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CAPTAIN JOSEPH RICHARDSON.
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by the appearance of counterfeit bills, imitating so closely the currency of those provinces, as to make their detection extremely difficult. They were issued in considerable numbers, and with such dexterity, that for a long time the authorities, though earnest and on the alert, were completely baffled. Finally, in 1773, a clue to the source whence they came, it was believed, had been discovered, and it pointed toward two persons, one well known to the community, and the other comparatively obscure. Samuel Ford was with some difficulty captured, and having been convicted, ended his life upon the scaffold. On Wednesday the 18th of August, the sheriff of Philadelphia county, provided with a warrant from one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and attended by an armed posse of resolute men, hastened with great secrecy to arrest Joseph Richardson. Tradition tells that the officers of the law surrounded his house in the night, and awoke him from his slumbers. He recognized from his chamber window some of them as acquaintances, and inviting them courteously inside, entertained them in such manner as the unexpectedness of their visit permitted. Though surprised at the enormity of the charge, he expressed a perfect willingness to accompany them, and only requested delay long enough to enable him to arrange his clothing. While, however, he was displaying the blandness and suavity of a host toward welcome guests, his Quaker wife, true to her husband, and we dare not say false to her faith, quietly escaped from the house and saddled the fleetest of his fine horses. Suddenly he jumped from a rear window, and, with needless bravado, appearing a moment afterward mounted before the eyes of his astonished companions, he shouted, “Now, come along, gentlemen,” and rode away into the darkness. Startled by this unexpected coup, they discharged their