“At the first opportunity he broke into a barn and secured a horse, with which he proceeded to Mount Clemens, in Macomb county.
“Here he effected an entrance to a hotel, with the premises of which he was familiar, and helped himself to a complete and comfortable suit of clothing, which he carefully selected from the wardrobes of the various guests with the utmost impartiality, and also procured some slight refreshment from the pantry.
“He then remounted and pursued his journey without interruption to within four miles of Detroit, when he stopped at the house of a friend and left the horse which he had ‘borrowed’ near Port Huron, with instructions to return it to the owner, which instructions were afterwards fully carried out.
“The indefatigable Doty then proceeded to Detroit, and while there he slipped into the United States Hotel—long since destroyed by fire—and made some necessary additions to his somewhat limited wardrobe.
“From thence it was an easy matter to get into Canada, where for some time he worked at shoemaking, which trade he had learned at the prison; but he soon became involved in a quarrel with his employer, and after thoroughly ‘licking’ that individual, he came back to this State.
“Several times after his return he narrowly escaped arrest, and became the recognised leader of a gang of thieves who infested the southern parts of the State.
“Soon afterwards he and several of his party were arrested for robbing the waggon of a Jew pedlar from Detroit, who was travelling through Hillsdale county. Doty was convicted upon this charge, and brought up before the venerable Judge Pratt, then of Marshall, for sentence.
“Nearly everyone has read or heard the story of how Judge Pratt, who was a man of very brusque manner, commanded the prisoner to stand up.
“‘Sile Doty,’ said the judge, ‘how old are you?’
“‘Fifty-three,’ responded Doty.