On Sunday, October 27, 1878, the Manhattan Savings Institution bank and depository in Manhattan, New York City was robbed of $2,747,700 ($82 million in 2025) in cash and securities by the former gang of serial bank robber George Leonidas Leslie. At the time, it was the largest-paying criminal heist in history.

The plan was formulated by Leslie three years prior to 1878, and planned by him and his gang. He broke into the bank three times to try and open the safe in March 1878, and finally opened the outer safe on March 15. After Leslie's gang failed to rob a bank in Maine in February, which led to the death of the bank's cashier, the gang became increasingly paranoid that Leslie would go to the police and give their names, and in response, Leslie tried to stall the robbery so he could pull it off with another gang. Leslie disappeared in March, and was found murdered in the woods near Yonkers on June 4. Police suspected it was done by the gang over the Maine incident. The gang did the bank robbery without Leslie, on October 27.

A janitor at the bank, Louis Werckle, said that on the 27th at 6:10 a.m., he was preparing for his shift when his apartment near the bank was broken into by multiple men. He was handcuffed, and compelled to give up the combination to the safe. The men entered the bank with keys received from a corroborator who worked as a night watchman at the bank, Patrick Shevlin. One of the largest investigations in the history of New York City occurred, and a series of informants led investigators to finding the culprits involved. They discovered that Leslie had been involved in most of the recent major bank robberies committed in the United States. Much of what was stolen was returned to the bank, as most of it was in the form of certificates that the robbers were unable to spend. $15,000 was never recovered.

Background

The Manhattan Savings Institution was a bank and depository located in the Manhattan Bank Building, on the northeast corner of Broadway and Bleecker Street in Manhattan, New York City. In October 1878, its president was Edward Schell, who had acted as the bank's treasurer until the previous president resigned in May of that year. A statement on the condition of the bank dated January 1, 1878, said that their resources were worth $8.6 million, and its liabilities were $8.1 million, leaving a surplus of $500,000.

The building the bank occupied was six stories. The bank was located on the first floor, and a barber shop ran by a man named Mr. Kohlman was in the basement. The building had two entrances, one on Broadway and the other Bleecker Street. The bank, highly fortified, was used by some of New York City's wealthiest individuals, including Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, James Fisk Jr., Jay Gould, John D. Rockefeller, and Augustus Schell, brother of Edward Schell. Outside the vault room hung a large clock. Inside the room, the $40,000 iron safe was 12 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet tall. Packed on shelves next to the safe were books and tin boxes containing depositor's valuables.

George Leonidas Leslie was an architect, art patron, socialite, and bank robber who moved to New York City in 1869. In 1878, he lived on Greene Avenue in Brooklyn with his wife, Mary Henrietta.Walling 1887, p. 263 Law enforcement claimed he was involved in 80% of all bank robberies in the United States between 1869 and 1879, including the theft of $800,000 from Ocean National Bank in New York City in 1869, and the theft of $1.6 million from Northampton Bank in Massachusetts in 1876. He was introduced to the criminal world by Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum, a criminal fence to many of New York's street gangs.Conway 2009, p. 138. He would often become a depositor of the banks he robbed, and replicated the interiors of the banks in a warehouse so that his gang could meticulously practice the heists. He had a device called the "little joker" which could crack a safe's bank combination.Conway 2009, pp. 176-178.

Planning

The robbery was formulated by Leslie three years prior to 1878, and planned over those three years. The planning initially involved at least Leslie, Billy Porter, Gilbert Yost, Johnny Irving, John "Red" Leary, and Thomas "Shang" Draper. Leslie surveyed the bank multiple times. A replica of the bank was constructed in one of Mandelbaum's warehouses in Brooklyn, where he rehearsed the robbery with his gang. Leslie drew architectural plans of the interior and exterior of the bank, and became in contact with Edward Schell, who Leslie knew from his time in high society. He also located and bribed a vault maker, and learned how to duplicate the bank's safe's combination lock. Using his contacts with the bank's president, Leslie got his associate Patrick Shevlin hired as a bank guard. Shevlin would let Leslie into the bank after hours during the planning. The gang also bribed a local police officer, John Nugent.Conway 2009, pp. 176-179.

Leslie's fallout with the gang On February 23, 1878, Leslie and a gang consisting of Draper, Irving, Leary, Porter, and Yost, attempted to rob the Dexter National Bank in Dexter, Maine. They had secured involvement from the bank's cashier, James Barron, who would give them the vault keys. When they arrived, Barron said he wouldn't give them the keys and that he wanted out. Draper and Leary cuffed his hands behind his back, gagged him, and wedged him between two of the vault doors, which Leslie tried to stop but failed. When the police found him the next day, he was dead. The Pinkertons launched an investigation.Conway 2009, pp. 170-173.

After laying low in Philadelphia, Leslie returned to New York and met with Draper and Leary in a saloon in Brooklyn. The meeting turned violent, and Leary calmed things down.Conway 2009, pp. 173, 174. The men then discussed who would go to the police to save themselves. Leslie said Irving would, and Draper said that wouldn't happen. Later, Draper informed Irving what Leslie had said about him. Irving was furious and said he would find Leslie and kill him that day. Draper calmed him down, and said they should keep an eye on Leslie. Mandelbaum warned Leslie that she couldn't control them if their lives were in danger.Conway 2009, p. 174. Draper and Irving later told Leslie they would kill him if they found out he was working with the police or Pinkertons.Conway 2009, p. 179. Leslie thought that the gang, police, or Pinkertons would come for him eventually, and started making plans to protect himself.Conway 2009, p. 182.

Leslie stayed away from the gang except when planning the Institution robbery in Mandelbaum's warehouse. Leslie's nerves led him to the plan to pull off the Institution robbery by himself, which would mean double-crossing the gang and Mandelbaum. He decided to soon contact John "Traveling Mike" Grady, Mandelbaum's biggest rival. He would give Grady a percentage of the stolen profits.Conway 2009, p. 175.

March break-in attempts Leslie broke into the bank three times in early March. On his first break-in, Leslie tried to use the little joker, but was unsuccessful. He drilled a hole through the safe's dial indicator, and slipped a small wire into the gears to throw off the combination indicators out of gear. Leslie worked over the night and was unable to crack the combination. Minutes before the bank opened in the morning, Leslie puttied up the hole he drilled and left; his tampering with the dial made it impossible for the bank to open the safe. They thought the tumblers had malfunctioned, and installed a new one, which forced Leslie to start over again.Conway 2009, pp. 177-178.

On the second time, Leslie and Leary broke into the bank with the help of Patrick Shevlin. During this time, a police officer looked into the darkened lobby, and spotted Red Leary cleaning with a feather duster. Leary gave the officer a thumbs up, and the officer left. Because of this, Leslie and Leary left.Conway 2009, p. 178.

On March 15, Gilbert let Leslie and Yost into the bank to break in for a third time. Leslie pried the dial knob off the safe and inserted the little joker. This version of the device did not need to wait for someone to use the combination, because spinning the knob would reveal the tumblers and thus, the combination numbers. He replaced the dial, and gave the numbers, 80, 9, and 25, to Yost. Yost tried a series of numbers until he opened the safe. Leslie convinced Yost and later, others, to hold off on the robbery until the spring, when there would be more money and securities locked in the vault. In actuality, Leslie planned to use the time to rob the bank with another gang that Grady provided him, not with Draper, Irving, Leary, Porter, or Yost.

Leslie's attempt at switching gangs In early April, Leslie contacted Grady, who gave him one of his top men as a bodyguard, Johnny Walsh.Conway 2009, p. 180. In late April, Leslie went back to Philadelphia to be with Molly. Leslie told Molly he would retire from the revenue service (his story to avoid mentioning his criminal career), because he had made dangerous enemies. His wife told him to contact the police or Pinkertons; Leslie said he had contacted the Pinkertons and that they gave him a bodyguard. He told her that he had one last thing to attend to in New York, and that he would return in late May. Leslie planned to take the money from the robbery, and move out west with Molly. It was the last time that Molly saw him. Leslie returned from Philadelphia in late May, and went about his business as normal at his Greene Avenue cottage, with Walsh by his side. Mandelbaum pressured Leslie for a date for the robbery, but he kept stalling.Conway 2009, p. 183.

Mandelbaum failed to make things calm within the gang. She told the gang, excluding Leslie, that they should take back their threats towards him and make amends, because Leslie would not talk with the police. Draper and Irving were unconvinced. Draper was personally stunted by rumors of Leslie's affair with his wife, Babe. At some point, he found evidence of the affair. Leslie found out Draper had beaten Babe, so he gave her a pistol to protect herself.

Leslie's disappearance and death On the night of May 29, 1878, Leslie stopped in at Murphy's Saloon in Brooklyn. Someone in the saloon delivered Leslie an envelope. Inside was a letter containing the handwriting of Babe. She said Shang had found out about the affair Leslie had been having with Babe, and that he should leave the city with her before Shang caught him. She said she would be waiting at her house on Halsey Street in Brooklyn. Leslie tore up the note, and asked a man named Walsh to hail him a cab. He told Walsh not to follow him, and that he would be safe. Leslie told the cab driver to go to Halsey Street, and Walsh watched him go.

On June 4, the body of Leslie, 41, was found three miles from Yonkers. He had been shot once in the head and once in the heart. Resting on his body was a pistol, which was later identified as the murder weapon. It was Leslie's gun that he had given Babe Draper to protect herself with. Evidence suggested that he was murdered at another location, and then transported to Tramp's Rock while hidden in a wagon's hay.Conway 2009, pp. 184-185. After investigating, the police theorized that Leslie was killed by members of his gang over the Dexter incident.Conway 2009, p. 185. They concluded Leslie had been murdered either in or near Draper's home in Brooklyn, and that the body was then taken to near Yonkers. No one was ever charged for his murder.Conway 2009, p. 186. The gang then continued planning the robbery without him.Conway 2009, p. 188. At some point, multiple other people entered the robbery crew, including Patrick Shevlin (a night watchman at the bank), Patrick Schoolin, Henry Glean, William Kelly, Jim Dunlap, and Oscar Decker."George Howard, Burglar," The Sun, Mar. 9, 1879.

Robbery