Escapes
There were many escapes in the Jail’s 154-year history. An incomplete list of inmates who escaped appears below. We have written about some of them in various issues of our newsletter, the Prison Museum Post. Our newsletters are archived on this website under the “Resources” tab on the home page. Type “escape” into the search box to find the issues that mention escapes.
Before we get to the list, we invite you to come to the museum and enjoy our Escape Game, which is loosely based on the escape of inmate Eddie Adamski in 1933. He was a member of the “After Dinner Gang”, well known for robbing wealthy South Jersey families while they were out to dinner. The game is a lot of fun, and takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete. Here are some pictures of gamers using clues in the “game case” to break out:
ESCAPES:
YEAR | NAME | CRIME |
|---|---|---|
1819 | Samuel Leaming a/k/a William Thomson and Obadiah Reed | Unknown |
1833 | Joel Clough | Murder |
1851 | Charles Lety | Larceny |
1856 | Peter Riggin | Passing bogus coin |
1860 | Samuel Ringold | Burglary |
1866 | Three unnamed prisoners | |
1869 | Brown | Robbery |
1869 | Thomas Broom, | Burglary |
Robert Mullaney, | Horse theft | |
Unnamed boy from Beverly | ||
1870 | William Henry Braddock | |
1872 | Charles Alexander, | Grand larceny |
John Hartman, | Assault and battery with attempt to kill postmaster | |
George Johnson, | Grand larceny | |
George Davis, | Grand larceny | |
George Early | Grand larceny | |
1874 | Risley, Teomey and Birch | Unknown |
1875 | George Atkinson, | Burglary |
Lorenzo Atkinson | ||
Stone Gibbs | ||
1877 | Lorenzo Atkinson, | Burglary |
George Atkinson, | ||
George Jeffries | ||
1877 | Hugh Miller | Pickpocket |
John Wilkinson | Unknown | |
1878 | Curliss Gouldy | Larceny |
1879 | Charles Seines | Unknown |
1879 | Charles Gaines | Unknown |
1879 | Henry Wilkinson a/k/a Alexander Johnson | Burglary |
1881 | Charles Hart, | Assault and battery |
James Burk, | Fighting, resisting arrest | |
Thomas Kelly | Fighting, resisting arrest | |
1881 | Reuben Reed | Atrocious assault and battery |
1881 | Richard Simmons “Red Dick No. 2” | Theft |
1882 | William Griffin, | Unknown |
Thomas Gibbs | ||
James Henderson | ||
1882 | Thomas Gibbs a/k/a Givens, | Bigamy |
James Henderson | Unknown | |
William Griffin | Unknown | |
1883 | William Riley | Assault and battery, shooting officer with intent to kill |
Reuben Reed | Larceny | |
John Moriarty | Horse stealing | |
Frederick Rindfrey | Assault and battery | |
1883 | Frederick Renfrew | Assault and battery and highway robbery |
1884 | John Booz | Burglary |
1884 | Fred Penny | Larceny |
1888 | Lorenzo Atkinson | Unknown |
1890 | Lorenzo Atkinson and William Bird | Robbery |
1892 | Lorenzo Atkinson | Theft |
1897 | Lee Eckert (escaped arrest) | Horse theft |
1899 | Charles Flora a/k/a Wappy, | Chicken thieves |
Four other unnamed inmates | ||
1915 | Howard Robinson | Embezzlement |
1915 | Orwin Pippitt | Disorderly |
1917 | Giovanni Iraca | Murder |
1922 | John Deno | Robbery |
1933 | Edward Adamski a/k/a Edward Adamsky | Carrying concealed Deadly weapon |
Harry Burns | ||
1941 | Samuel Force | Child support |
1963 | Herbert Lieber, Jr. | Auto theft |
THE GREAT CINDINI
Although the Jail closed in 1965, we nevertheless had an “escape” years later, in May of 2007. The Great Cindini, an escape artist from Florida, stopped at the museum on her way to a gig on Coney Island. She was straightjacketed by museum attendant Marisa Bozarth and handcuffed by a County Sheriff officer with his own handcuffs. She was then locked in a cell on the top floor. About 10 lookers-on watched as she was confined and then walked downstairs. When they reached the bottom, they were amazed to turn around and see Cindini following them on the stairs!
