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Tag Archives: Animal theft

Early American Criminals: The Canadian Burglars

[display_podcast] On Friday, December 4, 1789, William Mooney Fitzgerald and John Clark were scheduled to appear before the court in St. John, New Brunswick. They were to learn their sentence after being tried and found guilty of burglary the day before. That morning, Rev. Charles William Milton entered their prison cell and later wrote that […]

Early American Criminals: The Race of Johnson Green, Burglar

Johnson Green was born in Bridgewater, MA on February 7, 1757 to unmarried parents. His father was a servant who worked for Timothy Edson. His mother was a widow named Sarah Johnson. His mother’s maiden name was Green, so he was sometimes called Joseph-Johnson Green. Green’s father was African American; his mother was Irish. Green […]

Early American Criminals: John Dixon, the Recalcitrant Burglar

On August 21, 1784, a man entered the house of Capt. James Dagget of Reheboth, MA in the middle of the night and took several valuable items. He was soon caught and committed to the Taunton Gaol, where he gave his name as Abiel Brigs. The authorities knew better. They easily recognized him as John […]

Early American Criminals: Isaac Frasier’s Strike Out

Isaac Frasier was colonial America’s most prolific burglar. In his Brief Account of the Life, and Abominable Thefts, of the Notorious Isaac Frasier, he recorded over 50 acts of burglary and theft and stated that he committed many more that he could not specifically remember. He toured all over New England and into New York, […]

The American Malefactor’s Dictionary: antelope and antelope lay

antelope – a hog (ironic: “a hog’s ugliness and clumsiness are contrasted with an antelope’s beauty and grace”). antelope lay – hog stealing. Image by johnmuk via Flickr Sources Barnes, Daniel R. “An Early American Collection of Rogue’s Cant.” The Journal of American Folklore 79, no. 314 (Oct.-Dec., 1966), 600-607. Partridge, Eric. A Dictionary of […]