An Ingenious Excuse: The True Story of Patrick Lyon and the First Great American Bank Robbery

by John and Nancy Lankenau

Overview

On the morning of September 2, 1798, just after first light, the back door to Carpenters' Hall is discovered ajar. Gold, silver, banknotes-the vast riches of a well-guarded bank vault-all of it gone without a trace. Frantic bankers secure an arrest warrant for the clever blacksmith who worked on the vault doors, a young Scot who crossed the ocean like thousands of others on America's promise of liberty and opportunity. Bankers know him to be innocent but lock him up anyway, then leave him to die in their fever-ridden jail. An incredible true tale of history about the first big bank robbery in America. It's a David and Goliath story about a recent immigrant who must uncover the truth about a robbery he didn't commit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942586821
Publisher:	Little Creek Press
Publication date:	08/28/2020
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John and Nancy live in the small town of Lake Havasu City, located in northwestern Arizona. John is a practicing orthopaedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery. When he is not caring for his patients, John's interests include a lifetime love of flying. If not flying, John can be found reading or fly fishing on a quiet creek in Colorado. Nancy loves outdoor activities of all kinds. After completion of a J.D./Ph.D. and admission to the Colorado Bar, Nancy worked first in special education law at the state level and later in higher education at the University of Colorado.

Table of Contents

Map 15

The Robbery: September 1 - September 2, 1798 17

Part I (Three Weeks Later) 21

Fastened in the Net … September 21, 1798

Part II (Five Years Before) 25

Come to America … November 1793

The Mechanic … November 1793 - July 1795

Business for Myself … 1796 - 1797

Part III (One Year Later) 39

Stop the Work … August 1 - August 8, 1798

Damn It … August 9 - August 13, 1798

Went to a Peach Boat … August 20 - August 27, 1798

Far from Home … August 28 - September 4, 1798

Innocent People Suspected … September 5 - September 18, 1798

Part IV (Three Days Later) 63

A Red Pocketbook … September 20, 1798

The Domestics Began to Quarrel … September 20, 1798 (Later That Day)

Here I Am … September 21, 1798

Close Confinement … September 21, 1798 (Later That Day)

Without a Morsel … September 22, 1798

Keep Quiet … September 23, 1798

Part V 89

Keen for the Reward … Late September 1798

Dark Machinations … Early October 1798

Good for Nothing … October 21, 1798

Truth Being My Mistress … October 21 - October 28, 1798

We Have Got Hold of You … October 29, 1798

Supposed Friends … Late October 1798

Part VI 125

Fresh Orders … Early November 1798

Artist of the First Respectability … November 9, 1798

At Those Words I Took Fire … November 14, 1798

The Spirit of Independence … Mid-November 1798

The Curtain Rose … November 19, 1798

Don't Speak So Loud … November 20, 1798

Part VII 153

A Quire of Paper … November 21 - December 13, 1798

To My Great Surprise … December 14, 1798

The Honest Man's Friend … Late December 1798

Keep the Peace… Early January 1799

Bills of Indictment… Mid-January 1799

Buried in Oblivion … Later in 1799

Part VIII (Seven Years Later) 187

Brought to the Bar … December 13, 1805

More Careful of the Keys … December 13, 1805 (Later That Day)

Principle and Duty … December 14, 1805

Nothing Harsh … December 14, 1805 (Later That Day)

I Was Certainly in Error … December 16, 1805

The House Was Very Full … December 16, 1805 (Minutes Later)

Part IX 243

Labyrinth of Absurdities … December 16, 1805 (Later That Day)

That Only Proves He Had Opened the Lock … December 16, 1805 (Early Evening)

Monsters in Human Shape … December 17, 1805

True Tint … December 17, 1805 (Later That Day)

Jingle of False Keys … December 18, 1805

Charge to the Jury … December 18, 1805 (Two Hours Later)

Verdict: December 19, 1805 283

Epilogue: November 4, 1825 (Twenty Years Later) 286

Source Notes 290

Editorial Reviews

"A historical account of a blacksmith who tests the limits of America’s justice system. It is “a rare and extraordinary glimpse into early patrician America.” It’s the story of an immigrant who “discovers the truths written in the Declaration of Independence to be anything but self-evident.” A good portion of the narrative relies on dialogue, and the authors make it clear that it’s pulled from real exchanges gathered via trial transcripts, journals, and other primary sources. A well-researched and highly readable historical account." —Kirkus Review 

From the Publisher

2020-09-02
A historical account of a blacksmith who tests the limits of America’s justice system.

In 1798 Philadelphia, Patrick Lyon is a hardworking, honest blacksmith. He’s a Scottish immigrant who fairly recently became a citizen of the United States and leagues away from the monied class that controls the fledgling republic’s government. Summers are a dangerous time in Philadelphia, as yellow fever rages, and those who can afford it leave for the countryside. Lyon can’t, so through most of the summer he keeps his shop open and does work for a number of customers, including the Bank of Pennsylvania. But when disease becomes too much to bear, he leaves for Delaware. While he’s gone, the Bank of Pennsylvania is robbed; Lyon is charged with the robbery without probable cause and held in jail for months. Authors Lankenau and Lankenau prove to have done their research; in an authors’ note, they establish that this book isn’t simply about one man’s abuse at the hands of an early United States justice system—it is “a rare and extraordinary glimpse into early patrician America.” It’s the story of an immigrant who “discovers the truths written in the Declaration of Independence to be anything but self-evident” and a book that weighs in on issues of its day without doing so in a didactic manner. A good portion of the narrative relies on dialogue, and the authors make it clear that it’s pulled from real exchanges gathered via trial transcripts, journals, and other primary sources; a comprehensive list of notes can be found at the end of the book. Sections in italics are direct quotations—exactly how the speakers said or wrote them more than 200 years ago. Because the authors are so transparent about their process, readers will trust in the narrative’s accuracy even when the structure seems clunky; the book relies on relatively short sections and chapters that make for easy reading but aren’t necessarily ideal for cohesive, sustained storytelling.

A well-researched and highly readable historical account.

Kirkus Reviews