Thursday, September 30, 2010

1916 October 5, Cranberry King A.J. Rider Shot by Highwaymen after payroll.



The New York Times. October 06, 1916,
, Section , Page 1, Column , words

GIRL DRIVES AUTO WITH UNCLE DEAD AND FATHER SHOT; Daughter of "Cranberry King" Badly Wounded, Speeds from Holdup Men. DRIVER HOLDS OFF THIEVES Shot Seven Times, He Fires from Motor as Mrs. Smathers Guides Car. HAD $4,000 FOR PAYROLL Italians Waylaid Rider Party on Lonely Road in Jersey as They Went to Pay Workmen.


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  1. UnknownNovember 15, 2010 at 3:27 PM

    It was really exciting to see these newspaper stories about an event my father often told us about - almost like seeing a ghost from the past. As a young person in the 1950's, every time I navigated the dirt road from Carranza to Rt. 206, through Hampton Furnace (which we always called Rider's Bogs), I always envisioned the hold up and what it must have been like. Actually, I originally heard the story in the 40's when we lived in Washington State. My father was 25 when the event occurred (1916) and it was only a few miles from where he lived, so it must have made quite an impression. I'm sure that all his information was gained by word of mouth, as he thought the bog owner himself was killed when in fact it was the visiting brother. Another detail he remembered hearing was that the daughter was wounded but not killed because her corset stays deflected some of the bullets, allowing her to drive away. I also heard later on that Millie DeMarco was the first woman hung in the Mount Holly Jail, but this can't be true as the last person was hung there in 1906, and the last woman executed in NJ was around 1881. Thank you so much for providing concrete details to a "family legend."

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