cupola of the Walnut Street prison is visible. That's a detailed Lion insisted on. That portrait is now part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and it can be seen in the Kristen and Rogers Servicing Gallery. There is actually a second version of this painting, which Lion commissioned for himself after he let the Boston Athenam display the first one. This second one is a slightly more detailed rendering, but it's very similar, and that second one is displayed at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Patrick Lyon died on April fifteenth, eighteen twenty nine, at the age of sixty. I love that weird story. It is very weird and it's sort of wonderful, and I hate that he went through all that. It's also just a great example of like us, as you and I discussed right before we recorded, this was like fresh after all of our you know, governing documents that theoretically were to create some version of freedom inequality obviously not right full freedom and equality for everyone, and yet it was not as though those were truly the things that were dominating people's judgment. At the time. Yes, throwing someone into effectively a root seller without cause and keeping them there one of the things purportedly prevented through things in the Constitution, right, and yet there it goes. I really really just wildly enjoy the story though, and we'll talk more about it in the behind the scenes on Friday. But in the meantime, I have a wonderful listener mail that includes animals we have not featured in our pet text before nice or an animal that we have not featured. This is from our listener Tanya, who writes, Hi, ladies, I just finished listening to your Richer Dad episode and thought I would send a pet tax photo of a pet you may not have heard of before. This is my daughter's blue death feigning beetle Drogan, who is about the size of a nickel. I end up bug sitting him frequently when she goes on trips. I'm also attaching a photo of my sweet moyam poodle Stella. Her mother was a standard and her father was a mini. She is a perfect twenty pounds size. I enjoy listening to your podcast on my drives to and from work and while working around our mini farm in Pennsylvania. Which also tied it back to this episode, so voila. First of all, Stella is adorable. Stella is also the name of one of my Jorro spiders this year, so clearly it's the best name. And this little blue death fainting beetle is so cute and one we have not had before. And I was trying to look up while we were doing this what their lifespan is, and I couldn't easily find one. But it's really really sweet, and I've never seen one, and I want to know more about it because I like keeping all the bugs just as much as anything else. I was very excited that I caught our spider Stella doing some very active things last night. She's been kind of chill, so apparently a raccoon on the deck startled her and she got very busy with her web. She's like intruder alert and trudeer alert. She's great, she's fine. It just startled her. It's she's completely out of reach, but she's very, very keenly aware of when animals are on the deck. That's when she gets really busy. So thank you, thank you Antania for sending us those pictures again. Still it so cute, I want to boop, that's newt. If you would like to write to us with a pet text or without, you don't have to have one, don't feel pressured. You can do that at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. 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