Markham Gang
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The Markham Gang was a notorious
criminal organization In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
located primarily in
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,
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, in the middle of the 19th century. Evolving from organizations founded to support the
Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the Oligarchy, oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the Lower Canada Rebe ...
of 1837, the Markham Gang used its private communications network of couriers across what was then
Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...
to build a criminal empire that spread into neighbouring states. Like the organization that spawned them, the Markham Gang was made up primarily of well-to-do farm owners and their families. The gang was broken up in 1846 with one
hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
, four
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
s and many lesser convictions, but the survivors were almost all released within five years and returned to society. The name of the gang, an invention of the press, came from the final series of arrests which took place in
Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...
.


Activities

Most of the gang's activities could best be described as petty theft, including stealing watches, blankets and clothing on lines, harnesses from barns, and even "pilfering from hen's roosts" (stealing eggs). To make the system pay, the gang organized pickups to collect the stolen goods and carry them far from the site of the theft, where they could be safely sold without suspicion. No member was allowed to take any items to their own homes, and
search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...
s failed to turn up any incriminating evidence as a result. Items worth more money, like watches, could be transported as far as
Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...
, where they would be exchanged for
counterfeit money Counterfeit money is currency produced outside of the legal sanction of a state or government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its recipient. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud ...
at the rate of $100 for each $10 of goods. The counterfeit money, known as "boodle", was then distributed to the lower ranking members of the gang. The boodle was passed off locally by these members, who were careful to carry only one counterfeit bill and always be able to make good any payment if the bill was questioned. Boodle was also produced locally by members of the gang, notably Matthew Udell.Butts, pg. 17 Higher-ranking members of the gang also added horse and cattle stealing to their activities. Organizing via the same networks used for distribution of smaller goods, the members would arrange to steal two horses on the same night. They would then meet, switch horses, and ride home the same night. That way they were in their home town in the morning, with a horse that was from so far away they could not have travelled to that town and back in one night. In one instance they added another twist to the action; having been told where "his" horse had been sold in Newcastle, Thomas Alsop went to the farmer with an
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...
stating it had been stolen, along with a description that unsurprisingly matched his accomplice, Henry Johnson. The farmer, worried about being in possession of stolen goods, immediately turned the horse over to Alsop, who then sold it further abroad. Johnson then pulled the same trick against the farmer Alsop had sold his horse to in Brantford. Both were able to use this trick several times in a row, ultimately reaching the US border and selling them for the last time there. Couriers were also used to scout out locations for more complete robberies, by plying their trades among the farms and then communicating the locations of worthwhile goods up the hierarchy. The gang made sure that the non-professional "special constables" that were the only semblance of
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
outside Toronto or
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, were either part of the gang or threatened off. With no inter-country recording of crimes, the pattern of activity was never spotted in spite of it being widespread.Butts, pg. 18


Breakup

On the night of 7 November 1845 several high-ranking members of the gang from the Reach Township robbed a local farmer, John Morrow, believing he had large amounts of cash in his house. They burst in upon him at night, but found only $72.50 that he made selling some oxen in
Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...
. Believing Morrow was holding out, they assaulted both Morrow and his wife trying to find more, before rummaging about the house and finally leaving. Morrow recognized several people in the group and reported the events the next day.Butts, pg. 19 Hiram and James Stoutenborough were arrested on 12 November and released on bail. Soon after, however, Casper Stotts was arrested and questioned by
George Gurnett George Gurnett ( 1792 – November 17, 1861) was a Canadian journalist and city of Toronto politician. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada. Born in Sussex, England, he emigrated in the 1820s to Virginia. Gurnett later moved to ...
, Clerk of the Peace for the
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and alderman of
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, and powerful member of the
Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today's Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...
. Stotts turned on Daniel Spencer, and soon the two led to the arrest of Burr, Alsop, The Badgerow brothers, and many others. King Street Gaol was soon filling up with members, caught on the lam or fetched from other prisons.
William Hume Blake William Hume Blake (10 March 1809 – 15 November 1870) was an Irish-Canadian jurist and politician. He was the father of Edward Blake, an Ontario Premier and federal Liberal party of Canada leader, and the first Chancellor of Upper Canada. H ...
, leader of the Reform Party and a major foe of the Family Compact, came to the defence of the accused. He portrayed the case as being politically motivated, with Gurnett paying back supporters of
William Lyon Mackenzie William Lyon Mackenzie (March12, 1795 August28, 1861) was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician. He founded newspapers critical of the Family Compact, a term used to identify the establishment of Upper Canada. He represe ...
with threats of jail time or hangings. Although his defence was spirited, in the end Robert Burr, Nathan Case and Hiram and James Stoutenborough were all sentenced to death for their part in the Morrow robbery, and a further eleven members received sentences between 7 years and 8 months for larceny or forgery. However, the death penalties were later commuted to prison sentences by the Attorney General of the Province of Canada, which was a common practice in the British colonies. This was not quite the end of the gang, however. On the morning of 12 November 1846, William McPhillips, manager of Logan's General Store in Markham, was found dead after apparently having been beaten with a hammer the night before. Gurnett personally traveled to Markham and questioned everyone about possible ties to the Markham Gang, but ultimately came away empty-handed. However, several people reported seeing gang member Stephen Turney in Toronto buying jewelry and clothing, and was arrested when he could not explain where he got them. After first blaming John Biggins, claiming he was merely an accomplice, the court convicted Turney and he was hanged on 23 June 1847.Butts, pg. 23 The case captured the attention of the
British Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the September 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''Brit ...
newspaper in Toronto. They had been tracking the story of a string of robberies east of Toronto for some time, and dedicated a considerable amount of the efforts to documenting the case now that the gang was being rounded up. The complete story was later published in complete form as "An Account of the Markham Gang". With Turney's arrest the paper once again took the lead publicizing the events, but this time found themselves being castigated by other local newspapers for sensationalizing the events. The hanging was the final end to the Gang, and as the other members left jail they "took up honest pursuits", many claiming they had lost more money than they could have ever made honestly. One member of the gang, Oliver Badgerow, is buried in Greenwood Conservation Area in
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
, Ontario. This land was formerly part of his 100-acre farm. His grave can be found south-east of the main parking lot. An iron railing is in place in an effort to protect the flat gravestone on which his name is still clearly visible.


In culture and literature

* A reference to the Markham Gang plays a pivotal role in J. Ross Clara's short play ''Open Mic''.


References


Notes


Bibliography


"An Account of the Markham Gang"
Scobie & Balfour, 1846 * Edward Butts, "The Desperate Ones: Forgotten Canadian Outlaws", Dundurn Press, 2006, * Antonio Nicaso, "Extortion and racketeering, Part 2", ''Tandem'', 24 June 2001
"Mayhem to Murder"
Paul Arculus, 2003


Further reading

* Paul Arculus, "Mayhem to Murder: The History of the Markham Gang", Observer Publishing, 2003, {{refend Pre-Confederation Ontario Gangs in Ontario