Narrative of the life of James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the highwayman : being his death-bed confession, to the warden of the Massachusetts state prison.

Allen, James, 1809-1837.

Date:: 1837

Credit: Narrative of the life of James Allen, alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the highwayman : being his death-bed confession, to the warden of the Massachusetts state prison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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$TMF. IllfJinVAYMAK. « foi- the .Tiiilge (Wliitmu!)) would not bind him over, if ever so guilty. They appeared much dissalij-fied at (he Judge's deoisiou. A tew days after tliis afrair, I secreted myself in a store on , just before it was closed at nitht and \vas locked in. At a pro- per timel ascended to the second story, broke the desk, a«d found a roll of bills and a watch, and joined my friend who was near, on the outside, waiting for me. We returned to Symm's and on looking over our plunder found the bills were worthlesp,being on broken banks amounting in ail to $600, the v.'atch was vahied at thirty dollars.— Early in June, 1825, 1 formed an ac<?iUainlancc with William Ross,aa Irishman, 1 think, who had but recently been discharged from this prison. He was a famous rogue, and was afterwards executed in Canada, together with two or three others of his associates for robbing a priesi* Ross came to board at, Symms's. He was rather unwilling to hazard any tiling in this State, as he had been twice in the State Prison here, and on a third commitment would be liable, under the severity of the laws of tliis Slate, to be sentenced for life. He and my friend there- fore went to Providence, and broke a store and sold some of the goods in Boston, ^ly friend was arrested on suspicion of having stolen goods. He stated that he received the goods. I being present at the Police Court at the time, immediately went to Symms's and informed Ross ofthe circumstance. He imn^ediately left the house and proceeded to the burying-ground on the Common, to keep a look out. In about tv,'enly minutes the officers were at the house in pursuit of hinij they searched the house, but of course, did not succeed in finding liim.— Ross remained on the Conimon three or four days; I carried him breakfast and dinner there, and at night he would go out to Roxbury. He was desirous of raisitig some money as soon as possible, in order to get off out of the vvay. He said he could rai.-e it most readily with the pistol, on the highway. Accordingly we went on the road leading to Brighton, and remained utitil ten, P. M. Nothing favorable present- ing itself, we returned. Next day. according to previous arrangement, \VQ went to the woods in Rosbury, and took a station near the road.— Our conversation, wliile togeth.er, was principally in relation to crimes, he being well versed in the subject, while 1 was, as it were, but a no- vice. He remarked upon the most sure and safe means for successful enterprises. He considered highway robbery most likely to result favor- ably with respect to gain, but considered it by far the moat dangerous niodc of securing unlawful gains, and in his opinion, ought not to be undertaken W'ithout using every precaution for personal safety—that a nian should be prepared to hazard his life in such cases,which a man of spirit should not hesitate to do- if occasion demanded it in order to raise funds. Ho spoke ofthe severity of the criminal lav»^ against offenders on the highway, and thought on that account, highway robbery should not he followed as a profession. He gave me a history of his life: said he had escaped from the State Prisons of Maryland, New York and Mas- sachusetts—ijiat he had been a rogue from early life, and once robbed$