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Northampton Bank robbery

1876 crimes in North America1876 crimes in the United States1876 in MassachusettsCrimes in MassachusettsHistory of Massachusetts
Individual theftsOrganized crime in the United StatesRobberies in the United States
Northampton Bank in 1876
Northampton Bank in 1876

On January 26, 1876, the Northampton Bank in Northampton, Massachusetts, was robbed of $1.6 million ($26 million in 2019) in cash, bonds, and other securities by the Rufus Gang, which was led by Thomas Dunlap, Robert Scott, and George Leonidas Leslie. Leslie planned the robbery, but did not participate physically. It was the largest bank robbery in U.S. history at the time. 75 depositors lost their money. In 1874, the bank hired safe manufacturer Herring & Co. to install a new lock on the vault. Herring & Co. sent William Edson, a bank robber and traveling sales agent for the company. In 1875, he copied the key to the vault and to the bank and gave them to the Rufus Gang. On the night of the robbery, they got the safe combination from the bank's cashier, Mr. Whittlesey, whom they tortured at his house until he gave it up. After the robbery, Leslie cut ties with Dunlap and Scott over their use of violence, which was not a part of his plan. Edson was caught, and was freed after turning state's evidence. Dunlap, Scott, and member Billy Connors were sentenced to 20 years in prison. Scott eventually returned the securities to the bank in an unsuccessful attempt at gaining leniency. Leslie was not implicated until the investigation into the Manhattan robbery, but he was never convicted.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Northampton Bank robbery (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Northampton Bank robbery
Center Street, Northampton

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N 42.318888888889 ° E -72.631111111111 °
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Center Street
01060 Northampton
Massachusetts, United States
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Northampton Bank in 1876
Northampton Bank in 1876
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Northampton Downtown Historic District
Northampton Downtown Historic District

The Northampton Downtown Historic District encompasses most of the central business district of Northampton, Massachusetts. This area, which has been a center of commerce and industry in the area since colonial days, extends from the railroad tracks on the east side of the downtown, and west along Main Street to its junction with West Street and Elm Street. When the district was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it ended at the railroad tracks, and included properties on a number of other downtown streets; this was extended in 1985 to include a few properties just east of the railroad tracks on and near Bridge Street. The district includes such notable buildings as the 1891 Academy of Music Theatre, and Northampton's castle-like City Hall.Northampton was settled (and incorporated as a town) in 1653, and was reincorporated as a city in 1883. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially a rural market town, which also served as the county seat of Hampshire County. Main Street was from the start its center of civic and economic affairs, even as industrialization and changes in transportation brought economic development. The downtown's first major period of growth was after the American Civil War, spurred by the arrival of railroads and by the development of industry along the Mill River. A fire in 1870 destroyed surviving wood-frame commercial buildings on Main Street, and most subsequent commercial growth was in masonry. A second period of growth in the 1890s eliminated most of the remaining residences on Main Street west of the railroad.