Early American Crime

Note: This post continues “The Life of Levi Ames in Print.” On October 21, 1773 at around two o’clock in the afternoon, Levi Ames, who was convicted of burglary, emerged from the prison yard. With his arms bound and a halter looped around his neck, he followed the cart carrying his coffin to the gallows […]

On August 23, 1773, Martin Bicker took out the above newspaper advertisement in the hope that it would lead to the capture of Levi Ames’s accomplice in burglarizing his house. Tucked away in the back pages of the Boston Post-Boy, the ad marks the first time that Levi Ames was mentioned in print. Soon, however, […]

In May 1744, Elizabeth Robinson was sentenced at the Old Bailey in London to transportation to the American colonies for her involvement in the theft of 104 China oranges from a warehouse. She was loaded onto the Justitia that same month and eventually landed in Virginia. She ended up in Maryland, where she reportedly continued […]