1798 Bank of Pennsylvania heist

1798 robbery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 1798 Bank of Pennsylvania heist 1798 08 31 1798 09 01 Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Robbery Bank of Pennsylvania Patrick Lyon Isaac Davis and Thomas Cunningham thumb|Pat Lyon at the Forge (1829), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The 1798 Bank of Pennsylvania heist was the robbery of $162,821 (over $US 162821 1800 -5 today) on the night between August 31 and September 1, 1798, from the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Isaac Davis and Thomas Cunningham.https://www.carpentershall.org/americas-first-bank-robbery America's First Bank Robbery Avery Ron Carpenters' Hall It is notable as the first major bank robbery in the United States. Crime The bank showed no signs of forced entry and the vault was believed to have been opened with a forged key.https://books.google.com/books?id=rSLoSibEXlsC&dq=1798+bank+robbery&pg=PA20 Crime Through Time Capstone Classroom Townsend, John 2005 20 978-1-4109-2056-0 https://books.google.com/books?id=YG-FBAAAQBAJ King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America Globe Pequot Conway J. North 2009 40–41 978-0-7627-6680-2 False imprisonment of Pat Lyon Patrick Lyon, a blacksmith who had forged the vault doors and fitted the locks just weeks before the robbery, was initially a suspect in the heist. However, Lyon had left Philadelphia for Lewes, Delaware on August 26, 1798, to escape a yellow fever epidemic.https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/patrick-lyon-1769-1829/ Patrick Lyon (1769-1829) Mount Vernon Lyon returned to Philadelphia to plead his case but he was imprisoned anyway; constable John Haines wanted to collect the $2,000 reward. Lyon spent three months in Walnut Street Jail, much of it in solitary confinement, where he did contract yellow fever and almost died.https://www.pafa.org/museum/collection/item/pat-lyon-forge Pat Lyon at the Forge Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts His bail was set at $150,000, almost the entire amount that was stolen.https://books.google.com/books?id=prAwAQAAMAAJ&dq=walnut+street+prison+pat+lyon&pg=PA128 Proceedings of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, Volume 28 Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia 1911 127–128 Perpetrators The two perpetrators of the heist, Isaac Davis, a member of the Carpenters' Company, the guild that owned the building, and Thomas Cunningham, a porter at the bank, were later caught. Cunningham died of yellow fever several days after the heist. Davis, who had visited Lyon's shop while he was forging the doors, aroused suspicion after depositing the stolen money in several banks, including the one he had burglarized, and he later confessed to the heist. Patrick Lyon stayed in jail even after Isaac Davis confessed to the robbery. Davis admitted to the crime after being caught depositing the stolen money and was let go in a deal arranged by his uncle, a powerful judge. Despite this, Lyon was not released right away because bank officials still suspected he had made a copy of the vault key.2023-08-31 The first major bank heist in America happened 225 years ago in Philly — and the wrong guy went to prison https://www.phillyvoice.com/first-bank-robbery-us-philly-carpenters-hall-patrick-lyon/ 2025-07-28 PhillyVoice english However, in a corrupt deal brokered by Davis's uncle, Benjamin Brannon, a powerful judge, Davis was pardoned by the Governor of Pennsylvania without serving any jail time after he gave back the stolen money in a plea bargain.https://www.phillyvoice.com/first-bank-robbery-us-philly-carpenters-hall-patrick-lyon/ The first major bank heist in America happened 225 years ago in Philly — and the wrong guy went to prison Kristin Hunt PhillyVoice August 31, 2023 Aftermath Lyon was cleared by a grand jury in January 1799. Lyon wrote a book on his false imprisonment titled Narrative of Patrick Lyon Who Suffered Three Months Severe Imprisonment in Philadelphia Gaol on Merely a Vague Suspicion of Being Concerned in a Robbery of the Bank of Pennsylvania With his Remarks Thereon, published in 1799. He sued the president of the Bank of Pennsylvania, two other bank officials, the city constable and an alderman for damages over false imprisonment. Lyon was represented by Alexander J. Dallas. In 1805, after a 4-hour deliberation by a jury, Lyon was awarded $12,000 ($US 12000 1805 -2 c today) for false imprisonment; in 1807, an appeal by the defendants was settled out of court for $9,000 ($US 9000 1807 -2 c today). Using the funds from his settlement payment, Lyon commissioned a portrait of himself painted by John Neagle, titled Pat Lyon at the Forge, depicting Lyon standing at a forge with the cupola of the Walnut Street Prison visible in the background. See also List of bank robbers and robberies References External links Robbery of the Bank of Pennsylvania in 1798 the Trial in the Supreme Court of the State of Pennsylvania Narrative of Patrick Lyon Who Suffered Three Months Severe Imprisonment in Philadelphia Gaol on Merely a Vague Suspicion of Being Concerned in a Robbery of the Bank of Pennsylvania With his Remarks Thereon America's First Bank Robbery - Travel Channel 39.9481 -75.1472 title Category:1798 crimes in the United States Category:1798 in Pennsylvania Category:Bank robberies in the United States Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in Pennsylvania Category:Penal system in Pennsylvania