1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: a show that talies the gains and losses of everyday history. 4 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lousier, and in this episode we're talking about 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: a true crime farce from the early days of American history, 6 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: the time when a wrongfully accused man was able to 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: reclaim is good name thanks to a comical misstep by 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: a not quite criminal mastermind. The day was September two. 9 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: Over one hundred and sixty thousand dollars was stolen from 10 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenter's Hall, marking the first 11 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,760 Speaker 1: recorded bank heist in American history. The theft heard early 12 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: that morning and had all the tell tale signs of 13 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: an inside job. There was no evidence of fourced entry, 14 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: not on the doors of the building nor on the 15 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: vault itself. That technically made the crime of burglary rather 16 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: than a robbery, as the latter involves the uths or 17 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: threat of force and intimidation, whereas a burglary is merely 18 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 1: theft by unlawful entry. But whatever you call it, the 19 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: crime was a big deal. After all, nothing like it 20 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: had ever happened in the country before. Carpenter's Hall was 21 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: constructed in seventeen seventy by the Carpenter's Company, the oldest 22 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: craft guild in the United States. In seventeen seventy four, 23 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,639 Speaker 1: the building served as the meeting place for the First 24 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: Continental Congress, and it was later home to the Philadelphia Library, 25 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: as well as the First and Second Banks of the 26 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: United States. Banking institutions were especially attracted to the Hall 27 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: as its solid construction provided a safe place to operate 28 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: while they put up their own buildings. In seventeen, the 29 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: building's latest tenant was the Bank of Pennsylvania. In August 30 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: of that year, the bank was in the process of 31 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: moving in, but first it needed to make a few 32 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: changes to make the building more secure. First, and foremost, 33 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: the doors of the vault had to be upgraded, and 34 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: to do that the bank hired the services of a 35 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: local blacksmith named Patrick Leon. The twenty nine year old 36 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: Scottish born craftsman had emigrated from London five years earlier. 37 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: He worked as a journeyman until seventeen ninety seven, at 38 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 1: which point he established his own shop in Philadelphia, which 39 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: at the time was the nation's capital. Leon had been 40 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: hired by Samuel Robinson, the man in charge of overseeing 41 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:56,119 Speaker 1: the bank's move into Carpenter's Hall. One day, the blacksmith 42 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: was hard at work on the new vault doors in 43 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: his shop when Robins and stopped by with a carpenter 44 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: whom Leon had never met before. According to a later 45 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 1: account by Leon, the stranger seemed to take a special 46 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: interest in the vaults locking system, but since he was 47 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: there as Robinson's guest, Leon said nothing of it. Besides, 48 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: he didn't have time to be suspicious. Philadelphia was in 49 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: the midst of a yellow fever epidemic, and Leon had 50 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: been on his way out of town when he received 51 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: the vault door rush job from the bank. More than 52 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: five thousand city residents had already contracted the disease that summer, 53 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: and nearly thirteen hundred of them would die from it. 54 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: Leon didn't want his name added to that list, so 55 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: he worked to complete the vault doors as fast as possible. 56 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:50,279 Speaker 1: Shady visitors or not, Leon finished the job without being infected, 57 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: but the same couldn't be said for his nineteen year 58 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: old apprentice, Jamie. Once the blacksmith had delivered the doors 59 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: to the bank, he dragged his sick apprentice aboard a 60 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: ship and traveled to Lewistown, Delaware, in search of help. Unfortunately, 61 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: Jamie died two days after their arrival. Leon decided to 62 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: remain in Delaware for the time being until the wave 63 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: of sickness in Philadelphia had passed. While he was there, 64 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: he began hearing news of a break in at Carpenters Hall. 65 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: The papers reported that someone had slipped into the vault 66 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: and made off with a hundred and sixty two thousand, 67 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: eight hundred and twenty one dollars in cash and Spanish gold, 68 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: the equivalent of nearly four million dollars today. The theft 69 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: had taken place just two days after Leon's departure, a 70 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: fact that made him look awfully suspicious in the eyes 71 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania police. He soon discovered he was the prime 72 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,640 Speaker 1: suspect and wanted for questioning. He hastily returned to Philadelphia 73 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: in the hope of clearing his name, But try as 74 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: he might, Leon couldn't get the police to believe his story. 75 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: They arrested him on the bought and threw him into 76 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: a twelve by four foot cell in the Walnut Street Jail. 77 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: To be fair, Leon was the most obvious suspect due 78 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: to his role in upgrading the vault doors and his 79 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: immediate flight from the city just before the heist, authorities 80 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: were convinced he had made himself a spare key and 81 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: then returned to the city under cover of night to 82 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,600 Speaker 1: let himself into the bank. Even when Leone offered proof 83 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: that he hadn't returned to Philadelphia until after the robbery, 84 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: authorities maintained that he was still somehow involved. The timing, 85 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: they argued, was just too perfect to be coincidental. But 86 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: of course it was just a coincidence. The real culprit 87 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: turned out to be Isaac Davis, the stranger who had 88 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: visited Leon's shop in late August. Davis was a member 89 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: of the carpenter's company that owned the hall, and had 90 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: pulled off the heist with the aid of a bank 91 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: porter named Thomas Cunningham. An inside man in the most 92 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: literal sense, Cunningham had actually stayed inside the hall overnight 93 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: and then used his key to let Davis into the 94 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: vault when he arrived. The pair hadn't intended to frame 95 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: the blacksmith. That was just a happy accident, or happy 96 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: for them at least. Leon went on to spend the 97 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: next three months in police custody, desperately hoping not to 98 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: catch the yellow fever that was running rampant through the 99 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: jail house. Authorities had few other leads, so it's likely 100 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: that Leon would have stayed there even longer if not 101 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: for a gloriously stupid move on the part of Isaac Davis. 102 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: Within a few days of the theft, Thomas Cunningham had 103 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: himself died of yellow fever. That left the entirety of 104 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: the loot in the hands of Isaac Davis. He wasn't 105 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: sure what to do with such a large sum of money, 106 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: so he just started depositing it into several different Philadelphia banks, 107 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: including the very bank he had just ripped off. It 108 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: didn't take long for bank officials to realize that Davis 109 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: had suddenly come into quite a bit of money. In fact, 110 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: when the various banks conferred with each other, they found 111 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: the deposits added up almost exactly to the amount stolen. 112 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: On September two, when Davis was questioned about where he 113 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: had gotten so much money, he almost immediately admitted to 114 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: the crime. Soon after, the governor of Pennsylvania granted him 115 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: a full pardon in exchange for a full confession and 116 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: the return of all the money he'd stolen. Davis complied, 117 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: of course, and as a result, he didn't serve a 118 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: single day in prison. As for Patrick Leon, the man 119 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: who had nothing at all to do with the theft, 120 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: he remained in jail even after Davis's confession for three weeks. 121 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: The police continued to insist that Leon had supplied an 122 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: extra key to the bolt. Finally, with no evidence to 123 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: support their accusation and no jury willing to convict him, 124 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: the charges were dropped and at last Leon was released. 125 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: It's worth noting that two guards had been on duty 126 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: outside the bank on the night of the heist, and 127 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: they had also been jailed on suspicions. They too, were 128 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: eventually released, but it's astonishing that three men were imprisoned 129 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: indefinitely while the admitted criminal walked away scott free. Patrick 130 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: Leon tried to make the best of a bad situation 131 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 1: by writing a tell all book about the whole messy ordeal. 132 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,959 Speaker 1: His first hand account has proven invaluable to historians, as 133 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: it's supplied much of the information we have about the 134 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: heist today. It also provided an unintended lesson on the 135 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: importance of brevity, as Leon gave his book a ridiculously 136 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: long title. It reads as follows the narrative of Patrick Leon, 137 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 1: who suffered three months severe imprisonment in Philadelphia jail on 138 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: merely a vague suspicion of being concerned and a robbery 139 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,680 Speaker 1: of the Bank of Pennsylvania, with his remarks thereon quite 140 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: a mouthful, but in his defense he was a blacksmith 141 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: by trade, not a writer. Long winded title aside, Leon's 142 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: book actually helped him find justice in the end, as 143 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: it attracted the attention of several prominent lawyers. With their help, 144 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: Leon was able to sue the state in eighteen o 145 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: five for malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment. In the end, 146 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: the jury took his side and awarded him twelve thousand 147 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: dollars in damages. That ruling was appealed by the defense, 148 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: but was settled out of court with Leon for nine 149 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: thousand dollars before the second trial could begin. That reduced 150 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: award was still a very tidy sum in those days, 151 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: representing several years worth of wages for a tradesman. The 152 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: money allowed Leon to start at his own business, manufacturing 153 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: hand pumped fire engines. The venture proved quite successful, and 154 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: by all accounts, he was able to live the rest 155 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: of his life with all wants provided. He even managed 156 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: to avoid dying of yellow fever. Way to go, Pat, 157 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: I'm Gay, Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 158 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 159 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 160 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if 161 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can always send 162 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: them my way at this day at I heeart media 163 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 164 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 165 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 1: here again soon for another day in History class.