True Detective Stories from the Archives of the Pinkertons

The agent of the company, Clark Evans, was immediately notified, and he at once telegraphed the news of the robbery to the officials of the United States Express Company in New York, who with very little delay placed the matter in the hands of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. The direct supervision of the work was undertaken by the late George H. Bangs, at that time general superintendent of the Pinkerton Agency, and a force of detectives at once started for Susquehanna.

An important discovery was made on closer examination of the pouch. It was found that this pouch was not the one that had been sealed up in the express office at New York, but a bogus pouch, so much like the other that the change might easily have escaped notice. The chief points of difference were the tag and the seal, the former having been addressed in a different hand from that of the New York money-clerk, and the latter being an old seal not in use by the company at that time. But the general appearance of the pouch was such that neither the messenger, Van Waganen, nor the watchman, Chamberlain, could swear that it was not the one that he had handled.

After going over the ground carefully and cross-examining Van Waganen and Chamberlain, Superintendent Bangs concluded that the robbery had not been committed on the train and that the genuine money package had reached Susquehanna and been locked in the railroad company's safe by the night-clerk. He was strengthened in this conclusion by the statement of Chamberlain, who admitted that, after locking up the money, he had only been in the ticket-office at intervals during the night. For this he was in no way to blame, as he had other duties to perform about the station, notably those of way-bill clerk.

Thus the robbers would have had full opportunity to approach the safe unobserved and exercise their skill upon it, could they have secured entrance to the ticket-office. Nor was this a difficult matter, since the door leading into it was known to have three keys, in the hands of various employees of the road, from whom they might have been procured or stolen. More important still was the fact, ascertained by Mr. Bangs, that the safe itself had three keys, intrusted to as many men, whose duties required them to have access to the safe. It subsequently transpired that two of these keys had been made by the men who carried them, for their own convenience and without the knowledge of their superiors. The door leading into the ticket-office opened from the men's waiting-room, where people had been coming and going during the entire night of the robbery. Such of these people as could be found were questioned closely as to what they had observed on this night, but they could furnish no information that threw light upon the case.

Some significance was found in the coincidence that nine years before there had been a robbery at Susquehanna, in which thirty thousand dollars had been stolen from the express company's safe. The Pinkertons knew that for years a band of professional thieves had been traveling through the country, operating on safes that could be opened with a key. Among them were experts in fitting locks, especially skilled in making keys from impressions, and known as professional "fitters." At first it was considered possible that the robbery had been committed by these men; but, after the most careful search and inquiry, Superintendent Bangs concluded that this was not the case and that the pouch had been stolen by some person or persons resident in Susquehanna, presumably by one or more of the railroad employees who had access to the office, or by persons intimately acquainted with some of the men who had keys to the safe.

"Shadows" were put on all persons who might have had access to the ticket-office and the safe; but, although this was continued for weeks, nothing conclusive came to light.

About this time a reorganization of the Pinkerton Agency became necessary, through the death of Allan Pinkerton, the founder, and George H. Bangs, the general superintendent; and Robert Pinkerton assumed charge of the investigation at Susquehanna. He undertook the difficult task of picking out one guilty man (or possibly two or three) from a body of fifteen hundred workmen. For, despite lack of evidence either way, there was no doubt in the detective's mind that the money had been taken by some of the employees of either the express or the railroad company. Pinkerton men were taken to Susquehanna and given employment in various positions for the railroad and express companies, their duty being to make friends and hear gossip, and, if possible, in an unguarded moment, at some saloon or boarding-house, or perhaps at the chatty noon hour in the works, secure some important secret. Other detectives came with money in their pockets, and, under the guise of sporting men, made themselves popular at resorts where a poor man come dishonestly and suddenly into money would be apt to spend it.

Day after day, month after month, the watch was continued from many points of view, the conversations of hundreds of workmen were carefully noted, the gambling houses and their inmates were kept under constant scrutiny, the lives of this man and that man and scores of men were turned inside out, and all without any one in Susquehanna suspecting it, the general opinion being that the robbery had been put aside along with many other unsolved mysteries.

A whole year passed before any promise of success came to cheer the express company and the patient detectives. In the summer of 1884, Robert Pinkerton, having received information that a professional burglar, who had been arrested some weeks previous for a burglary at Milwaukee, had valuable information about an express robbery, immediately journeyed from New York to Milwaukee to interview the man. He learned from the burglar that some years before he had operated with a man named John Donahue; that about the time of the Susquehanna robbery Donahue had been away from home, and that shortly after the robbery he had returned with plenty of money and paid off several old debts. Mr. Pinkerton at once recognized in Donahue a notorious thief who, to escape justice, had taken up his residence at Fort Erie, Canada, where he had opened a hotel.

The burglar also gave Mr. Pinkerton a description of a man who had visited Donahue at his hotel on several occasions, and who had the general appearance of a workman. He suspected that this man had been in some way concerned with Donahue in the Susquehanna robbery; he knew that he had resided at one time in Buffalo, New York, and worked in the shops there, and he thought that he might be then living in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

From the description, Mr. Pinkerton was able, on going to Susquehanna, to identify the suspected man with one George H. Proctor, who had formerly been foreman in the railroad company's shops, but had resigned his position some months before and moved to Buffalo. In the investigation that was at once begun it was found that Proctor had recently been speculating largely in oil and spending money freely, although while living in Susquehanna he was known to have had no resources besides his salary. It was learned further that Proctor had deposited money with three Buffalo banks and had accounts with various firms of brokers, and also that he was paying frequent visits to gambling-houses and in general leading a fast life. Proctor's deposits, it was learned, had at one time amounted to about eleven thousand dollars, but most of this sum had been subsequently drawn out and lost in speculation.

All of this was strong presumptive evidence against a man who was known to have been poor a few months before, and a more significant discovery was made a little later, when Proctor went on a trip to Canada, evidently on important business. The detective who followed him found that the men with whom he had dealings, and with whom he passed nearly the whole time of his visit, were professional thieves, well known to the police.

In view of all that had come to light, it was decided to effect Proctor's arrest. This was made easy by his habit of coming to Susquehanna every few weeks to see his wife and three children, who had remained there. During these visits it had been remarked that he was especially intimate with employees of the railroad and express companies who were connected with the ticket-office.

All unsuspicious of the danger that threatened him, Proctor took the train from Buffalo on the night of Saturday, November 16, with a ticket for Susquehanna. Word was at once telegraphed to Robert Pinkerton, who, in company with E. W. Mitchel, superintendent of the United States Express Company, started for Susquehanna, reaching there Monday morning. They learned that Proctor was still in town, but keeping very closely to his house. It was not until ten o'clock in the evening that he appeared on the street, his purpose in going out being to purchase some groceries. As he came from the store Robert Pinkerton stepped forth from his place of waiting and took him into custody. He was taken to a private house, where Mr. Pinkerton passed nearly the whole night in conversation with him. Before daylight Proctor had made what purported to be a full confession.

Proctor stated that he had moved to Susquehanna in 1880, having resided in Buffalo previous to that time. While in Buffalo he had occasionally of a Sunday visited Fort Erie, Canada, and there had made the acquaintance of John Donahue. At first he did not know that Donahue was anything more than the keeper of a hotel. He found him an entertaining companion, a good story-teller and singer of comic songs, and very generous with his money. They came to see much of each other, and after Proctor's removal to Susquehanna they kept up an occasional correspondence. Proctor, having a monthly pass over the Erie Railroad, and being able to procure passes on other roads, made several trips to Fort Erie, always stopping at Donahue's hotel. On one of these visits he chanced to read aloud to his friend the newspaper account of a clever robbery in Montreal, where a band of sneak-thieves had robbed a paymaster of a sum of money he had in a bag to pay off employees. This turned the conversation to criminal exploits, and Proctor related the circumstances of the express robbery at Susquehanna some years before. Donahue showed great interest, and inquired how it happened that the express company had so large a sum of money at Susquehanna. Proctor explained about the extensive railroad shops there, and incidentally remarked that the same system of paying the hands was still in practice. Donahue then requested Proctor to ascertain for him how much money was being shipped each month at that time, the day of shipment, the train, the kind of safe used on that train, and full details about the lock – whether opened by a combination or a key. Donahue professed that his only motive in seeking this information was curiosity, and Proctor promised to learn what he could.

It was about a fortnight after this that the two men met again, Proctor having secured all the facts about the monthly transfer of money from New York to Susquehanna. These he confided to Donahue, who seemed greatly pleased at the report. He showed Proctor the greatest attention, spending money freely. Then he pressed Proctor with further questions, asking how the money was wrapped up, what kind of pouch it was carried in, and so on. Finally he came out bluntly with the opinion that Proctor was a fool to waste his time working in a dirty shop when he might be living in luxury. Then, seeing that the foreman took no great umbrage at this suggestion, he asked him if he could get an impression of the safe-key, and also one of the key to the door of the ticket-office. After some show of reluctance, Proctor finally consented to try.

Returning to Susquehanna, Proctor took advantage of his friendship with employees about the ticket-office to get possession of the keys long enough to take the desired impressions, and these he mailed to Donahue, in whose service he was now fully enlisted. Donahue wrote back, expressing satisfaction, and saying that he and another man, named Collins, had paid a secret visit to Susquehanna, and had found everything as Proctor had represented. A little later Proctor went to Canada again, and was introduced to Collins. At this meeting it was arranged that Donahue should procure a canvas bag like the one used by the express company, and that a dummy money package should be placed inside, so that a substitution might be effected on the arrival of the next shipment. Proctor was to take no active part in the robbery, but was instructed to return home and continue at his work, showing no concern, whatever happened.

"If there's an earthquake at Susquehanna when pay-day comes around, you don't know anything about it, do you understand?" Such was the final order given to Proctor, and he obeyed it implicitly.

A month passed, and, hearing nothing, Proctor went to Canada again, and had another talk with his two confederates. They told him that they had gone to Susquehanna prepared to do the "job," but had learned, accidentally, that the money that month had been sent in gold, which would have been too heavy for them to carry away, and they had therefore decided to wait until a month later.

This was in May, and the following month the robbery occurred. Two weeks later Proctor went to Canada, and received eleven thousand dollars as his share of the plunder. Donahue and Collins explained to him that he did not receive more because they had been obliged to give a fourth share to another man who had worked with them. They cautioned him not to spend a dollar of the stolen money for months to come, as the detectives would be always on the lookout for suspicious circumstances. They also advised him to continue at his work, under no circumstances giving up his position within a year.

Proctor had strictly followed these suggestions, living and working as he had done before the robbery, and not spending any part of his portion. Having changed the money into large bills and sealed it up in a fruit-jar, so that the moisture could not injure it, he buried the jar head downward in his garden. There it remained untouched for months. But when the severe weather of the following winter set in, he dug up the jar, and taking the money to Buffalo, deposited it in three banks, in the name of his wife and his three children, with himself in each instance as trustee.

Although his trade became very irksome to him now that he had a small fortune in his possession, he prudently stuck to it until June, 1884. Then, a year having elapsed since the robbery, he decided that it would be safe for him to launch out into a pleasanter life. He accordingly went to Buffalo, where he entered into oil speculations with a friend who claimed to have "inside information" from the Standard Oil Company. Although fortunate at the start, the failure of Grant & Ward brought them heavy losses, and soon their profits and their original capital were swept away. Proctor assured Mr. Pinkerton that, at the time of their talk, he was ruined, and that he had intended, during this very visit to Susquehanna which ended in his arrest, making application for his old position as foreman of the boiler-shops.

Having heard Proctor's confession, Mr. Pinkerton took counsel with the officers of the express company. They, believing that Proctor had been only a tool in the hands of two smart professional criminals, agreed with the detective that the ends of justice demanded rather the apprehension of his confederates than his punishment alone. Proctor professed great penitence for his wrong-doing, and declared himself willing to do whatever was in his power to make amends.

The first step necessary to the capture of Donahue and Collins was to get them both into the United States at some point where they could be arrested at the same time. Donahue was still in Canada, where he could not be taken. Mr. Pinkerton arranged with Proctor to write to Donahue that he had discovered another safe which offered a tempting opportunity, hoping in this way to induce him to cross the line into the United States. To give color to the story it was necessary to accord Proctor apparent freedom of movement; but he pledged himself not to leave Susquehanna without Mr. Pinkerton's permission, and to keep the detective informed by letter and telegraph of all developments. At the same time detectives were sent to Canada to keep watch over Donahue.

Collins, in the meantime, had been located in Albany, but no attempt was made to arrest him until Donahue could be brought over the line. Should he cross without notifying Proctor, the men "shadowing" him were to cause his arrest. It was arranged with Proctor that, in case his letter failed of its purpose, he should go to Canada himself, persuade Donahue to send for Collins, and then induce the two to come back with him, when they would be arrested the moment they crossed the line.

On the 29th of November Robert Pinkerton received word by telegraph that Proctor had left Susquehanna suddenly in the night, telling the agent of the express company that he would return the next day. This looked very much as if Proctor had played him false, since it had been expressly stipulated that he should not go away without Mr. Pinkerton's permission. Days went by, and Proctor did not return. Then word came from one of the Pinkerton men at Fort Erie that Proctor had arrived at Donahue's hotel and had been joined there by Collins. This was a serious setback for the detectives. Not only were the three robbers safe from arrest where they were, but being fully aware of the danger threatening them, and being men of shrewdness, it was fair to presume that they would now move with great caution.

It soon became evident that Donahue and Collins were thoroughly alarmed by the news Proctor had brought them; for they at once took energetic steps to mislead any one who might be watching them. Having retired as usual one night, they arose later, and drove in a wagon to a station on the Grand Trunk Railroad, where they boarded a freight train for Toronto. After a brief stay in that city they went on to Montreal, where they tried hard to lose themselves, but were unsuccessful, and returned to Fort Erie.

Meanwhile Mr. Pinkerton discovered that the story told him by Proctor was entirely untrue. So far from having been an honest man before the robbery, it came to light that he was already at that time a hardened criminal, having committed burglaries both in the United States and Canada, and having been sentenced, under another name, to a term in the Massachusetts State prison. While in prison he had contrived to make keys that would unlock his own cell and those of three other prisoners, and the four had thus made their escape. One of them was the notorious Charles Bullard, who was at that time serving a term of twenty years for the robbery of the Boylston Bank of Boston. Proctor had also offered the privilege of escape to Scott and Dunlap, the Northampton Bank robbers, who were confined in the same prison, but they had distrusted his plan, and refused to avail themselves of it.

It was now necessary for the detectives to devise a new plan. Robert Pinkerton knew that some three years earlier Donahue had been concerned in the robbery of a bank at Winnipeg, and also in the robbery of a hardware store at Quebec. His brother, William Pinkerton, he also knew, had a personal acquaintance with Donahue, from having arrested him a number of years before. He therefore sent for William Pinkerton to come to New York from Chicago, and on his arrival proposed to him that he go to Fort Erie, get an interview with Donahue, and tell him of Proctor's treachery in betraying Collins and himself; impress upon him that Proctor was a dangerous man to have dealings with; and try to induce him to lend his aid in delivering Proctor and Collins over the line, just as Robert Pinkerton had sought to have Proctor do in the case of Donahue and Collins. Donahue was known as a "stanch" man, – that is, one who is true to his friends, – and it was thought probable that he would refuse to take part in any such scheme. But in that event William Pinkerton was to threaten him with arrest for the old robberies at Winnipeg and Quebec.

This plan was carried out by William Pinkerton with greater success than had been expected. At first Donahue stoutly refused to betray a comrade, but the danger threatening himself was made to appear so great that finally, seeing no other way out of his difficulties, he consented to do what was asked of him in regard to Proctor. Against Collins, however, he declined to give any aid. By working on Proctor's natural fear of arrest, he easily persuaded him that the immediate departure of all three of them – himself, Proctor, and Collins – for Europe was advisable. It was arranged that they should not sail from Quebec or Halifax, since the steamers from those points were likely to be watched by detectives, but that they should leave Fort Erie stealthily by night, make their way separately to Montreal, and meet there.

This plan was carried out, and within a few days the three were in Montreal, all apparently of one mind in their desire to escape the country, though in reality Proctor was the only one of the three who thought himself in danger. Donahue had taken Collins into his confidence, and Collins was quite of Donahue's opinion that they were doing the proper thing in saving themselves by surrendering a man who had shown himself willing to betray them.

It had been agreed between William Pinkerton and Donahue that at Montreal tickets should be purchased to Europe by way of Portland, Maine, and that the party should leave Montreal at a certain time by the Grand Trunk road. The line of this road runs for a number of miles through northern Vermont, and it was customary for the train the men were to take to wait over for an hour at Island Pond, a little place just across the Canadian line. Here, as it was arranged, Robert Pinkerton was to be waiting, ready to take Proctor into custody, and also (though in this part of the arrangement Donahue, of course, was not consulted) Donahue and Collins, should they be so imprudent as to stay on the train until it crossed the line. To the forwarding of this latter end, indeed, a special stratagem was resorted to. Conceiving that Donahue and Collins, in order the more completely to allay Proctor's suspicion, might remain with him until the last station was reached on the Canadian side, the detectives arranged that on this particular night the train should not stop at that station, but push on at full speed to the American side.

On a certain Tuesday night, Donahue, Collins, and Proctor took the 10:15 p. m. train at Montreal for Portland. No sooner had they left the station than a Pinkerton representative, who had "shadowed" them aboard, telegraphed the fact to Robert Pinkerton at Island Pond. Proctor went early to his berth in the sleeper. In another berth, not far distant, never closing his eyes through the night, but lying there fully dressed, with weapons ready, was a Pinkerton detective, whose instructions were to accompany the three robbers as long as they were together, and to stay with Proctor to the last.

It was five o'clock in the morning when the train drew up at Island Pond. On the platform stood Robert Pinkerton, carrying a requisition from the governor of Pennsylvania on the governor of Vermont for the arrest of Donahue, Collins, and Proctor, charged with robbing the United States Express Company of forty thousand dollars, at Susquehanna, Pennsylvania. The first man to leave the train was the "shadow," who informed his chief that Proctor was sound asleep in berth No. 12. Donahue and Collins, he said, had left the train long before it reached the last station on the Canadian side, so that the plan for their capture had fallen through. Mr. Pinkerton went aboard the sleeper at once, and going to berth No. 12, pushed aside the curtains. He could not see distinctly for the darkness, but borrowing a lantern from one of the trainmen, let the light fall on the face of the person within, and saw it was Proctor, slumbering in complete unconsciousness that his hour of reckoning had come. A gentle push in the ribs awakened him with a start. Recognizing Mr. Pinkerton, he said with admirable coolness:

"You have spoiled the whole business. If you had not come in here to arrest me, I would have had those men across the line next week."

When he said this, Proctor supposed that Donahue and Collins were asleep in an adjoining berth; but, even to save himself, he never thought of betraying them, which goes to show that he was a "stancher" man than Donahue and Collins had been led to believe. For some time he endeavored to maintain his old character with Mr. Pinkerton; but on the way to Susquehanna, realizing the hopelessness of his case, he acknowledged the deception he had practised, and his full responsibility with the others in the Susquehanna robbery. He also admitted his previous criminal record.