We remained at Brown’s and in the vicinity until after the middle of August, and I don’t believe that old Brown and his family had ever lived so well in his or their lives before. It was then that Wages commenced courting old Brown’s daughter, whom he afterward married; and it was then that Brown made the proposition to Wages to go into the “counterfeiting business;” and I am here compelled to say that the association of Allen Brown with us was the main cause of our exposure, the death of Wages and McGrath, and the annihilation of our clan, and the prime cause of my fate.
Well, we rusticated at Brown’s our time out, and all of us were fully satiated to our heart’s content, and now the time had arrived for us to leave for our places near Mobile. A small consultation as to the way of our departure was necessary, and as McGrath was a member of the church, and had made frequent visits to Brother Smith’s and Brother Bounds, he could go publicly any way, and was to go by way of the back Bay of Biloxi to visit the brethren about Evans’, while Wages and I prepared ourselves with three days provisions, and started one moonlight night—Brown with us, and two of his horses. He went with us about thirty miles that night, and left us in the morning and returned home. We lay-by that day near the road, and started a little before sunset and crossed Pascagoula at Fairley’s ferry before daylight next morning. We were then on our own native hills. We again laid by. The next night we crossed Dog river at Ward’s bridge, and reached home early in the morning. McGrath arrived about ten days after us. Our first business was, after resting awhile, to gather all our money and have a correct settlement and distribution of our funds.
Now it was honor among thieves! I disgorged all into the hands of Wages; he said to McGrath that he knew I had given up all. “Now, McGrath,” said Wages, “shell out.” So McGrath did turn out the seventeen hundred and twenty-five dollars. Wages said to him “where is that gospel money?” to which McGrath replied that the amount was small, and that he thought he ought to retain that for pocket and spending money. Wages then came out upon him in plain terms, and said: “McGrath, you came in with us upon equal terms, and if you wish to bulk or fly back, take your seventeen hundred dollars and leave, but look out for the consequences!” McGrath soon forked over about thirteen hundred dollars more. We had, when properly estimated, thirty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. This money was in joint stock between us three, and a proper appropriation and distribution of that sum was what we had next to look to.
“Now,” said Wages, “boys, we have this amount of money, part in possession, and the balance at command. Let us devise some plan to save it; this, however, you may reflect upon. Our next business is to get the whole in possession; when we have done that, our next business is to make the proper disposition of it. So now we have buried at one place four thousand five hundred dollars, and our deposits in bank in New Orleans six thousand six hundred and seventy-five dollars, and what we now have makes our account tally; our next business is to get it altogether. When we have done that we must reflect well; and,” said Wages to me, “James, I would rather that you and McGrath would lie down and sleep until I have all that matter accomplished, for I am fearful of your youthful imprudence, and McGrath’s imprudent Irish brogue to go in blind right or wrong, and always come out at the little end of the horn, as they did at Vinegar Hill, or as Mitchell, Meagher and others did in their recent effort in Ireland to obtain their liberty.” I then proposed to McGrath to give Wages the whole and sole control, to which he finally consented, though, I discovered, with some reluctance.
“Now, boys,” said Wages, “I wish you to consider yourselves upon the world until I return; and I enjoin on you not to commit any unlawful act during the time it may take to realize and gather together our money. For the certainty and uncertainty of life we cannot account; we will therefore deposit what money we have.” So we did—in the ground—and each took fifty dollars for pocket money.
As the whole matter was now understood, McGrath returned to the back Bay of Biloxi, to preaching and stealing, and I remained in the vicinity of Mobile, pretending to burn and sell charcoal; but in fact stealing and feeding a parcel of our loafing and starving clan in Mobile, such as G. Cleveland, and some others of less importance that I could name, but whose names are not worth the pen, ink and paper it would take to write them.
But I will now tell you all about this man G. Cleveland, so far as I know him. When Wages, McGrath and I were in St. Louis, we fell in with this fellow Cleveland. We had seen him before in Cincinnati, but not to form an acquaintance. In St. Louis he was all the time around us—he may have smelt us out. He was then selling spurious money of “New York North River Bank, Schommerhorn, president,” and several other banks of this same stripe. He traveled then in considerable style, with two large leather trunks, and they mostly packed with this spurious money. His portmanteau contained a great variety of “dickeys” and “collars,” and his natural appearance and address always imposed upon a person unacquainted with him. Wages then advised me not to have anything to do with him, as he was a dangerous tool; and he so advised me until the day of his death, but not taking Wages’ advice, Cleveland and his concern got out of me some three hundred dollars, with a faithful promise that I should be defended and protected; that jail doors, grates or bars should not hold me; but that they and their friends would burst asunder everything for me. Now see where his pledge falls. He and his whole concern will not flourish long. I have to suffer death solely for the want of a proper effort being made by them. I now leave Cleveland and the others to the mercy of their own conscience and the censure of the world.
Now to our affairs. Wages had returned to New Orleans, with all our money, and had purchased five barrels of whiskey, in one of which he had placed all the money. He had procured the whole of it in gold, and made a long, slim canvass bag, which he could pass through the bung-hole of the barrel, and in this bag he had placed his gold, mostly sovereigns, and five and ten dollar pieces of American coin. After placing the money in the barrel he put in the bung tight, and nailed on the tin; shipped it as an ordinary barrel of whiskey, and hauled it out to one of our camps, where we opened it, and took out the gold. We had on hand a considerable amount of bank notes of New Orleans and Mobile Banks. We then agreed that Wages should take it all, and exchange it for gold, under pretense of entering land for some company in Mississippi. Wages took his little two-horse wagon, loaded with pickets, and went to Mobile. The first trip he brought home near eight thousand dollars in gold, which was deposited with the rest. I then proposed to Wages and McGrath to make the amount in gold, thirty thousand dollars even, and bury it in some safe place, secure, so that we might have it for any emergency; and in case of the death of one of us, the other two were to share it; and if two died, one had all. So the next trip Wages made to Mobile, he brought the balance to make up the amount. We had three strong kegs made in Mobile, well iron-hooped, and we placed in each ten thousand dollars; filled all the crevices with clean, white sand, headed the kegs up, gave them three coats of paint, and after they were thoroughly dry, we buried them in a thick swamp on Hamilton’s Creek. The balance of our money we then divided between us equally, which gave each share about six hundred and twenty-five dollars.
To accomplish our settlement of affairs, brought about the middle of November, 1843. McGrath left for the back Bay of Biloxi, and I saw nothing more of him until after his marriage.
About two weeks after, Harden arrived at Wages’ riding a very fine horse, and had with him a likely mulatto fellow, riding on a very fine horse also, both of which he told me he sold to a man by the name of Jenkins. The first object to be effected was to kill and rob old man Sumrall. Mr. Newton was to turn preacher and go to Mr. Sumrall’s house, and by some means effect the object; but by some misstep his intention was discovered through one of the house servants, the alarm was given, and brother Newton was ordered to leave brother Sumrall’s premises. Wages and I lay in ambush, and had our appointed places to meet. We soon learned the result of Harden’s adventure at Sumrall’s. I returned to Mobile, Harden went to Louisiana, and Wages, by Jasper county, to Mobile. We were all to meet again about the last of February, on Black Creek, at the Pearlington road. We did meet, and a very few days after old Robert Lott was killed and all his money taken. This was sometime early in March, 1844. Wages was with Harden that night, and helped; I did not happen there. I met Wages next morning, at our camp, and he told me what was done, and turned me back. Harden and Wages had divided a little over two thousand dollars. Harden left a few nights after for the Mississippi swamp in Louisiana, and Wages and I for Mobile, and traveled altogether in the night, to avoid discovery.