Folk Heroes:
American Highwaymen I
Folklore is filled with legends, myths and fables
about men and women who were known for their lawless deeds. Among them are the
highwaymen. These real-life pirates of the land robbed travelers and left paths
of destruction in their wake. This may well be what people remember most about
them.
The following three tales focus on
American highwaymen whose thievery and cunning lived well on after they had
died.
The
Doan Brothers: Between 1781 and 1788, the Doan Brothers
formed a gang of at least 30 men. Together they terrorized small eastern
Pennsylvania towns. Robberies, shootouts and jailbreaks were common acts for
them. Historians have suggested that
they do so as a form of retribution. This payback was meant to even the score
and then some for land being taken from their family during the American
Revolutionary War. This retaliation led
to a path of crime that death stopped.
Ben
Kuhl:
This man earned his fame by being a part of the last horse-drawn stage robbery
in the United States. In 1916, Kuhl and a few friends attacked the driver of a
first-class mail stage and shot him in the back of the head, leaving behind an
overcoat and a bloody envelope. The culprits fled with over $4,000 in gold
coins. They nearly got away with it. Witnesses helped the police identity Kuhl
and the bloody envelope left behind with his palm prints on it was used in
court as evidence.
David
Lewis: “The Robin Hood of Pennsylvania” became a deserter
soon after enlisting in the Army at the age of 17. From there he embarked on a
new trade, counterfeiting. After Lewis had escaped prison (and the death
sentence), he made his way to Vermont to work on a new scheme. He focused on
robbing the city’s elites in order to garner the highest possible profit. After
a string of successful attacks, Lewis was wounded and captured and put in jail,
where he eventually died from gangrene infested wounds.
The list of American Highwaymen continues next week with
a brief look into the lives of James Ford, the Harpe Brothers, and others.
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