A blog about living in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

History: Attempted Jail Break at New Brunswick (1871)

The 23 December 1871 edition of The Matawan Journal published an account of a recent attempted jail break at the Middlesex County jail in New Brunswick, as reported by the New York Sun.

The NY Sun on Tuesday published a statement that an attempt was made on Sunday night last to rescue Edwards, the Jamesburg bank robber, from the Middlesex jail, located at New Brunswick. A gang of men hired a wagon and drove to Perth Amboy; here they left the wagon and proceeded to New Brunswick. One of the men was disguised as a policeman and purported to be bringing a prisoner. It was after midnight when they reached the jail and the jailor opened the door, whereupon the party of eight ruffians, armed and masked, bound and gagged the jailor; and with a revolver pointed at his brains, demanded the keys of the prison. Edwards was up and ready for the "new departure" and the effort was made to unlock his cell, but none of the keys would fit. The gang then told the jailor to get up and unlock the door, and if he refused they would blow his brains out. At this juncture, Deputy Sheriff Applegate hearing the noise hurried down stairs, but being heard by the men, the door was held and he was unable to get down. He fired through the panels of the door and the men made a speedy escape. When last seen one of them seemed to have been injured, but none of the party was overtaken.