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/t. 
 
 STRA^: 
 
 
 
 - THE ADVENTURES 
 
 •■■\ >■ 
 
 HEBfRY MiaRp, SMITH, 
 
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 I AND I^PIJiBUSfJEb 
 By 6llOSL&i ^ mLLBR; 
 
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 THE 
 
 V' 
 
 ■1-"',' 
 
 MYSTERIOUS 
 STRANGER, 
 
 . I ■ ■' ."■■•-■ 
 
 THE ADVENTURES 
 
 HENRY MORE SMITH, 
 
 - CONTAINING ' 
 
 . ^ ' A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT " ^ 
 
 OF HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 FROM THE TIME OF HIS APPEARANCE 
 
 IN WINDSOR N. S. IN 1812, 
 
 UNTIL HIS CONFINEMENT IN 
 
 Toronto, Upper Canada. 
 
 BEING A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL. 
 
 , , . AND REPUBLISHED ; ; i' 
 
 By GEORGE W. MILLER, 
 
 i' 'J SOUTHAMPTON, YORK COUNTY 
 
 ) 
 
 NEW BRUNSWICK. 
 
 CHARLOTTETOWN : 
 STEAM PRESS OF HASZARD & OWEN. 
 
 1855. 
 
CONTENrS : 
 
 x: 
 
 t 
 
 V 
 
 *■ 
 
 I) 
 
 Henry More Srnltli, first appearance of, in Windsor, N. S., 
 in the year 1812. — An account of his apprehension and 
 continemcnt in Kingston Jail, New Brunswick, in the years 
 1814 and 1815. — Remarkable Escape. — Re-apprehension. — 
 Trial. — Sentence of death and Pardon. — His banishment 
 from the Province. — Ills arrest and confinement in the 
 Bridewell, New York. — His escape, re-apprehension and 
 confinement. — Sentence to three years' imprisonment in 
 the Newgate Simsbury Mines. — Release. — Makes his ap- 
 pearance in Canada. — Ilis Contract with the Merchants. — 
 His Escape to the Southern States. — Becomes a Preacher. — 
 His apprehension in the State of Maryland, and confinement 
 in the State Prison in Baltimore and Bridewell. — Ilisj trial 
 und release. — His attempt to rob the Northern Mail Coach. 
 — His arrest and confinement again in Bridewell. — His 
 escape. — Appearance in Upper Canada. — Confinement ^in 
 Toronto Jail. — His sentence, &c. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 In presenting this work to the public, the^Publisher bej 
 leave to say, that he can with confidence, recommend th 
 little book to the reading public, and vouch for the authe 
 ticity of the work, as he is familiarly! acquainted v 
 persons in New Brunswick, yet living g (who I 
 personally seen the individual fofining the^subject of d 
 present narrative. I* » \ 
 
 -^X3E0RGE W. MILLER. 
 
 ■*■ \ ... 
 
 
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 *,'>f<Hi9?«>«W!Wt!ra* X ■■,.-55lHP 
 
 ■«"s-.«»-^»PW5f'«f3 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 Upwards of twenty years have now elapsed since the 
 lirst edition of the " Mysterious Stranger" was pub- 
 lished. In the course of this time, I have liad occa- 
 sion to visit the United States at tour dilferent periods, 
 which gave me frequent opportunities of enquiring 
 after the notorious individual who forms tlie subject of 
 the followinfT narrative, and of becoming ac(piaint<<l 
 with many of the prominent features of his conduct and 
 career, from the time of his banishment from this Pro- 
 vince, and during his subsequent travels through Nova- 
 Seotia, the States of Maine, Massachusetts, Connectb- 
 cut, New- York, Maryland, and Upper Canada. - 
 ,\ K. As I pursued my enquiries, the facts relating to his 
 
 extraordinary career became increasingly interesting 
 and astonisiiing, insomuch that I considered it my duty 
 to the world to publish them, that all might, in some 
 measure, be prepared to guard, as much as possible, 
 against the approaches of so artful and designing a 
 villain, who, from a life spent in the practice of depre- 
 dations, thefts, and robberies, has become so accom- 
 plished in his diabolical profession, as to set mankind 
 at defiance. ,; /' "^ ' . 
 
 My resolution to publish this second edition of his 
 Memoirs is also in compliance with repeated solicita- 
 tions from Boston, New- York, Connecticut, and va- 
 rious other parts of the United States, as well as from 
 many persons in New-Brunswick, Nova-Scotia, and 
 Upper Canada. And to render the Work as complete, 
 interesting, and acceptable as possible, ^ it begins with 
 a short sketch of his life and character, from the time 
 of his first appearance at Windsor, in Nova-Scotia, in 
 the year 1812, to the time of his apprehension and con- 
 finement ih my custody. It presents, also, a full ac- 
 count of his astonishing behaviour during the period of* 
 his imprisonment under my keeping in the years 1814 
 
 .fafe'ii.ft^ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 u 
 
 and 'iTi, with Iiis remarkable escape iVom prison, and 
 his rc-nppreliensi()ii and committal to confinement 
 a^aiii; liis trial, stnttnce of deatli and pardon, and Iuh 
 banislwnrnl from the i-*rn\iuce. 
 
 I liave traced his suhsiefinent career throiiiihout tlio 
 United States and other [)arts, up to the present period ; 
 and iVom tlie hest information I could obtain, — from 
 pu\)iie piints and f)i'ivate correspondence, and by all 
 possible means, have collected and narrated all the 
 principal facts connected with his remarkable history 
 ibr npwHrds of twenty years ; have detailed particular- 
 ly his various imprisonments and escapes, until the 
 narrative naturally closiss with the report of his con- 
 finement in the jjoal (d" Toronto, Up})er Canada. 
 
 As I have deemed it neeessary also, to give the pub- 
 lic a descriplioii of his person, I have chosen to give it a 
 place in this part of the Work, that the chain of the nar- 
 rative may be preserved unbroken, as much as possible. 
 
 At the time of his l)anishment from this Province, 
 he was about twenty-two years of age : five feet, nine 
 or ten inches high, — straight limbs and well propor- 
 tioned; — "large b(mes and close jointed wrists, — fingers 
 large and unusually long, — his complexion light, but a 
 little of the sallow cast; — his hair of a dark brown, 
 handsomely shaded and naturally curled in front; — his 
 • eyes of a light grey, quick and piercing, — his nose 
 rather more prominent than ordinary, and his visage 
 thin, with a small scar on the left side of his chin, and 
 also'a slight one on the right cheek near his ear, which 
 he received, as he said, in using the small-sword: he 
 was astonishingly quick and active in his movements, 
 and uniforndy clean and neat in his dress. To this de- 
 scription of his person may be added, that he was ex- 
 ceedingly addicted to sfnoking, could sing and whistle 
 remarkably well, and play on any instrument of music. 
 He could speak several foreign languages, and per- 
 form all kinds of mechanical business or common labor, 
 and seemed tq have in his arm the strength and power 
 of a lion, and a mind filled with the subtlety, intention, 
 and depth of Satan. ^ 
 
 Kingston, May, ISSQ. 
 
 WALTER BATES. 
 
 ut: 
 
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 •««t^*-"'.-**'^'?^ 
 
 
THE 
 
 MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 Henry More Smith, tlie noted individual who (onns 
 the subject of lliirf narrative made his first appearance 
 amon'^st us in the year !8Pi. Previous to this, wo 
 have no information conceruini; him. Some time in the 
 month of July, in this year, lie ap|)eared at Windsor, 
 in Nova Scotia, lookiiip; for cmph)yment, und pretended 
 to have emigrated hit^ly from England. On being 
 asked what his occupation was, he stated that he was 
 u Tailor; hut could turn his hand to any kind ofmeciiuni- 
 cal business or country employmtMJt. He was decent- 
 ly clothed, genteel in his a[)pearance and prej)orfsessiug 
 in his manner, and seemed to understand himself very 
 well. 
 
 Althougli an entire stranger, he seemed to be ac- 
 quainted with every pait of the Province, but studious- 
 ly avoided to enter into close iutiinacy with any person, 
 associated wilii fev/, and carefully concealed all know- 
 ledge of the means by which he came to the country, 
 and also of his oiigin and connexions, kee[)ing his 
 previous life and history in entire obsctirity. 
 
 Finding no better employment, he engaged in the 
 service of Mr. l^ond, a respectable farmer, in the vil- 
 lage of Rawdon, who agreed with him for a montli on 
 trial, during which time, he conducted himself vviili much 
 propriety and honesly; was industrious-, careful, and 
 useful, to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Bond, his em- 
 ployer, and even beyond his expectation. He was 
 perfectly ifioffcnsive, gentle and obliging; used no in- 
 toxicating liquors, refrained from idle conversation and 
 all improper language, and was apparently free from 
 every evil habit. Being engaged for some time in work- 
 ing on a new road with a company of men, whose lodg- 
 ing was in camp; rather than subject himself to the pain 
 of their loose conversation in the camp, he chose to 
 retire^to some neighbouring barn, as he pretended, to 
 sleep in quiet, and was always early at work in the 
 morning; but as the sequel will discover, he was very 
 difTerently engaged. 
 
e 
 
 TIIC MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 ^ : 
 
 A ready confoi'iriitj to Mr. Bond's religious princi- 
 ples, who vvacj a very religious man and of the Baptist 
 j)ersuasion, formed a sy yet successful means for 
 further ingratiating hi elf into the favour of Mr. Bond 
 and his family: his attendance on morning and evening 
 prayers was always markod with regularity and seri- 
 ousness; and, in the absence of Mr. Bond, he would 
 himself officiate in the most solemn and devout manner. 
 This well directed aim ofiiis hypocrisy secured for 
 him almost all lie could wish oi* expect from this family; 
 he not only obtained the full confidence of Mr. Bond 
 himself, but gained, most etfoctually the afiecticns of 
 
 ■^ his favourite daughter, who was unable to conceal the 
 strength of her attachment to him, and formed a reso- 
 lution to give her hand to him in marriage. Application 
 was made to .'^Ir Bond for his concurrence, and although 
 a refusal was the cohsequence, yet so strong was the 
 attachment and jo (irmly were they determined to con- 
 summate their wishes, that neither the advice, the 
 entreaties, nor the remonstrances of her friends were 
 of any avail. She went with him from her father's 
 house to Windsor, anc^under the name of Fiederick 
 Henry More, he there married her on the I'ith of 
 March, 1818, her name having been Elizabeth P. 
 
 While he remained at Rawdon, although he profes- 
 sed to be a tailor, he did not pursue his business; but 
 was chiefly engaged in farming or country occupations. 
 After his removal to Windsor, and his marriage to Miss 
 
 - Bopd. he entered on a new line of business, uniting 
 that of the tailor and pedlar tonjether. In this charac- 
 ter he made frequent visits to Halifax, always bringing 
 with him a quantity of goods, of various descriptions. 
 At one time he was known to bring home a consider- 
 able sum of money, and npon being asked how he pro- 
 cni'j<! it and all those articles and goods he brought 
 hc-Ti;-;. ho replied that a friend by the name of Wilson 
 «unpUed him' with any thing he wanted, as a pedlar, and 
 tasV'". It is remarkable, however, that in all his trips 
 t.x Halifax, h(^uniformly set out in the afternoon and 
 returflfed the next morning. A certain gentleman 
 speaking of him as a tailor, remarked, that he could 
 cut very well and make up an article of clothing in a 
 
 .^,^V!^»0<i? 
 
s princi- 
 Baptist 
 3ans for 
 fr. Bond 
 evening 
 nd seri- 
 J would 
 nanner. 
 red for 
 family; 
 '. Bond 
 ions of 
 Jeal the 
 a reso- 
 licatioii 
 thoug-li 
 »'as the 
 to con- 
 ic, the 
 s were 
 ather's 
 jderick 
 2lh of 
 
 - • 
 
 )rofes- 
 s; but 
 itions. 
 3 Miss 
 niting 
 larac- 
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 tions. 
 siiler- 
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 DUght 
 
 ^ilson 
 
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 trips 
 
 and 
 Jman 
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 in a 
 
 .THE MYSTERIOUS STl ANGER 7 
 
 superior manner. In fact his genius was extraordinary 
 and he could execute any thing well that he turned his 
 attention to. A young man having applied to him for 
 a new coat, he accordingly took his measure, and 
 promised to bring the cloth with him the first time he 
 went to Halifax. Very soon after, he made his journey 
 to Halifax, and on his return, happening to meet with 
 the young man, he shewed him, from his portmanteau, 
 the cloth, which was of a superior quality, and pro- 
 mised to have it made up on a certain day, which he 
 punctually performed to the entiie satisfaction of his 
 employer, who paid him his price and carried offthe coat. 
 About this time a number of unaccountable and mys- 
 terious thefts were committed in Halitax. Articles ol* 
 
 plat 
 
 e were 
 
 missing 
 
 from eentlemen's houses: silver 
 
 watches and many other valuable articles were taken 
 from silversmiths' shops, and all done in so mysterious 
 a manner, that no marks of the robber's hands were to 
 be seen. Three volumes of late acts of Parliament, 
 relating to the court of Admiralty, were missing from 
 the office of Chief Justice Strange about the same 
 time: he offered a reward of three guineas to any per- 
 son who would restore them, with an assurance that no 
 questions should be a^ed. In a few days after, Mr. 
 More produced the volumes, which he said he had 
 purchased from a stranger, and received the three 
 guineas reward, without having to answer any enquiries. 
 This affair laid the foundation for strong suspicions that 
 Mr More must have been the indivdual who committed 
 those secret and mysterious thefts which produced so 
 much astonishment in various quarters; and just at this 
 crisis, these suspicions received not only strong cor- 
 roboration, but were decidedly confirmed by the follow- 
 ing remarkable fact. While the young man whom he 
 had furnished with the fine new coat, as was previous- 
 ly noticed, was passing through the streets of Halifax 
 with the coat on his back, he was arrested by a gentler 
 man who claimed the coat as his own, affirming^hat it 
 had been stolen from him some time sidK^e. This sin- 
 gular affair, which to the honest young man was 
 extremely mortifying and afflictive, threw immediate 
 light on all those secret and unaccountable robberies. 
 
 / 
 
 $ 
 
 X' 
 
 •itx. 
 
 iii'.cf'j 
 
 r^- - ^t^v* ■ 
 
I 
 
 9 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 A special warrant was immediately issued for the ap- 
 prehension of More; however, before the warrant 
 reached Rawdon, he had made his escape, and was 
 next heard of as travelling on horseback, with a port- 
 manteau well filled with articles which he offered for 
 sale, as he proceeded on his way by the River Philip; 
 and early in the month of July, 1814, he made his ap- 
 pearance in St. John, New Brunswick, by the name 
 of Henrv More Smith. He did not however enter 
 the city with hi.^ horse; but put him up and took lodg- 
 ings at the house of oho Mr. Stackhouse, who resided 
 in a bye-place within a mile of the City, and came into 
 the town upon foot. He found means to become ac- 
 quainted with the Officers of the 99th Regiment, who, 
 finding him something of a military character, and well 
 acquainted with horsemanship, shewed him the stand 
 of horses belonging to the regiment. Smith, perceiv- 
 ing that the pair of horses which the Colonel drove in 
 his carriage did not match, they being of different 
 colors, and one of th.em black, observed to the Colonel 
 that he knew of an excellent black horse in Cumber- 
 land, that would match his black one perfectly. The 
 Colonel replied, that if he were^s good as his own, he 
 would give fifty pounds for him. Smith then proposed 
 that if he, the Colonel, ivould advance him fifteen 
 pounds, he would leave his own horse in pledge, and 
 take his passage in a sloop bound for Cumberland, and 
 bring him the black horse. To this the Colonel readi- 
 ly consented, and paid him down the fifteen pounds. 
 This opened the way to Smith for a most flattering spe- 
 culation: he had observed a valuable mare feeding on 
 the marsh contiguous to the place where he had taken 
 liis lodgings, and cast his eye upon a fine saddle and 
 bridle belonging to Major King, which he could put 
 his hand on in the night. With these facilities in view, 
 Smith entered on his scheme: he put himself in posses- 
 sion of the saddle and bridle, determined to steal the 
 mare he saw feeding on the marsh, ride her to Nova 
 Scotia, and there sell her; then steal the black horse 
 from Cumberland, bring him to the Colonel, *'eceive 
 his two hundred dollars, and without loss of time, trans- 
 port himself within the boundaries of the United States. 
 
 M 
 
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for the ap- 
 he warrant 
 >e, and was 
 vith a port- 
 offered for 
 iver Philip; 
 ade his ap- 
 ^ the name 
 ever enter 
 took lodg- 
 ho resided 
 came into 
 2come ac- 
 cent, who, 
 ', and well 
 the stand 
 , perceiv- 
 sl drove in 
 
 different 
 e Colonel 
 Cuniber- 
 tly. The 
 3 own, he 
 proposed 
 in fifteen 
 dge, and 
 and, and 
 lel readi- 
 
 pounds. 
 fing spe- 
 eding on 
 id taken 
 die and 
 >uld put 
 in view, 
 posses- 
 teal the 
 o Nova 
 i horse 
 »'eceive 
 , trans- 
 States. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 5/ 
 
 This scheme, so deeply laid, and so well concerted, 
 failed, however, in the execution, and proved the 
 means of his future apprehension. Already in posses- 
 sion of the saddle and bridle, he spent the most of the 
 night in fruitless efforts to take the mare, which was 
 running at large in the pasture. Abandoning this part of 
 his plan as hopeless, and turning his horse-stealing ge- 
 nius in a different direction, he recollected to have seen 
 a fine horse feeding in a field near the high way as he 
 passed through the Parish of Norton, about thirty miles 
 on, on his journey. Upon this fresh scheme, he set off 
 on foot, with the saddle and bridle in the form of a 
 pack on his back, passsing along all the succeeding 
 day in the character of a pedlar. Night came on, and 
 put him in possession of a fine black hor?e, which he 
 mounted and rode on in prosecution of his design, which 
 he looked upon now as already accomplished. But 
 with all this certainty of success, his object proved a 
 failure, and that through means which all his vigilance 
 could neither foresee nor prevent. From the want of 
 sleep the preceding night, and the fatigue of travelling 
 in the day, he became drowsy and exhausted, and 
 stopped in a barn belonging to William Fayerweather, 
 at the bridge that crosses the Mill-stream, to take a 
 short sleep, and start again in the night, so as to pass 
 the village before daylight. But, as fate would have 
 it, he overslept; and his horse was discovered on the 
 barn fioer in the morning; and he was seen crossing 
 the bridge by daylight. Had he succeeded in crossing 
 in the night, he would in all probability have carried 
 his design; for it was not till the afternnoon of the 
 same day, that Mr. Knox, the owner of the horse, 
 missed him from the pasture. Pursuit was immediate- 
 ly made in quest of the horse, and the circumstance 
 of the robber's having put up at the barn proved the 
 means of restoring the horse to his owner, and com- 
 mitting the robber to custody: for there at Mr. Fayer- 
 weather's, information was given which directed the 
 pursuit in the direct track. Mr. Knox, through means 
 of obtaining fresh horses on the way, pursued him, 
 without loss of time, through the Province of Nova 
 Scotia^ as far as Pictou, a distance of one hundred and 
 
 "#. 
 
 
 «MaiMw.U&h. 
 
 m:^>. I **'Ui*i |ij ?>J 
 
10 
 
 M 
 
 ^'1 
 
 (t- 
 
 THE 
 
 ^fyonty miles, vvh 
 stolen horse in th 
 
 MVSTERIOUS STRANGER 
 
 perform 
 
 ed vvith the 
 
 Mr. Kr.ox had him apLte'dfr- r"..''°^" °" "'« 20.h! 
 
 John Parsons, Esq a„H . i .''^ "'^ Deputy Sheriff 
 
 "c- in Court' the'n'sulf '"n''^.'"?- ">« CoLt; j"!^! 
 
 'vere a watch and fifvl'n^' -^^^"^^^ 'he horse/ there 
 
 • -ner; and a warra.u ^s C h '".r^"'""' "'« P" " 
 
 conveyance through the several ^V^ ^°"«' '"'"•'"« 
 
 of King's County, Prov,„p„r ,*^''""''es, to the goal 
 
 to take his trial lliyfr t^ "'^ ''^'''' Brunswick there 
 
 ner assumed difTerent 'n"mef '"'.' """ '^«' "'« P '' « 
 robberies by the way tl" / ' ""{ """"nftted several 
 d-a cotton were foTn'd vuVV"'"'' '?•' » P'«<=« oHn 
 •"vners; that on the way oK,^"'; "'"^ '•'^'"••ned to the 
 ^eyeral attempts to es/alefet ^«^ "" '"■"' """^^ 
 but for his own vigilance (hp„ " ^^'""■''^' ""d that 
 
 able to reach the° pr"so„' wi,{ T"' T "'-^ ^^'^ been 
 same time, that unlLs I " , ''""' observing at the 
 
 secured ke «ouM :: n TnlvrnJ."?!' "''"^" >=-■•« of and 
 received i„,o p^son for SnCr '''P^--He »^as 
 
 conveyance without a re^uhr "• "" """ " '^'-rant of 
 , The prisoner had riddels I H ™"'">;'-"ent, 
 If.') no opportunity of el,a"t!^ '," "'", ■"'".''"'i having 
 this time had become ve v f- '^ ,'" "'""'"'■ ^^'''eh by 
 *ary, lest his health shol-| i ' '•' ""* "«'"ght neces- 
 jnto the debtor', room t'r/'ff", '"J"^^' '" P"' h!m 
 If ve an opportunity of Varmtrr h' 7^'"" ^' -=»"" 
 in T ' "'° ^'"^•'' having been our5 ''''^'"-^ ''™^'='f »' 
 " """"'« ■■oom. The day following V ""P""' '" "'« «"" 
 'he criminal's room, where ^of: "''' ''""°^^'' '"to 
 necessary: and as h; appearlrf " T'" «°"sidered un- 
 his hand-cuffs were taken off a^ 1""« Peaceable 
 
 « comfortable bert , he Teem'ed"re '""«^ '7"'^''^'' ^'^ 
 tion. ^'"'"' "^econciled to his situa- 
 
 Onthe ISthofAuffust r ■ , 
 Jer from the Clerkof^the Cirr'/ n** ""' ''""'"^'"g Let- 
 Mr. Knox has left W t me he ^''""•■-. " ^'^' Sir, 
 ting to More Smith, the h" rse 1 i '""'"'""'°' «"=• ^'a- 
 these are all takei ir! the P '^'"•' "V '" ^^^ !«"; 
 before Magistrates the;e a„d I 'f/'^ ^"^'^ Scotia 
 J>e be brought up before , he MaJ?"''' '•■'.'=«™n'end thai 
 , - . ■ "^ Magistrates in your Coun- 
 
 ^ f f ^"" ' ¥ .^.-.i**-*^ „. >-- ...'v^^^ 
 
 ;^.^»*8^*-#PI«!«IW ..^l^im^' 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 11 
 
 ^vith the 
 ere on the 
 the 20th, 
 y Sheriff, 
 •"nty Jus- 
 »'se, there 
 the pri- 
 ■t. ^or his 
 the goaJ 
 2k, there 
 ie priso- 
 1 several 
 -e of In- 
 fl to the 
 ad made 
 
 ^nd that 
 ve been 
 
 r at the 
 
 3 of and 
 
 He was 
 
 fi-ant of 
 
 having 
 iiich by 
 neces- 
 •ut him 
 couJd 
 self at 
 le cri- 
 d into 
 id un- 
 iabJe, 
 ! with 
 situa- 
 
 Let- 
 Sir^ 
 t'eJa- 
 jail; 
 3tia, 
 that 
 •un- 
 
 ty, and examined, and the examination committed to 
 writing. I do not know under what warrant he is in 
 your custody ; but 1 think it would be as well for the same 
 Magistrates to make out a Mittimus after the examina- 
 tion, as it would be more according to form. I remain, 
 dear Sir, your's, Ward Chipman." 
 
 After proper notice, Judge Pickett, Mr. Justice 
 Ketchum, and Mr. Knox, all attended his examination; 
 in the course of wh'V^, he said his name was Henry 
 More Smith, twenty years of age, came from England 
 on account of the war, had been in America about a 
 year and a half, that he was born in Brighton, that his 
 father and mother were livinjr there now, and that he 
 expected them out to Halifax the ensuing Spring; that 
 he purchased a farm for tiiem on the River Philip, and 
 had written for them to come. He also stated, that he 
 came to Saint John on business, where he fell in with 
 Colonel Daniel, of "the 99th Regiment, who proposed 
 to give him two hundred dollars if he would bring him 
 a black horse, within a fortnight, that would span with 
 one of his own of the same colour; that he told the Co- 
 lonel he knew of one that would match his perfectly, 
 and that if he would lend him fifteen guineas, he would 
 leave his own mare in pledge until he would bring the 
 horse, as he knew there was a vessel then in St. John, 
 bound to Cumberland, where the horse was. To this 
 proposal he said the Colonel agreed, and having re- 
 ceived the money and left the mare, wont to his lodg- 
 ings; but before he could return, the vessel had left him; 
 and having no other conveyance by water, he was 
 obliged to set out on foot; and having a long journey 
 to travel, and but short time-to perform it in, he travel- 
 led all the night, and at daylight was overtaken by a 
 stranger with a large horse and a small mare, which 
 he offered for sale, and that he being weary with walk- 
 ing all night, offered him ten pounds for the mare, 
 which he accepted That they continued their journey 
 together some time, and began to find that the mare 
 would not answer his purpose; and the horse being a 
 a good looking one. which he might sell again for the 
 money, he bantered the stranger for a swap, which 
 was effected by giving the mare and fifteen pounds to 
 
 4 
 
 ■-mti' 
 
 • 
 
12 
 
 I; 
 
 (J 
 
 THE MVsrES.ocS srR.No,„. 
 
 boot • °*«*WGER. 
 
 swan J I o*^ Henry More Sj;~«r ^'"=«"''=''' J"'/ 
 
 ^AMEs Churmax " ' ^ ^* seven years 
 
 -We then stated thn* i 
 and bargafned fo.'. :' bL^;;'"i'^«'^«d "" '« Cumberland 
 
 Ss-pS-;'^£?s,::d"e 
 
 ^:- Knox, and chat.d ti^', "'r'" "PP-'-'^ndeJ b^ 
 J'.e was taken before fhe f .'""''"'S '"s l.orse; that 
 . '"^ »"«cb, and h 3 bo!.^T/ "'"' '"«' «" his rnonev 
 ««nt bade to King's Count'v '7 '"™"' '"'"■ »nd vas 
 oompla.ned, ihatts I o ""'^ «^"'.'» ""ke his trial; Ind 
 no one to speal< for hi™, , Ls'thT"" ■^"■""""'"•' "'"' ''"d 
 ^old h„„ the horse, his cl ' , f ","'" '»'«« take,,, who 
 
 -^ t";;' ,"■ '.'■"■"''^ ""'■■- h;'°i': ''^■''-■■■"'-'. «'r i': 
 
 ">ni to take his part rr« •^' ^ ^"-^ one who knpw 
 •>-„ badly ,,,/,-;,• He oo„,pai„ed also o/havt: 
 
 -7, he repl,ed;'f.'r r Tr" t' '^"T'^' '" '"'^ et, n'! 
 
 honesty, Sif. "!!!', "J,"-;-'"d..elf.possess;of; 4y mJ 
 •"■'ment was madt out ,H'"""''"'»". » ^'^S'^hvioZ 
 
 wi m ': "^ -"«"-- vruTi '° '^•'-" "« 
 
 "1 much seeming resfannf " , ^ "lurmur and 
 
 '•on.s- pot-ru -s\^^^ '•^''pp-^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 some other n..^; .1 • "'^^ he said he hi.l j /• . . 
 Sai..r.hn;"^^hl1Clrur^i-<^'o-; 
 
 j-iatfrf 
 
 6- 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 13 
 
 X 
 
 money for the purpose of procuring necessaries and 
 engaging a lawyer, repeating again, that, as he was a 
 stranger and had no friends to help him, there would 
 be but little chance for him, though innocent, except 
 the thief who stole the horse were taken and brought 
 to justice. 
 
 It so happened, on the day following, that I had oc- 
 casion to go to the City of St. John in company with 
 Dr. Adin Paddock, senr. , when, on our way, we 
 had occasion to cull at Mr. Nathaniel Golding's 
 tavern, in Hampton; and while placing our horses 
 under his shed, we perceived a man mounting a horse 
 in great haste, that was standing at the steps of the 
 door, who immediately rode off with all possible speed, 
 as though he were in fear of being overtaken. On 
 inquiring who he was, we were informed by Mrs. 
 Golding, that he was a stranger who called there once 
 or twice before, and that she believed his name was 
 Chuman or Churman. I observed to the Doctor, 
 that that was the name of the man from whom the pri- 
 soner Srrith said he purchased the horse: upon which 
 Mrs. Golding said, that she could ascertain that by in- 
 quiring in the other room, which she was requested to 
 do, and was answered in the affirmative. 
 
 We made frequent inquiries by the way, as we pro- 
 ceeded towards St. John, but could ascertain nothing 
 further of the stranger by that name. After my re- 
 turn from St. John, 1 informed the prisoner Smith of 
 what had happened by the way; he appeared exceed- 
 ingly elated with the idea of his being the man that 
 had sold him the horse, and said if he had money or 
 friends he could have him taken and brought to justice, 
 and would soon be restored to liberty again himself; 
 but that if he were suffered to make his escape out of 
 the country, his own case would be deplorable indeed, 
 though he was innocept. He again reiterated his 
 complaint, that he was destitute of money and friends, 
 in a strange country, and although anxious to employ a 
 lawyer, he did not know of any to whom he could apply 
 for advice. He was recommended to employ Charles 
 J. Peters, Esq., Attorney in St. John, with the assu- 
 rance, that if there were any possibility in the case, of 
 
14 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGEU, 
 
 fii 
 
 
 i 
 
 wetting him clear, Mr. Peters would exert himself in 
 his behalf most faithfully. The first opportunity that 
 offered, he sent an order to Mr. Stackhousc for his 
 portmanteau, with instructions to apply the proceeds 
 of certan articles, which he had left with him for sale, 
 if disposed of, in retaining Mr. Peters as his Attorney. 
 The return brought a handsome portmanteau and a 
 pair of boots, leaving a small sum in the hands of Mr. 
 Peters, as part o^ Wis retainer, which was to be increas- 
 ed to tive guineas before the sitting of the Court. This 
 arrangement seemed to be productive of much satis- 
 faction to the p..soner, and for the purpose of fulfilling 
 the engagement with Mr. Peters, he expressed a de- 
 sire to dispose of the contents of his portmanteau, as 
 far as was necessary, for making up the sum. He 
 gave me his key , with which I opened his portman- 
 teau, and found it well filled with various articles of 
 valuable clothing; — two or three genteel coats, with 
 vests and pantaloons, of the first quality and cut; a 
 superior top-coat, of the latest fa.«^hion, faced with 
 black silk; with silk stockings and gloves, and a vari- 
 ety of books, consisting of a neat pocket-bible and 
 prayer-book, a London gazetteer,a ready reckoner,and 
 several other usefu' books. He had also a night and 
 day spy -glass of the uest kind, and a small magnify- 
 ing-glass in a tortoise-shell case with many other 
 useful articles. Suspicion of his not having come 
 honestly by the contents of his portmanteau was 
 not the impression that was made; but rather that 
 he had been handsomely and respectably fitted out 
 by careful and affectionate parents, anxious for his 
 comfort and happiness, and that he was, in all probabi- 
 lity, innocent of the charge alleged against him. He 
 soon commenced selling off his little stock, and for the 
 purpose of affording him a facility, persons, wishing to 
 purchase from him, were permitted to come to the 
 wicket door, through which he could make his bargain 
 and dispose of his things. He never failed to endeav- 
 our to excite the pity of those who came to visit him, 
 by representing his deplorable situation^ in being re- 
 duced to the necessity of selling his clothing to raise 
 the means of defending his innocence in a strange 
 
 ;%*• \-f 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 15 
 
 mself in 
 nity that 
 
 for his 
 •roceeds 
 or sale, 
 ttornej. 
 J and a 
 of Mr. 
 ncreas- 
 
 This 
 h satis- 
 ilfilling 
 d a de- 
 ?au, as 
 . He 
 rtman- 
 ;Ies of 
 I, with 
 cut; a 
 
 1 with 
 vari- 
 
 and 
 r,and 
 t and 
 [nify- 
 
 other 
 come 
 
 was 
 
 that 
 
 out 
 
 his 
 •abi- 
 
 He 
 
 the 
 gto 
 
 the 
 ;ain 
 av- 
 im, 
 re- 
 lise 
 ige 
 
 country from the unfortunate charge preferred against 
 him. Nor did lie fail of liis purpose, for many, from 
 pure sympathy fur his unfortunate situation, purchased 
 from him and paid him liberally. Among those who 
 came to sec him, there was a young man, who said he 
 had known the prisoner in St. John, and professed to 
 visit him from motives of friendship; he had access to 
 him through the grates of the window, and some of the 
 <rlass being broken, he could hold free conversation 
 through the grates. The last time he came, he carried 
 off the night and day glass for a debt, which he said he 
 owed him while in St. John; but the probability rather 
 was, that he had given him a watch in exchange. 
 
 The prison was then kept by Mr. Walter I bblee, a 
 man of learning and talents, who for several years had 
 been aflicted with a painful disease, so that for a great 
 part of his lime, he was confined to the house, and fre- 
 quently to his room, in the county court-house, where 
 he taught a school, by which means, together with the 
 fees and perquisites of the jail and court-house, afford- 
 ed him a comfortable living for himself and family, 
 consisting of his wife and daughter, and one son named 
 John, about nineteen jears of age, who constantly at- 
 tended his father. It may also be necessary to men- 
 tion, that Mr. Dibblee was one of the principal members 
 of the Masonic Lodge held at Kingston, and was in 
 high esteem among them; besides, he was regarded by 
 all who knew him as a man of honesty and integrity, 
 and well worthy to fill any situation of responsibility or 
 trust. I am induced to advert to these particulars of 
 Mr. Dibblee's character, because I am indebted to him 
 for many of the particulars relative to the prisoner, and 
 because, having had a person who could be relied on, 
 there was the less necessity for my visiting the priso- 
 ner very frequently, which did not exceed once in a 
 week generally, except upon special occasions. 
 
 Shortly after the commitment of the prisoner, he was 
 visited by Lieutenant Baxter, an officer in the New- 
 Brunswick Regiment, then recruiting at Kingston. 
 This officer proposed to the prisoner to enlist him, as a 
 means by which he might be released from his con- 
 finement. This idea ho spurned with contempt, and 
 
16 
 
 THE MYSTEUIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 
 chose rather to await the issue of his trial, depending 
 on his professed innocence of the crime for which he 
 stood committed, He was iiowever prevailed on to 
 write to his Attorney on the suhject, and received for 
 his answer, tliat such a measure was entirely inadmis- 
 sible, and advised him to content himself and await the 
 issue of his trial. He appeared much displeased with 
 the abruptness of his Attorney's answer, and seemed 
 rather to look upon this short and summary reply, as 
 an indication of his displeasure with him, and as an 
 omen that he, his Attorney, would not interest himself 
 much on his behalf 
 
 About this time, Sept. 7th, I received a letter from 
 the Clerk of the Circuit Court, enclosing v. Precept to 
 Summon a Court of Oyer and l^rminer and General 
 Goal Delivery, to be held at Kingston on Tuesday the 
 27th of September. On the approach of the period 
 for his trial, he was encouraged by his friends to rely 
 with full confidence on his Attorney, with repeated 
 assurances, that he would give his case all possible 
 attention; but with all his professed ignorance of the 
 law, (and this ignorance he had often declared with 
 much apparent simplicity,) the prisoner knew too much 
 oiit to resign himself with confidence to the issue of a 
 cause, which could promise him nothing but conviction, 
 and confirm his guilt. He therefore, upon his professed 
 dissatisfaction with his Attorney, appeared to think no 
 more about him, nor to renew his inquiries concerning 
 him, but set about, a more summary method of extricat- 
 ing himself from the power of the law. He turned his 
 attention to his Bible, and perused it with an air of 
 much seriousness, as though the concerns of the unseen 
 world engrossed all his thoughts: he behaved himself, 
 in every respect, with becoming propriety; and his 
 whole demeanor was such as to engage much interest 
 in his behalf. 
 
 About this time he discovered symptoms of a severe 
 cold, being troubled with a hollow sounding cough, and 
 complaining of a pain in his side; but still submitted to 
 his confinement without a murmur or complaint. He 
 would frequently advert to the ill usage which he said 
 he had received by the way from Pictou , after he was 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 IT 
 
 I 
 
 made a prisoner, particularly of a blow on the side{with 
 a piutui, given liitn by Mr. Knox, wliicli ft'lled him to 
 the ground, as he expressed it, like a dead man; that 
 when lie had recovered his' respinition, whicli liad been 
 for some time suspended, he raised blood, and continu- 
 ed to raise blood occasionally by the way lor two or 
 three d.iys; that the puin had never loft him since, and 
 was now greatly increased in consequence of the cold 
 he had received, and that the wound was, as lie be- 
 lieved, approaching to a gathering in the inside, which 
 he feared would lirially prove fatal to hin). He showed 
 the bruised part on his side, which was swelled and 
 much discoloured, and apparently very painful. All 
 this was accompanied with loss f)f appetite and increas- 
 ed feebleness of body; but he still discovered a remark- 
 able resignation to his fate. His situation was such as 
 to excite much sympathy and feeling, so that an en- 
 deavour was made to render him as comfortable as 
 possible, by kee[)ing his apartment properly tempered 
 with heat and providing for him such food as was 
 adapted lo the delicacy of his constitution. 
 
 His diseases, however, continued to increase, and his 
 strength to decline, with all the symptoms of approach- 
 ing dissolution: pain in the head and eyes, dizziness 
 with sickness at the stomach, frequent raising of blood, 
 and increased painfulness of the contusion on his side. 
 It was now considered high time to apply to a Physici- 
 an, and on the 11th of September 1 sent for a doctor, 
 who examined his side and the general state of his dis- 
 eases, and gave him some medicine. On the l2th, ap- 
 peared a little better, — thirteenth, at evening, grew 
 worse. Fourteenth, unable to walk, — very high fever 
 with frequent chills of ague. Fifteenth, vomiting and 
 raising blood more frequently. Sixteenth, the Rev. 
 Mr. Scovil visited him in the morning, found him ver} 
 ill, and sent him toast and wine and some other cordi- 
 als. Same day, the Doctor attended him at 3 o'clock, 
 and gave him medicine. At 6 o'clock, no better, and 
 vomiting whatever he took. Eighteenth, appeared still 
 to grow worse; was visited by Judge Pickett and se- 
 veral other neighbours; and being asked, whether he 
 wanted any thing, or what he could take, answered, 
 
 
18 
 
 THE MVSTEIIIODS 8TKANGER. 
 
 h\ 
 
 t 
 
 I* ' 
 
 li i 
 
 ** nothing, except an ornnjxc or a lemon." Ninetoenth, 
 np|)fiare(l to decline very last; nt 'Z o'l^lock, was visited 
 by the Doctor, who said tlu; man must be ri'inovcd out 
 of that loom, that ho was too ill to be kept there, and 
 that it was of no use to give him mcMJicine in so damp 
 a place. Twonticlh in the morning fourul him still dc- 
 clininj:: at 10 o'clock, Mr Thaddeus Scribner and others 
 went in to see him, inspected the room, but found no 
 dampness that cuuld injure even u bick man taking 
 Uiedicine. 
 
 The Ucv. Mr. Scovil visited him in the afternoon, 
 and introduced the suhject of his approaching end. 
 The prisoner conversed freely on the subject, and ex- 
 pressed his conviction, that thc:'e was little or no hope 
 of hi^ recovc^ry. Mo stated to Mr. Scovil, that he was 
 born in Kuirland, that his [)arents were formerly at- 
 tached to the Church of Knglai^d, but had lately joined 
 the Methodists: that he came from England on account 
 of the war, and that he expected his parent.s to come 
 to this country next spring, which last circumstance 
 seenjcd to excite, in him, strong emotions. Twenty- 
 fir?t, the Rev. Mr. S. with others of the neighbourhood, 
 visited him in the morning; no favorable jaymptoms. 
 Twenty-second, the prisoner very low; violent fever 
 acfjompanied with cijills and ague. Inflammation of the 
 bowels with evacuations of blood for the last two days: 
 extremities cold and strengtii greatly reduced, inso- 
 much that he could only just articulate above his 
 breath. Was understood to complain that he should 
 die for want of medical assistance, as the Doctor hud 
 refused to attend bin) any m )re in that pbice, and the 
 Sheriff refused to remove; him His situ<iiion bad by 
 this time excited general j-ympathy and pily; his seem- 
 ing simplicity, passiMcness, and resign.ition greatly 
 contril) -'ing to produce llio ofi'oct. At G o'clock, the 
 Rev. ^jr. Scovil and a "teat nnuiber of th(! neighbours 
 came and sat with him tiil lO o'clock, and then left him 
 ■with the impression that he would not live till morning. 
 Friday, '23d, went to the jiiil eaily in the morning, 
 found the prisoner lying on the floor, naked, and seem- 
 ingly in great distress; said he had fallen, through pain 
 and weakness, and could not get up again. He was 
 taken up and carried t) his bed, appeared as though he 
 
TIIK MY8TKU108 STUANGbU, 
 
 10 
 
 I 
 
 would instantly expire; conlimicd iti a low and almost 
 lifeless state till 5 o'clock in the afternoon, ulieii he 
 appeared to all present to be really dying. Hev Mr. 
 Scovil, Mr. Perkins, Mr Cieorge Uaytiiond, all near 
 neighbours, and Mr. Kddy, IVdin St. J(djn, who hnp- 
 pent'd to be in Kin^stiin at the time, all su|)p()se(l him 
 to be in the a«»oni('s of death, lie !« II into a state of 
 insensibility, and continued tf^o, until a phial of harts- 
 horn was brou<fht IVoni an adjoinin*; room, the applica- 
 tion of which seemed to revive liim a little. After some 
 time he recovered so far as to be able to articulate, 
 and upiMi its being observed to him, that he had had a 
 fit, he replied that he was sensible of it, that it was his 
 fnmihj injinmty, and that many of his connexioiis had 
 died in the same way; and further remarked, that ho 
 did n(»t think he could survive anothei-, which would 
 probably come upon l^i about the same time the next 
 day: that he was setMl)le he should not recover; but 
 that God would have him. He then asked Mr. Scovil 
 to pray with him; his desire was cotnjdied with, and 
 prayer was ofTored up in the mo.st soleirm and devout 
 fnanner.'the occasion was deeply aHecting, and all de- 
 parted with the lull conviction, that the palicnl would 
 not linger till the morning. 
 
 Pj'evious to this, no regular watchers had attended 
 him; but it was now considered highly necessary that 
 some persons should sit with him till the morrnng, and 
 consequently, John ])ibblee and (Charles Crambeau 
 were appointed by the Sheriff to watch with him 
 throuffh the ni"ht . 
 
 'J'he next morning the following letter was dispntched 
 to Mr. Peters, the prisoner's Attorney: 
 
 *' Dear Sir, — I fear wo shall be dissapointed in our ex- 
 pectations of the trial of tlio prisoner, JNluro Smith, at the 
 approaching Court, as [ presume, from ajinoaranee, lie will 
 be removed i)y death before that time, lie is dying in con- 
 eequcnce of a blow that he received, as ho says, Irom Mr. 
 Knox, with a pistol, which he has regularly complained of 
 since he has boon in jail, and is now couislilered past reco- 
 very. As it will be matter of inquiry, and now to mo, 1 
 will thank you to let me know by the btarcr what vsouki bo 
 the necessary steps for me to take ; and not fail as I have 
 but litlle hopes of his continuing till morning 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 Walter Bates. 
 
 ;:vi.:*kia^;:- 
 
/ ( 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 so 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 The return of the bearer brought the following 
 answer. t 
 
 Saint John, Sept. 24/ A. 
 ** Dear Sir, — Yrur favour of yesterday I received this 
 morning, and arii sorry to hear so desponding an account 
 of the unfortunate man in your custody. It will be your 
 duty I conceive to have a Coroner's Inquest on the body, 
 and tlien have it decently interred. With respect to the 
 cause of the death, that is a circumstance whicli must rest 
 wholly on facts : if any physician shall attend liini, let him. 
 be particular in taking down in writing what the man says 
 in his last moments, as to the circumstances ; and if a Jus- 
 tice should be then present, it would not be amiss. 
 
 In haste, your's sincerely, C.J. Peters. 
 
 Walter Bites, Esq." 
 
 Saturday 24th, — the watchers reported, that be had 
 passed a very restless night, and but just survived the 
 morning; that he complaine^for want of medical 
 assistance— The following not? was then sent to the 
 Doctor who had attended him: 
 
 " Kingston, Sept. 2ith, 1814. 
 *^ Dear Doctor, — Smith, the prisoner, says that he is 
 Bufferinc; for want of medical assistance, and that you will 
 not attend him unless he is removed into another room, 
 which cannot be permitted : he must take his fate where he 
 now is, and if he dies in jail, an inquiry will take place, 
 •which may prove to your disadvantage. I mudt therefore 
 request youi attention. 
 
 1 am truly your's, &c. Walter Bates. 
 
 Dr. A. Paddock, Jun. 
 
 At this time the sympathy and compassion of the 
 wLole neighbourhood were excited to the highest de- 
 gree. The family of the Rev. Mr. Scovil, especially, 
 manifested deep concern for him, and sent him every 
 thing that they thought would either comfort or relieve 
 him; as did also the family of Mr. Perkins, and that of 
 Mr. Raymond: all these having been in the immediate 
 neighbourhood. But the prisoner used little or none 
 of their cordials or delicacies. Mr. Perkins visited 
 him about 10 o'clock, a. m. and kindly proposed to 
 watch with him the ensuing night, for which he dis- 
 covered much thankfulness. In the course of the day 
 the Doctor came and gave him some medicine; but 
 found him so weak, that he required to be lifted and 
 
 I 
 
 « 
 
 'S. 
 
 , il^^lpiV ■'•"■'■™'' '»■ 
 
following 
 
 pt. 2Ath. ' 
 3eived this 
 ,n account 
 1 be your 
 
 the body, 
 ect to the 
 
 luust rest 
 11, let him 
 ^ man says 
 i if a Jus- 
 
 3. 
 
 Peters. 
 
 at he had 
 
 vived the 
 
 medical 
 
 Ml to the 
 
 h, 1814. 
 bat he is 
 t you will 
 iher room, 
 I where he 
 ake place, 
 therefore 
 
 Bates. 
 
 on of the 
 ghest de- 
 specially, 
 lim every 
 )P relieve 
 id that of 
 nmediate 
 3 or none 
 s visited 
 )posed to 
 ;h he dis- 
 r the day 
 ;iue; but 
 ifted and 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 21 
 
 supported while he was receiving it. The Doctor 
 acknowledged his low state, but did not think him so 
 near his end as to die before morning, unless he should 
 go off in a fit. This, the patient said, was what he 
 had reason to fear would be his fate before morning, 
 and therefore wished to make his Will. 
 
 M his clothes^ at his death, he willed to John 
 Dibblee; and his money, about three pounds, which 
 he always kept by him in his berth, he bequeathed to 
 the Jailer fur his kind attention to him in his sickness 
 The money Mr. Uibblee proposed to take charge of, 
 but Smith said, it was safe where it was for the present. 
 
 Mr. N. Perkins, having had occasion to call that 
 day on Mr. W. H. Lyon, was enquired of by him con- 
 cerning the state of the prisoner. Mr. Perkins in- 
 formed him, that he was alive when he left him; but 
 thought he would be dead before night. This informa- 
 tion Mr. Lyon communicated the same evening to a 
 number of persons who were assembled at the house 
 of Mr. Scribner, and added, that he tvas dead, for 
 that while he was on his way to Mr. Scribner's, (it 
 having been in the dusk of the evening,) he had seen 
 Smith's Ghost pass by him at a short distance off, 
 without touching the ground. This singular report, 
 as it came from a quarter that could not be well dis- 
 puted, very much alarmed the whole company, and 
 formed the subject of their conversation for the evening. 
 
 But to r(!turn to our narrative. After the prisoner 
 had made his Will, he was, for a short time, left 
 alone, with the probability that he would shortly be 
 seized by another fit, which he was not expected to 
 survive. About six o'clock in the evening, the Rev. 
 Mr. Scovil observed to his family, that it was then 
 about the same hour of the day at which Smith had 
 had his fit on the day preceding; that he thought he 
 would die suddenlv: he would therefore walk over to 
 the cou^t house and be ready tiiere at the time, as it 
 must be unpleasant for Mr. Dibblee to be alone. This 
 so much awakened the sensibilities of Mrs. Scovil, 
 that she could not bear the reflection, that a child of 
 pprents that were perhaps respectable, should lie so near 
 her, in a strange country, sick and dying, on a bed of 
 
i 
 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 straw. She therefore called Amy, her wench; "here,'* 
 said she, "take this feather bed, and carry it to the 
 jail, and tell Mr. Dibblee that I have sent it for 
 Smith to die on." Mr. Scovil had been in the house, 
 and seated with Mr. Dibblee but a very short lime, 
 when a noise was heard from Smith in the jail. John 
 Dibblee, who constantly attended on him, ran in haste, 
 unlocked the prison door, and found him in the agonies 
 of a fit almost expiring. Tie made an effort to speak, 
 and hesiiod of John to run and heat a brick that was 
 near, and apply it to his feet, to give him one moment's 
 relief while he was dying, for that his feet and legs 
 were already cold and dead to the knees. John, 
 willing to aflord what relief he could to the dying man, 
 ran in great haste from the jail through the passage 
 roui»d the stairway tliat led to the kitchen, where was 
 a large fire of coals, into which he cast tlie brick, 
 waited but a few minutes, and returned with the 
 heated brick to the prison; but to his indescribable 
 astonishment, and almost unwilling to believe the 
 evidtMice of his senses, the dijing man had disappeared 
 and could not be found! ! ! John ran witli the tidings 
 to liis father and the Rev. Mr. Scovil, who vvere sitting 
 in a room winch the prisoner must have passed in 
 making his escape. They »vere entirely incredulous 
 to the report of an afT'air so unparalleled, and would 
 not yield their belief till they searched every corner of 
 the apartnvnt themselves, and found that Smith had 
 not only (effected his escape, but had also cariied his 
 money, his boots, and every article of his clothing 
 away with him ! ! 
 
 It is impossible to conceive or to describe the aston- 
 ishment with which every one about the house was 
 filled, when tiiey found tliat the man, who iiad been 
 groaning and agonizing under the pain of an accumu- 
 lation of diseases which night after night seemed to 
 have been wasting his strength and bringir)g him 
 nearer to the close of his unhappy life, had in a mo- 
 ment, anid at the very moment which was thought to 
 be his last, seized the opportunity of his prison door 
 being open, and rushed from his confinement, leaving 
 not a vestijre of his movables behind him. As soon as 
 
'here," 
 to the 
 t it for 
 5 house, 
 rt time, 
 John 
 1 haste, 
 agonies 
 
 D 
 
 speak, 
 lat was 
 oment's 
 md legs 
 John, 
 ig man, 
 passage 
 3 re was 
 ) brick, 
 ith the 
 bribable 
 ve the 
 ppeared 
 
 tidings 
 i sitting 
 jssed in 
 ^dulons 
 1 would 
 rner of 
 ith had 
 
 ied his 
 
 lothing 
 
 aston- 
 
 Ise was 
 
 d been 
 
 Kjcumu- 
 
 med to 
 
 g him 
 
 a mo- 
 jght to 
 ti door 
 leaving 
 }oon as 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STBANGER. 
 
 a search through the prison confirmed the fact of his 
 elopement, the inmates hastened outside and continued 
 their search around the pemises. At this moment, 
 Amy the wench, made her appearance, carrying the 
 feather bed: and seeing the people around the house, 
 she said to them, " J\1isses send Uns bed for Smit to die 
 on.'^ Her master told her to take it home, and tell 
 her mistress that Smith was gone. Amy ran home and 
 told her mistress that massa say, Smil dead and ^^07ie — 
 he no want im bed. ^' AhV^ exclaimed her mistress, 
 ^^ poor man is he dead^ Then Jimij^ you may rtin qnd 
 carry this shirt and winding-sheet to lay Smith ovl in." 
 Amy instantly obeyed, and told hermastet accotdingly. 
 *'You may take them back," said he, " S)nith is 
 gone.'^ *' H' here he gone y massaV^ "I don't know," 
 said he, ''except the devil has tahen him (ff-^* Amy 
 hastened back to her mistress and told her that 
 " massa say, Snnt he dead and gone, and the debit take 
 him awtty.'' — So much was the mind of every one pre- 
 pared to hear of his death, that the expression, 
 *' Smilk is gone," served to convey no other idea. 
 The Sheriffhimself, who had not been present, and did 
 not hear of the affair immediately, gnve tlie sentence 
 the same interpretation. A messenger having been 
 despatched to him with the tidings, met him on his 
 way to tiie jail, expecting to witness the last moments 
 of the patient. On beinii informed by tl-q messenger 
 that " SmUh was gone," "Ah! poor fellow," he ex- 
 claimed, "I expected it. What time did he die?" 
 " But he is gone offclear." "It is impossible," re- 
 joined the Sherifl', " that he can be far from his sick 
 bed." " Why," replied the messenger, "they were 
 all out about the jail, looking for him, and no one could 
 tell which way he had gone." "Unparalleled and 
 aboniinable deception," replied the Sheriff, "how did 
 he get out of gaol.''" He believed John Dibblee left 
 the door open, while he ran to heat a brick, and then 
 Smith made his escape. 
 
 This was to us the first development of the true 
 character of Henry Mork Smith, and thus, by means 
 Gi' a counterfeit illness, which melted the feelings and 
 drew out the sympathies of the whole neighbourhood; 
 
hi 
 
 B 
 
 V? 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 which baffled every power of detection, and imposed 
 even upon the physician himself did this accY)mpiished 
 villain effect his release, and was now again running 
 at large, glorying in the issue of his scheme. But be- 
 fore we pursue his history in his succeeding adven- 
 tures, it may be necessay, for the sake of those who 
 Bre unacquainted with the local situation of the jail, ' 
 from which he escaped, to give a short description of 
 it. Kingston is situated on a neck or tongue of land, 
 formed by the river Saint John and Bellisle Bay run- 
 nitig north-east and south-west on the western side of 
 the neck, and by the river Kennebeckacis running the 
 same course on the eastern side, leaving a tract of 
 land between the two rivers, about five miles in breadth, 
 and thirty miles in length. The wii.ter road from Fre- 
 dericton, the seat of Government, to the City of St. 
 John, crosses the land at Kingston to tht Kennebeck- 
 acis, and this road is inhabited on both sides. This 
 road is intersected in the centre of Kingston by ano- 
 ther road running north-easterly to the head of Bellisle 
 Bay, and is also inhabited on both sides. At the in- 
 tersection of these roads, on an eminence, stand the 
 Court house, (under which is the prison,) and Church, 
 facing each other, east and west, at the distance of 
 about eight rods. At the distance of about ten rods 
 from the jail stands the house of Mr F. N. Perkins, 
 to the north, and at an equal distance to the south ihe 
 house of the Rev. E. Scovil is situated, with various 
 other houses in different directions; the land clear all 
 round to a considerable distance, affording no hiding 
 place. From a prison thus situated, and surrounded 
 with dwelling houses, did our hero escape, without 
 any eye havinej seen him, and leaving no mark nor 
 track behind which could direct in the pursuit of him. 
 Finding ourselves unable to pursue in any certain di- 
 rection, our conclusions were that he must either have 
 taken the road to St. John or that leading to Nova- , 
 Scotia, the way by which he came, and the only road 
 he was known to be acquainted with. Accordingly 
 men were despatched in pursuit of him on the St. John 
 road, and others sent to the different ferries, while I 
 myself, with Mr. Moses Foster, the Deputy Sheriff, 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 25 
 
 1 imposed 
 implished 
 n running 
 But be- 
 ig adven- 
 hose who 
 r the jail, 
 tription of 
 e of land. 
 Bay run- 
 rn side of 
 nning the 
 
 tract of 
 \ breadth, 
 from Fre- 
 :ity of St. 
 innebeck- 
 3S. This 
 n by ano- 
 ^fBellisle 
 ^t the in- 
 stand the 
 
 Church, 
 stance of 
 
 ten rods 
 
 Perkins, 
 south (he 
 
 I various 
 
 clear all 
 no hiding 
 rrounded 
 without 
 mark nor 
 of him. 
 ertain di- 
 
 her have 
 to Nova- 
 mly road 
 cordingly 
 
 St. John 
 while I 
 Sheriff, 
 
 took the road towards Nova-Scotia, with all speed, in 
 the night, and rode on until we began to think that we 
 must have passed him. Having arrived at a house 
 which he could not pass very conveniently without be- 
 ing seen, we stationed watchers there, and also set 
 watchers in other stations, and maintained a close look- 
 out the whole night, but to no purpose. At daylight I 
 furnished Mr. Foster with money and sent him on, 
 upon the same road, with directions to proceed as far 
 as Mr. M'Leod's tavern, distant forty miles, and in 
 case of hearing nothing of him, to discontinue the pur- 
 suit and return. At the same time I returned to 
 Kingston myself, where I was informed, towards even- 
 ing that a man who answered his description, had 
 crossed the ferry over the Bellisle Bay the evening be- 
 fore in great haste, stating that he was going on an 
 express to Fredericton, and must be there by ten 
 o'clock the next morning. This account compared 
 with Mr. Lyon's story, which the reader will recollect, 
 of having seen Smith's ghost or apparition the same 
 evening in the twillight, confirmed the opinion that we 
 had now got upon the direction of our runaway, and 
 when we remember further, that the apparition was 
 passing along without " touching the ground/' we will 
 have some idea of the rapidity with which our self-re- 
 leased hero was scudding along, as he carried his neck 
 from the halter. It was now Sunday evening, and he 
 had twenty-four hours of a start, leaving little hope 
 of his being overtaken by me. As my only alternative, 
 I forwarded advertisements, and proposed a reward of 
 twenty dollars for his apprehension and re-commitment 
 to custody; but with very little prospect of success, 
 knowing that he was escaping for his life, and would 
 succeed in getting out of the country before he could 
 be overtaken. 
 
 Monday morning the 2()th instant, Mr. Moses Foster 
 returned from his route, and by this time many unfavour- 
 able reports concerning the prisoner's escape had begun 
 to be circulated. The Court at which he was to receive 
 his.triiil, was now to meet on the Tuesday following, 
 and a Jury summoned from different parts of the county 
 for the express purpose of trying the horse-stealer. 
 
 •"•«<»»?w 
 
riM 
 
 26 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 My whole lime and attention were now required to 
 make the necessary preparations for the Court, and I 
 felt myself not a little chagrined on reflecting on the 
 circumstances in winch I was placed. This feeling 
 became heightened to a most painful degree when I 
 came to understand, by Mr. E. Jones, that the villain, 
 instead of escaping for his life, and getting out of my 
 reach with all possihie hasle, had only travelled about 
 ten miles the first night, and was seen lying on some 
 Straw before the barn of Mr. Robert Bailes, the next 
 morning, on the road towards Gagetown, having lain 
 there till twelve o'clock in the day. But Smith did not 
 lie on his bed of straw for rest merely; even there he 
 was pi'ojecting fresh schemes of villainy, wailir^g for an 
 opportunity to carry away some booty from the house 
 of Mr. Bailes; and it so liappened that he did not miss 
 his aim, for Mr. and Mrs. Bailes had occasion to leave 
 the house to go some distance, leaving the door unlock- 
 ed, when the robber er.tered, broke open a trunk, and 
 carried of! a silver watch, eight dollars in money, a 
 pair o' new velvet pantaloons, and a pocket book, with 
 several other articles. He then walked leisurely on 
 his way, stopping at the next house and at all Ihe 
 the houses that were contiguous to the road, so that he 
 did riot make more than t'lt-ee or four miles before dark. 
 When i\lr. Bailes returned to W's house and found it 
 had been robbed, he immediately fixed his suspicion 
 on the man who had lain before the barn door, from 
 having observed the print of a boot heel, which was 
 thought to be his, and gave the alarm to his neighbors. 
 They iinmedintely set out in pursuit of him, and having 
 heard that he had been seen on the road at no great 
 distance before them, they f >llowed on in high spirits, 
 expecting shortly to seize hi'n; luil in this they were 
 disappointed, for the robber warily turned aside from 
 the road, leaving his pursuers to exercise a painful and 
 diligent searcii, without being able to ascertain which 
 way he had gone. Having followed as far as Gagetown, 
 they posted up advertisements, desciiptive of his per- 
 son, and also of the watch; and sent some of them on 
 to Fredericton. 
 
 Late on Sunday night, u man called at the house of 
 
 ..-r-^ 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 97 
 
 Mr. Green, who resided on an Island at the mouth of 
 the VVashademoac Lake. He said he was a French- 
 man, on his way to Fredericton about land, and called 
 for the purpose of enquiring tlie way. Mr. Green in- 
 formed him that he was on an island, and that he had 
 better stay till the morning, and that he would then 
 direct him on his journey. He made on a large fire, 
 by which the man examined his pocket book, and was 
 observed to cast several papers into the fire, and final- 
 ly he threw in the pocket book also. Mr. Green on 
 seeing this, had an immediate impression, that the 
 man must be some improper character, which idea 
 was strengthened by the circumstance of its being a 
 time, of war. In the morning therefore he took him in 
 his canoe, and carried him directly to Justice Colwell, 
 a neighbouring Magistrate, that he might give an ac- 
 count of himself. On his examination, he answered 
 with so much apparent simplicity, that the Justice could 
 find no just ground for detaining him, and consequent- 
 ly dismissed him. He then made his way to an Indian 
 camp, and hired an Indian, as he said, to carry him to 
 Fredericton; and, cr(!ssing the river, went to Mr. 
 Vail's tavern, on Giiinross Nock, where he ordered 
 breakfast for himself and his Indian, and had his boots 
 cleaned. At this moment, Mr. Bailes, whom he had 
 robl)ed the day preceding, wasgettmg breakfast at Mr. 
 VaiTs, and writing advertisements in quest of the rob- 
 ber. About eleven o'clock, he, with his Indian, started 
 again, leaving Mr. Vail's unknown and undetected: but 
 not without taking with hini a set of silver teaspoons 
 from a side closet in the parlour. 
 
 The time was now come for the sitting- of the Court, 
 and about eleven o'clock on Tuesday morning, the At- 
 torney General arrived from Fredericton, with very 
 unfavorable impressions on his mind, bringing informa- 
 tion that the robber was still traversing the country, 
 stealing and robbing wherever he came, without suffi- 
 cient effort being made for his apprehension. The Jury 
 also were collecting from the different Parishes of the 
 County, bringing with them unfavorable ideas, from 
 the repoits in circulation concerning his escape. 
 Among the many opinions that were formed on the 
 
(' • 
 
 i i 
 
 I 
 
 % 
 
 28 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 subject, one, particularly, was very industriously cir- 
 culated. The prisoner was a Freemason, and it will 
 be recollected that Mr. Dibblee, the jailor, was stated 
 in a former pait of the narrative to be a Freemason 
 also, and that there was a Freemason Lodge held at 
 Kingston. The public mind was strongly prejudiced 
 against us, unwilling to believe the real circumstances 
 of his elopement; and the Court assembled undei the 
 strongest impressions that his escape was connived at. 
 The Honorable Judge Chipman presided on the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 The Court was now ready for business, but no pri- 
 soner; yet high expectations were cherished that every 
 hour would bring tidings of his apprehension, as he 
 was pursued in every direction. The Grand Jury was 
 empannelled, and the Court adjourned till the next day 
 at eleven o'clock, waiting anxiously for the proceeds 
 of the intermediate time. And to render the means 
 for his apprehension as effectual as possible, Mr. Ben- 
 jamin Furnald, with a boat well manne'd, was des- 
 patched in the pursuit with directions to follow on as 
 far as he could get any account of him. 
 
 Wednesday, the Court again met and commenced 
 other busines; but nothing of Smith yet. In the after- 
 noon, Mr. John Pearson, witness against him, arrived 
 from Nova-Scotia, a distance of two hundred and eighty 
 miles. Towards evening conclusions were beginning 
 to be drawn that he had eluded all his pursuers and 
 was making his way back to Nova-Scotia, and this con- 
 jecture was almost converted into a certainty by the 
 circumstance of a man having been seen crossing the 
 Washademoac and making towards Rellisle bay. 
 
 Nothing more was heard till Thursday morning 
 early, when Mr. B. Furnald returned, and reported 
 ..that he had found his course and pursued him through 
 Maugerville: that the night before he (Mr F. ) reached 
 Mrugerville, the robber had lodged at Mr. Solomon 
 Perley's, and stole a pair of new boots, and had offered 
 the silver teaspoons for sale, that he had stolen at Mr. 
 Vails. That he then walked up as far as Mr* Bai- 
 ley's tavern, where he stopped some lime, and that he 
 was afterwards seen towards evening under a bridge 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGEF:. 
 
 counting his money. This was the last that could be 
 heard of him in this place, and it was now believed 
 that he had taken an Indian to pilot him, and had gone 
 by the way of the Washademoa, and head of Bellisle, 
 for Nova-Scolia This was in accordance with the 
 idea entertained at Kingston before Mr. Furnald's 
 return. 
 
 At ten o'clock on Thursday morning, the Court met 
 according to adjournment, to bring the business then 
 before them to a close, without much hope of hearing 
 anything further of the horse stealer at this time; when 
 about three in the afternoon, a servant of Mr. Knox's, 
 (wlio it will be remembered was the Plaintiff' in the 
 cause, )came direct to the Court with information to his 
 master, that his other horse was missing out of the 
 pasture; that he had been known to be in the pasture 
 at one o'clock at night, and was gone in the morning; 
 and that a strange Indian had been seen about the 
 place. This extraordinary news produced much ex- 
 citement' in the Court; and the coincidence of the In- 
 dian crossing the country with the robber, with the In- 
 dian seen at Mr. Knox's, confirmed the opinion, that 
 Smith had made himself owner of Mr. Knox's other 
 horsQ also! ! ! Mr. Knox, on hearing this news, be- 
 came exceedingly agitated, had no doubt that Smith 
 was the thief again, would not listen to the Sheriff who 
 was not just willing to credit the report of the horse 
 being stolen, and affirmed that his life was in danger 
 if Smith was suflered to run at large. His Honor the 
 Judge expressed his opinion that great remissness of 
 duty appeared. 
 
 A General Warrant was issued by the Court, direc- 
 ted to all the Sheriffs and Ministers of Justice through- 
 out the Province, commanding them to apprehend the 
 said More Smith and bring him to justice. In the mean 
 time, men were appointed to commence a fresh march 
 in quest of him, to go in different directions. Mr. 
 Knox, with Henry Lyon and Isaiah Smith, took the 
 road to Nova Scotia; and Moses Foster, the Deputy 
 Sheriff, and Nathan Deforest, directed their course to- 
 wards Fredericton, by the head of Bellisle Bay w^ith 
 orders to continue their search as far as they could get 
 
If 
 
 i i! 
 
 i- 
 
 I .1 
 
 30 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 Information of him, or to tho American sottloment. The 
 Sherifl'thon wrote advertisements for ihe public papers, 
 offering u reward of forty dollars for his apprehension; 
 and the Attorney General increased the sum to nio-hty 
 dollars. Indictments were prepared, and the Grand 
 Jury found a Bill against the Sheriff and Jailer, for 
 negligence in suffering the prisoner to escape. They 
 were held to Bail to appear at the next Court of Oyer 
 and Terminer to traverse the indictments. 'J'he busi- 
 ness of the Court being at a close, the Sheriff paid 
 the witness, Mr. Pearson, from Nova Scotia, for his 
 travel and attendance, amounting to one hundred dol- 
 lars, after which the Court finally adjourned. 
 
 Nothing was heard of our adventurer til. after the 
 return of Mr. Knox with his party from a fruitless 
 search often days in the Province of Nova-Scotia, and 
 as far as Richihuc'o. Tlie day following, Mr. Foster 
 and Mr. Deforest returned from their chase, and re- 
 ported tl at after they had proceeded to within thrco 
 miles of Fredericton they heard of a stranger, answer- 
 ing to his description, having lodged all night at a 
 private house; but had gone on the road towards 
 Woodstock. They continued the pursuit, and found 
 that he had stopped at Mr. Ingrahain's tavern the 
 night following, slept late in the m«)ining being fatigued, 
 paid his bill and went off; L^t not without giving ano- 
 ther serious proof of his characteristic villainy. He 
 
 brok 
 
 e open a trunk, w 
 
 hich 
 
 was m (he room ncljoinmg 
 
 the one he had slept in, and curried off a full suit of 
 clothes belonginji; to Mr Ingralinm, that cost hiih forty 
 dollars, and a silk cloak, with ot!]cr articles, which he 
 concealed so as not to bo discovered. I'iiis infnroia- 
 tion gave bis pursuers sufficient proof tliat he was in- 
 deed tlie noUd horse sleater. But Mr, Ingraham not 
 having missed his clothes immediately, the robber 
 travelled on unmolested, and t!ie next day went only 
 as fur as Mrs. Robertson's, where he found a collec- 
 tion of young people, played the fiddle for them, and 
 remained the next day and night. He then proceeded 
 towards Woodstock, leaving the spoons with Mrs. 
 Robertson in exchange for a siiirt, and taking passjige 
 in a canoe, happened to fall in conij)any with another 
 canoe that had been at Fredericton, in whicli the Rev. 
 
 
 1! 
 
 ,M 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 81 
 
 the 
 
 ano- 
 He 
 
 Dining 
 lit of 
 fully 
 !c!» he 
 .I'Hia- 
 as in- 
 iint 
 ubber 
 only 
 
 and 
 
 t;pd(;d 
 
 Mrs. 
 
 sot hep 
 Rev. 
 
 Mr. Dibhicc, Mivslonnry nt Woodstock, was passen- 
 ger. ^with a yonnji; inun |)olin«» the canoe. 'J'he yonng 
 iran had seen Mr. liaiU's' ndvortiscmcnt at Frederic- 
 ton, describing the man and watch, which haci ft 
 singular steel chain; and observed to Mr. l^ibblee, 
 that they both answered to tlie appearance of tho 
 stranger. Mr. I), remarked to the young man that he 
 might be mistaken, and asked the stranger to let him 
 see tlie watch. The stranger handed the watch with 
 all willingness, and it was found so exactly to answer 
 to the marks of Mr. Ba'dis^ wakh that Mr. I), challen- 
 ged it as the property of Mr. Huiies. Smith very 
 gravely replied, that it was a favourite walck that he 
 had owned for a long time; but that if he had heard of 
 one like it having been stolen, he had no objection to 
 leave it with him until he returned, which would be in 
 about two weeks. Mr D. replied that the suspicion 
 was so strong, that he thought he would detain him 
 also, until he could hear from Fredericton. Smith re- 
 joined, that he was on important business and could 
 not be detained; but if ho would pay his expenses and 
 make himself responsible for the damage incurred by 
 his detention, be would have no objection to stop till 
 he could send to Fredericton. Otherwise, he would 
 leave the watch, as he proposed before, and would re- 
 turn in ten or twelve days, during which time Mr. D. 
 might satisfy himself as to the watch. He appeared 
 sA perpectly at ease, without discovering the slightest 
 indications of guilt, that on these conditions they 
 suffered him to pass on. He continued his march 
 through Woodstock, until he came to the road that 
 leads to the American settlement, and as it drew 
 towards evening he enquired of a resident by the way 
 concerning the road lo the American side; but was 
 asked by the man to ti n^y till morning, as it was then 
 near night and the settlement yet twelve miles distant. 
 He did not choose to comply with the invitation and 
 advanced, as an apology, tliat two men had gone on 
 before him, and he feared thev wouhl lejive him in the 
 morninij, if he did not proc(ed. It happened in a very 
 short time lUvv, that two younu; men arrived there 
 trom tiie settlement, and hei.ig asked whether they^ 
 had met two men on the road, they answered in tlie 
 
I 
 
 ' 
 
 p i' 
 
 I- I"' 
 ¥ T 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 negative. It was then concluded that Smith wns a 
 deserter ^ and tlicy turned ahont and followed him to 
 the American settlenietit, but found nothing of nim. 
 The day following, Mr. Foster and Mr. Deforest 
 arrived at Woodstock, and finding thcmsflves still on 
 the track of him, they pursued on to the American 
 lines, hut could hear nothing concerning him. Tliey 
 then informed the inhabitants of Smith'.** character; 
 and proposed a reward ui' livinly poinuh for his appre- 
 hension. The ptjople seemed well disposed and pro- 
 mised to do their utmost. 
 
 Messrs. F. &. J), then made their way back to the 
 River St. John, and there, most unexpectedly, came 
 across the path of their adventurer again. They found 
 that he had crossed the river, slopped at several 
 houses for refreshment, and called himself Bond. 
 That he had assumed the character of a pursuant in 
 quest of the tkief who had broken the Kingston jail; 
 said that he was a notorious villain, and wo'ild certainly 
 be hung if taken, and appeared to be extremely anxious 
 that he should be apprehended. They traced him 
 down to a river where the Indians were encamped, 
 and found that he had agreed with an Indian to con- 
 duct him through the woods to the United States, by 
 the way of Eel River, a route not unfrequently 
 travelled; and hence had baffled all the efforts of his 
 pursuers and finally escaped. Messrs. F. &. D. 
 thought it was now time to return and make their re- 
 port. It afterwards appeared, that the Indian, his 
 conductor, after having gone about two days on the 
 route, began to be weary of his job, (perhaps finding 
 that it might not be productive of much profit,) and 
 discovering that Smith carried a pi<tol, which he did 
 not like very much, refused to guide him any longer, 
 gave him back part of his money and returned. This 
 materially turned the scale with our adventurer, and 
 Fortune, that had hitherto smiled on his enterprises, 
 refused, like the Indian, to conduct him much further. 
 Unable to pursue his journey alone, he was, of course, 
 obliged to return, and he had now no alternative, but 
 to try his chance by the known road. It was now the 
 10th of October, and he re-appeared on the old ground, 
 
 w 
 
 sei 
 on 
 an 
 
 v^ 
 h( 
 
 chl 
 cl<l 
 
 ■t. 
 
 -^:mm^r^' 
 
THE MVSTEIIIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 33 
 
 )) 
 
 wonting refreshment, and in quest, ns lie said, of a rfe- 
 serler. While his breakfast was preparing, informati- 
 on of his presence wascircuhitcd among the inhabitants, 
 and Dr. Rice, who was a principal character in the 
 place, efToctcd Iiis apprehension and had liim 'secnred. 
 The clotiies he had stolen from Mr. Ingraham he 
 had on, excepting the pantaloons, which lie had ex- 
 changed" for a pistol. He said he iiad purchased the 
 clothes very cheap from a man who ho belie zed was a 
 Yankee, lie was then taken in charge by Mr. A. Put- 
 I man and Mr. Watson, who set out witli their prisoner 
 for Frcdericton. On their way they stopped at the At- 
 torney General's three miles from Frcdericton, and 
 then proceeded into town, where the Supreme Court 
 was then sitting. The prisoner was brought before the 
 Court in the presence of a large number of spectators. 
 The Hon. Judge Saunders asked him his name, and 
 he unliesitatingly answered " Smith. " "Are you the 
 man that escaped from the jail at Kingston?" "Yes 
 On b'jing asked how he cifected his escape, he said, 
 the Jailor opened Ike door and the Priest framed him out. 
 He was then ordered to prison for the night and the 
 next day he was remanded to Kingston jail. Putman 
 and Watson set out with him in an Indian canoe, one 
 at each end, and their prisoner, handcuffed and pinio- 
 ned, and lied to a bar of the canoe, in the centre. 
 They were obliged to watch him the first night at the 
 place where they lodged, and the next day they reach- 
 ed the house of Mr. Bailcs, opposite Spoon Island, 
 where he had stolen the watch and the money, <^c. It 
 was near night, and the passage to Kingston rather 
 difRcult; and they being strangers, Mr. B. proposed 
 that if they would stop with iiini till morning, he would 
 conduct them to Kingston himself. They willingly 
 complied, and they having been up all the preceding 
 night Mr. B. proposed that if they would retire and 
 take some rest, he with his family would keep watch of 
 the prisoner. After they had retired, the prisoner en- 
 quired the way to Saint John, and whether there were 
 any ferries on this side the river. He then asked for 
 a blanket and leave to lie down. Mrs B. made him a 
 bed on the floor; but before he would lie down, he said 
 3 
 
 '■mr^ 
 
34 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 I i 
 
 C I 
 
 u 
 
 he had occasion to go to the door. Mr. B. awakened 
 Mr. Watson, who got up to attend him to the door. 
 Smith said to him that if he had any apprehensions, he 
 had better tie a rope to his arm, which he accordingly 
 did, fastening it above the handcuffs, with the other 
 end wound round his own hand. In this situation they 
 went out of doors; but in an unguarded moment. Smith 
 watching his opportunity, knocked him down with his 
 handcuffs, leaving the rope in the hands of his keeper, 
 having slipped the other end over his hand without un- 
 tieing the knot. 
 
 Thus, handcufTed and pinioned, and bound with a 
 rope, the ingenious horse stealer, by another effort of 
 his unfailing ingenuity, akin to his mock sickness in the 
 jail, had effected a second escape from his keepers, 
 leaving it as a matter of choice, whether to institute a 
 hopeless search for him in the darkness of night, or sit 
 down in sullen consultation on what plan they had best 
 pursue in the morning. Nothing could exceed ihe 
 chagrin of Putman and Watson on finding themselves 
 robbed of their prisoner, except the confusion which 
 fiilcu myaelf and the Jailor on the knowledge of his un- 
 e. an:pled and noted escape from the jail. — To pursue 
 him in the night, which was unusually dark, and rainy 
 besides, was both hopeless and vain; it was therefore 
 thought best to inform the Sheriff in the morning of what 
 had taken place, and receive his advice as to their fu- 
 ture proceedings. In the morning, accordingly, Mr, 
 Futman proceeded to Kingston, and on communicating 
 the news to Oie Sheriff, received a supply of money, 
 with orders to j.ursue the road to Saint John while the 
 Sheriffj with two men, proceeded to Mr. Bailes.' 
 There they received information that Smith had chang- 
 ed his course, ant) crossing the Oaknabock Lake in the 
 night, was div. zi'ing his course towards Fredericton 
 again! I J >vi!l ite remembered that previous to his es- 
 cape, while a j;, \'soner at Mr. Bailes', he made particu- 
 lar enquiries wattlier there were any ferries in the way 
 to Saint John, o:* this side the river. At this time it 
 would scern that he had looked upon his scheme as 
 »uccf:ssriil, and evifJently directed those enquiries con- 
 cera\ng the road with a vieiv to mislead, while it was 
 
 "!»• ; ,: . ■ ■..-tfj^awu'W iTUH Bi M i i w"' 
 
 ■■ ' LIIJ..! ' :.., ^ Mgw 
 
 »,-«-*«»' -flw-^ 
 
 ^,M«Miac'J«*'««w«K'- 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 35 
 
 awakened 
 to the door, 
 lensions, he 
 accordingly 
 1 the other 
 nation they 
 lent, Smith 
 vn with his 
 his keeper, 
 vithout un- 
 
 nd with a 
 er effort of 
 ness in the 
 3 keepers, 
 institute a 
 ight, or sit 
 y had best 
 xceed (he 
 hemselves 
 ion which 
 of his un- 
 To pursue 
 and rainy 
 
 therefore 
 ig of what 
 ► their fu- 
 ngly, Mr, 
 unicating 
 f money, 
 while the 
 
 Bailes.' 
 id chang- 
 ke in the 
 edericton 
 to his es- 
 J particu- 
 
 the way 
 is time it 
 heme as 
 ies con- 
 e it was 
 
 his policy to return upon the course which would be 
 judged the most unlikely of all he should take. But to 
 return to our story. He came to the lakje the same 
 evening he had got clear of Mr. Watson and the rope, 
 and there urged as a reason for his haste in wishing to 
 cross the lake in the night, that he was on his way to 
 Fredericton to purchase land, and ihat he had arranged 
 it with Putman and Watson, who had gone to Kingston 
 with the Thief, to take him up in their canoe on their 
 return, and was to meet them at the intervale above, 
 early the next morning. This well varnished and cha- 
 racleristic siary procured him a speedy passage over 
 the lake, and now our adventurer is in undisputed pos- 
 session of the country, at liberty to choose which way 
 he should turn his face. 
 
 On being put in possession of these particulars we 
 immediately and naturally supposed that he was wisely 
 and prudently directing his course to the United States, 
 by the way of the Oromocto; and so we followed up his 
 retreat accordingly; but in that direction no intel- 
 ligence could be obtained, and we remained in total 
 ignorance of his proceedings and history up to the 26th 
 of October. At this date, when it was supposed that 
 he had transported himself into the United States, to 
 our utter astonishment and surprise we find him again 
 in the prosecution of his usual business in the immedi- 
 ate vicinity of Fredericton. His first appearance there 
 again, was in a bye place, at a small house not then 
 occupied as a dwelling. It was drawing towards night, 
 and the day having been rainy, he came to the house 
 wet and cold. An old man by the name of Wicks, 
 with his son, was engaged in repairing the house, in 
 which they had some potatoes. There was also a 
 quantity of dry wood in the house; but as tlie old man 
 was about quitting work for the day, he had suffered 
 the fire to burn down. The stranger was anxious to 
 lodge in their humble habitation for the night, but the 
 old man observed to him, that they did not lodge there 
 at night, and gK,ve him an invitation to the next house, 
 where he could accommodate him better. He did not 
 'iccept the invitation, but said he must go on eight or 
 ten miles further that night, and so he departed. 
 
 mi 
 
1 
 
 k.-V^ 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGEK. 
 
 The old man and his son secured the door and re- 
 tired to their lodgings; hut when the morning came it 
 was found that Smith had returned to the old house, 
 spent the night, burned up i\\\ the wood, regaled him- 
 self on roasted potatoes, and again took his departure. 
 The following night, he paid a sweeping visit at the 
 house of Mr. Wilmot, seven miles from Fredericton. 
 Finding a large quantity of Linens, sprinkled and rea- 
 dy for ironing, he made a full seizure of the whole, to- 
 gether with a new coat belonging to a young man be- 
 longing to the house. The plunderer finding his boobj 
 rather burthensome, took a saddle and bridle, which he 
 happened to discover, put them on a small black poney 
 which was feeding in the pasture, and thus rode with 
 his luggage till he came within two miles of Frede- 
 ricton. There he found a barrack or hovel, filled with 
 hay, belonging to Jack Patterson, a mulatto, which 
 presented a convenient retreat where he could feed his 
 horse and conceal his plunder. Here he remained for 
 some days undisturbed; would turn his horse out to 
 feed on the commons in the day, concealing himself in 
 the hay, and would catch him again at night, ride into 
 town, make what plunder he could, return to his re- 
 treat, and conceal it in the hay. 
 
 Our adventurer thought it was now high time to pay 
 his respects to the Attorney General himself, who lived 
 about three miles distant. Here he was not altogether 
 unacquainted, having made a previous call on his pas- 
 sage as a prisoner from Woodstock to Fredericton. 
 He arrived on the spot about nine o'clock in the eve- 
 ning, retaining, no doubt, an accurate remembrance 
 of the entrance to the house; and every thing proved 
 propitious to the object of his visit: for it happened 
 that there was much company at the Attorney General's 
 en the same evening, whose over-coats, cioaks, tippets, 
 comforters, <Src , S^c, werr, all suspended in the hall. 
 He did not obtrude himself upon the notice of the com- 
 pany; but he paid his respects to their loose garments, 
 making one swt-ep of the whole, consisting of five top 
 coats, three plaid cloaks, a number of tippets, comforters^ 
 and other lucaring articles! Ha 'in«r been even more 
 successful then prehaps he expected, he rode back 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 37 
 
 through the town to the place of his conceahnent, de- 
 posited his hooty, and gave his horse, after his travel, 
 a generous allowance of hay. This generosity to his 
 horse led to his detection, for Patterson happening to 
 perceive that his hay was lying in an unusual manner 
 out of the window of his barrack, immediately formed 
 an opinion that some person had taken up lodgings in 
 the hay, and in this he was not mistaken; for on coming 
 to the spot, he found Smith lying in the hay, with a 
 white comforter about his neck. On perceiving him to 
 be a stranger, he asked him where he had come from, 
 and was answered that he came from the Kennebeck- 
 acis, was after land, and getting belated had taken up 
 his lodging in the hay, and hoped it was no harm. 
 
 After Patterson had gone into his house be perceived 
 that the traveller had retired from the barrack by the 
 window and was making towards the woods. Upon 
 perceiving this, the idea of his being a deserter instant- 
 ly presented itself to his mind, and calling for assistance 
 he soon made the stranger a prisoner, which was easi- 
 ly effected, as he did not make much effort to escape. 
 It was soon discovered that their prisoner was no less 
 a person than the far famed Henry More Smith, and 
 no time was lost in committing him to Fredericton jail. 
 
 Patterson, not seeing the comforter with him which 
 he wore round his neck in the hay, was induced to ex- 
 amine the hay ifprehaps he might find it. This led 
 to the discovery of his entire deposit: for, he not only 
 found the immediate object of his search, but also all 
 the articles previously mentioned, with many more, 
 which were all restored to the owners respectively. 
 
 Upon the examination of the prisoner, he gave no 
 proper satisfaction concerning the articles found in the 
 hay; he said they were brought there by a soldier, who 
 rode a little poney, and went off, leaving the saddle and 
 bridle. He was then ordered to be taken by the 
 Sheriff of York County and safely delivered to the She- 
 riff of King's Couuty, in his prison. Accordingly, the 
 Sheriff prepared for his safe conveyance an iron collar, 
 made of a flat bar of iron, an inch and a half wide, wit^ 
 a hinge and clasp, fastened with a padlock. To th%' 
 collar, which was put round his neck, was fastened an 
 
38 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 I \ 
 
 m i 
 
 iron chain, ten feet in leng-th; thus prepared, and his 
 hands bound together with a pair of strong handcuffs, 
 after examining his person lest he should have saws or 
 other instruments concealed about him, he was put on 
 board a sloop for his old residence in Kingston. — They 
 started with a fair wind, and with Patterson, the mu- 
 latto, holding the chain by the end, they arrived with 
 their prisoner at Kingston, a distance of sixty miles, 
 about 12 o'clock in the night of the 30th of October, 
 which was better than one month from the time of his tri- 
 umphant escape through means of his pretended indis- 
 position. On his re-appearance in the old spot and 
 among those who had ministered so feelingly to his 
 comfort during the whole period of his affected illness, 
 and whom he had so effectually hoaxed, it might have 
 been expected that he would have betrayed some feeling 
 or emotion; or that a transient blush of shame, at least, 
 would have passed over his countenance; but ah! no: 
 his conscience had long since become seared, and there 
 was no sensibility within, strong enough to give the 
 slightest tint to his shame-proof countenance. He ap- 
 peared perfectly composed, and as indifferent and in- 
 sensible to all around him as though he were a statue 
 of marble. 
 
 On the ensuing morning he was conducted to the 
 jail, which he entered without hesitation or seeming 
 regret. After his former escape, it had been cleared 
 out of every thing, and carefully swept and searched. 
 In the course of the search there were found several 
 broken parts of a watch, and among the rest, the box 
 which contained the mainspring. This convinced us 
 that the watch, (which he received from the young man 
 before his escape, in exchange for the spy-glass,) was 
 intended to furnish him with the materials for miking 
 a saw in case all other plans he might adopt to accom- 
 plish his release, should fail to succeed. We found a 
 large dinner knife cut in two, which we supposed to 
 have been done with a saw made of the mainspring, as 
 a trial or experiment of its utility. 
 
 Having by this time, from painful experience, become 
 a little acquainted with the depth of his genius, we 
 thought it not impossible nor unlikely, that he might 
 
 ■-•JMp«4"?"'"''*'"*"^'*'-*" '™'" 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 39 
 
 d, and his 
 handcuffs, 
 /e saws or 
 i^as put on 
 •n.— They 
 , the mu- 
 rived with 
 xty miles, 
 
 October, 
 of his tri- 
 ded indis- 
 spot and 
 }y to his 
 d ilhiess, 
 ght have 
 e feeling 
 
 at least, 
 
 t ah! no: 
 
 md there 
 
 give the 
 
 He ap- 
 t and in- 
 a statue 
 
 d to the 
 seeming 
 cleared 
 arched, 
 several 
 the box 
 iced us 
 ngman 
 s,) was 
 tn iking 
 fccom- 
 ound a 
 >sed to 
 ing, as 
 
 ecome 
 IS, we 
 wight 
 
 Stilt have the saw concealed about his person, although 
 Mr. Burton, the Sheriff of York County, had searched 
 him before his removal from Fredericton jail. We 
 were, however, determined to examine him more close- 
 ly; for which end we took off his handcuffs, and then 
 ordered him to take off his clothes Without hesita- 
 tion or reluctance he divested himself of his clothes all 
 to his shirt: we then searched every part of his dress,- 
 the sleeves, wrist bands, collar of his shirt, and even 
 the hair of his head; but found nothing. We then 
 suffered him to put on his clothes again, and we carried 
 out of the jail, his hat and shoes, and every article he 
 brought with him. 
 
 The prison in which he was confined was twenty-two 
 feet by sixteen; stone and lime walls three feet thick 
 on three sides, the fourth side having been the partition 
 wall between the prison rooms. This partition was of 
 timber twelve inches thick, lathed and plastered. The 
 door was of two inch plank, doubled and lined with 
 sheet iron, with three iron bar hinges, three inches 
 wide clasped over staples in the opposite posts and se- 
 cured with three strong padlocks; and having also a 
 small iron wicket door secured with a padlock. There 
 was one window through the stone wall, grated within 
 and without, and enclosed with glass on the outside, 
 so that no communication could be had v ith the interi- 
 or undiscovered. The passage that leads to the prison 
 door is twenty feet in length and three feet in breadth, 
 secured at the entrance by a padlock on the door: the 
 outside door was also kept locked, so that no communi- 
 cation could be had through the passage without pass- 
 ing through three securely locked doors, the keys of 
 which were always kept by Mr. Dibblee the jailer, who 
 from his infirm state of health, never left the house by 
 day or night. 
 
 Having learned a lesson by former experience, he 
 maintained the most unbending strictness, suffering no 
 intercourse with the prison whatever. In this manner 
 secured, we put on his right leg an iron shackle, with 
 an iron chain no more than long enough to allow him 
 to reach the necessary, and take his provision at the 
 wicket door. The end of the chain was fastened to the 
 
40 
 
 THE 3IYSTER10US STRANGER. 
 
 timber of the floor by a strong staple, near the partition 
 wall, so that he could not reach the grated window by 
 five or six feet. He was provided with a bunk, straw 
 and blankets, as a bed; and his wrists having been 
 much swelled with the handcuffs, I considered it unne- 
 cessary to keep them on, especially as he was so tho- 
 roughly secured in other respects. In this situation I 
 left him, with directions to the jailer to look to Kim fre- 
 quently through the wicket door, to see that he remain- 
 ed secure, intending at the same time to visit him occa- 
 sionally myself. 
 
 The jailer came to look at him frequently at the 
 wicket door as directed, and always found him quiet 
 and peaceable, either sitting up reading, or lying down 
 in his berth; he never uttered any complaints, but ap- 
 peared resigned to his confinement. I visited him once 
 or twice in the week to see, for myself, that his irons 
 remained secure; and always finding him us yet, in the 
 same state of security in which I had left him, I made 
 up my mind that wo should be able to keep him without 
 any additional trouble. He manifested good nature as 
 well as resignation, for he always came up to the 
 wicket door when I wished to see that his irons were 
 in order, with the greatest seeming willingness. 
 
 On the twelfth day of his confinement, I was in- 
 formed that Mr. Newman Perkins had heard an unusual 
 noise in the night, which induced him to think that 
 Smith had been at work at the grates. On making 
 more particular inquiry, I learned from Mrs. Perkins, 
 that she had heard a noise like rubbing or filing, late 
 in the night; and by holding her head out of the win- 
 dow, she considered the sound to proceed from the jail. 
 Knowing the situation of the prisoner, chained, that he 
 could not reach the grates by the distance of five or 
 six feet; and knowing also, that after the search we 
 had made^ it was impossible that he could have retained 
 about his person any thing by which he could operate 
 on the grates, we judged it more than improbable that 
 the sound could have proceeded from him. Neverthe- 
 less we did not treat the information with disregard or 
 neglect. I went immediately to the prison, accompa- 
 nied by Moses Foste. ^ George Raymond, Allen Basten, 
 
 w^m.v/&'-^-' 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 41 
 
 and Mr. Dibblee the jailor, with several others. It was 
 then the evening, and we carried with us two or three 
 candles. On opening the door, we found him lying in 
 his berth chained, just, as I lefl him. I said to him, 
 " Smith, you have not got out yet;" he answered "no, 
 not quite." I then examined every bar of the grates 
 as closely as possible, as also did every one present, 
 again and again, until we were all satisfied that the 
 cause of the alarm was only imaginery. Smith all the 
 while lying quiet, answering readily any and every 
 question that was put to him. 
 
 Mr. Basten had yet continued scratching and ex- 
 amining the inner grates, when it was discovered by 
 all present that there was a small chip lying on the flat 
 bar of the outer grate, which was supposed to have 
 been there accidentally. Mr. Basten, however, being 
 fully satisfied that the inner grate remained secure, was 
 led, rather by curiosity, to reach through his hand 
 and take up the chip that lay on the bar of the outer 
 grate: on doing this, he thought he could perceive that 
 the bar was inclined to hang, in some small degree. 
 This led to further examination; and to the utter asto- 
 nishment of all that were present, it was found that the 
 bar was cut one-third off, and artfully concealed with 
 the feather edge of the chip. Our astonishment was 
 increased by the fact, that it was impossible to reach 
 the outer grate without first removing the inner. This 
 gave the hint for a yet more effectual examination, 
 when it was found that he had cut one of tne inner bars 
 so neatly, that he could remove and replace it at plea- 
 sure, having contrived to conceal the incisions in such 
 a manner as almost to preclude the possibility of detec- 
 tion. There is little or no doubt that in two or three 
 nights more he would have effected his second escape, had 
 not his works been discovered through the very means 
 which, artful as he was, he employed to conceal them. 
 On being asked what instrument he used in cutting the 
 grate, he answered, with perfect indifference, ** With 
 this saw and lhii$ file;" and without hesitation, handed 
 me from his berth, a case knife, steel blade, neatly cut 
 in fine teeth, and a common hand-saw file. I then 
 asked him how he got to the grates, or whether he had 
 
42 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 »^ ;■ i 
 
 slipped the shackles off his feet? he answered me no; 
 but that he had cut the chain; and then shewed me 
 very calmly where he had cut the chain in the joint 
 of the links, a part where the cut could not very readi- 
 ly be discovered. ' " 
 
 On being asked where he got his tools, he answered 
 that he had left them in the jail when he went away, 
 and that those he had given me were all the tools he 
 had left. But perceiving from the shape of the knife, 
 (it having been much thicker on the back than the 
 6dge,) that the bars never could have been so neatly 
 cut through with that instrument, we were induced to 
 make a stricter search, and found, in a broken part of 
 the lime wall, near the grates, a very neat watch-spring 
 saw, having a cord tied at one end. I then asked him 
 who gave him those tools; to which he replied with 
 great firmness, " You need not ask me again, for I 
 never will tell you." After I had finished these in- 
 quiries, I searched his bed and his clothes, and re- 
 newed the chain again to his leg, fastening it firmly to 
 the floor with a staple; and putting on a pair of strong 
 handcufis of J bolt. We then left him, it being about 11 
 o'clock on Saturday night. On the next day, Sunday, 
 at 4 o'clock, I re-visited the jail, when the jailer infor- 
 med me that the prisoner was lying in his berth with 
 all his irons on, and had been inquiring of him whether 
 the Sheriff were not coming to examine his chains. 
 About 12 o'clock the same night I was alarmed by a 
 man sent by the Jailer to inform me that Smith had got 
 loose from all his irons, and having worked his way 
 through the inner grate, was cutting the outer grate, 
 and had nearly escaped! Here, at the dead hour of 
 midnight, when it might have been expected that every 
 eye would be sunk in the stillness of sleep, through the 
 vigilant attention of Mr. Dibblee the jailer, this asto- 
 nishing being, who set handcuffs and shackles and 
 chains at defiance, had all but effected another escape. 
 Mr. Dibblee, on finding him to be at work at the grates 
 was determined, if possible, to take him in the act; 
 and by fastening a candle to the end of a stick three 
 feet in length, and shoving the light through the wicket 
 gate he was enabled to discover him at work before he 
 
 SI 
 
 - .;^5S**«««*»«*PW*»^''' ■ ^-^ 
 
THE MfSTERIOUS STBANOER. 
 
 43 
 
 could have time to retreat to his berth. Mr. Dibblee, 
 on perceiving how he was employed, ordered him to 
 leave every thing he had and take to his berth; he in- 
 stantly obeyed, but as suddenly returned to the grates 
 again, placing himselfin a position in which he could not 
 be seen by the jailer. Remaining here but a moment, 
 he went quickly to the necessary and threw something 
 down, which was distinctly heard, and finally retired to 
 his berth. Mr. Dibblee maintained a close watch un- 
 til I arrived at the jail, which we immediately entered, 
 and to our amazement found him extricated from all 
 his irons. He had cut his way through the inner grate, 
 had all his clothes collected, and with him, ready to 
 elope, and had cut the bar of the outer grate two- 
 thirds off, which, no doubt, he would have completed 
 long before morning, and made his escape. I said to 
 him, "Smith, you keep at work yet:" he answered 
 that he had done work now, that all his tools were 
 down the necessary The truth of this however we 
 proved by letting down a candle, by which we could 
 clearly see the bottom; but no tools were to be seen 
 there. His return to the necessary and dropping, or 
 pretending to drop something down, was no doubt an 
 artifice by which he attempted to divert ouy attention 
 from the real spot where his tools were concealed. 
 But in this also, with all his cunning, he overshot the 
 mark, by his over-eagerness to tell us where he had 
 cast his tools, instead of allowing us rather to draw 
 the conclusion ourselves, from his return to the place 
 and dropping something down. We next proceeded to 
 strip oflTand examine his clothing, carefully searching 
 every hem and seam. His berth we knocked all to 
 pieces, examining every joint and split; we swept out 
 and searched every part of the prison, knowing that he 
 must have his instruments in some part of it; but all to 
 no purpose, — nothing could we discover*. We next 
 replaced all his chains with padlocks; put on him a 
 pair of screw handcuffs, which confined his hands close 
 together, and thus left him about 4 o'clock on Monday 
 morning. On the day following, Mr. Jarvis, the 
 blacksmith, having repaired the grates, came to put 
 them in, when we found Smith lying on the floor, ap. 
 
44 
 
 TUB MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 1 
 
 f)l 
 
 t I 
 
 ^iH 
 
 m% 
 
 parently as we left him; but, on examining those new 
 handcuffSj which screwed his hands close together 
 when put on, we found *her separated in such a man- 
 ner, that he could put them off and on when he pleased. 
 On being asked why he destroyed those valuable hand- 
 cuffs, " because," said he, " tiiey are so stiff that no- 
 body could wear them." 
 
 No doubt then remained that he must have his saws 
 concealed about his body, and having been ordered to 
 take off his clothes, he complied, with his usual readi- 
 ness. On taking of his shirt, which had not been done 
 at any time previous in our searches about his body. 
 Dr. A. Paddock, who was present, and employed in 
 the search discovered a small muslin cord about his 
 thigh, close to his body, and drawn so tight that it 
 could not be felt by the hand passing over it with the 
 shirt between. This small cord was found to conceal 
 on the inside of his lefl thigh a fine steel smo plate, two 
 inches broad and ten inches long, the teeth neatly cut 
 on both edges, no doubt of his own work. After this 
 discovery, we put on him light handcuffs, secured his 
 chains with padlocks again, and set four men to watch 
 him the whole night. The next day we secured the 
 inner grate, filling the squares with hard bricks, wedg- 
 ing them firmly and filing the whole space between the 
 gratings, with hard bricks, lime, and sand; leaving a 
 space at the upper corner of only four by five inches, 
 in which was inserted a pane of glass in the centre of 
 the wall. This small opening in a wall three feet thick, 
 admitted little Or no light, so that the room was render- 
 ed almost a dungeon, which prevented the prisoner 
 from being seen at any time from the door without the 
 light of a candle. From this time we never entered 
 the prison without candles and two or three men. 
 
 On the 13th of November, I addressed a letter to 
 Judge Chipman, to which I received the following an- 
 swer. 
 
 '* Saint Johfiy J^ovember 14, 1814. 
 
 *' Dear Sir, — I received your letter of yesterday relating 
 to the new attempt of H. M. Smith to escape. I have for- 
 warded the same to Fredericton, and presume that a Court 
 will be ordered for his trial as soon as may be practicable 
 for the state of the travelling, and the necessity oi procuring 
 
THE MYITERI0U8 STRANGER. 
 
 45 
 
 the witness from Nova-Scotia ; though I nhould suppose not 
 probably before the ice makes. In the mean time the ut- 
 most vigilance and precaution must be made use of to secure 
 him : and you will be justified in anv measures of severity 
 that you may find it necessary to adopt lor this purpose. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, faithfully yours, 
 
 W. Bates, Esq. W. Ciiipman. ■' 
 
 .(. 
 
 Wednesday the lOth, we entered his prison and 
 found that he had been employed in beating the plais- 
 teroffthe partition wall witfi his chains, had broken 
 one of the padlocks, and appeared to have been loose; 
 secnned very vicious, ana said he " would burn and de- 
 stroy this building, — would make it smoke beforf; ho 
 left it," and that we ^^hould see it smoke. I then pre- 
 pared a pair of steel fetters, case hardened, about ten 
 inches long which we put on his legs, with a chain from 
 the middle, seven feet long, which wc stapled to the 
 floor: we also put an iron collar about his neck, with a 
 chain about eight feet long, stapled also to the floor in 
 a direction opposite to the other: and also a chain from 
 his fetters to the neck collar, with handcuffs bolted to 
 the middle of this chain in such a manner as to prevent 
 his hands from reaching his head and feet when stand- 
 ing, leaving it just possible for him to feed himself 
 when sitting. All these irons and chains he received 
 without discovering the least concern or regard. When 
 the blacksmith had finished riveting the whole, I said to 
 him, '* Now Smith, I would advise you to be quiet after 
 this, for if you are not you will next have an iron band 
 put round your body and stapled fast down to the 
 floor. " He very calmly replied, "Old man if you are 
 not satisfied, you may put it on now. I do not regard 
 it, if you will let me have my hands loose you may put 
 on as much iron as you please. I care not for all your 
 iron. " In this situation we left him loaded with irons, 
 the entire weight of which was forty six pounds, and 
 and without anything to sit or lie upon but the naked 
 floor. Although he was thus situated and in an entire 
 dungeon, he appeared not in the least humbled; but 
 became more troublesome and noisy, and exceedingly 
 vicious against the jailor. Despair and madness seemed 
 now to seize him, and ravin"- and roaring vrould unite 
 
 :-*»».*(*W 
 
■' ,< 
 
 V 
 
 THE MYtiTERIOS STRANOBR. 
 
 46 
 
 i 'I 
 
 Uii 
 
 with the utterance of prayers and portions of the Scrip- 
 ture. With a lremendo:^8 voice he would cry out, "O 
 you cruel devils — you Murderers — you man-slayers — 
 you tormentors ol man! How I burn to be revenged; 
 help, help, help me; Lord help me to be revenged of 
 of those devils; help me, that I may tear up this place, 
 that I may turn it upside down, that there may not be 
 one stick or stone of it lef\. My hair shall not be 
 shorn, nor my nails cut, till I grow as strong as Samp- 
 son, then will I be revenged of all my enemies. Help, 
 help, O Lord help me to destroy these tormentors, 
 murderers of man, tormenting me in chains and dark- 
 ness:" shouting, *' darkness, darkness, O darkness, — 
 not light to read the Word of God, — not one word of 
 comfort from any. All is, — you rogue, you thief, you 
 villain, — you deserve to be hanged. No pity, not one 
 A> word of consolation, — all darkness, all trouble:" sing- 
 ing " trouble, trouble, trouble; O God help me, and 
 have mercy upon me, — I fear there is no mercy for 
 me; — yes, there is mercy, it is in Jesus, whose arms 
 stand open to receive ; but how shall I dare to look at 
 him whom I have offended!" Then he would call up- 
 on his parents, and deprecate his wicked lif« : then 
 rave again, " murderers, tormentors, consider you 
 have souls to save, consider you have souls to lose, as 
 well as I, a poor prisoner; consider you have children 
 that may be brought to trouble as well as I; consider I 
 have parents as well as they. O! if my parents knew my 
 situation, it would kill them. My Wife ! begone from my 
 sight; why will you torment me! It is for you that I suf- 
 fer all my sorrow, — it is for you that my heart bleeds. 
 Not a friend comes to see me, — nothing before me 
 but pain and sorrow, chains and darkness, misery and 
 death. Oh! wretched me, how long am I to suffer in 
 this place of torment! Am I to linger a life of pain and 
 sorrow in chains and misery? No [ will cut the thread 
 of life and be relieved from this place of darkness and 
 trouble:" singing ''trouble, trouble, trouble, "a thou- 
 sand times repeated. In this manner he continued ra- 
 ving till he became very hoarse and exhausted, would 
 . take no notice of anything that was said to him, and 
 finally left off speaking entirely. 
 
 an| 
 
 frc 
 
 ha\ 
 
 ne| 
 
 aO 
 
 s?l 
 
 eel 
 bH 
 
 Sti 
 
 pr< 
 
 ':f:i' 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 47 
 
 The weatl having become very cold, he was al- 
 lowed his bcrm again, with a comfortable bed of straw 
 and blankets; but the blankets had to be taken uway 
 from him again on account of his having attempted to 
 hang himself with one of them made into a rope. He 
 next attempted to starve himself, but this he gave over 
 after having fasted three or four days. He now drop- 
 ped into a state of quietness, and lay in his bed the most 
 of the time, day as well as night; but on the lOih of De- 
 cember wc found, on examining his prison, that he had 
 broken the iron collar from his neck, and drawn the 
 staple from the timber; but replaced it again so as to 
 prevent detection. 
 
 On the 17th, we put a chain about his neck, and ^ 
 stapled it to the floor in such a manner that he could 
 not reach either of the staples. In this situation he 
 remained secure and rather more quiet, yet with occa- 
 sional shouting and screaming, until the 15th of Janu- 
 ary. The weather having now become very cold, and 
 no fire allowed him, fears were entertained that he 
 might freeze; to prevent which it became necessary to 
 remove his irons, which, with the exception of li^ fet- 
 ters and handcuffs, were accordingly taken ofl*. For 
 this relief he discovered no sign of thankfulness, but 
 became more noisy and troublesome, especially in the 
 night, disturbing all within the reach of his voice, with 
 screeching and howling, and all manner of hideous 
 noises, entirely unlike the human voice, and tremen- 
 dously loud, even beyond conception. In this manner 
 he continued for five months, occasionally committing 
 violence upon himself and breaking his chains, during 
 which period he never could be surprised into the utter- 
 ance of one single word or articulate sound, and took 
 no notice of any person or thing or of what was said to • 
 him, no more than if he he had been a dumb senseless 
 animal; yet performing many curious and astonishing 
 actions, as will be related hereafter. 
 
 In the New Testament, which he always kept by 
 him, a leaf wrs observed to be turned down, under 
 which, upon examination, was found the following 
 Scripture, in the 3d chapter of 1st Corinthians, "And 
 I brethren could nol speak unto you," &.c. 
 
 
 1 •< . ' > . < i 
 
 ■"mmmf; 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGLR. 
 
 48 
 
 1 
 
 \ \ i 
 
 u ti 
 
 The weather having* been intensely cold throughout 
 the month of January, and he having had no fire, great 
 fears were entertained that he must perish from cold; 
 but astonishing to relate, his hands and kei were al- 
 ways found to be warm, and even his chains! In Feb- 
 ruary, when the weather began to moderate a little, 
 he became more troublesome; began to tear off* the 
 lime wall and lathing from the partition, and break 
 every thing he cruld reach. A strong iron-hooped 
 bucket that contained his drink he broke all to pieces; 
 the hoops he broke up into pieces not exceeding three 
 inches 5ong, and would throw the pieces with such dex- 
 terity, though hand-cuffed, as to put out the candle 
 when the jailer wouh? bring the light to the wicket door 
 to examine what he WuS doing. 
 
 As the weather moderated he became more noisy 
 and vicious, as will appear by the following letter which 
 I received from the jailer on the lOth February: — 
 
 '^ Dear Sir, — There must be something done with Smich 
 — he is determined to let me know what he is if no one else 
 does, — he sleeps in the day time, and when I go to tell 
 him to keep still at night; he yells s,> as not to hear what I 
 say to him. Instead ot thanks for taking o£f his irons, he 
 makes all the noises he can by yelling and screamirjg &}l 
 night, and knocking very loud all night with some part of 
 his irons. I wish you would come up early and advise 
 w'jat is bc^t to be done W Dibblce." 
 
 I came to the jail accordingly, and lound his irons 
 uninjured, and to prevent him from dsiug his hands so 
 freely, locked a chain from his fetters to his hand- 
 cuffs, and left him. 
 
 On Sunday, two gentlemen from Nova Scotia, at 
 the request of Smith's wife, came to make inquiry 
 after him. I went with them to the jail to see if he 
 would speak or take any notice of iliem, or of what 
 they would say to him from his wife. They told him 
 that his wife wished to know if he would have her 
 come to see him, and what she should do with the colt 
 he left; that she would sell it for two hundred doli.irs, 
 and have the money sent to him. But all tliey said 
 had no effect on him. any more than if he had been a 
 lifeVsss statuo, which convinced us all that he would 
 go to the gallows without speaking a word or changing 
 ills countenance. « 
 
 ant 
 
 80I 
 Blf| 
 
 hv 
 
 to 
 
 of 
 
 sai 
 
 but 
 
 whl 
 
 Bta| 
 
 an< 
 
 lh< 
 
 kX?;- 
 
 ;ii...j i iiiL"SiJ i r ww »w il^ 
 
48 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 40^ 
 
 ga'J 
 
 The next week he became more restle^^s and vicious, 
 and jn Sunday, on going into the j»iil with Mr. Rulof- 
 Bon, from Hampton, and Mr. Griffith, from VVood- 
 strck, I found he had broken up part of his berth, had 
 bt'okei) his chain from the h^ ndcufl's, leaving one link 
 to the staple, the parted links concealed; torn up part 
 of his bedding and stopped up the funnel of the neces- 
 sary. It appeared also that he had been at the gratea; 
 but how he got there was a mystery, f.ir the chain, by 
 which his legs were bound, was unbroken, and the 
 •taple fast in the timber. We then raised the staple 
 and again put on the chain to his handcuflTs, fastening 
 the staple in another place more out of his reach. 
 
 The next day, I f'«und he had again broken the 
 chain from his handcuBs and torn off a lar^e portion 
 of lathing and plastering from the middle wall. Find- 
 ing this, I determined to confine him more closely 
 than ever, and so put a chain from his feet around his 
 neck, stapled to the floor, securing? his handcufi^s to 
 the middle ot this chain. He had already given such 
 mysterious and astonishing proofs of his strength and 
 invention, that I feared he would hnally bnfHe all my 
 ingenuity to prevent his escape. The twisting of the 
 iron collar from his neck and drawing the staple from 
 the timber, was a feat that filled every one with won- 
 der. The collar was made of a flat bar of iron, an 
 inch and a half wide, wiih the edg-es rounded. This 
 he twisted as if it were a piece of leather, and broke it 
 into two parts, which no man of common strength 
 could have done with one end of the bar fastened in a 
 Smith's vice. The broken collar was kept a long 
 time and shewn to many as a wonder. As might be 
 expected, his wrists were frequently much swelled and 
 very sore from his exerti<»ns to break and get loose 
 from his irons; yet he appeared as insensible aii^ as re- 
 gardless of his situation, as if he had in reality been a 
 lurio«Js maniac. 
 
 Notwiihslanding the seeming insanity which charac- 
 terized these works of his in the prison, yet other 
 pai"<s of his perfurrimnces there indicated the most 
 astonishing genius and invention; perhaps in a nianner 
 
^'' 1 
 
 50 
 
 THE MysTBKIOUB STRANGER. 
 
 I*T 
 
 and degiee nriequalled in the memory of man. On 
 tlie 1st ofMiuch, on entering his prison in the evening, 
 we found hn;i walking in front of an ejffif:y or likeness of 
 his wife, which he had made ». ' placed before him 
 a^^ainst tlie wall, as large as life. When the light was 
 thrown noon this scene which he had prepared and got 
 up in t)ie dark, it not only filled us with amazement, 
 hui drew out all the senssihilities of the heart with the 
 magic of a tragedy, not so much imaginary as real. 
 This elHgy he intended to represent his wife, visiting 
 his wretched ahodf, and manifesting signs of disconso- 
 lation, anguisli, and dispair, on beholding her wretched 
 husband moving before her in chains and fetters, wiih 
 dejected mien, and misery and despair depicted in his 
 countenance. The effigy was formed out of his bed- 
 ding and the clothes and shirt which he tore off his 
 body, together with a trough three or four feet in 
 length, which was used in the jail to contain water for 
 his drink. Rough as the materials were, yet he dis- 
 played such ingenuity in its formation, and conducted 
 the scene in a manner so affecting, that the effect it 
 produced when viewed with the light of the candles, 
 was really astonishing, and had a kind of magical 
 power in drawing out the sympathies of every one who 
 witnessed it. 
 
 He continued noisy and troublesome till the 5th of 
 March, when we took his irons off, and caused him to 
 wash himself and comb his hair, which had not been 
 cut, since he was put in jail; neither had his beard 
 been shaved. On receiving a piece of soap ibr wash- 
 ing he eat a part of it and used the rest. We then 
 gave him a clean shirt, which he put on himself with 
 the rest of his clothing, after which we replaced his 
 irons, which he received in the same manner as an ox 
 would his yoke or a horse his harness. 
 
 The term for the Court of Common Pleas was now 
 coming on, which required much of my attention for 
 the necessary preparations; and Mr. Dibblee, the 
 jailer, being about to remove to Sussex Vale, to take 
 charge of the Acadenjy there, my situation began to 
 look rather awkward and unpleasant. Accordingly, 
 the jailer moved away on the 11th of March, after the 
 
 '.'38C 
 
TITE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 51 
 
 
 voning, 
 'eenesa of 
 «re him 
 ^ht was 
 and got 
 Eement, 
 ^ith the 
 as real, 
 visiting 
 sconso- 
 retched 
 s, wiih 
 ' in his 
 s bed- 
 off his 
 feet in 
 er for 
 e dis- 
 iucted 
 ect it 
 ndles, 
 igical 
 3 who 
 
 til 
 
 of 
 m to 
 been 
 eard 
 ash- 
 tben 
 with 
 this 
 1 ox 
 
 sitting of the Court, and from the extraordinary 
 trouble which the prisoner was known to have given, 
 I had little nope of finding any one who would be 
 willing to take the charge. However, I prevailed 
 with Mr. James Raid (a man in whom I could confide) 
 to undertake the charge of him ; who, with his family, 
 moved into the house the day following. 
 
 After this, Smith appeared more cheerful, and be- 
 came rather more quiet, until the 9,4th of March, when 
 I was called on by the jailer and informedthat Smith 
 was attempting to break through the partition where 
 the stovepipe passed through into the debtor's room. 
 On entering the jail, we found him loose from all his 
 irons, — his neck chain was broken into three pieces; 
 the chain from his neck to his feet, into three pieces; 
 his screw hand-cuffs into four pieces, and all hanging 
 on nails in the partition. His great coat was torn into 
 two parts, through the back, and then rent into small 
 strips, one of which he used as a belt, and supported 
 with it a wooden sword which he had formed out of a 
 lath, and with which he amused himself by going 
 through the 'sword exercise,' which he appeared to 
 understand very well. The chains from his legs were 
 disengaged from the staples and tied together with a 
 strip of the torn coat. His hands, his face, and hia 
 clothes, were all bloccly; and his whole anpearance 
 presented that of an infuriated madman. There were 
 present on this occasion Messrs. Daniel Mjcheau, 
 Moses Fosier, George Raymond, Walker Tisdale, 
 the Jailer, and some others. I then raised the staple, 
 secured him by the leg chain, put on a pair of stiff 
 hand-cuffs, and added a chain to his neck stapled to 
 the floor. In this situation we left him until the *28th, 
 when I was again called by the jailer, who said he be- 
 lieved that he was loose again, and was about some 
 mischief. On entering the jail, I accordingly found 
 him loose, — the chain from his neck in three parts; he 
 had beaten the lime off the wall witli a piece of his 
 chain three feet long. We left him for the purpose of 
 getting his chains repaired: at night we added a new 
 chain from hi.^ fetters to his neck, and stapled him to 
 the floor with a chain about four feet long: we secured- 
 
m. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 1 1' I \ 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 Si 
 
 Me 
 
 
 ill 
 
 i\ ■■ 
 
 I*] 
 
 his hand-cuffs to the chain between his neck an^} feet^ 
 so that when standing he could not reach in any direc- 
 tion. In this situation he remained till the 3l8t, 
 spending the time in singing and hallooing occasion- 
 ally. I was then called again by the jailer, who, on 
 opening the wicket door, found a piece of his chain 
 hanging on the inside. I went immediately to the jail 
 and found that he had separated all his chains, had 
 tied his feet chain to the st.iple again, and was lying in 
 his bed as unconcerned, ns if nothing had happened, 
 having a piece of chain about his neck. We then 
 took his bunk bedstead from him, and removed every 
 thing out of his reach, but could not discover by what 
 means iie could separate his chains. No links in the 
 chain appeared to be twisted, nor were there any 
 broken links to be seen, from which we inferred that 
 be must still have some means of cutting his chains. 
 At this moment, however, it occurred to us that he 
 might have the broken links concealed in the privy. 
 Wo accordingly let down a candle, by which we could 
 see the bottom, and with an iron hook prepared for the 
 purpose, we brought up a bunch of broken links which 
 he had tied up in a^ piece of his shirt, together with a 
 piece of his neck chain a foot long. This convinced us 
 that he had not destroyed his chains by means of cut- 
 ting them, but by the application of some ttn^^oton 
 mijsteriona powtr. I then determined to break the en- 
 chantment, if strength of chain would do it, and added 
 to his fetters a large timber ciiain, which had been 
 used as the bunk-chain of a bob-sled, by which four or 
 five logs were usually hauled to the Mill at once. 
 The chain we had previously used were of a size be- 
 tween that of a common ox-chain and a large horse 
 trace chain. 
 
 Secured in this manner we ^»ft him, and on the Gth 
 of April found ne jk chain parted n^ain. I then re- 
 placed it with a stiong ox-chain, about seven feet long, 
 firmly stapled to the tiinl)er. The next morning the 
 jailer iiiforined me, that from the uncommon noise he 
 had rn<ide in the ni;r|)t, he was convinced he must be 
 loose from 8 ime of his irons or chains. I then con- 
 cluded that he must have broken his steel fetter, as 
 
 ei 
 
 th 
 
 
THE MT8TERI0TI8 8TRANGER. 
 
 53 
 
 I judged it impossible for human strength or invention, 
 in his situation, to break either of the ox-chains; but 
 to my utter astonishment, I found the ox-chain parted 
 and tied with a string to the staple, his hand-cuflTs, 
 fetters and log-chain having remained uninjuied. We 
 fastened the oxchain to his neck again, by driving the 
 staple into another link. After this he remained more 
 quiet, his wrissts having been much galled and swelled 
 by his irons, and bruised and rendered sore by his ex- 
 ertions to free himself from them. 
 
 At this time I received a letter from the Clerk of 
 the Circuit, of which the following is a copy:- 
 
 " f^aint John, March 1815. 
 
 •* Dear Sir, — At length I enclose you the precept for sum- 
 inoning a Court of Operand T-nmntr and Jail delivery in 
 your County, on Thursday the 20th of April, for the trial of 
 the horse-stealer. — I also enclose a letter from Major King 
 for his saddle stolen from him at the same time. 
 
 Yours, &o. Ward Cuipman. 
 
 To Waiter Bates, Esq., High Sheriff." 
 
 After this our prisoner remained for some time 
 rather more peaceable, and amused himself with braid- 
 ing straw, which he did in a curiou«i manner, and 
 made a kind of straw basket which he hung on the 
 phitition to contain his bread. Sometimes he would 
 make the likeness of a man and sometimes that of a 
 woman, and place them in postures singularly striking; 
 discovering much curious ingenuity. At this he would 
 amuse himself in the day; but spent the night in shout- 
 ing and hallooing, and beating the floor with his chains. 
 
 On entering the jail, we discovered the image or 
 likeness of a woman, intended to represent his wife. 
 He had it placed in a sitting posture, at the head of 
 his bed, with the New Testament open before her, as 
 though reading to him, while he sat in the attitude of 
 hearing with serious attention. I was induced to look 
 into the Testament, and found it open at the I2ih chap- 
 ter of S^t. Luke, and the leaf turned down on the 68th 
 verse, which reads as follows: •' When thou goest 
 with thine adversary to the Magistrate, as thou art in 
 the way, give diligence that thr.u mayest be delivered 
 from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the 
 
1 
 
 ;i. H 
 
 
 64 THK MYSTERIOUS STRANGBR. || 
 
 judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast 
 thee into prison." It wouli seem as though he inten- 
 ded to represent her as reproaching him for his escape 
 from the constables on his way to Kingston, while he 
 would defend his conduct by referring to the above 
 portion of Scripture. He produced many other like- 
 nesses, which he would place in different significant 
 postures, manifesting the most remarkable ingenuity 
 and invention. 
 
 A special court for his trial had been summoned to 
 sit at Kingston, on the 20th April; but it was postponed 
 to the 4th of May, on account of the ice having re- 
 mained unusually late in the river, as will appear by 
 the following letters: — 
 
 " Saint John, 5th April, 1815. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I have received your letter detailing the 
 very extraordinary conduct of the culprit in your custody. 
 There is certainly a mystery in this man's means and cha- 
 racter which is unfathomable; and I fear there will be con- 
 siderable difficulty with him on the trial. Your vigilance 
 and exertions, of course cannot be relaxed. As the best 
 thing to be done, I dispatched your letter, without delay, to 
 the Attorney General, that they might adopt, at Head Quar- 
 ters, any such measures as they might think expedient for 
 the further safeguard and security of the prisoner. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, W. Chipman. 
 
 W. Bates, Esq." 
 
 '' Sunday, IQih April IS15. 
 
 *' Dear Sir, — I have just received, by express from Fre- 
 dericton, a letter from the Attorney General, stating, that 
 from the state of the river, it will be impracticable for him^ 
 to be at Kingston by the 20th, and as he has hitherto taken 
 the whole burthen of the prosecution upon himself, the 
 trial cannot well go on without him. From this circum- 
 stance, therefore, and as the present state of the travelling 
 would probably render it dangerous to my father's health, 
 (who is not now very well,) to hold the Court this week, he 
 has determined to put it ofi till Thursday the 4th of May, 
 for which day he wishes you to summon your Jury, and to 
 proclaim the holding of the Court. He regrets much giving 
 you this additional trouble ; but it must be attributed to 
 the extraordinary backwardness of the season, which was 
 not probably foreseen when it was recommended to hold the 
 Court on the 20th April. I have not time to forward a new 
 Precept by this conveyance ; but I will forward one in time 
 
 01 
 
 ai 
 
 SI 
 
 t( 
 tl 
 

 THE MYSTERIOUS !iTRANGE>t- 
 
 55 
 
 or the%ii« J^ have may be then altered. This can be easilj 
 arranged, i»vbeD we go up to the Court. 
 
 Yours truly, ' , ' W. Chipman. 
 
 W. Bates, Esq." 
 
 The Court was accordingly proclaimed, and at the 
 same time I wrote a letter, inclosing the proclamation, 
 to Mr. Dibblee, the former jailer, to which I received 
 the following answer; — 
 
 '• Sussex, 20th April, 1815. 
 
 '♦ Dear Sir^ — 1 yesterday received your letter, inclosing 
 your proclamation of a Circuit Court, for the trial of Smith", 
 the horse-stealer. I shall be very sorry if Judge Chipman 's 
 health should be such as to prevent his attending the trial. 
 Should the Attorney General attempt to prosecute on re- 
 cognizance for the escape, I think his (the Judge's) influ- 
 ence at Court would prevent it. I am quite of your opinion 
 that it will be the most difficult case that has yet been 
 before any court, for trial in this county. As for his 
 behaving much better after I left the jail, it was what I ex- 
 pected he would do, to put Reid off his guard. Those parts 
 of his chains that were hanging in convenient situations, 
 were powerful weapons; and had Reid come into the jail 
 alone, or weak-handed, I think he would have felt the 
 weight of them. It is remarkable that the villain, with all 
 his art and cunning, should manage it so ill ; and it seems 
 altogether providential, that from the beginning, (except 
 his sickness,) he has either delayed too long or has been too 
 hasty, which has prevented his escape before, and I hope 
 and trust will be the same with you. I am sorry for the 
 trouble you must have with him, and confidently hope and 
 trust he will not evade your vigilance. You are too well 
 acquainted with his conduct to need my advice. I must 
 claim from you the particulars of his conduct at the trial. 
 
 I remain yours truly, W. Dibblkf 
 
 W. Bates, Esq." 
 
 On the 30th of April, I went into the jail and found 
 
 Smith lying quietly with all his irons and chains unin^ 
 
 jured, and told him, that on Thursday next, the 4th 
 
 . day of May, he must have his trial before the Court 
 
 ; for his life or death; and that Mr. Pearson, the Deputy 
 
 I Sheriff, who apprehended him at Pictou, had come to 
 
 witness against him; but he paid no attention to what 
 
 I said. The second day, Mr. Pearson came to see him, 
 
 and told him, that his (Smith's) wife-was coming to see 
 
 him; but he took any notice of him, no more than if he 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
tii M 
 
 u 
 
 U 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 coiild neither see nor hear, and Ret at de6ance all at- 
 tempts to extort one single expression, as though he 
 were destitute of every sense. 
 
 The third dny we found that he had been at the stone 
 wpM, liis face bruised and bloody. I renewed my at- 
 tempts to elicit something trom him, by telling him that 
 the next day he would be brought before the Court for 
 his triul; but nil was in vain. He gave the most de- 
 cided indications of confiimed insanity; patted his 
 hands, halloed, s<ang without articulating, and conti- 
 nued to sins and beat the floor wKh his'chains the most 
 of the nijiht. ^ 
 
 The 4th of May, the day appointed for histrial, being 
 now come, the Court began to assemble early in the 
 morning, an 1 -in.n^rous spectators crowded from ev jry 
 part ot th:^ County. About i i o'clock, his Honor Judge 
 Saunders, and the Attorney G( ncral arrived from Fre- 
 dervton. About 3 o'clock, the whole Court moved ia 
 fv. to the Court House, which was unusually 
 
 jjroc 
 
 crowj^d with spectators. After the opening of ihe 
 Couit in the usual form, the prisoner was called *.o tlie 
 bar. The jailer and four constables brought him and 
 placed him in the criminal's box. He made no resis- 
 tance, nor took any notice of the Court, an^J, as usual, 
 acted the fool or the madman, snapping his fingers, 
 and pattinir his hands: he hem'd and ha'd, took off his 
 shoes and socks, and tore his shiit. Kvery eye was 
 fixed m him with wonder and astonishment. After the 
 Attorney General had rend his Indictment, the Judge 
 asked him how he pleaded to that Indictment, guilly^ 
 or no/ s^uithf. He stood heedless and silent, without 
 regarding what was said to him, The Judge then re- 
 monstrated with him, and warned fiim, that if he stood 
 mute nut of obstinacy, his trial would go on, and ho 
 would be deprived of tlie opportunity of putting himself 
 on his country for defence; and that sentence would be 
 given against him : he liierelore advised him io piead not 
 guilty. He still continued mute, and acting the fool 
 without betraying the slightest emotion. The Judge 
 then directed the Sheriflf to empannel a Jury of twelve 
 men, to enquire whether the prisoner at the bar stood 
 mute wilfully and ob^linalelyt or by the visUation cf God, 
 
 ei 
 
 ll 
 
 . V,' 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 67 
 
 From the evidence broufjht before the Jury on this 
 inquiry, it nppeared that he had been in the same state 
 for the three months preceding, during which lime ho 
 could not be surprised into the utterance of one word. 
 The Jury consequently returned their verdict that the 
 prisoner stood mule by the viailntion of God. 
 
 The Judge then directed the Attorney General to 
 enter the plea of nol guilty: and Counsel for the pri- 
 soner was admitted. The Court then adjourned till 
 10 o'clock the next morning. The next morning, Fri- 
 day, the Court asseutbled accordingly, and the piiisoner 
 was again brought to the bar, and placed in the crimi- 
 nal's box as before. He sat down quietly, and main- 
 tained his usual silence and inattention. The most 
 profound silence reigned in the Court, which was still 
 crowded with spectators, and every eye whs fixed on 
 the prisoner with the most eager attention. The Judge 
 then arose and observed that the prisoner appeared 
 more calm this morning, and directed the Attorney 
 General to proceed with his trial. 
 
 After the Jury had been empannelled and had taken 
 their seats, and the witnesses brought before the 
 Court, the prisoner was ordered to stand up for his de- 
 fence, hold up his hand and hear the evidence; but he 
 still maintained the same disregard and indifference, 
 giving no attention to any thing that was said to him. 
 The constables were then directed to hold up his hand; 
 but to this he offered the most determined resistance, 
 and fought and struggled with them so fuiiously, that 
 they were unable to manage him. They then procured 
 a cord and pinioned his .'irms; but this was of no avail; 
 he would flounce and clear himself from them all, as 
 though he had the streniith of some furious animal. 
 
 They ih^n procured a rope and lashed his arms back 
 to tne i ailing of the box; but he still continued his 
 struggling, and reachinir the railings before him would 
 break them out like a pipe-stem. They then procuied 
 another rope and bound his hands together, and se- 
 cured them to the railing in opposite directions. Find- 
 ing himself overpowered in his hands, he immediately 
 availed himself of his feet, with which he kicked most 
 lustily, and soon demolished all the railing in front of 
 
 ill} 
 
 tf- 
 
56 
 
 THE MY8TBRIOU8 STRANOBR. 
 
 'Si:- 
 
 ^ 
 
 m 
 
 the box, notwithstanding all the eflforts of the conaiableB 
 to prevent him. Another rope was then procured, and 
 his feet bound each way from the posts of the box, so 
 that he was rendered incapable of further mischief. 
 After securing him in this manner, all the constables 
 being in readiness for his movements, while he himself 
 now sat as unconcerned as though nothing had happen- 
 ed, the Attorney General proceeded to read his Indict' 
 ment, in which the prisoner stood charged with having 
 feloniotisly stolen a certain bay horse, the property of 
 Frederick Willis Knox, Esq., of the value of thirty- 
 five pounds. Mr. Knox having been sworn, stated the 
 manner of his pursuit afler the prisoner, with all the 
 circumstances, until he came to Truro, as has already 
 been detailed. At Truro, he engaged Mr. Pearson, 
 Deputy Sheriff, to pursue on to Pictou, whither be 
 was informed the prisoner had gone to sell the horse. 
 
 Mr. Peters, Counsel for the prisoner, on the cross- 
 examination of Mr. Knox, asked him how he wrote his 
 Christian-name, — 'Willis,' or 'Wills'. He answered, 
 ** I was christened and named after my god-father, 
 Lord Forth, the Earl of Willsborough, and I never 
 write my name Willis." Mr. Peters then produced 
 authorities to shew where one letter omitted or inserted' 
 in & man's name had quashed an Indictment, and moved 
 that the prisoner be discharged from this Indictment. 
 This move was overruled by the Judge; but was re- 
 served for a question in the Court above. : oi r 
 
 The witness Pearson having been sworn, deposed 
 and said, that he had pursued the prisoner the 
 whole night, and early the next morning was shewn the 
 prisoner, and arrested him on suspicion of having sto- 
 len the horse, and told him that the owner of the horse 
 would soon be present. He seemed but little surprised, 
 and only replied that he came honestly by the horse. 
 The witness further stated, that he then asked the pri- 
 soner where the horse was, who unhesitatingly pointed 
 to the house, where witness soon afler found him. 
 Witness went on to .state, that he took the prisoner be- 
 fore a Justice for examination, and thence to the jail 
 at Pictou. That he then went to the house which the 
 prisoner had pointed out to him, and there found the 
 
 ho| 
 abl 
 knl 
 th< 
 tni 
 in 
 
TUB MYSTERIOUS ITRANOER. 
 
 50 
 
 horse; that he returned homewards with the horse 
 about ten miles, and met Mr. Knox, who immediately 
 knew the horse, and called his name ' Britain.' That 
 they then returned to Pictou, where the prisoner re- 
 mained in jail, and on examination was found to have 
 in his possession a watch, and about fifteen guineas in 
 money, with a number of watch-seals and other articles, 
 some of which it appeared he had stolen on his way as 
 he escaped with the horse. That he was committed to 
 the charge of a constable and Mr. Knox, to be convey- 
 ed by a warrant from Nova-Scotia to the jail at King's 
 County in New-Brunswick. That before he was taken 
 from the jail at Pictou he had cut the bolt of his hand- 
 cuffs nearly through, and had artfully concealed it, 
 which was fortunately discovered, and new handcuffs, 
 provided, otherwise he must certainly have scaped 
 from his keepers before he arrived at Kingston. 
 
 The circumstances against the prisoner were, that 
 he gave contradictory statements as to the way in 
 which he came by the horse: at one time asserting 
 that he bought him from a pedlar; at another, from 
 a Frenchman; again, that he swapped for him; and 
 at Amherst, produced a receipt for money paid in ex- 
 change. ' '*i . ., . .. ,., 
 
 The Counsel for the prisoner, in cross-examining, 
 asked Mr. Knox, ''Did you ever seethe prisoner in 
 possession of the horse?" " No; but he acknowledged 
 it." *' Did you ever hear him acknowledge that he was 
 in possession of the horse in any other way, than by 
 saying he came honestly by him?" "No," — Mr. 
 Pearson was cross-examined in the same manner, and 
 answered to the same effect, -f ■ <- ^ • 
 
 Mr. Peters, in defence of the prisoner, produced 
 authorities to shew, that by the evidence the prisoner 
 was not taken in the manner as stated in the Indict- 
 ment, and that it was sufHcient for him to prove, in a 
 general way, how he came in possession of the horse, 
 which he was able to do by a receipt he produced for 
 the money paid in exchange, the best general evidence 
 that can be given, as such is the common way of deal* 
 ing in horses. He acknowledged that if the prisoner 
 had been taken on the back of the horse he would then 
 
 J: 
 
 i! 
 
 M 
 
GO 
 
 The mtbtbrious straitobr. 
 
 11 ^4 
 
 kare been taken in the manner as stnled by the Attor- 
 ney General, nnd consequently bound to prove how he 
 earne in possession; but in the present ctiso, he him- 
 self, or liny one present, might have been in this unfor- 
 tunate prisoner's sitUHtion; dragged to the prison, to 
 C-^urt, and to the gallows, because he could not pro- 
 duce the person who hud actually sold him the horse. 
 The prosecutor had not produced any evidence of the 
 horse ever having been in the possession of the prisoner, 
 any other way than by his own confession; and he 
 trusted that the Jury would not hesitate to (ind, that 
 the prisoner was not taken in the manner stated in the 
 Indictment; but would pronounce him, by their ver- 
 dict, ' Not Guilty.' v ' 
 
 The Judge, in his charge to the Jury, overruled the 
 plea, by stating to the Jury, that his having been taken in 
 the manner^ was proved by the various accounts he gave 
 of his getting possession of the horse, thus rendering 
 himself liable to prove how became by him, or to stand 
 guilty of having feloniously taken him, as stated in the 
 Indictmei.t. That they had heard the witnesses, and 
 if from t!ie evidence and circumstances before them 
 they were fully satisfied that the prisoner at the bar 
 had taken the horse feloniously, as stated in the Indict- 
 ment, they would find him guilly; but if they had any 
 doubts, that leaning to mercy, they would find him not 
 guilty. 
 
 While the Jury was out, the Sheriff invited the Court 
 and other Gentlemen to visit the jail, where they were 
 shewn the irons and chains, and the situation in which 
 the prisoner had been placed. The Judge observed 
 that it was fortunate the prisoner had been sent to 
 Kingston jail, as no other jail in the Province would 
 have kept him. . i 
 
 The Jury after an absence of about two hours, re- 
 turned with a Verdict of Guilty. The Judge then pro- 
 ceeded to puss upon him the awful sentence of the law^ 
 Death, without benefit of Clergy; but the criminal re- 
 mained unmoved and unaffected, and continued shout- 
 ing and hallooing. The Court asked the Counsel far 
 the prisoner whether he had any thing to offer in arrest 
 of judgment, or why the sentence of death should oot 
 
 be 
 dul 
 
 tO(| 
 
 nol 
 col 
 del 
 lh< 
 
TUB MY8TERI0U1 ITRANGBR. Jm 
 
 be executed upon him. Mr. Peters then rose and pro- 
 duced authorities to shew that the present Law that 
 took awny the benefit of CUrgij,for hx)r8e stealings was 
 not in force in this Colony, and that it could not be 
 construed to be in force, and must be a question to be 
 decided in the Higher Courts whf^re he hoped to have 
 the honor of discussing it. The Judge admitted the 
 plea; but gave his opinion against him. >■ , ^ 
 
 The business being ended, the prisoner was returneil 
 to his cell, where he received his chains with willing- 
 ness and apparent satisfaction; and the Court adjourn- 
 ed without delay. The Attorney General, however, 
 gave me to understand, that the prisoner would not be 
 executed immediately; and requested that I would ob- 
 serve his bt'havioiir, and inform by letter the par- 
 ticulars of his conduct. The next morning I visited 
 him and observed to him that he was now under sen- 
 tence ofdealk, and that he would be allowed only one 
 pound of bread every day, with water, during the shorl 
 time he had to live. That as soon as his death war- 
 rant was signed by the President, he would be execu- 
 ted, and that a short time only was left him to prepare 
 for the dreadful event. Hut he paid no attention; 
 patted his hands, sang and acted the fool as usual. 
 One of his visitors being much surprised at his insen- 
 sibility, observed to him, " Smith, it is too late for you 
 to deceive any more; your fate is fixed now, and you 
 had better employ your little time in making your 
 peace with God, than to act the fool any longer." On 
 our next visit to the jail, which was soon after, we 
 found his Testament open, and a leaf turned down on 
 the following passage — *' Jf ony man among you seemelh 
 to be wise, let him become a fool, thai he may be wise. 
 From this it would appear, that he either founded his 
 preiended insanity on Scripture precept, or affected to 
 do so; yet it cannot be supposed that he intended us to 
 know what use he made o( this Scripture, as he must 
 have known that our conclusion would be that he was 
 "more ro^ue than fool." 
 
 I kept him nine days on bread and water, during 
 ■which time he manifested no ign of hunger, more 
 than when fed with four times his allowance, and tore 
 
 J 
 
612 
 
 THE BfYSTEP.IOUB STjRANOKR. 
 
 
 off every particle of his clothing, If.aving himself on- 
 tircly naked. After this I allowed him other provi- 
 sions, and his subsequent behaviour was briefly stated 
 in a letter to the Attorney Getierai, and afterwards 
 published in the Royal Gazelle. The following is a 
 true copy of the letter, as it appeared in this paper, on 
 July 11th, 1815. 
 
 *' Copy of a Letter from the High Sheriff of King's 
 County: — 
 
 ' '' Kingston, June 2(jth, 1^15. ^ 
 
 ** Ml/ Dear Sir, — Havinfr heard nothing from you since 
 the late Jail Delivery at King's County, 1 beg leave briefly 
 to state to you some circumstances of the conduct of the 
 criminal Henry More P>mith, since his trial and sentence. 
 After securincT him with strong chains to his neck and legs, 
 and with hand-cufis he continued beating the floor, halloo- 
 ing day and night with little intermission, making different 
 sounds ; sometimes with Unking his chains : and sometimes 
 without, apparently in dibVent parts of the jail, insomuch 
 that the jailer frequently sent for me, supposing he must 
 be loose from his chains, which I conceivea and frequently 
 observed was impossible, being far beyond the power of 
 human strength or invention, in his situation; but on the 
 24th of May, going into the jail early in the morning, (af- 
 ter having examined his chains at 2 o'clock the doy before,) 
 I found three links of his heaviest chain separated, and ly- 
 ing on the floor, being part of the chain without the staple. 
 He continued in the same way until the 2d of June, when 
 we found the largest chain parted about the middle and 
 tied with a string : which ckarly proves that irons and 
 chains are no security for him. I then put on him a light 
 chain, with which he has been ever since. I never discov- 
 ered him at work at any thing, but he frequently produced 
 effgies or likenesses, very striking, representing his wife. 
 He now produced an effigy of a man in perfect shape, with 
 his features painted, ana joiTts to all his limbs, and dressed 
 him in clothes that he had made in good shape and fashion, 
 out of the clothes that ho had torn olTiiimself, (being now 
 naked,) whicli was admired for its ingenuity. This he 
 would put fiometimns in one position and sometimes in 
 another, and seemed to amuse himself with it, without 
 taking the least notice of anything el?"; continuing in his 
 old way hallooing, without any alteration, uYitil the 13th, 
 when the jailer informed me, that he refused to eat, o. id 
 no doubt was sick- I went to setf him evry day — r^>und 
 he did not eat — all the bread and other previsions conveyed 
 
 to 
 hi 
 
 b( 
 ae 
 ni< 
 
THE MTSTERIOUS ITRANOER. 
 
 6i 
 
 to him be gave to his effigy, iitrung on a string and put in 
 his hand. He lay perfectly btill day and night, and took 
 no notice of any thing — would drink tea or milk, which I 
 gave him twice a day for five days ; he then refused to 
 drink any thing for two days, which made seven days that 
 he eat nothing. In that time ho began to speak — would 
 ask questions, but would hold no conversation. But the 
 most extraordinary, the most wonderful and mysterious of 
 all is, that in this time he had prepared, undiscovered, and 
 at once exhibited the most striking picture of genius, art 
 taste, and invention, that ever was, and I presume ever will 
 be produced by any human being placed in this situation, 
 in a dark room, chained and hand-cuffed, under sentence of 
 death, without so much as a nail or any kind of thing to 
 work with but his hands, and naked. The exhibition is 
 far beycad my pen to describe. To give you somo faint 
 idea, permit me to say, that it consists of ten characters, — 
 men, women and children,— all made and painted in the 
 most expressive manner, wich all the limbs and joints of 
 the human frame, — each performing different parts ; their 
 features, shape, and form, all express their different offices 
 and characters ; their dress is of different fashions, and 
 suitable to the stations in which they arc. To view them 
 in their station they appear as perfect as though alive, with 
 all the air and gaiety of actors on the stage. Smith sits in 
 his bed by the side of the jail, his exhibition begins about 
 a foot from the floor, and compasses the whole space to the 
 ceiling. The uppermost is a man whom he calls the tarn- 
 bor^ne player, or sometimes doctor Blunt, standing with all 
 the pride and appearance of a master musician; his left 
 band akimbo, his right hand on his tamborine, dressed in 
 suitable uniform. Next him, below, is a lady genteelly 
 dressed, gracefully sitting in a handsome swing ; at her 
 left stands a man neatly dressed in the character of a ser- 
 vant, holuing the side of the swing with his right, his left 
 hand on his hip, itt an easy posture, waiting the lady's mo- 
 tion. On her right hand stands a man genteelly dresBcd, 
 in the cl.anicter of a gallant, in a graceful posture for dan- 
 cing. Beneath these three figures sit a young man and a 
 young girl, (apparently about 14.) in a posture of tilting, 
 at each end ot a board, decently dressed. Directly under 
 these stands one whom he calls Bonaparte, or sometimes 
 the father of his family ; he stands erect ; his features are 
 prominent ; his cheeks rod ; his teeth white, set in order ; 
 ois gum.H and li|>8 red ; his nose shaded black, representing 
 the nostrils; his dress is that of the harlequin. In one 
 hand he holds an infant, with the other he plays or beata 
 music ; before him stand two children, apparently three or 
 
 
64 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 f- 
 
 foar years old, holding each oth^r by one hand, in the aot 
 of playing or dancing, which, with a man dressed in fashion, 
 who appears in the character of a steward, sometimes in 
 one situation and sometimes in another, makes up the show, 
 all of which you have at one view. Then commences the 
 performance. The first operation is from the tumborine 
 player, or master, who gives two or three single strokes on 
 bis tamborine, that may be heard in any part of the house, 
 without moving his body- He then dances gracefully a few 
 steps, without touching the tamhorine ; the lady is then 
 swung two or three times by the steward ; then the gallant 
 takes a few steps: then the two below tilt a few times, in 
 the most easy, pleasant manner ; then the two children 
 dance a little, holding each other hy the hand ; after this. 
 Smith begins to sing ur whistle a tune, to which they are to 
 dance, at which the tamhorine strikes, and every one dances 
 to the tune, with motion, ease and exactness not to be 
 described. Many have been the observations of spectators ; 
 amongst them, an old German observed, that *' wiien ho 
 was starving the seven days, he was making a league with 
 the devil, and that he helped him." All acknowledge with 
 me, that it exceeds every thing they ever saw or imagined. 
 Kis whole conduct from the first has been, and is, one con- 
 tinued scene of mystery. lie has never shown any idea or 
 knowledge of his trial or present situation ; he seems 
 happy ; his irons and chains are no apparent inconvenience ; 
 contented like a dog or a monkey broken to his chain , shows 
 no mDre idea of any thing past, than if he had no recollec- 
 tion. He, in short, is a mysterious character, possessing 
 the art of invention beyond common capacity. I am almost 
 ashamed to forward you so long a letter on the subject, and 
 so unintelligible; [ think, if I could have done justice in 
 describing the exhibition, it would have been worthy a 
 place in the Royal Gazette^ and better worth the attention of 
 the public than all the wax-work ever exhibited in this Pro- 
 vince. 
 
 I am, with all due respect, dear sir, 
 
 Your very humble servant, 
 
 WALTEa l]i\T£S. 
 
 Thomas Wetraore, Esq., Attorney General." 
 
 •» P. S. — Wedncsdaiy, the 2«th. — This morning T found 
 he had added to his works a drummer, placed at the left of 
 his Uunborine player, equal in appearance, and exceeding in 
 performance ; beats the drum with cither hand, or both oc- 
 casionally, in concert with the tamborine, keeping time with 
 perfect exactness ; sometimes sitting, at others standing or 
 dancing. lie hud also, in a most striking manner, changed 
 the position of his scene. The lady above described to be 
 
 il 
 
\ 
 
 1)0 
 
 
 'A 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 o5 
 
 sitting so gracefully in her swing, with so many attendants 
 and admirers, is now represented sitting in a dejected pos- 
 ture, with a young infant in her arms ; her gallant has left 
 her and is taking the young girl before described, about 14, 
 by the hand, with an air of great gallantry, leading her and 
 dancing to the tune with perfect exactness, represent more 
 than can be described. On viewing this, an old Scotch- 
 man observed, 'some say he is mad, others he is a fool; 
 but I say he h the sharpest man I have ever seen ; his pex- 
 formance exceeds all I ever met with, and I do not believe 
 he was ever equalled by man.' This evening, a gentleman 
 from Boston, having heard the above description, came to 
 see the performance, and declared he could say as the 
 Queen of Sheba did, that ' the half had not been told.' " 
 
 To this, the Editor of ttie Gazette adds the following 
 remarks: 
 
 " We have given an entire copy of the above letter, which 
 has excited our astonishment, and will, probably, that of 
 every other person who has not seen the exhibition and 
 performance described in it. Those who are acquainted 
 with the Sheriff, know him to be incapable of stating false- 
 hoods, or attempting in any way to practise a deception, 
 and will of course give credit to the statement of facts, 
 wonderful as they may appear to be, which he has made." 
 The Supremo Court, in July, being about to be held 
 at Fredericton, and feeling anxious to know the fate of 
 the prisoner, I attended for this purpose; and having 
 ascertained from the Attorney Gen^-ral, that his destiny 
 would not be fatal, I returned again to Kingston, when 
 the jailer informed me, that the first night after I had 
 left Kingston, Smith had drawn the staple of the chaia 
 that was about his neck, and had so concealed them 
 both that they could not be found; and the glass in the 
 brick wall was broken at the same time; but that the 
 chain could not have gone thro'^gh that way, a. the out- 
 side glass in the window was whole; that the room and 
 every other part of the jail had been thoroughly 
 searched; but neither the chain nor staple could be 
 found; neither could it be imagined hew he broke the 
 glass, as it was far beyond the reach of his chains. On 
 my entering the jail, Smith said to me, " The devil 
 told my old drummer, if I did not put that chain out of 
 the way, you would certainly put it about my neck, 
 again;" that he bated it, and had murdered it, and 
 put it under the dirt; but he feared he should have no 
 
 X 
 
 N 
 
 ¥ 
 
 5 
 
 X^Tt nn. . -- '.mi ii OS i 
 
66 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 I 
 
 peace till he raised it again. I then told him he must 
 raise it again, and if he behaved himself well, I would 
 not put it about his neck again. The next morning 
 the chain was seen lying on the jail floor; but where 
 or by what means he concealed it, could never be 
 found out. I then took off bis hand-cuffs, and gave 
 him water to wash himself, j 'Iso gave him a clean 
 shirt and jacket, and a young man who was present 
 gave him a black handkerchief, VThicli he put about 
 his neck, and seemed much pleased; and said, if he 
 had a fiddle, or any instrument of music, he could play 
 fcr his family to dance; if he had a set of bag-pipes, he 
 could play on them very well, and that if we would 
 give him wood and leather, be would make a set. He 
 was offered a fife, which he handled in a clumsy way; 
 but he said he believed he could learn to play on it. 
 He paid the boy for it, and then took the fife and 
 would play any tune either right or lefl handed. I 
 then told him, if he would behave well I would not put 
 his handcuffs on that day. He replied that he would 
 then have his family in good order for my ball; but he 
 observed that when he put one hand to do any thing, 
 the other would follow as though the handcuffs were 
 on. We gave him some materials that he wanted, 
 and then lefl him: this was th? 17th of July. On the 
 18th, found him busily employed with his family, mak- 
 ing improvements he said for the ball. I gave him 
 pen, ink and paint and many articles for clothing, Sec. 
 AH his figures were formed of straw from his bed- 
 ding, curiously entwined and interwoven. The colour- 
 ing he had used before was from his own blood, and 
 coal which he got from a piece of burnt timber in the 
 jail: and their first clothing was made from his own 
 torn clothes. He now began to talk more coherently, 
 and accounted for the broken glass. He said to me, — 
 ** My old drummer cried out for more air;" his family 
 stood so thick about him. — " Well," said I, "tell me 
 how to get more air and I will go to work at it." *' He 
 told me to make a strong wisp of straw, long enough 
 40 reach the glass and break it, which I did, and then 
 after undoing the wisp, put the straw in my bed again." 
 He continued improving his family, by dressinir and 
 
 li 
 
 a 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 67 
 
 }i 
 
 painting them all anew, and by adding to iheir number. 
 He said ihat there were a gentleman and lady coming 
 from France to attend his ball, and all of them must 
 perform well. With money he received from visitors, 
 many of whom I have known to give him a dollar for 
 one exhibition, he purchased calico enough for a cur- 
 tain or screen. In the front of the partition stood all 
 his family, which he continued to improve and increase, 
 until he said they vver« all present that were coming 
 to the ball; and about the 10th of August he completed 
 his show for exhibition. The whole consisted of 
 twenty-four characters, male and female, six of which 
 beat music in concert with the fiddle, while sixteen 
 danced to the tune: the other two were pugilists: 
 Bonaparte with his sword, fighting an Irishman with 
 his shillelah. His musicians were dressed in their pro- 
 per uniform, some were drummers, some were tam- 
 borine players, and some were bell ringers. In the 
 centre stood his darcing-master with hat, boots and 
 gloves on. In an advanced station stood an old sol- 
 dier in Scotch uniform, acting as a sentinel, while 
 Smite himself sat before them, his feet under the cur- 
 tain, playing a tune on the fiddle, to which they would 
 all dance or beat in perfect harmony with the music. 
 The one half on the right to one part of the tune, and 
 the other half on the led, to the other part and 
 then all together as regular and natural as life. The 
 dancing master with his right hand and foot with one 
 part, and his left hand and foot with the other; and 
 then with the whole together, with the most perfect 
 ease, to any tune that was played. So ingenious, and 
 I may say, so wonderful was this exhibition, that it is 
 impossible to do justice to its description; and numbers 
 of persons from different parts came to indulge their 
 curiosity by witnessing the performance, and all ex- 
 pressed their astonishment in terms the most unquali- 
 fied. Doctor Prior, a gentleman from Pennsylvania, 
 was among the number of his visitors, he told me that 
 he bad ipent most of his time in foreigh parts, travel- 
 ling for general and literary information, and had 
 mi^e it a point to examitae all curiosities both natural 
 and artificial, and that having heard much of an ex- 
 
 ■ I 
 
 (J 
 
 !!<Hi 
 
 ^PW 
 
il 
 
 if ■ 
 
 li \n 
 
 i 
 
 i I 
 
 68 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 traordinary person I had in prison, he came for the 
 express purpose of seeing" him and his exhibition. 
 Having viewed his person and every part of his per- 
 formance, he was pleased to say, that he had travelled 
 through all the Continent of America, and a great part 
 of Europe, but had never met with any thing equal 
 to what he there then saw performed, and that he 
 certainly should not fail to insert a notice of it in the 
 journal of his travels and observations. 
 
 Another gentleman, Doctor Couglyn, from Ireland 
 who had been surgeon in his Majeaiy's service, both 
 by land and sea, came also to visit our prisoner, and 
 see his extraordinary exhibition, and after having view- 
 ed it occasionally for several days while he remained at 
 Kingston, declared that he had lived in England, Ireland 
 and Scotland; had been in France and Holland, and 
 through a great part of Europe; had been at Ham- 
 burg and other places famous for numerous exhibitions 
 of various kinds; but had never met with any that in 
 all respects equalled what he there saw exhibited. 
 The Doctor then belonging to the Garrison at St. 
 Andrew's, having heard, while at Head Quarters, 
 from the Attorney General, an account of this extra- 
 ordinary character, took his tour from Fredericton, by 
 way of Kingston, for the express purpose of satisfy- 
 ing his curiosity, by seeing for himself. When on 
 entering the prison, Smith seeing the Doctor in regi- 
 mentals, said to Iiim with much good humour, '* I 
 suppose you are come here looking for deserters; there 
 is my old drummer, I don't know but he deserted from 
 some regiment, — all the rest are my family." He 
 seemed very much pleased with his new visitor, and 
 readily exhibited every part of his performance, to the 
 full satisfaction of the Doctor, who expressed his as- 
 tonishment in the most unqualified terms, and acknow- 
 ledged that it far exceeded his anticipations. 
 
 August 13th, — at evening we found that he had im- 
 proved his Scotch sentinel, by giving him a carved 
 wooden head, finished with the natural features of a 
 bold Highlander. This was the first of his carved 
 work. He had also much improved his pugilists. Bo- 
 naparte, by some unlucky stroke, had, killed the Irish- 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 60 
 
 ■IS 
 
 man, and had taken off his head and hung it up at his 
 right hand. A brawny bold Scotchman had taken the 
 Irishman's place, and was giving the Corsican a hard 
 time, knocking him down as oflcn as he got up. 
 
 Next day at noon I called to see him: he had been 
 fiddling remarkably well, and singing very merrily; 
 but on my entering I found him busily employed at 
 carving a head which was to take Bonaparte's place, 
 for that bold Scotchman would overpower him soon. 
 He observed that carving was a trade in England, and 
 that he did not expect to do so well at it, before he had 
 made the trial; and further remarked that a man did 
 not know what he could do until he set about it; and 
 that he had never failed in accomplishing any thing he 
 undertook. He said that he had never seen any such 
 show in England as that he was now working at: that 
 he had only dreamed of his family, and had the impres- 
 sion that he must 'go to work,' and make them all. 
 that if he did, it would be better with him, and if he did 
 not, it would be bad with him. That he had worked 
 ever since, by night and by day, and had not quite 
 completed them yet: that there were a shoemaker and 
 a tailor that had not come yet for want of room: that 
 he should make room, if he did not go away: that he 
 had been here until he had become perfectly contented; 
 and " contentment, " he said, " was the brightest jewel 
 in this life;"" and that he never enjoyed himself better 
 than he did at present with his family. 
 
 In the evening I went in to see him again; and as 
 my curiosity to know the origin of so singular a cha- 
 racter was greatly excited, I hoped that the present 
 would have proved a favorable opportunity to draw 
 some information from him; but he cautiously and stu- 
 diously avoided answering any question relative to his 
 previous life, and affected not to understand what I 
 said to him. 
 
 Sometimes he would talk very freely, and in a kind 
 of prophetic strain, of his future destinies. He said 
 that he knew that he was going away from home, and 
 that he should find enemies: that every one who knew 
 him would be afraid of him, and look upon htm with 
 distrust and horror. That occasionally he was did- 
 
 I 
 
 
 ■»«•■ 
 
 ..m m i n 
 
70 
 
 THC MrSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 ^ 
 
 I J 
 
 tressed in his sleep with ill kinds of ceatures coming 
 about him; great hogs and all kinds of cattle and 
 creeping things; snakes and adders, frogs and toads, 
 and every hateful thing, that he would start up from 
 sleep and walk about the prison; then lie down and get 
 asleep, and be annoyed with them again. That he 
 would sit up and talk to his family and sometimes take 
 his fiddle and play to amuse himself, and drive away 
 these dreary hours of night. He said these snakes 
 and adders he could read very well; that he knew what 
 they all meant; and could understand something con- 
 cerning the others; but that these frogs p id toad? i om- 
 ing together he could it understand: on'v ^-htki al k; ew 
 that he was to leave this place and go on ihe crater; 
 and that he could see as clearly as he .-^a ' ac Land- 
 ing before him, that he should find enemies, and every 
 body would be afraid of him; but he would hurt, no one. 
 That he should find trouble, and have irons on him, 
 but that they ivould come off again. That the crickets 
 came and would get upon his children and would sing 
 among them, that he liked to hear them; that his mo- 
 ther told him he must not hurt them, that they were harm- 
 less, and that he must not hurt any body. His mother, 
 he continued to say, always gave him good advice; but 
 he had not always followed it; that he had been a bad 
 fellow, had done that which he ought not to have done, 
 and had sufi'ered for it; but he forgave all his enemies. 
 The Lord says, if you would ask forgiveness of him, 
 forgive thy brotlier also. We cannot expect forgiveness 
 except we repent and forgive our enemies. The word 
 of God is plain: except you forgive your brother his 
 trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive 
 you when you ask of him. All men are sinners before 
 God; — watch therefore and pray that ye enter not into 
 temptation. I watch here and pray with my family 
 night and day: they cannot pray for themselves. But 
 I shall not stay long; he could go to sea as supercargo 
 of some vessel, or he could get his living with his family 
 as a show in any country but England, and he never 
 had seen such a show in England; that he never had 
 enjoyed himself better than with his family at present. 
 He did not care for himself, so that his family looked 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 71 
 
 well; ho would be v.iliing to die, and should like to die 
 here rather than go among his enemies; but he believed 
 he had one triend in England, old vVillie, if he is yet 
 alive; ho was always his friend, and he should like to 
 go and see him. And he had one sister, he said in Eng- 
 land, that he wanted o see; she played well on the 
 pianoforte, and he hi ielf could play on i^ too. S!»e 
 was married to a liet 3nant in the rrmy; but he wa^ 
 promoted to be captain now. If he could, he would ^jo 
 to see her in England whe: ^ he had friends. He also 
 said, that he had an uncle in Liverpool, a merchant; 
 then looking earnestly upon me !ie jaid, *'My name 
 is not Smith, — my name is Henry J. Moon: I was 
 educated at Cambridge College, in England. I un- 
 derstand English, French and Latin well, and can 
 speak and write five different languages." He also 
 said that he could write any hand, as handsome or as 
 bad as I ever saw. He said that he had five hundred 
 pounds in the Bank of England, which was in the care 
 of Mr. Turner, and that he wislied to have his wile get 
 it, as he did not know where he should go; but he 
 knew he should me t with trouble; yet he did not fear 
 what man could do to him, for he could but kill him 
 and he should like to die here. After hearkening to 
 these incoherent observations for a length of time, 
 withrmt being able to obtain an answer to any question 
 I p:U to him, I left him for that time. 
 
 The next morning, when the jailor went in to see him, 
 Smith said that he had been fishing and had caught a 
 large fish. The jailor, on looking, perceived the chain 
 which Smith had formerly worn about his neck, and 
 had been miising a long time; but never could find out 
 where or by what means he concealed it. After this, 
 he commenced a new scene of mystery, that of fortune- 
 telling; in which, if he did not possess the power of di- 
 vination, he was at least wonderfully successful. The 
 jailor carried him his breakfast, with tea; Smith ob- 
 served to him, that he could tell him any thing, past or 
 to come. The jailor then asked him to tell him some- 
 thing that had happened to him. Smith replied, — 
 ** Some time ago you rode a great way on my account, 
 and carried letters and papers about me, and about 
 
 1 
 
 li 
 
 ^^*™~*'*""" ■* «<•• • — -- "■■■'^ II iriiiij 
 
'Yf 
 
 \\ 
 
 r \ 
 
 72 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 
 i| 
 
 -.1 ' 
 •I . 
 
 others too. Again you went after a man, and you had 
 to go on the water hefore you found him, and I am not 
 sure, but that you found him on the water. While you 
 were af\er him, you saw a man at work in the mud on 
 the highway, and you enquired of him for the man you 
 wanted. He told you what you asked. You then 
 asked him, if there was any water near, that you could 
 drink. He told you of a place where he had drunk; 
 and you went to it, but found the water so bad you did 
 not drink it." The jailor was greatly astonished at 
 this, knowing the whole affair to be true, just as he had 
 stated, and had no recollection of ever having menti- 
 oned the circumstance to any person. Perhaps all 
 this may be attempted to be explained away in some 
 manner, or may be attributed merely to his imagina- 
 tion, or the haszard of an opinion; but it would be a 
 coincidence not to be expected, and very unlikely to 
 happei.. Besides, he often hit upon a development of 
 facts, which could not be accounted for but upon the 
 supposition of some mysterious knowledge of things be- 
 yond the reach of common conception, as the following 
 particulars will fully testify. 
 
 The next morning, August 13th, he told his own for- 
 tune out of his tea-cup. After looking into the cup for 
 some time, he kissed it and told the jailer that he was 
 going away from this place, that ho was going over the 
 water, and must have a box to put his family in; that 
 he saw three papers that were written and sent about 
 him, and that one of them was larger than the other 
 two, and contained something for him that he did not 
 yet understand; but he would soon know. 
 
 The next morning, August 14th, he looked into his 
 cup again, and told the jailer, that these three papers 
 were on their way coming, and would be here this day 
 at 4 o'clock, and he should soon know what they con- 
 tained about him. Accordingly I received papers from 
 Fredericton, containing his Pardon, and two letters 
 just as he had predicted! ! ! 
 
 In addition to this, the following must be regarded 
 as a very singular and remarkable prediction, which, 
 independently of some unknown mysterious means, 
 cannot be accounted for. Early in the morning, he 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 73 
 
 remarked to the jailer in his usual manner, "This man 
 over the way has a son who has gone to sea, and is at 
 sea now; but he will be here this night, and you shall 
 see that I will affront him." — Now mark the sequel. 
 It so happened, that a fresh breeze springing up to the 
 southward, with a strong flood tide^ the vessel which 
 contained the young man was alongside the dock in St. 
 John, on the same day about 2 o'clock.. He was then 
 and there informed, that one of his sisters lay danger- 
 ously ill at Kingston, and that Dr. Smith was just going 
 up to visit her. The young man hired a horse, and in 
 company with the Doctor, arrived at his father's about 
 the time that we usually visited the prisoner in the 
 evening. I called at Mr. Perkins', and found that the 
 Doctor and young Perkins had just arrived. The Doc- 
 tor said to me, that he had heard much of my extraor- 
 dinary prisoner, and if I had no objection, he should 
 be much pleased to see him and his shoio, he had heard 
 so much of his great performanca. Young Mr. Perkins 
 said that he would also like to see the show, and all 
 went with me into the jail, and found Smith lying on 
 his bed; but without appearing to take notice of any 
 one present. Mr. Perkins, like every one else, was 
 much astonished at the appearance of his show as it 
 was exhibited on the wall, and had a great desire to 
 sec the perforriiancc. He put down a quarter-dollar by 
 Smith, and said he would give it to him if he would make 
 his puppets dance; but Smith would not take any notice 
 of him, and young Perkins continued to urge him to 
 the performance, but without effect, until he was quite 
 out of patience, and finally took up his money, which 
 he had proposed giving for the exhibition, and left the 
 jail in quite an ill humour. After Perkins had lefl the 
 jail, Smith said, " now if any of you want to see my 
 family dance, you may see them in welcome;" — and 
 took up his fiddle and went through the performance to 
 the entire satisfaction of all present. 
 
 Now the reader may account for this mysterious 
 prediction and its fulfilment upon whatever grounds he 
 pleases; but the arrival of the young man from sea 
 that day, his coming to Kingston, and his being af- 
 fronted by Smith in the jail, are facts which cannot be 
 
 ■ a 
 
 Mb 
 
n 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 
 disputed. The writer is aware, that he may incur the 
 imputation of weakness for narrating some things re- 
 lative to the prisoner; but as they are all characteristic 
 of him in a high degree, and when all united, set him 
 forth before the world as a character, singular and un- 
 precedented, he considered that every part of his say- 
 ings and doings had their interest, and were necessary 
 to be narratfid. Af\er closing the exhibition of his 
 family for this time, ho went on to say, that ho had told 
 his fortune from his tea-cup, and it came always alike; 
 that he could tell a great deal by dreams. The devil 
 helped fortune-telling, he said, but dreams were the 
 inspiration of God. When the hogs came to him by 
 night, he could tell a great deal by thern. '* Your 
 neighbour," he said to me, " liad a black sow that hud 
 pigs, some black and some all white, and one with red 
 spots before and behind.'' By them he said he could 
 tell much. I was aware that Mr. Perkins had a sow 
 with young pigs, and I had the curiosity to look at 
 them, but they did not answer to his description, and [ 
 consequently allowed these remarks of his relative to 
 the sow and pigs to pass for nothing. However, in the 
 evening, as I was leaving the jail, Smith said to me, 
 (and without a word having been said about my look- 
 ing at the pigs,) "The pigs I told you about are not 
 those you examined, they were six months old." I 
 made no reply, knowing that Mr. Scovil had a sow 
 with pigs, answering to his description in every parti- 
 cular. 
 
 On Saturday morning, Smith said to the jailer, 
 *' Your neighbour over the way there, has a sow that 
 is gone away into the woods, and she has pigs, — some 
 all black, some all white, and some black and white, 
 and she will come home before night, and when she 
 comes, she will have but one pig, and that will be a 
 plump black pig, and tKey will never know what be- 
 came of the others." Accordingly, the sow, about 4 
 o'clock, came with her one '* plump black pig," and 
 was immediately driven back into the woods the same 
 way by which she appeared to have come; but accord- 
 ing to the precise terms of Smith's prediction, the 
 others were never found! 
 
 15 
 
 vife 
 
THE MYSTBRIOUa 8TRANGER 
 
 76 
 
 icur the 
 ings re- 
 cteristic 
 set him 
 and un- 
 liis say- 
 cessary 
 
 of his 
 lad told 
 s alike; 
 le devil 
 ere the 
 him by 
 ♦Your 
 lat had 
 ith red 
 i could 
 
 a sow 
 ook at 
 
 and [ 
 tive to 
 
 n the 
 
 o me, 
 
 look- 
 re not 
 ' I 
 a sow 
 parti- 
 
 ailer, 
 r that 
 some 
 'hite, 
 
 she 
 be a 
 t be- 
 but 4 
 
 and 
 same 
 ord- 
 
 the 
 
 The next evening after I had received his Pardon 
 from Fredericton, I went to see him, and found him in 
 bed, but said he could not eat; asked for new potatoes, 
 and remarked that the jailer's wife had new potatoes 
 yesterday; and did not appear in his usual good hu- 
 mour. Although he would both talk and act, at times, 
 rationally, yet he had never recovered from his pre- 
 tended inaanily, nor even until his release from my cus- 
 tody; thus carrying out his scheme, in perfect wisdom^ 
 to the last. But now, with the pardon in my hand, I 
 hoped to make some impression upon him, and if pos- 
 sible, bring him to some sense of his situation, by com- 
 passionately proposing my assistance to get him out of 
 the Province. I then proceeded to inform him, that I 
 had received his Pardon, that his Attorney had proved 
 his friend, and had petitioned the President and Council, 
 stating- that he was a young* man, and this having been 
 the first instance of a case for horse-stealing before the 
 Court in this Province, prayed that mercy might be ex- 
 tended and liis life spared: and tliat the President and 
 Council liad been graciously pleased to withdraw the 
 sentence atid grant his Pardon: and that I was now 
 authorized to release him on his entering into recogni- 
 zance to appear in the Supreme Court and plead !iis 
 pardon wljen culled upon. The only reply he made 
 was, " / wish you ivould bring me some new jmlatoes 
 when you com againV^ I proceeded to say that as soon 
 as he was rea<ly, and would let me know where he 
 wished to go, I would give him some clothing, and would 
 give him time to put his family in order, and a box to 
 put them up in; observing that they might l)e a means of 
 getting him a living until he could find better employ- 
 ment, without being driven to the necessity of stealing. 
 He replied, "Have you not got boys and girls that 
 wish to see my family dance? Bring . H your family to 
 see them; I will shew Ihem as much as ^ ou please, but 
 others must pay. " I remained with Mm nearly an 
 hour afterwards without saying any more on the sub- 
 ject of his Pardon: during which time he continued tal- 
 king incoherently as he had done the evening before »- 
 that we must xcatch and pray lest we enter into temptation 
 that he prayed with his family ; they could not pray for 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
76 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 ll 
 
 >H > 
 
 themselves, — that we must be apiritualiu minded; for to 
 be spiritually minded toas life; but to be carnally minded 
 was death; and much more of this kind, repeating large 
 portions from the New Testrment, nearly whole chapters. 
 He observed, '* Now you see T ^an read as well to you 
 without the Book as others can with the book, I can read 
 to you almost all of any chapter in the Bible you will 
 name either in the Old or New Testament, it makes 
 not much difference; in the dark as well as in the light. 
 My wife is a good little woman ; she would read in the 
 Bible on Sunday, and say to me, * Henry, come sit 
 down and hear me read the Bible;' but I would 
 laugh and tell her I could read better without the book 
 than she could with: and would go out and look after 
 my horse, or do any thing on Sundays. I have been 
 a bad fellow; when I was in England i gave all my at- 
 tention to reading my Bible, and became a great 
 Methodist, and went to all the Methodist meetings; and 
 would pray and exhort amongst ihem, and finally be- 
 came a preacher, and p:eached in Brighton, North- 
 ampton, Southampton and in London; and great num- 
 bers came to hear me. I was sometimes astonished 
 to see how many followed to hear me preach the Scrip- 
 tures, when I knew they were deceived. But I did 
 not follow preaching long in London." He went on to 
 state his reasons for giving up preaching, or rather the 
 reasons that prevented his continuing to preach. He 
 had given himself up to the company of lewd women, 
 and had contracted the disease common to such asso- 
 ciations. A course like this could not remain long 
 concealed, and the issue was, that he was prevented 
 from preaching, and was eventually obliged to leave 
 England and come to this country. Ho Avent on to 
 s^y, — "I have been a bad young mon. I am young 
 now, only 'itl years, — not 24 yet;" and did not know 
 but, he would preach again; he could easily find con- 
 verts; many would like to hear him preach. When 
 be was a prei;?,her, he was spiritually mindeci, and all 
 was peace and heaven to him: but ever tiince, ali was 
 trouble, trouble and misery to him. He never inten- 
 ded to leave this place; he was contented and willing 
 to stay here, until he died* he was better off here than 
 
 |l! 
 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 77 
 
 I ; for to 
 f minded 
 ig large 
 hapters. 
 11 to you 
 sanread 
 you will 
 i makes 
 he light, 
 id in the 
 come sit 
 
 I would 
 the book 
 )ok after 
 ive been 
 
 II my at- 
 a great 
 [igs; and 
 nally be- 
 , North- 
 sat num- 
 tonished 
 »e Scrip- 
 ut I did 
 
 nt on to 
 her the 
 h. He 
 women, 
 ch asso- 
 in long 
 revented 
 o leave 
 U on to 
 young 
 ot know 
 ind con- 
 When 
 and all 
 all was 
 r inten- 
 1 willing 
 re than 
 
 any where else, and never wished to go into the world 
 again, unless he was a preacher. 
 
 After hearing him talk in this manner for some time, 
 I left him til! the next day at noon, when I went into 
 the jail again, and gave him a good dinner, and rend 
 his Pardon to him. When he saw tj^e paper, he said, 
 'Mhat looks like the paper which I dreamed I saw, 
 with two angels and a ship on it, with something that 
 looked like snakes." When I had read his Pardon, 
 he paid not the least attention to the nature of it, but 
 asked (juestions as foreign to the nature of the subject 
 as possible: only he said he wished 1 would give him 
 that paper; he dreamed it was coming. I told him 
 that as soon as I would get him some clothes made, I 
 would give him the paper; and tnat I would help him 
 away with his Show in a box, that he might not be 
 driven to the necessity of stealing: and in the evening 
 I went with a tailor to take his measure for a coat. 
 When he saw the tailor with his measure, he said, 
 *' I wish you would give me that ribbon in your hand." 
 " It is no ribbon," said the tailor, " but a measure to 
 measure you for a new coat: come stand up." 
 "What!" said he, "do vou think you are tailor 
 
 ''Yes." " But you do 
 at your hands and tin- 
 
 enough to make me a coat.'" 
 not look like it; let me look 
 
 gers;" and upon seeing them, added, "you arc no 
 tailor, you look more like a blacksmith; you shall 
 never make a coat for me;" and would not be mea- 
 sured; but he said, he would make it better himself, 
 and wished I would give him a candle to work by, and 
 he would make himself a waistcoat. He said I need 
 not be afraid of his doing any harm with the candle; 
 he would put it in the middle of the floor, and take 
 care that his straw and chips did not take tire and 
 burn up his family, which he could not live without, 
 as he could not labour for his living. Besides, he 
 said, if he were so disposed, he could burn up this 
 house without a candle; for, said ho, I can make fire 
 
 in one hour at any time 
 
 When 1 was a boy^ 
 
 >> 
 
 continued he, ** every one took notice of me as a very 
 forward boy, and I obtained a licence for shooting 
 when I was but fifteen. One day when ihooting, [ 
 
 HW"'*""'W 
 
' f V 
 
 78 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGBR. 
 
 ii 
 
 1| 
 
 I 
 
 killed a rabbit on a farmer's land where I had no right. 
 The old farmer came after me, and I told him if he 
 would come near me, I would knock him down; buthe 
 caught me, and tied me fast to a large stack of faggots, 
 and sent for a constable. While he was gone, I made 
 fire, and burned up the whole stack, and got off clear; 
 but the old farmer never k::5ew how his faggots took 
 fire. You do not use faggots in this country; they are 
 little sticks tied up in bundles, and sold to boil the tea- 
 kettle with:" and if I would give him a candle, he 
 would make fire to light it. Accordingly, I provided 
 materials for his clothes, and a lighted candle to work 
 by. He continued to sew by tho light of the candle 
 but a short time, and put it away from him, and said he 
 could see better without it; and he completed his 
 waistcoat in the neatest manner, and occasionally at- 
 tended i.o the improvement of his family. 
 
 August 20th, at evening, many persons came to see 
 his performance, as was usual; and when they were 
 all gone out, he told me that he had carved a new figure 
 of Bonaparte: that the first he made was after his 
 own image and likeness, for he was the man after his 
 own heart; but he had fallen. God, he said, made man 
 out of tho Jwai of the earth; but he made man out of 
 the ivood of the earth. 
 
 He had now been in my custody more than a year, 
 and almost every day developed soni'^ new feature of 
 Lis character, or produced some fresh effort of his 
 genius. I had had much trouble with him, and my 
 patience often severely tried; but now I viewed bind 
 rather as an object of commiseration, and could not 
 think of turning him out of jail, naked, destitute, and 
 friendless. In such a situation he must either starve 
 or steal; so that his pardon and release would become 
 rather a curse than a blessing. I represented these 
 things as feelingly as I could to him; gave him a box 
 to pu^, his family in, and told him he must be ready to 
 leave the Province on Tuesday morning, and I would 
 procure him a passage either to Nova-Scotia or the 
 United States. To all this he gave no attention, but 
 asked some frivolous questions about Mohawks and 
 anakes, and acted the fool; so that I began to conclude 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 79 
 
 that I would now have more trouble to get him oul of 
 jail, than I formerly had to keep him in it. 
 
 The next day Judge Pickett and Judge Micheau at- 
 tended at the Court House to take the recognizance 
 required of him, to appear and plead his pardon when 
 called upon to do so. After divesting him of his irons, 
 and furnishing him with decent clothing, it was with 
 much difficulty, I could prevail on him to leave the jail. 
 However, he finally took one of his family in one hand, 
 and a pair of scissors in the other, and with much 
 effort we got him up into one of the Jury rooms, when 
 Judge Micheau read his Pardon to him, and explained 
 all the circumstances which united to produce it: to 
 which, as usual, he gave no attention; but looked 
 about the room and talked of something else. Judge 
 Pickett then required his recognizance, and informed 
 him that if he did not leave the Province immediately, 
 he would be taken and tried on tvvt) Indictments pend- 
 ing against him in the County of York. He took no 
 notice of what was said, but talked and danced '"ibout 
 the room, told the Judge he looked like a tailor, and 
 asked him to g'ive him his shoestring. His Pardon 
 lying on the table, he caught hold of it, and before it 
 could be recovered from him, he clipped off the seal 
 with his scissors; he said he wanted the ship that was 
 on it to carry him away with his family. He tore the 
 collar off his coat, and cut it in pieces with the scis- 
 sors. Finding that nothing else could be done with 
 him, I returned him again into prison; when he said to 
 us, that for our using him so kindly, he would, for one 
 shilling, shew us all his performance with his family. 
 Upon which. Judge Micheau gave him half a dollar, 
 and told him to return a quarter-dollar change, and 
 then he would have more than a shilling, he took it, 
 said it was a nice piece of money, and put it in his 
 pocket; but the Judge could not make him understand 
 the meaning o{ change. 
 
 He then performed the exhibition in fme style, but 
 when we were leaving him, he seemed out of humour 
 with Jlidge Pickett, and told him he had thrown stones 
 at him, that he would burn his house, and that this 
 place should be in flames before morning. He could 
 
 /a 
 
IV 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 make fire in half an hnur, and wanted a fire, and 
 would have fire, and I should sec that he could make 
 fire. Upon which wc left him without apprehending 
 anything from his threats more than usual. But the 
 next day, the '29th, when entering the jail for the pur- 
 pose of preparing for his removal, I perceived that 
 there was much smoke in tiie hall, which I supposed 
 had come from the jailer's room; but he said tliat no 
 smoke had been carried that morning, but that it pro- 
 ceeded from the prison door. I immediately opened 
 the door and found Smith sitting quite uiconcerned 
 before a lire which he had made with the chips of his 
 carved work, and other materials. He observed to 
 me that fire was very comfortable, that he had not 
 seen any before for a long time, that he had made the 
 fire with his own hands, and that he could make it 
 again in ten minutes; that he could not do without fire. 
 I immediately extiiinjuished the fire and shut him up in 
 suflocating smoke, which did not seem to give him the 
 least inconvenience. The account of his having made 
 the fire, had excited the fears of the neighbours, who 
 came in to see i\\o feat. I ordered him to put his fami- 
 ly into his box immediately; he took no notice of my 
 orders. I hastily took down one of them and laid it in 
 his box, at which he Hcemed pleased, and said he would 
 put them all in that box, and began to take them down 
 very actively, observing that he did not want assistance 
 from any one, but leave him, with the lights and he 
 would have them all ready in half an hour. We left 
 him with tiie candle, and returning in about an hour, 
 found him walking the floor, and every thing he had 
 packed up in the box very neatly. It was remarkable 
 to see with what skill and ingenuity he had packed 
 them up. I gave him a pair of new shoes, and with 
 the box on his shoulders he marched off to the boat I 
 hod prepared for his conveyance, and with three men 
 in the boat we set out with him for the City of Saint 
 John. On the way he trM the jailer, if he «vould give 
 him but one dollar, he ■ ' n'd t. arh him vho way to 
 make fire at any time: it worA be very convenient for 
 him to know how to mnke flr^ hIm any occasion Re- 
 ceiving no reply from tlm j&i.Ur, ho ersinionce i preach- 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 81 
 
 ing, praying, and singing hymns, and sometimes acting 
 as if crazy, during the passage down. — We made no 
 stop by the way, and reached St. John about 8 o'clock 
 in the evening. 
 
 On his perceiving the moon as she made lier appear- 
 ance between two clouds, he observed that there was 
 a re/a/{07i ofhis that he was glad to sec; that he had 
 *iot seen one of his name for a long time. On our ar- 
 rival at the prison in St. John, he said he must have a 
 hot supper with tea, and then wished to he locked up 
 in a strong room, where he migiit have all his family out 
 to take the air to-night, else they would all die in that 
 box before morning. However, we found all ihe rooms 
 in the prison occupied, or undergoing repairs, so that 
 there was no place to confine him. I directed the jailer 
 to provide him his supper, while I would call upon the 
 Sheriff to know what would be done with him for the 
 night, and how he would be disposed of in the morning. 
 I understood from the Sheriff, that there was no vessel 
 that would sail for the States before some days, find 
 therefore made up my mind that I should send him to 
 Nova-Scotia. When I returned to the jail, I found 
 Smith at his supper: when he had finished his tea, he 
 looked into his cup and remarked that he must not dis- 
 turb his family to-night; that he there saw the vessel, 
 then lying at the wharf, that would carry him to his 
 wife,- and there would be c?7/i7i^. While in confine- 
 ment, the following letter was received from his wife: — 
 
 ** Dear Husband, — I received your letter of the 23d Oct. 
 1815: you say you have sent several letters, — if you have, 
 1 have never received them. You wish mo to come and aco 
 you, which I would have done, if 1 luid got the letter in 
 lime ; but I did not know whether you were at Kin«5ston or 
 not. My dear, do not think hard of me that I do not come to 
 see you., — if you write back to mo, 1 shall coiuo immediately. 
 My dear, as soon as you receive this letter send me your 
 answer, that I raiy know what to do : bo no more at present, 
 but that 1 remain your loving and afiectionato wife, 
 
 El.IZAbKTH P. M.S. " 
 
 II. F. M.S., Kingston." '"r^: 
 
 The jaiUr, by the direction of the Sheriff, cleared 
 out a small room above stairs, with an iron grated 
 window, where we confined him, with his Jamil}), for 
 4 
 
 it-**^- 
 
 iJTii WfiWi'a 
 
mmm 
 
 ,: I 
 
 99 THB MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 the night. On the next morning, the 30th of August, 
 finding there was no vessel bound for the States, I de- 
 termined to send him to Nova Scotia and happening to 
 meet with my friend, Mr. Daniel Scovil, he in- 
 formed me that he had a vessel then lying at the wharf, 
 which would sail for Windsor, Nova Scolia, in half an 
 hour. I accordingly, prevailed with him to take 
 Smith on board, which was done without loss of time, 
 at high water the vessel hauled off from tho wharf, to 
 my great satisfaction and relief 
 
 While the vessel was getting under weigh. Smith 
 was in the cabin alone, and seeing a great number of 
 chainlracis lying on the cabin floor, he took them up 
 and Ihreiv them (til cut of the cabin window! " Because." 
 said he, •' tiiey would get about my neck again." Du- 
 ring the passage, he appeared very active; he played 
 on his fife, and was quite an agreeable passenger. 
 But on the vessel's arrival at Windsor, he left her im- 
 mediately without any ceremony; and notwithstanding 
 the very sliong regard which he had always possessed 
 for his lainily, as he called them, he left them also, and 
 every thing else that he had brought with him. He 
 was yeen only a very short time in Windsor before he 
 entirely disappeared, and never was known to be there 
 afterwards, but was seen at some distance from Wind- 
 sor, in several olJier places, and recognized by many, 
 but always carefully evaded being spoken to. 
 
 After having made his appearance in different parts 
 of Nova-Scotia, he called at a certain house, one morn- 
 ing, on a by-road, and ordered breakfast, and asked 
 for a towel also, and a piece of soap, that he might 
 wash at a small brook that was near the house. The 
 Woman of the house, and a maid were the only persons 
 in the house at the time; and Smith led a large bundle, 
 which he carried, on a chest which was standing in the 
 room, and went out to wash. The bundle presented 
 rather a singular appearance, and attracted the young 
 Woman's notice so, that she said to the other, *' 1 won- 
 der whdt he has in that bundle; if you will keep watch 
 at the window, while he is washing at the brook, I will 
 open it and see what is in it." They did so, and found 
 a great number of watches, of which they counted 
 
 fii 
 
 U| 
 
 iti 
 
■itf-,' t,'5^v>'^^ 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS NTRANOER. 
 
 83 
 
 fiHeen, with many other valuable articles. She tied 
 up the bundle again, and placed it where he had left 
 it, and said, '•this man has stolen these uatclies." 
 When he came in, he handed tin? towel to the young 
 woman, and Raid, ** there were just fifteen watches, 
 were there," and with such expression of countenance, 
 that she could not refrain from auswerinjj ''YeH.'* 
 "But," said he, "you were Fni.staken about uiy slealing 
 them, for I came honestly by them." Upon which 
 the young woman in.stafitly recognized him to be Henry 
 More Smith; and concluded that ho was coller.iiug his 
 hidden treasurt, wiiich he had deposited while he was 
 in RopEN. 
 
 This information I received from Mrs. JJeckworth, a 
 respectable lady from Nova-Scotia, who resicU^d at the 
 time in that neighbourhood, who also said it was not 
 known, that he had ever seen his wife at that time, 
 from the time of his release froir) confinement The 
 next account 1 heard of him stated that lie had been 
 seen on board of a plaister vessel at I'^astpott; but he 
 was not known to have been asiiore during the time 
 she remained there. IJc employed hiiiiselt while on 
 board engraving a number oi' supill articles, some of 
 which he made jiresents of to young ladies who chanced 
 to come on board. 
 
 He was next seen at Portland by a gentleman who 
 had known him at Kingston; nothing, however, trans- 
 pired here concerning him, only that he was travelling 
 with considerable weight of baggage, through the State 
 of Maine, which gave rise to the lotlowing ludicrous 
 story, which I saw published at Eastport^jid" a Mijste- 
 rioua Slranp;€t\ travelling in a stage-coaro.^ One cold 
 and stormy night, the bar-room of 41 Wt^i Was filled 
 with sturdy farmers surrounding (i jhutl*!^! fire, und 
 discussing the afiairs of State ap i f i^fliug oiJHp. The 
 night having been tren)en(ig|Ml^,|ilO»rniy and wet, the 
 wind whistling all roimii tll9lio»<4e, and making every 
 door and window rimli tbt landlord expressed much 
 fear for the amfl^^j^^-^ W^ stage-coach; but suddenly 
 the sound of t 4illfeWlP stage-horn announced the ap- 
 proaoh Q^^iil oQiitfc and removed the lundlord'i anxie- 
 ties. fS^i^gtenished the fire, that the approaching 
 
 Jt. "-^v 
 
■i^immiM 
 
 V h& 
 
 84 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 11 
 
 ■ s 
 
 
 C5*- 
 
 
 travellers ini^ht have as warm a retreat as possible 
 from the unusual inclemency of the night. Some time 
 passed, and yet the expected coach did not come up. 
 The landlord's fears got up anew, and with an expres- 
 sion of concern, put the <]uestion around, "Did not 
 some of you hear a horn?" and added, " I have ex- 
 pected the stance a long time, and I thought that, a few 
 niinute.s ago, i heard the horn near at hand; but I fear 
 that something has happened in the gale that causes it 
 to be thus belated." *' I thought I heard the stage- 
 horn some time ago," answered the young arch farmer 
 Hopkins; "but then you must know that the ghosts 
 and witches are yevy busy on such nights as this, and 
 what kind of pranks they may cut up we cannot tell. 
 You know tiic old adage, — Bu8y as the Devil in a gale 
 of juind. Now who knows but they may have?" — Here 
 he was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door, 
 accoMipanied by a violent gust of wind and the dashing 
 of rain, when in rushed from the fury of the storm, 
 drenciied witii wet from the head to the foot, o tall 
 stranger y dressed in a fur cap and siiaggy great coat. 
 From UK,: in^pulso of politeness and respect, not umnin- 
 gled u'ltli fear, all arose on his entrance, — the expres- 
 sion, " Tiie J)evil in a gale of wind," rushing upon 
 their mind with a signification to which a profound si- 
 lence gave expressive utterance. The stranger noticed 
 their reserved yet voluntary res|) -ct with a slight nod, 
 and proceeded to disencumber hiii2S«5lf of his wet clothes 
 and warm his fingers by the fire. By this time the 
 driver entered, bearing the baggage of his passenger. 
 "The worst storm I was ever troubled with, blowing 
 right in my teetL>^nd I guess the gentleman there 
 found it thci iSS^^^ Here a low whisper ensued be- 
 tlfMfl ^6 'd^J^^Md the landlord, from which an un- 
 ^ImkiuiilM^ tvord or phrase dropped upon the ear of the 
 Inmates. ''Don't know, — came in the, — as rich as a 
 mine,'' &c. Upon this information, the landlord imme- 
 diately took his wet garments and hung them care- 
 fully before the fire. '• I hope that your wetting will 
 not injure your health, sir." " I hardly think U will, 
 my good friend ; I am no child to catch cold ffom a 
 ducking*" " Shall I show you a room, sir?'* said the 
 
 .. 
 
 n) li 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS iTRANGER, 
 
 I 
 
 landlord: wc can let you have as good a room and aa 
 comfortable a supper as in the country. " The stran- 
 ger was immediately conducted into a handsome par- 
 lour in which blazed a cheerful fire; and, in a short 
 time a smoking supper was placed on the bo^^rd. Af- 
 ter supper was over, he called the landlord into his 
 room, and sent for his trunk. ** 1 like your accommo- 
 dations, " accosting the landlord, " and if you like my 
 proposals equally well, I shall be your guest for some 
 time, though 1 know not how long. Nay, I shall stay 
 at any price you may please to mention, but remember I 
 muBt have my rooms to myself, and they must not be en- 
 tered without my leave: and whatever I do, no questions 
 are to be asked. Do you consent to these my terms.'*" 
 "I do sir," replied the landlord, " and you .shall not 
 have cause to complain of your treatment," ** Very 
 well," rejoined the stranger, "then the agreement is 
 completed, you may go now." "Yes, sir," returned 
 the landlord, " but what may I call youi* name, sir?" 
 / Beware, you have broken the bargain already, " re- 
 plied the stranger, "I forgive you for this once only, 
 my name is Maitland, now ask me no more questions, 
 or you will certainly diivc me from your house," Af- 
 ter this, the landlord returned to his bar-room, from 
 which the merry fanners had not yet withdrawn; but 
 were endeavoring to penetrate the niystcry that hung 
 around the stranger. " Well, landlord," said the arch 
 Hopkins, "what do you make hirn out to be?" "That 
 is a question I dare hardly answer. He is a gentle- 
 man, for he does not grudge his money." "1 would 
 not think he should," replied Hopkins, shaking his 
 head mysteriously. " And why not," exclaimed seve- 
 ral of the company: •* Ay, ah! just as I thought," re- 
 turned Hopkins, with another shake of the head and 
 .-signiticant look at the landlord. " What in thf: nam« 
 of all that is silly, is the matter with you, Hopkins," 
 exclaimed the landlord? — " What upon earth can you 
 know?" "I know what I know," was his reply. 
 " Rather doubtful that, " rejoined the landlord. 
 ** You doubt it, " returned Hopkins, rather warmly; 
 " then I will tell you what 1 think him to be, and w|^ 
 I know him to be; he is nothing more or less than a 
 
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 HHttKy#WmiW<«IN|f|»l»W«''W»t*«B*t>H»MMir^i' ■ 
 
IV f 
 
 86 
 
 TIfR MYflTKRIors 8TRAIVGE11. 
 
 Pirate, and you will all be murdered in your beds, 
 Smith, (whic)i was the landlord's name,) you and your 
 wholo family, before morning. Now what think you 
 of your guest?" All the company stood aghast, and 
 Hturc'd At each other in silence for some time until tho 
 landlord ventured to interrupt the silence again by 
 asking Hopkins, " How do you know all that?" Hop- 
 kins answered, in ratiicr a nilly nmnner, '• I guessed at 
 t<*" which did away with the effect which was produced 
 by his previous assertions; and the landlord, dismissing 
 hi.^ fears, exclaimed, " As long as he pays well, be he 
 man or devil, ho shall stay here." *' A praiseworthy 
 conclnsum,^' proceeded from a voice at the bock part of 
 the room, and at that instant tho muslenous stranger 
 stood b<.>fore them. All started to their feet, seized 
 their hats, and wailed to nsk no questions, nor make 
 additional rorr,",), Us, but went home and told their 
 wives of Smith's guest, and Hopkins' o{)inion of his 
 character, P^very woman fastened her door that night 
 with suspicious care, and the mysterious stranger, and 
 the delineation of his real character, by Hopkins, be- 
 cumo a subject of general conversation and connnent, 
 throuf:;h«)ul tho village, and gradually became the re- 
 ceived opinion i>mor)g all tiie settlers; so that they set 
 down the mysler'wus stranger for what Hopkins i^uessed 
 him to be, and concluded that the articles which com- 
 posed his baggage cuuld nut have been obtained 
 honestly. 
 
 The stranger finding how the conversation turned 
 upon him, did not think it prudent to protract his stay 
 in tills |)lare, and proceeding to Boston in the coach, 
 was never known fr(»m that time by the name of Matt' 
 land. He reached J^oston about the 1st of November, 
 where it was suj)posed he must have, in some way, 
 disposed of much of his treasures. From thence he 
 proceeded for New-York, and o:i the 7th of November 
 arrived at New Haven in the Boston stage coach, by 
 the way of New London, with a large trunk full of 
 clothirig, a snmll portable desk, ojid money in his 
 pockets. He was dressed in a handsome frock-coat, 
 with breeches, and a pair oftop-boots ; and remained at 
 the steamboat bote) several days. While he remained 
 
TUK MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 67 
 
 here, he always ate his meals alone; and preferred 
 being alone in different parts of the hotel at different 
 times: every part of which ho had an opportunity of 
 becoming acquainted with, while he remained waiting 
 for the arrival of the steamer from New York. The 
 hotel was then kept by Mr. Henry Butler; and as it 
 af\crwards appeared, the traveller found his way, by 
 means of keys, into Mr. Butler's desk and sideboards, 
 as well as every part of the house. He left New 
 Haven in the steam boat at 5 a. m. on the 10th of Nov. 
 I8I5. — Af\er his departure from New Haven, Mr. 
 Butler's servants discovered that their whole quantity 
 of silver 8|)oons, to the number of four or five dozen, 
 which had been carefully put away in a sideboard, were 
 missing and not to be found on the premises; and it 
 was found, upon further search by Mr. Butler, that a 
 watch and several other articles, with money from the 
 desk, had sympathetically decamped with the spoons. 
 Mr. l^utler imagined that the theft must be chargeable 
 on some lodger in the hotel, and immediately fixed his 
 suspicion upon Smith, whose appearance, and move- 
 ments about the house furnished symptoms too .strong 
 to pass unnoticed. Mr. Butler, without loss of time, 
 set out for New York, and arriving there before the 
 boat that carried his adventurer, he furnished himself 
 with proper authority and boarded the boat in the 
 stream. After Mr. Butler had made some inquiries of 
 Captain l^uiiker, who could not identify the traveller 
 among all his passengers, Smith made his appearance 
 from some part of the engine-room, and was immedi- 
 ately ordered by Mr. Butler to open his trunk, with 
 which he complied unhesitatingly; but the trunk did 
 not disclose the expected booty. There was, however, 
 in the trunk a very neat portable writing desk, which 
 he refused to open, and Mr. Butler could not find out 
 how it was fastened. Flowever, he called for an axe, 
 to split it open, upon which Smith said, "I will shew 
 you, and, touching a spring, the lid flew open. The 
 desk contained a set of neat engraving tools, with old 
 silver rings and jewellery; among which Mr. Butler 
 perceived a small ear-ring which ho supposed to be- 
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 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 laid her ear-rings on a stand at the head of her bed, 
 which were missing the next morning. After her de- 
 parture, one of the rings was found at the door of the 
 hotel. Upon the evidence of this single ear-ring, he 
 was arrested and put into the Bridewell in the city of 
 New-York. The keeper of the Bridewell at that time 
 was Mr. Archimial Allen, an old friend of mine, and a 
 man of respectable character. On my visit to New- 
 York afterwards, I called on Mr. Allen, and enquired 
 the particulars concerning W. H. Newman (for this 
 was the name he had assumed then) while in his custo- 
 dy. He informed me that when he was put in, he be- 
 haved for some time very well; that he offered him a 
 book; but he could neither read nor write a word. He 
 soon began to complain of being sick from confinement, 
 raised blood and seemed so ill, that a doctor attended 
 him, but could not tell what was the matter with him. 
 However, he kept up the farce of being ill until he was 
 removed from Bridewell to New Haven, there to take 
 his trial at the Supreme Court in January. 
 
 His change of situation had the effect^ as it would 
 seem, of restoring his health, which brought along with 
 it that display of his ingenuity which the peculiarity of 
 his new situation seemed to call forth. During the 
 period of his confinement at New Haven, he amused 
 himself by carving two images, — one representing him- 
 self, and the other Butler, — in the attitude of fighting. 
 And so mechaniciily had he adjusted this production 
 of his genius, that he would actually cause them to 
 fight, and make the image representing himself knock 
 down that of Butler, to the wonder and amusement of 
 many that came to see him. By his insinuating man- 
 ner and captivating address, he not only drew forth 
 the sympathies of those that came to visit him, but 
 even gained so far upon their credulity as to induce a 
 belief that he was innocent of the crime with which he 
 was charged. 
 
 The lapse of a few days, however, made impressions 
 of a very different nature: the January Court term 
 drew nigh, at which our prisoner was to receive his 
 trial; but on the very eve of his trial, and after the 
 Court had been summoned, he, by the power of a mind 
 
 " 
 
 T 
 
 '■^.^ 
 
^^im^mswB 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 89 
 
 T 
 
 which seldom failed him in the hour of emergency, 
 contrived and effected his escape in the following 
 curious and singular manner. And here it will be 
 necessary to give some description of the prison, with 
 the situation of the apartments, which the writer was 
 himself, by the politeness of the Keeper, permitted to 
 survey. There was a wide hall leading from the front 
 of the County-house, and from this hall, two separate 
 prisons were entered by their respective doors: be- 
 tween these doors, a timber partition crossed the hall, 
 having in it a door also, to allow an entrance to the 
 inner prison. The object in having this partition, 
 was to prevent any intercourse between the two prison 
 doors, and it was so placed as to leave a distance of 
 about two feet on each side, between it and the prison 
 doors respectively. Newman, (for this, it will be re- 
 membered, is the name by which our prisoner is now 
 known,) was confined in the inner prison. The doors 
 oT the prison opened by shoving inwards, and when 
 ut, were secured by two strong bolts, which entered 
 into stone posts with clasps lapped over a staple, to 
 which were fixed strong padlocks. These padlocks, 
 our prisoner, by some means, managed to open or re- 
 move, so that he could open the door at pleasure, and 
 fix the padlocks again so ingeniously, that he could 
 not be detected from their appearance. On the night 
 of the 12th of January, at the usual time of feeding the 
 prisoners, Newman, availing himself of these adjust- 
 ments, opened his door, came out, and replacing the 
 locks, took his stand behind the door of the partition, 
 which, when open, would conceal him from observa- 
 tion. The prisoners in ihe other apartment received 
 their supply first, and at the instant when the servant 
 was proceeding from their door to go and bring New- 
 man's supper, he stepped through the partition door, 
 which had been first opened and not shut again, and 
 followed the servant softly through the hall to the front 
 door and walked away undiscovered ! ! ! When the 
 servant returned with his supper to the wicket, she called 
 him, but receiving no answer, placed his supper inside 
 of the wicket, saying, "you may take it or leave it; I 
 am not going to wait here all night. " She then secured 
 
 ji. "v 
 
>; ■,' 
 
 90 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 
 
 the outer door, and so the matter rested till the morn- 
 
 The next morning, finding that the prisoner had not 
 taken his supper, the servant observed to the keeper, 
 that she feared JVeivman was dead, for he had not taken 
 his supper; and she called him, but could not hear nor 
 see anything of him. Upon this, the keeper came with 
 his keys to unlock the dnor, and to his utter astonish- 
 ment found both locks broken and the prison empty. 
 The keeper made known the matter to the Sheriff, and 
 on the ISth, the day subsequent to his r^oape, the fol- 
 lowing Notice was inserted in the Connecliciit Journal: — 
 
 " Beware of a Villain! One of the most accomplish- 
 ed villains that disgraces our country, broke from the 
 jail in this city on Friday evening last, between the 
 hours of five and six o'clock, and succeeded in making 
 his escape. This fellow calls himself Newman., and 
 was bound over for trial at the next sitting of the Su- 
 preme Court, on the charge of burglary, having rob- 
 bed the houfe of Mr. H. Butler, 'of plate, money, &c. 
 He is supposed to be an Englishman, and is undoubt- 
 edly a most profound adept in the arts of knavery and 
 deception. He speaks the English and French lan- 
 guages fluently, and can play off the air of a genteel 
 Frenchman with the most imposing gravity. He is of 
 middling stature, slender and active, and appears to 
 possess an astonishing variety of genius. He is sick 
 or well, grave or gay, silent or loquacious; and can 
 fence, box, fight, run, sing, dance, play, whistle, or 
 talk, as occasion suits. He amused himself while in 
 prison by making and managing a puppet slioiv, which 
 he performed apparently with such means as to excite 
 the wonder of the credulous, having a piece of an old 
 horse-shoe, whetted on the wall of his dungeon, as the 
 only instrument of his mechanism; and complaining 
 only of the scarcity of timber to complete his group. 
 He had the address, by an irresistible flow of good 
 humour and cheerfulness, to make some believe, that 
 he was quite an innocent and harmless man; and ex- 
 cited sympathy enough in those who had the curiosity 
 to see him, to obtain several gratifications which pri- 
 soners do not usually enjoy: yet the depth of his cun- 
 
 
M^mmps^i^sat 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 91 
 
 or 
 
 
 n'lng was evinced in acconnpHshincr his means of escape 
 which he effected by sawing a hole in his prison door, 
 which is several inches thick, so neatly, that the block 
 could be taken out and replaced without any marks of 
 violence. Through this hole he could thrust his arm, 
 and by wrenching off strong padlocks and shoving back 
 the bolts, at the hour of supper, when the person who 
 waited on the prisoners was giving them their food, 
 found a free passage to the hall of the County-house, 
 and thence to the street." 
 
 The saw which he had used in cutting the door of his 
 prison, IS supposed to have been one which he stole 
 on board the steamboat Fulton, on his passage from 
 New York to New Haven; and so artfully did he con- 
 ceal the saw, though repeatedly searched both before 
 and after his confinement, at the suggestion of Capt. 
 Bunker, that he retained it about his person, until by 
 its means he effected his escape. 
 
 About the time that Newman made his elopement, 
 Mr. Butler happened to be in New York; and on his 
 return by land, he met Newman travelling leisurely 
 along, a few miles distant from the city. Mr. Butler 
 readily recognized him, and immediately instituted a 
 pursuit; but he baffled his attempts to apprehend him, 
 and made his retreat into the woods. Upon this, Mr. 
 Butler engaged a party of men, with dogs and firearms 
 to ferret him out if possible; but he had vigilance and 
 art sufficient to elude all their efforts to take him. 
 
 The next morning after the chase, he made his ap- 
 pearance at a certain house, where he found the table 
 placed for the family breakfast, and without invitation 
 or ceremony, sat down at the table and began to eat. 
 While he was eating, he observed to the family, that 
 he would not let them take him yesterday; referring to 
 his pursuers. " Was it you they were after?" en- 
 quired some of the family. "Yes, but I would not let 
 them find me." " How came you from New Haven?" 
 was next enquired. '' I staid a great while," he re- 
 plied, "but they did not find anything against me; 
 only a young woman pretended to say that I had an 
 ear-ring of hers, which belonged to my wife, which 
 was not worth waiting for, and so I came away," 
 
 jt -^ 
 
 B'-'^iKiW '-y^^mmtiifsm^imn 
 
I. 
 
 62 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 Here however, he was apprehended, and sent again 
 to Bridewell; but when he came there, he denied be- 
 ing the man; and had so altered his appearance and 
 dress, that no one knew him, until Mr. Allen, the keep- 
 er of the prison at New Haven, came and recognized 
 him. He took him in charge at Bridewell, and re- 
 turned with him to New Haven in the steamboat. On 
 his arrival at the County house, the Sheriff had him 
 closely searched, to see that he had no saws, nor any 
 other instruments, by which he might effect another 
 escape. After the search, he was confined in the 
 criminals' room, handcuffed, with a shackle about one 
 of his legs, to which was attached a long iron chain, 
 firmly stapled to the floor, and in company with two 
 negro boys who were confined for stealing. 
 
 In this situation he was left nt evening; and the next 
 morning, when the keeper came to the door of his 
 prison, he found him walking the room, smoking his 
 pipe, with the chain on his shoulder and the handcuffs 
 in his hand, which he presented to the keeper, saying, 
 '* You may take these things, they may be of use to 
 you; for they are of no more use to me." The keep- 
 er, on attempting to open the door, found that he had 
 not only drawn the staple, but had raised the floor also, 
 Avhich was of strong plank, firmly fastened to the sleep- 
 ers with spikes. The heads of some of the spikes were 
 drawn through the planks which he had taken up, and 
 with which he had so barricadoed the door, that the 
 keeper attempted in vain to enter. Upon this, he 
 called upon the Sheriff, who came and ordered the 
 prisoner to open the door; to which he replied from 
 within, " My house is my castle, and no one shall 
 enter alive without my leave." The Sheriff then or- 
 dered the two colored boys (who stood trembling from 
 fear,) to come and remove the fastening from the door; 
 but the prisoner told them, that death would be their 
 portion if they attempted it. 
 
 The Sheriff finding him determined not to open the 
 door and having in vain attempted to get in by other 
 means, sent for a mason and ordered him to break an 
 opening through the brick partition which divided 
 the lower room. When the mason commenced opera- 
 
 , 
 
•,i»..-miKm-mi::iSm 
 
 r 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 m 
 
 tions on the wall, Newman said to the sheriff, "it is of no 
 use to make a hole through that wall, for I could kill 
 every vagabond as fast as they would put their heads in ; 
 but if the sheriff will bring no one in but gentlemen, I 
 will open the door for him. " — The door was then opened 
 and the sheriff went in and secured him: and soon after 
 more strongly, with additional irons and chains. Find- 
 ing himself now overpowered, and another escape 
 rather hopeless, he had recourse to his old scheme of 
 yelling and screamino; like anything but the human 
 voice, and seemingly in every part of the house. This 
 he kept up all night, until the whole town was literal- 
 ly alarmed. A special Court was therefore immediate- 
 ly called, and in a few days he was brought on his trial. 
 
 The trial was brought on as a case of burglary, the 
 prisoner having entered a chamber of Mr. Butler's and 
 stole an ear-ring belonging to a young lady then lodg- 
 ing at the house. Newman obtained counsel to plead 
 his case; but not being satisfied with the manner in 
 which the trial was conducted, he plead his own case, in 
 which he maintained that the ear-rin": did not belong 
 to the lady, but to his own wife; that every like was 
 not the same, and that the evidence before the court 
 did not establish the charge. Plowever, he was found 
 guilty, and sentenced to three years confinement in the 
 JS*ev) Gate Simsburij Mines, which was considered ra- 
 ther a stretch of power on account of his infamous and 
 notorious character. He was consequently sent off the 
 next day to the place of his future confinement and labor, 
 ironed and chained; and in a waggon under a strong 
 guard. 
 
 After I arrived at New Haven, where I was put in 
 possession of these particulars concerning him, no per- 
 son was known in the United States who could perfect- 
 ly identify him to be the noted Henry More Smith, 
 but myself I was consequently requested, for the 
 gratification of the public, to go to the Simsbury Mines 
 to see him. I had the curiosity to see how he conduc- 
 ted at New Gate, and proceeded to Simsbury, about 
 ' fifty miles, for tht. purpose. On my arrival at Sims- 
 bury, I enquired of Captain Washburn, the keeper of 
 the prison, how Newman conducted himself. He 
 
 Mm 
 
 %. 
 
1 \ 
 
 \ i 
 
 94 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 answered me that he behaved very well; that he had 
 heard he was a very bad fellow, bqt he had so many 
 that were worse that he did not think any thing bad in 
 Newman. I further enquired of the keeper what ac- 
 count Newman gave of himself and what he acknow- 
 ledged to have been his occupation. His answer to 
 these enquiries were that he professed to be a tailor if 
 any thing, but that he had not been accustomed to 
 much hard work, as he had always been subject to 
 fits; that h'\s fits were frighiful, and that in his agony 
 and distress he would turn round on his head and 
 shoulders like a top, and that he was so chafed and 
 bruised with his irons in his convulsive agonies, that 
 he had taken the shackles ofl'his legs, so tliat now he 
 only put one on one leg. This was as convincing to 
 me as possible that he was my old friend Smith. 
 The Captain asked me if I had a wish to liberate him. 
 I replied, my object was to ascertain whether he were 
 a prisoner I had had in my custody more than twelve 
 months, and that if he were, he would know me imme- 
 diately; but would not profess to know me. Accord- 
 ingly, when he was brought into my presence in the 
 Captain's room, he maintained a perfect indifference, 
 and took no notice of me whatever. I said to him, 
 "Newman, what have you been doing that has brought 
 you here?" "Nothing," said he, "only I had an 
 ear-ring with me that belonged to my wife, and a 
 young lady claimed it and swore it belonged to her, 
 and I had no friend to speak in favour of me, and they 
 sent me to prison." I then asked him whether he had 
 ever seen me before. He looked earnestly upon me 
 and answered, "I do not know but I have seen you at 
 New Haven, there were many men at Court." 
 ** Where did you come from.''" His reply was, '*I 
 came from Canada." *' What countryman are you?" 
 ** A Frenchman, born in France.' He had been in 
 London and Liverpool, but never in Brighton. " Was 
 you ever in Kingston, New-Brunswick.?" He answer- 
 ed, "No," he did not know where that was, with a 
 countenance as unmoved as if he had spoken in all the 
 confidence of truth. 
 
 Sl 
 ll 
 
 el 
 tj 
 
- mm^r .^..*,.,M,,^^^' - 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 95 
 
 He appeared rather more fleshy than when at King- 
 ston; but still remained the same stt6//e mt/s/cn'oMS being. 
 I understood that he was the first that ever efFected an 
 exemption from labour in that prison by or on any pre- 
 tence whatever. He kept himself clean and decent, 
 and among the wretched victims who were daily 
 brought from the horrid pit in chains and fetters to 
 their daily labour of making nail^, William Newman 
 appeared quite a distinguished character So obtuse 
 was he that he could not be taught to make a nail, and 
 yet so ingenious was he, that he made a jews-harp to 
 the greatest perfection without being discovered at 
 work, and without its having been known until he was 
 seen playing on it. 
 
 It was in the city of New Haven that the author 
 published the First Edition of these Memoirs^ being 
 aware that here, where his character and unpreceden- 
 ted actions were perfectly known throughout the coun- 
 try, the publication of his doings at Kingston, and his 
 career throughout the provinces of New-Brunswick and 
 Nova-Scotia would not only be desirable and accept- 
 able; but would also be received with less scrupulous- 
 ness, when brought, as it were, in contact with facts 
 of a similar nature publicly known and believed. 
 
 While these papers were being prepared for the 
 press, a gentleman from Washington, Major McDaniel, 
 on his return from Boston, boarded some time in the 
 same house with me, that of Mr. Joseph Nichols, and 
 having heard some details from me of liis unprecedent- 
 ed character and actions in New Brunswick, and hav- 
 ing also become acquainted with the facts relating to 
 his imprisonments and escape, &.c., in that place, could 
 not repress his curiosity in going to see him, and re- 
 quested me to accompany him at his own expence. 
 He observed that it would be a high gratification to 
 him, on his return to Washington, that he would not 
 only have one of my books with him, but would also 
 be able to say that he had personally seen the Sheriff 
 from New Brunswick that had written the book, and 
 had seen the remarkable character in the prison of 
 New Gate that constituted the subject of the book, and 
 also the prison in New Haven from which he had 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 escaped. Accordingly we set out for New Gate, and 
 my friend had the satisfaction of seeing the noted 
 Henry More Smith, now William Newman. On our 
 leaving him, I said to him, " Now, Smith, if you have 
 any thing you wish to coirmunicate to your wife, I will 
 let her know it." He looked at me and said, " Sir, 
 are you going to the Jerseys ?" Why, do you think 
 your wife is there ? "I hope so, I left her there," 
 was his reply, and that with as much firmness and 
 seeming earnestness as if he had never before seen 
 my face. After I had left him and returned to New 
 Haven, and furnished the printer with this additional 
 sketch, and had the memoirs completed, one of the 
 books was shewn to him, which he perused with much 
 attention, and replied with seeming indifference, that 
 there was never such a character in existence; but 
 that some gentleman travelling in the United States had 
 run short of money and had invented that book to 
 defray his expenses ! 
 
 Immediately after he had read the memoirs of his 
 own unparalleled life and actions, and pronounced the 
 whole a fiction; as if to out-do anything before related 
 of him, or attributed to him, he added the following 
 remarkable feat to the list, already so full, of his sin- 
 gular and unprecedented actions. In the presence of 
 a number of young persons, and when there was a fine 
 fire burning on the hearth, he affected to be suddenly 
 seized with a violent convulsive fit, falling down on the 
 floor and bounding and writhing about, as if in the 
 most agonizing sufferings. And what constituted the 
 wonder of this masterpiece of affectation was, that in 
 his spasmodic contortions his feet came in contact with 
 the fire, and were literally beginning to be roasted; 
 without his appearing to feel any pain from the burning. 
 This circumstance confirmed the belief in the bystand- 
 ers, that thoj^^ was a reality; and he did not miss his 
 aim in shewing off his spasmodic attack, which was 
 indeed done to the life. He was consequently exempt- 
 ed from hard labour, and was permitted to employ 
 himself in any trifling application he chose, or in 
 making Jews harps, penknives, knives of various 
 descriptions, and rings; in the mechanism of which, he 
 
-^^•"^z^. 
 
 .2^5?^^""' » 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 97 
 
 wing 
 sin- 
 ;e of 
 fine 
 enly 
 the 
 the 
 the 
 in 
 with 
 ed; 
 
 md- 
 his 
 
 was 
 ipt- 
 
 )loy 
 in 
 
 lous 
 he 
 
 manifested much original talent and characteristic 
 ingenuity. Many persons, from mere curiosity, pur- 
 chased ^"om him several articles of his handiwork. 
 From among tho rest, may be instanced, the case of 
 two young men, who very much admired his small 
 penknives, and proposed purchasing two of them on 
 condition of his engraving his name on the handles of 
 them. He immediately engraved, and with perfect 
 neatness, * Ilenrij More Smith,' on th(; one side of one 
 of them, ' William JVewman,' on the other side, and on 
 the other knife he engraved, ^Mysterious Stranger.' 
 Those knives were kept by their owners as a curiosity, 
 and many persons were nmch gratified with seeing 
 them. One of them was sometime after broucht to 
 Kingston, and I myself had the gratification of seeing 
 the name of my old Domestic, engraved on th(^ handle. 
 
 Under the indulgent treatment he received in New 
 Gate, he became perfectly reconciled to his situation, 
 manifesting no desire to leave it. "Contentment," 
 he said, " is the brightest jewel in (his life, and I was 
 never more contented in my life." He consequently 
 never attempted any means of escape. 
 
 After the period of his imprisonment was up, and he 
 
 • had received his discharge, he left with the keeper of 
 
 • the prison a highly finished pocket knife, of moderate 
 < size, the handle of which contained a watch, complete 
 
 in all its parts, keeping the time regularly. And what 
 excited much wonder in reference to this ingenious and 
 singularly curious piece of mechanism, was the fact, 
 that he had never been found at work on any part of 
 the watch or knife, and yet there was no doubt on the 
 minds of those who saw it, that it was in reality the 
 production of his own genius, and the work of his own 
 hands. For this information I was indebted to a gen- 
 tleman named Osbourne, who resided in the neighbour- 
 hood, and who stated that he had seen the knife and 
 watch himself, and that it was regarded by all as a ve- 
 ry extraordinary piece of ingenuity. ;, , 
 
 ^t^"^^ He left Simsbury decently apparelled, with some 
 money in his pocket, and in possession of some articles 
 
 V of his own handiwork. He directed his cour!?(^ east- 
 
 Ci" 
 
 -jiS^. 
 
98 
 
 i 
 
 THE MYSTEHIOUS 8TRANCKK. 
 
 ward, and was seen in Boston; but for some short time, 
 nothing particular or striking was heard of him. The 
 first thing concerning him that arrested pubhc atten- 
 tion, was published in the Boston liulleiiny and which 
 came under my own eye. — " Beware of pickpockets ! 
 A stage coach, destined for this city, and full of pas- 
 sengers, a few efenings since, when one of the passen- 
 gers rang the bell, and cried out to the driver to stop 
 his horses, as his pocket had been picked of a large 
 sum of money since he entered the coach; and at the 
 aame time requested the driver would not let any of 
 the other passengers get out of the coach, it being 
 dark, until he, the aforesaid passenger, should bring a 
 light, in order to have a general search. This caused 
 a genera! feeling of pockets among the passengers, 
 when another passenger cried out, that his pocket-book 
 had also been stolen. The driver did as he was di- 
 rected, until the gentleman who first spoke should 
 have had time to procure a lamp; but whether he did 
 iind it or not remained quite uncertaim. But no doubt 
 he found the light he intended shouid answer his pur- 
 pose, as he did not make his appearance in any other 
 light. However, the passenger who really lost his 
 pocket-book, which although it did not contain but a 
 small amount of money, thinks he shall hereafter un- 
 derstand, what is meant when a man in a stage coach 
 calls out thief, and that he will prefer darkness rather 
 than light, if ever such an evil joke is offered to be 
 played with him again.'' 
 
 As he was continually changing his name as well as 
 his place, it was impossible always to identify his per- 
 son, especially as few people in the United States 
 were personally acquainted with him. The difficulty 
 of recognizing him was not a little increased also by 
 the circumstance of his continually changing his exter- 
 nal appearance; and the iniquitous means by which he 
 could obtain money and change of apparel, always af- 
 forded him a perfect facility of assuming a different 
 appearance. In addition to these circumstances also, 
 as a feature of character which no less contributed to 
 the difficulty of identifying him, must be {taken into 
 account his unequalled and inimitable ease in affecting 
 
OB^ 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRAiNOER. 
 
 99 
 
 be 
 ;11 as 
 
 different and various characters, and his perfect and 
 unembarrassed composure in the most difficult and 
 perplexing circumstances. To the Identity and eccen- 
 tricity therefore, of his actions, rather than our know- 
 ledge of the identity of Iiis person and name, we must 
 depend, in our future attempts to trace his footsteps 
 and mark their characteristic prints. 
 
 On this ground, therefore, there is not the shadow 
 of a doubt that the robhery committed in the stage 
 coach, and the originality of the means by which he 
 carried off his booty, pointed with unliesitating certain- 
 ly to the noted character of our narrative After this 
 depredation in the coach, with which he came off suc- 
 cessful, it would appear that he bent his course in 
 disguise through the States of Connecticut and New 
 York, assuming different characters, and committing 
 many robberies and depredations undiscovered and even 
 unsuspected for a length of time, and aflerwards made 
 his appearance in Upper Canada, in the character of 
 a gentleman merchant from New-Brunswick, with a 
 large quantity of smuggled goods from New York, 
 which he said were coming on after him in wagons : 
 these he said he intended to dispose of on very mode- 
 rate terms, so as to suit purchasers. Here he called 
 upon my brother, Augustus Bates, Deputy Postmaster 
 at Wellington Square, head of Lake Ontario, and in- 
 formed the family, that he loas well acquainted with 
 Sheriff Bates, at Kingston, and that he called to let 
 them know, that he and his family were well. He re- 
 gretted very much that he had not found Mr. Bates at 
 home, and stated that he was upon urgent and impor- 
 tant business, and could not tarry with them for the 
 night, but would leave a letter for him. This he ac- 
 cordingly did, properly addressed, and in a good hand- 
 writing ; but when it was opened, and its contents 
 examined, no one in the place could make out the name 
 of the writer, or read any part of the letter ! It ap- 
 peared to have been written in the characters of some 
 foreign language, but it could not be deciphered. 
 This was another of his characteristic eccentricities, 
 but his intentioQ in it could not be well understood. 
 
 
 
 % 
 
 ! '>4 
 
 ~ASk 
 
 ■•«"-^:jr-i«*«HS»w'-,"- 
 
■4 
 
 100 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 KHe did not appear desirous to make himself parti- 
 cularly known to the family, or to cultivate any further 
 acquaintance with them, but proceeded thence to the 
 principal boarding house in the town, and engaged 
 entertainment for liimself and thirteen other persons, 
 who, he said, were engaged in bringing on his wagons 
 ;J^ loaded with his smuggled goods. Having thus fixed 
 upon a residence for himself and his gang of wagon- 
 ers, he then called upon all the principal merchants in 
 the town, on pretence of entering into contracts for 
 storing large packages of goods, and proposing to give 
 great bargains to purchasers on their arrival, and in 
 some instances, actually received money as earnest on 
 some packages of saleable goods, for the sale of which 
 he entered into contracts. It may be remarked, by 
 the way, that he wrote also in an unknown and unin- 
 telligible hand, to the celebrated Capt. Brant, the same 
 as he had written to Mr. Bates, but with what view 
 was equally mysterious and unaccountable. 
 
 Notwithstanding his genteel and respectable appear- 
 ance, there was a singularity in his manner and con- 
 duct, which, with all his tact and experir-nce, he could 
 not altogether conceal ; and hence arose some suspi- 
 cions as to Che reality of his pretensions. These 
 suspicions received confirmation, and were soon ma- 
 tured into the reality of his being a genteel impostor^ 
 from the fact that the time for the arrival of his wag- 
 ons had now elapsed, and they were not making their 
 appearance. At this juncture, when public attention 
 and observation were directed to the stranger to ob- 
 serve which way the balance would turn, an individual 
 named Brown, who had formerly resided in New 
 Brunswick, and had moved with his family to Canada, 
 coming in contact with the gentleman, recognized him 
 from a certain mark he carried on his face, to be the 
 far famed Henry More Smith, whom he had seen and 
 known when in the jail at Kingston! 
 
 This report, passing immediately into circulation, 
 gave the impostor a timely signal to depart, without 
 waiting for the arrival of his wagons and baggage, 
 and without loss of time he took his departure from 
 Canada, by way of Lake Erie, through the Michigan 
 
 i 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 101 
 
 territory, and down the Ohio to the Southern States. 
 With his proceedings, during this course of his travels, 
 we are entirely unacquainted, therefore the reader 
 must be left to his own reflections as to his [irobable 
 adventures, as he travelled through this immense tract 
 of country. There is no reason for doubt, however, 
 that he had by this time, and even long befoie. become 
 80 confikmed in his iniquitous courses, that he would 
 let no occasion pass unimproved, that would afford 
 him an opportunity of indulging in the predominant 
 propensity of a mind which seemed to glory in the 
 prosectition of robberies and plunder, as well as in the 
 variety of means by which he etTected his unheard of 
 and unprecedented escapes. 
 
 After his arrival in the Southern States, we are 
 again able to glean something of his life and history. 
 While he was yet in the jail in King's County, it will be 
 remembered, that he said he had been a Preacher, and 
 that he should preach again, and would gain proselytes; 
 and now his prediction is brought about; for under a 
 new name, that of Henry Hopkins, he appeared in the 
 character of a preacher in the Southern States! and 
 what wonder? for gatan himself is transformed into an 
 angel of light. Here, even in this character, he was 
 not without success; for he got many to follow and 
 admire him; yet deep as his hypocrisy was, he seemed 
 to be fully sensible of it, although his conscience had 
 become scared,and was proof against any proper sense of 
 wrong. He acknowledged that he had been shocked 
 to see so many people follow him to hear him preach , 
 and even to be affected under his preaching. Our 
 source of information does not furnish us with many of 
 the particulars which marked his conduct, while itine- 
 rating through the South in his newly assumed charac- 
 ter; yet general accounts went to say, that he had, for 
 a length of time, so conducted himself, that he gained 
 much popularity in his ministerial calling, and had a 
 considerable number of adherents. However this 
 may have been the case for a length of time, yet as 
 theassumption of this new character could not be at- 
 tributable to any supernatural impulse, but was merely 
 auother feature of a character already so singularly 
 
 hi 
 
 ^ >* 
 
 
I- 
 
 m" 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 r 
 
 J ! 
 
 i 
 
 102 
 
 THE MYSTFRIOtJS STRANGER, 
 
 diversified, intended as a cloak, under which he might 
 with less liability to suspicion, indulge the prevailing 
 and all-controuling propensities of his vitiated nnind, it 
 was not to be expected, with all the ingenuity which 
 he was capable of exercising, that he would long be 
 capable of concealing his real character. Accordingly 
 some high misdemeanor which we have not been ablo 
 to trace, at length disclosed the hypocrisy of his cha- 
 racter, and placed him before his deluded followers in 
 his true light. 
 
 It would appear, whatever might have been the na- 
 ture of his crime, that legal means were adopted for 
 his immediate apprehension; and that, in order to ex- 
 pedite his escape from the hands of justice, he had 
 seized upon a certain gentleman's coach and horses, 
 and was travelling in the character of a gentleman in 
 state, when he was overtaken and apprehended in the 
 State of Maryland. Here he was tried and convicted, 
 and sentenced to seven year's imprisonment in the 
 state prison in Baltimore, which, from the nature of 
 the climate, was generally believed would terminate 
 his career. The particulars of this adventure I re- 
 ceived in the City of New-York, in 1827, where I took 
 much pains to obtain all possible information concern- 
 ing his proceedings in the Southern States, while pass- 
 ing- under the character of a preacher. 
 
 In the year 1833, it so happened that I had occisioa 
 to visit the City of New- York again, when I renewed 
 my inquiries concerning him. but to no effect: no 
 sources of information to which I had access, yielded 
 any account of him, and the most rational conjecture 
 was, that he either terminated his course in the state 
 prison of Baltimore, or that one day, should he outlive 
 the period of his confinement, and be again let loose 
 upon the peace of society, some fresh development of 
 his character would point out the scene of his renewed 
 N|)depredations. iX ^ 
 
 £ In this painful state of obscurity, I was reluctantly 
 « obliged to leave the Hero of our narrative, on my fe- 
 turn from New-York. j; 
 
 Another year had nearly elapsed before any addi- 
 tional light was thrown upon his history : but in an un- 
 
 ,..?*. 
 
 ')M£mssgm-:ii^^^''^--^' 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 103 
 
 expected moment, when the supposition of his having 
 ended hid career in the prison at Baltimore was be- 
 coming fixed, I received, by the politeness of a friend, 
 a file of the JVeio-Yorh Times, one of the numbers of 
 which contained the following article, brinijing our 
 ^adventurer again full into view, in his usual character" 
 islic style: — 
 
 " Police office. 
 
 *' Robbery and speedy arrest . — A Frenchgentleman, from the 
 South, (so represented by himself,) who has, for a few weeks 
 past, under the name of Henry Bond, been running up a 
 hill, and running down the fare, at the Franklin House, 
 was, this afternoon, arrested at the establishment, on the 
 ungentlemanly charge of pillaging the trunks of lodgers. 
 Since his sojourn, a variety of articles had disappeared 
 from the chambers of the hotel ; and, amongst the rest, 
 about two hundred dollars from the trunk of one gentle- 
 man. 
 
 No one, however, had the thought of suspecting the 
 French gentleman, who was also a lodger, until this morn- 
 ing, when, unfortunately for him, his face was recognized 
 by a gentleman who knew him to have been in the States 
 Prison at Baltimore. However, on searching him, which 
 he readily complied with, not one cent of the money could 
 be found either upon his baggage or his person ; but in lieu 
 thereof, they found him possessed of a large number of 
 small keys, through which, no doubt, he found means of 
 disposing of any surplusage of circulating medium ; where- 
 upon, his quarters were changed to Bridewell, until the en- 
 suing term of General Sessions." 
 
 Here he remained in confinement until the period 
 for his trial came round; when, for want of sufficient 
 evidence to commit him to the State Prison, he was 
 thence discharged, and the next account we hear of 
 him, brings him before our view under the name of 
 Henry Preston, arrested in the act of attempting to 
 rob the Northern Mail Coach, as will appear by the 
 following article extracted from the Times:- 
 
 " Police Office, Mondavi Feb. 23</, 1835. 
 
 " Just as this Office was closing on Saturday evening, a 
 very gentlemanly looking man, decently dressed, calling 
 himself Henry Preston, was brought up in custody of the 
 driver and guard of the Northern Mail Stage, who charged 
 him with an attempt to rob the Mail. The accusers testi- 
 fied, that within a short distance of Peekskill they dis- 
 
 
 . !1 
 
 ¥■ 
 
 i 
 
 *«, ■ 
 
tl, 
 
 104 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 H; 
 
 V'- 
 
 covered the prisoner about a hundred yards ahead of the 
 Stapre, and on approaching nearer, they saw him jump over 
 a fence, evidently to avoid notice. This of course excited 
 their suspicion, and they kept an eye to the Mail, which 
 was deposited in the Boot. 
 
 In the course of a short time, the guard discovered the 
 rat nibbling at the bait, and desiring the driver not to stop 
 the speed of his horses, he quietly let himself down, and 
 found the prisoner actively employed, loosening the strap 
 which confines the iWaiV ifl^ / He was instantly arrested, 
 placed in the carriage, and carried to town free of expense. 
 
 Having nothing to offer in extenuation of his offence, M^*. 
 Hbnry Preston was committed to Bridewell until Monday, 
 for further investigation." 
 
 ' ' Police Office, Monday morning. 
 
 ** This morning, Henry Preston, committed for attempt- 
 ing to rob the Northern Mail, was again brought up before 
 the sitting Magistrates, when the High Sheriff of Orange 
 County appeared and demanded the prisoner, whose real 
 name was Henry Cibney, as a fugitive from justice ! 
 
 He stated, that on Friday last, the prisoner was to have 
 been tried for Graui^ Larceny, and was lodged in the House 
 of Detention, at Newburgh, on Thursday, under care of two 
 persons — that in the course of the night he contrived to 
 elude the vigilance of his keepers, escaped from confinement, 
 and crossed the river on the ice, and had got down as far as 
 Peekskill, where he says he attempted to get on the top of 
 the stage, that he might get into New- York as soon as 
 possible. " 
 
 By order of the Judges, the prisoner was delivered 
 over to the Sheriff of Orange County, to be recognized 
 there for his trial for the offence with which he was 
 originally charged, at the next General Session of th& 
 Supreme Court. But before the term came round, 
 he had, as on most former occasions, contrived to 
 effect his escape, and directed his course toward Upper 
 Canada! 
 
 Of the particular manner of his escape, and his 
 adventures on his way through to Canada, we can 
 •tate nothing with certainty; but, like all his previous 
 movements, we may hazard the conjecture, that they 
 were such as would do the usual honour to his wretched 
 profc'tion. Yet with all his tact, he could not always 
 escape the hands of justice; and hence his course is 
 not unfrequently interrupted, and his progress impeded 
 by the misfortunes of the prison. If is owing to this 
 
 ':l 
 
 ""^f 
 
 ■ V«n",-». «,t»f^miiztMttSS^$0!fitl^*^ 
 

 THE MTBTEEIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 105 
 
 
 circumstance, that we are enabled to keep pace with 
 him in Upper Canada, where we find him confined in 
 the Jail of Toronto, under the charge of burglary. 
 
 For this information, the writer is indebted to his 
 brother Augustus Bates, residing in Upper Canada, 
 from whose letter, dated 4th August, 1835, we make 
 the following extract, which will point out the circum- 
 stances that have guided us in endeavouring to follow 
 up the history of our Mysterious Stranger to the 
 present time: 
 
 ** Dear Brother , — I now sit down to acknowledge the 
 receipt of a number of your letters, especially your 
 last by Mr. Samuel Nichols, in which you mentioned 
 that you were writing a new edition of ' More Smith.* 
 I have to request that you will suspend the publication 
 until you hear from me again. There is a man now 
 confined in Toronto jail, which bears the description 
 of More Smith, and is supposed to be the same. Many 
 things are told of him which no other could peform. 
 I will not attempt to repeat them, as I cannot vouch 
 for their truth. 
 
 From current reports I was induced to write to the 
 Sheriff who had him in charge, requesting him to give 
 me a correct account of him. I have not heard from 
 the Sheriff since I wrote : perhaps he is waiting to see 
 in what manner he is to be disposed of. Report says 
 that the man is condemned to be executed for shop- 
 breaking — he wishes the Sheriff to do his duty, that he 
 had much rather be hanged than sent to the Peniten- 
 tiary. Many are the curious stories told of him, 
 which, as I said before, I will not vouch for. Should 
 the Sheriff write to me, his information may be relied 
 
 on. 
 
 »> 
 
 Several communications from Upper Canada have 
 reached us between the date of the letter from which 
 the above extract is made, and the present time; but 
 none of them contained the dosired information, as to 
 the particular fate of the prisoner, and the manner in 
 which he was disposed of, until the 18th of September 
 last, (1836.) 
 
 By a letter from Mr. Augustus Bates, bearing this 
 date, it would appear that the prisoner had not been 
 
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 106 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 executed^ but had been sentenced to one yearns confine-' 
 ment in the Penitentiary. We make the following 
 extract : — 
 
 " I give you all the information that I can obtain 
 respecting the prisoner enquired after. The Jailer, 
 who is alflo the Deputy Sheriff, that had him in charge, 
 says that he could learn nothing from him, — said he 
 called his name Smith, — that he was fifty-five years 
 old, but denies that he ever was in Kingston, New- 
 Brunswick. The jailer had one of your books and 
 shewed it to him, but he denied any knowledge of it, 
 and would not give him any satisfaction to the enquiries 
 he made of him. 
 
 The Sheriff says he believes the person to be the 
 same Mysterious Stranger; that he was condemned 
 and sentenced to the Penitentiary for one year: his 
 crime was burglary.** 
 
 It would have afforded the writer of these Memoirs 
 great satisfaction, and no doubt an equal satisfaction to 
 the reader, had it been in his power to have paid a 
 visit to Upper Canada, that he might be able to state 
 from his own certain and personal knowledge of the 
 prisoner in Toronto, that he was, indeed, the sftlf-same 
 noted individual that v;as in his own custody twe\(^-two . 
 years ago; and whom he had the gratification of^feeing 
 and recognizing subsequently, at the Simsbury Mines, 
 where he played off his affected fits with such art and 
 consequent advantage. 
 
 But although it is not in the writer's power to close 
 up his memoirs with so important and valuable a disco- 
 very; yet keeping in view the characteristic features 
 of the man, — his professed ignorance of Kingston in 
 New-Brunswick, his denial of ever having seen the 
 first edition of the Memoirs, and the care which he took 
 to keep himself enveloped in mystery, by utterly de- 
 clining to give any satisractory information concerning 
 himself: all the.sevcircumstances united, form a com- 
 bination of ^offwr^s so marked, as to carry conviction 
 to the mind of the reader who has traced him through .^ 
 this narrative, that he is no other than the same mys*-^ 
 terious Henry More Smith, 
 
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 IWi liini' iifi Tl 
 
 MilM«MWMU«M 
 
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 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER. 
 
 107 
 
 There is another feature in the prisoner at Toronto, 
 that seems strongly corroborative of what we are desi- 
 rous, properly, to establish; that is, his ap^e. He 
 acknowledges to hcffty-five years of age; and although 
 this would make him somewhat older than his real ago, 
 yet it fixes this point — that the prisoner at Toronto is 
 well advanced in years, and so must the Subjccl of our 
 Memoirs be also. 
 
 With respect to his calling himself by the name of 
 Smith, we could not come to any definite conclusion, 
 as to the identity of the person; for he was, as the 
 reader knows by this time, continually changing his 
 name; and at that remote distance from Kingston, 
 where he was known by that name, and after a lapse 
 of twenty-two years, he might judge himself as safe 
 under his real name as any assumed one. 
 
 The reader will remember, that the author stated in 
 his Preface that the Narrative would close with the 
 report of the prisoner's confinement in the Jail of 
 Toronto. At the time this had gone to press, he was 
 not aware that it would be in his power to furnish any 
 further information as to the issue of his confinement 
 there; but rather expected to hear at some future 
 period that he had made another escape in his usual 
 and characteristic manner; but it seems, by the infor- 
 mation we have obtained, that he has undergone hifl 
 trial and was committed to the Penitentiary for a year's 
 confinement . 
 
 Whether he found any means of efiecting an exemp- 
 tion from labour in the Penitentiary and then reconci- 
 ling himself to his confinement, or whether he accom- 
 plished one of his ingenious departures, we are 
 unable to determine. One thing however is highly 
 probable, — that he is again going up and down tn the 
 earth, in the practice of his hoary-headed mllainy, 
 except a Power from on High have directed the arrow 
 o{ conviction to his heart; for no inferior impulse Would 
 be capable of giving a new direction to the life and 
 actions of a man, whose habits of iniquity hsive been 
 ripened into maturity, and obtained an immovable aif- 
 cendency by the practice oi so many successive years.' 
 
 It must be acknowledged, that there is an unpre- 
 
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 '^y: ^^ 
 
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 108 
 
 THE MrSTERIOUS STRANGE 
 
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 !*. 
 
 • 
 
 cedented degree of cleverness in all his adventures, 
 which casts a kind o( illusive and momentary covering 
 over the real character of his actions, and would seem 
 to engage an interest in his favour, (and this is an 
 error to which the human mind seems remarkably pre- 
 disposed when vice presents itself before it in all its 
 cleverness,) yet who can read the history of his miser- 
 able career, without feeling pained at the melancholy 
 picture of depravity it presents? Who would not have 
 supposed that after his condemnation and sentance at 
 Kingston, and his life, by an act of human mercy, had 
 been given into his hands again, he would not have 
 hastened to his wife, and with tears of compunction 
 mingled with those of joy, cast himself upon her neck, 
 and resolved, by a course of future rectitude and 
 honesty, to make her as happy as his previous dis- 
 graceful and sinful career had made her miserable? 
 
 But ah! no, his release was followed by no such 
 effects: rendered unsusceptible of every natural and 
 tender impression, and yet under the full dominion of 
 the god of this world, he abandoned the inmate of his 
 bosom, and set out single-handed in the fresh pursuit 
 of crime. 
 
 There is, however, one redeeming feature, which 
 stands out among the general deformities of his charac- 
 ter: in all the adventures which the history of his 
 course presents to our view, we are not called upon to 
 witness any marks o^ violence and blood: and it is pre- 
 haps owing to the absence of this repulsive trait of 
 character, that we do not behold him in a more relent- 
 less light. 
 
 The writer would close up these pages by finally 
 observing, that if these Memoirs should ever fall into 
 the hands of Kenry More Smith, the unhappy sub- 
 ject of them, and should he, from whatever motive, 
 be induced to peruse them, he trusts that the review of 
 a /i/c,so wretchedly and miserably misspent, may be ac- 
 companied with conviction from on High, and be follow- 
 ed up with repentance unto life, that he that has so oflen 
 been immured within the walls of an earthly prison, 
 may not at the close of his unhappy and sinful course 
 in this world, be finally shut up in the prison of Hell, 
 
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 MfHtol 
 
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 TUB MYSTBRI0C8 STRANGER. 
 
 109 
 
 and bound hand and foot in the chains of eternal dark- 
 ness, where shall be weeping and wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth: where the hope of mercy or release 
 can never enter, but the wrath of God abidethfor ever 
 and ever. 
 
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