Part 9. The Nathan Henninger farm was located in Cameron Township, near Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. While four to six men were burglarizing Henninger’s stone house, a gunfire exchange took place, and one of the robbers was killed. Four men were later captured and put on trial in Sunbury in March, 1876. All four were found guilty and sent to prison. Another man, who testified against the burglars, was believed to have been involved but was never charged.
Follow the story as reported by newspapers of the time.
Featured photo (above) is the story of the conviction as reported in newspapers throughout the country. From the Lansdale Reporter, March 30, 1876.
From the Sunbury Gazette & Northumberland County Republican, March 24, 1876:
Wednesday, March 22 [1876]:
Court opened at 8 o’clock this morning. The case of the Mahanoy robbers was pleaded by Malick and Wolverton for the Commonwealth, and Clement and Sober for the defendants. Each gentleman occupied over half an hour. At 11:40 Court adjourned till 1 o’clock this afternoon.
Afternoon Session.
The Judge’s charge occupied about two hours, and at about five minutes of five they returned, bringing in a verdict of guilty in manner and form as indicated.
The counsel for the defence asked for a new trial, filing reasons, but they were overruled by the Court.
The Court then sentenced the prisoners as follows:
Michael Haley. Pay a fine of $100, costs of prosecution, and undergo an imprisonment in the eastern Penitentiary, at solitary confinement and hard labor, for the term of seven years from this day.
George Levens. Pay a fine of $100, costs of prosecution, and undergo an imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary, at solitary confinement and hard labor, for the term of eight years from this day.
Martin Farrel. Pay a fine of $100, costs of prosecution, and undergo an imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary , at solitary confinement and hard labor, for the term of nine years from this day.
Philip Delaney. Pay a fine of $100, costs of prosecution, and undergo an imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary, at solitary confinement and hard labor, for the term of ten years from this day.
While sentence was being pronounced on them, the faces of the prisoners seemed to wear about the same look they did during the trial. After the Judge had finished speaking, Farrel said: “That cap convicted me, but it’s not mine – I never wore it” and Delaney said: “As God is my witness, I am not guilty.” Be that it may, the last act of the drama has been closed; the actors retired from the stage, and the curtain dropped on the scene. They may be innocent, but it is to be presumed they are not. If they are innocent, they are victims of circumstantial evidence; if guilty, they have received their just deserts. A jury of twelve good men have said that Haley, Delaney, Levens, and Farrel are guilty of the crime with which they were charged, and the public have no right to think otherwise.
After the sentences were passed the prisoners were taken to the jail, accompanied by several of their friends and a number of curious people. The parting of Delaney with his two brothers, at the door of the jail, was an affecting scene. His brother John wept bitterly, as also did Mrs. Delaney, his sister-in-law, and several other lady friends.
From the Sunbury Gazette, March 24, 1876:
The Mahanoy Robbery Trial – Conviction of the Offenders.
The trial of the parties charged with the commission of the robbery in Cameron Township, on the 12th of January [1876], was concluded on Wednesday in their conviction. The jury went out at about 3 o’clock, p. m., and returned the verdict in about an hour. We understand that there was no difference of opinion among the Jurors, and their agreement as to a decision was prompt and direct. They balloted on the guilt or innocence of the accused separately, and “guilty” was the unanimous vote in each case. After the rending of the verdict in open court, the Judge proceeded to sentence the prisoners. Delaney was sentenced for ten years, Farrell for nine, Levans for eight, and Haley for seven years. Different terms of imprisonment were given the, we suppose, to avoid their coming out all at one time. As Delaney was evidently the projector and ringleader in devising the burglary, he got the heaviest sentence, and as Haley is the only married man of the party, consideration for his family may have influenced the Court in giving him the lightest.
From the Sunbury Gazette, March 24, 1876:
Taking the Prisoners to the Penitentiary.
The party of prisoners convicted at the March term of court and sentenced to the penitentiary, were taken to Philadelphia, on the 9:40 train, on Thursday morning by Sheriff Strine, assisted by Samuel Culp, Reuben Thurston, John Peeler, and George Conrad. The party included the four burglars, Delaney, Farrell, Levens and Haley, and John Lunger, Henry Helt and James Delaney.
A large crowd assembled at the depot to see the prisoners off. A number of the friends of the condemned burglars, including female relatives, were present, and their grief at parting was plainly and loudly expressed. The scene was quite affecting, and was but another instance of the truth of the old adage that “the way of the transgressor is hard.”
From the Sunbury Gazette, March 31, 1876:
The Mahanoy robbers were inside of the walls of the penitentiary in twenty-four hours after they received their sentence.
The end.
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Articles from Newspapers.com.
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