George Leonidas Leslie (1842 – May/June 1878), who sometimes went by George Howard and George Herbert, was an American bank robber and architect. Known as the "King of Bank Robbers", he was involved in 80% of the bank robberies in the United States from 1869 to 1878.
Leslie grew up in Ohio, where he created a successful architectural firm. He closed it and left for New York City in 1869, due to ostracism over his evasion of the Union Army draft in the American Civil War. In New York, he met Fredericka Mandelbaum, a fence; she put Leslie in charge of a gang that stole almost $800,000 from the local Ocean National Bank in June 1869, the largest robbery in the city's history at the time. In 1876, Leslie was involved in the Northampton Bank robbery in Massachusetts, which netted $1.6 million. He was also involved in the robbery of Manhattan Savings Bank in New York City in 1878.
In 1878, Leslie attempted a bank robbery in Maine, where two of his gang's members murdered a cashier against Leslie's will. The gang became paranoid that Leslie would cooperate with Pinkerton investigators, and threatened him. In response, he delayed the Manhattan Savings Institution robbery in New York that he was planning with them, hoping to do it with another gang. He was killed before it happened, and police theorized someone in the gang murdered him over the Maine incident. His gang did the robbery by themselves; its investigation led authorities to finding out about Leslie's robberies. Both the Northampton and Institution robberies were the largest-paying robberies in history at the time.
Early life Leslie was born in 1842.Conway 2009, p. 5. His hometown was Cincinnati, Ohio.Conway 2009, pp. 2-3. His family was wealthy, as his father was a successful beer magnate from Toledo.Conway 2009, pp. 4, 19. Leslie went to the University of Cincinnati, where he studied architecture and graduated as an honors student.Conway 2009, p. 3. He was the university's sharpshooting champion, but the recognition mattered little to him, as he did not care for guns.Conway 2009, p. 7. During the American Civil War, when Leslie was 21, the Union Conscription Act of 1863 called for all able-bodied males between 20 and 45 to be drafted into service for the Union army. Cincinnati was a large source of Union army troops. Leslie's father had bought him out of the draft for $300, which was highly unpopular; draft-dodgers were considered worse than deserters. After the war was over, Leslie was the subject of ridicule, and was ostracized by many friends and families in the area. The resentment "overwhelmed" him, and he was not able to escape ridicule at the university.
After graduating, Leslie was engaged to a woman named Sarah Lawrence, who was from a rich Cincinnati family and Sunday school. Her father agreed to the marriage, but was reluctant, as he was a Union veteran and Republican. Leslie's firm grew after being contracted to provide shovels for the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad.Conway 2009, p. 4. In May 1867, Ohioan and Union war hero Jacob Parrot returned to Cincinnati, and within months of his return, Lawrence broke off the engagement and married Parrot.Conway 2009, pp. 4-5. Meddling from her father was likely behind the decision. That year, Leslie's parents died. He wanted adventure, and to escape the stigma of being a draft-dodger by becoming anonymous, so he sold his family's home, closed his firm, and moved to New York City at the age of 27.
Move to New York City and becoming a criminal
Once in New York, Leslie moved into the Fifth Avenue Hotel. He only knew a few people in the city, one of them being architect John Roebling.Conway 2009, p. 1. Leslie knew Roebling from his ties to Cincinnati; he had built the Cincinnati Suspension Bridge, which was completed in 1866.Conway 2009, p. 9. In New York, Roebling invited Leslie to dinner at the exclusive Delmonico's restaurant. During the dinner, Roebling introduced Leslie to one of the city's most important financiers, James Fisk.Conway 2009, pp. 15-16. Leslie praised Fisk for his refurbishing of the Grand Opera House, and Fisk was flattered, offering Leslie two tickets to a play he produced, The Twelve Temptations.Conway 2009, pp. 19-21. Leslie invited Josie Mansfield to the play, a wealthy guest at the dinner, a former showgirl from San Francisco who was Fisk's mistress.Conway 2009, pp. 22-24. After the dinner, Leslie had stolen salt and pepper shakers from his table, just for the thrill of getting away with it. It inspired him to steal more.Conway 2009, pp. 14-15. Mansfield eventually took a liking to him.
Fisk later sent Leslie an invitation to a private party held at 79 Clinton Street, the home of Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum, who was the biggest fence in the city.Conway 2009, p. 79. Leslie had heard about Mandelbaum and was intrigued, because he wanted to enter the criminal world.Conway 2009, pp. 28-29. At the time, New York City had a series of loosely-knit gangs, including the gangs of Thomas "Shang" Draper, Johnny "The Mick" Walsh, and Mandelbaum.Conway 2009, p. 30. Leslie would associate with all three later.
Method Before every robbery, he would obtain, if possible, the building's blueprints. His architectural background allowed him to build scale models of his intended targets. Sometimes he would rent a safe-deposit box or open an account at a particular bank, which gave him an excuse to spend time in the building and observe its layout and operation. Other times he would get one of his men hired as a watchman or porter and ask them to obtain this information for him. When he was certain that the robbery could be committed without him getting caught, Leslie would select his accomplices and explain to them how to execute the robbery. Sometimes he would set up a room to resemble the inside of the target so that his men could practice the robbery while Leslie watched. He also had connections with a few crooked police officers and politicians, so it was less likely that he would be arrested.Asbury, Herbert, and Russell Shorto. The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld. New York: Vintage, 2008. Print.
Leslie had models of many vaults and safes used in the United States. Before he committed a robbery, Leslie would find out what type of vault or safe his target used. Then, he would spend months figuring out how to open it without the combination. Leslie used a device called the "little joker," a wire device inserted into a bank safe's lock in advance to facilitate the robbery. Over time and extended use, the lock's tumblers left dents or marks on the wire that recorded the numbers that made up the combination. Use of this tool required George to enter the bank at least twice prior to executing a robbery, once to place the device and a second time to retrieve it.Conway, J. North. King of Heists: The Sensational Bank Robbery of 1878 That Shocked America. N.p.: Oak Knoll, 2010. Print.
Ocean National Bank robbery
The Ocean National Bank was located in Manhattan, New York City, on the corner of Greenwich Street and Fulton Street. It was located on the first of six stories of a brownstone building.Conway 2009, p. 82. The bank's robbery took place over a weekend in June 1869. At the time of the robbery, the offices included a large business room, the president's private room, and the vault.Walling 1887, p. 247. The entrance to the vault was made up of three separate iron doors.Conway 2009, pp. 247-248.
Leslie promised to Mandelbaum to pull off the highest-paying criminal heist in history.Conway 2009, p. 80 Mandelbaum organized a gang to rob the Ocean National Bank, and put him in charge.Conway 2009, p. 76. The robbery would essentially function as Leslie's initiation and trial run for the city's crime world.Conway 2009, p. 81 Mandelbaum spent $3,000 on the robbery's planning. Planning for the heist took 3 months. Leslie's gang included Draper, Billy Porter, Gilbert Yost, "Jimmy" Hope, Johnny Dobbs, Johnny Irving, and John "Red" Leary.Conway 2009, p. 70. Leslie planned the robbery with more precision than any other bank robbery before him. Draper did not like the idea of a beginner heading a robbery, but Mandelbaum insisted and said he would not be involved if he did not take orders from Leslie. Draper was sure that Leslie would fail miserably, and instructed Leary to "take care of" Leslie if he did something stupid. Leary accepted, but was lying, as he was sure to follow Leslie's every order at Mandelbaum's behest.Conway 2009, p. 83. Irving got accepted at the bank as a cleaner, and Jimmy Hope used a disguise to rent office space in a basement right below the vault room.Conway 2009, pp. 84, 88.
On the first night, Friday, Irving worked his cleaning job and let Leslie, Dobbs and Leary in the back door. Dobbs removed the dial from the safe, inserted the little joker inside, and then replaced the dial. When the bank officials used the safe the next day, the little joker would record the combination stops on the lock. They decided to wait two days to open the safe, as the bank kept more money in the safe during the weekend than the weekdays.Conway 2009, p. 85. On the second night, Sunday, Leslie made Draper dress like a woman, which added to Draper's animosity of Leslie.Conway 2009, pp. 84-85. The three iron doors were forced opened.Walling 1887, p. 249. The group drilled the hole from the basement to the vault, Dobbs removed the dial, then the little joker, then replaced the dial again. The little joker had etched a series of notches into a tin plate inside the dial. Dobbs used these notches to guess the combination, and opened the safe. $768,879.74 was robbed in cash, securities, and jewelry, and $1,806,598 was left.Walling 1887, p. 250. It was the largest heist in New York City at the time, but not the highest-paying criminal heist in history (it would go to the Manhattan Savings Institution robbery, which Leslie was involved in).Conway 2009, pp. 80, 190.
Police captain Thomas Brynes was put on the case. None of the detectives were able to uncover any leads. Brynes had noticed the withdrawal of money from Leslie, but considering he was an gentlemanly, educated architect, Brynes did not make him out to be a criminal. He learned that Leslie had visited Mandelbaum's dinner parties, and said "this can't lead to anything good."Conway 2009, p. 87.
Activities from 1869 to 1872 Between November 21 and November 22, 1869, Leslie robbed the Boylston National Bank in Boston, Massachusetts, of $400,000 to $500,000. The money was largely in United States bonds belonging to private individuals, located in 25-30 tin boxes.Conway 2009, p. 101.
Between 12 and 1 a.m. on April 26, 1870, Leslie robbed the Auburn City Bank in Auburn, New York, of $31,000 in cash.
At 10 a.m. on August 1, 1870, Leslie and others robbed the John Handley & Co. bank in Scranton, Pennsylvania, of $30,000 in currency. They entered the vault from the rear of the bank.
About 1870, Leslie made Philadelphia his headquarters, and stayed at a boarding house ran by Mary E. Coath. There he met her fifteen-year-old daughter, Mary Henrietta "Molly" Coath. Leslie married Molly Coath after a short courtship. Following their wedding, they moved to New York, where they lived a life of a society couple.Walling, George Washington. Recollections of a New York Chief of Police. New York: Caxton Book Concern. Limited, 1887. Google Books. Caxton Book Concern. Limited, 25 Mar. 2008. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. Throughout some of their marriage, his wife was clueless about his criminal activity. When she did find out, Mrs. Leslie liked the money that he was making. She was fine with his criminal life, until she found out that Leslie was spending large amounts of time and money on different women. This eventually led to problems in his marriage and later in his gang.