Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

INGIIAM COUNTY NOTES

237

Tied to the corner of the barn they found a team hitched to a
lumber wagon, that was loaded with boxes, and they could hear
someone stumbling around inside of the barn. They stationed
themselves where they could capture the intruder when he came
out. They got their man, and when they asked him what he was
doing there at that time of night he said he was driving across
country and was delayed, so thought he would stop and get a feed
for his team. The farmer did not believe the story, and refused
to accept the pay the man offered him, saying that an officer lived
next door and they would call on him and talk the matter over.
They started down the road with their prisoner between them,
when he asked the privilege of taking off his overcoat so he could
walk more easily.
They consented, and as the stranger slipped from his coat he
slipped from their grasp at the same time, and disappeared in the
darkness.
Having heard of the loss of the Ingham county farmer, the man
at once notified Mr. Squiers, who when he reached there thought
it was not the team he wanted, for there was no white spots on
either horse, but a close investigation showed that all whiteplaces
had been carefully colored, and by removing the dye the team was
easily identified. The boxes in the wagon were found to contain
goods which had been stolen from a store in Potterville a few weeks
before, and the trip the thieves made after these was what led
them to drive north and put their pursuers off the track. After
all it is the small things which sometimes count, and the glimmer
of a match, in this case, led to the Kalamazoo farmer getting $60
reward, and the owners of the stolen property getting their belongings back.
Had the driver of the team continued his journey until morning he would have reached the fastnesses of the "thieves Paradise" in the Limberlost swamp, and could have disposed of his
loot at his leisure. Now, with all that land cleared and drained,
the thieving gangs seem to have gone out of business, though for
years there has been an occasional theft of the kind, in some instances the animals dropping from sight forever, and again the
owner being fortunate enough to recover his property before some
thieves haven had been reached.