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Look Back: Jewelry thief attempts prison escape in 1884
Jul. 14—Among the many storefronts circling Public Square in Wilkes-Barre was Oscar Heyer's, a jewelry store that sold, well ... jewelry, along with French and American clocks, solid silver utensils and plates, and revolvers and fishing tackle.
Oscar Heyer's, in the 1880s, was located at 81 West Side Public Square before moving to the corner of North Franklin and West Market streets in the early 1900s.
On May 11, 1884, John Shultz, 20, left his home at 415 Broadway St., Williamsburg, N.Y., and disembarked a Lehigh Valley passenger train in Wilkes-Barre. Shultz took the name John Schuler when he boarded at a house on South Franklin Street, and took a job at Oscar Heyer's as a salesman under the alias.
At at time when background checks for employment were non-existent, Shultz fled New York as he was wanted for being a thief.
It did not take long for Shultz to resume his thievery.
"John Schuler and Charles Rapps were before the mayor yesterday, in connection with the robbery of Oscar Heyer's store. Schuler pleaded total ignorance of the matter. He did not know how the valuables came to be in his possession," reported the Wilkes-Barre Record on May 22, 1884.
Oscar Heyer reported more than $1,000 worth of jewelry and watches were stolen from his store and named Schuler as the suspect.
Rapps told policemen he had recently met Schuler.
"Charles Rapps said he had only known Schuler for a few days. He met him on the street with a satchel in each hand and assisted him in carrying them to the train depot. Further than this, he knew nothing of the affair and was discharged from custody," the Record reported.
Schuler was jailed on $1,000 bail.
Policemen did their due diligence and learned Schuler's real identity and the New York warrant by telegraph.
"It turned out that Schuler's real name is John Shultz, for in the evening the mayor received a telegram from Williamsburg, N.Y.," reported the Record.
After Schuler was jailed at the Luzerne County Prison on Water Street, the jail watchman found a postcard in Schuler's belongings that had the name, "John Shultz, 415 Broadway, Williamsburg, N.Y."
Justice was quick and swift inside the Luzerne County Courthouse, which once stood in Public Square Park, as Schuler was convicted of larceny during a trial held Saturday, June 21, 1884.
Judge Stanley Woodward sentenced Schuler a day after he was convicted.
"John Shultz, alias John Schuler, for the taking of jewelry from the store of Oscar Heyer, to pay a fine of $25 to the Commonwealth, pay the cost of prosecution, restore the property stolen, and undergo an imprisonment by separate and solitary confinement at labor in the Luzerne County Prison for a term and period of eight months," the Sunday News reported June 22, 1884.
About a month after being sentenced, Schuler attempted to escape from prison by climbing out a window on July 15, 1884.
"Schuler was in the watchman's room and raising a loose window bar, made his way into the jail yard. He then commenced scaling the high wall, surrounding the building, but, when almost to the top, he fell down and was somewhat injured. Schuler tried again to climb the high wall but was discovered by the watchman making his second effort and the watchmen leveled a gun at him. Schuler immediately surrendered and was put back into his cell," the Sunday News reported July 20, 1884.
Schuler remained in solitary confinement inside Cell 10 at the Luzerne County Prison and was released Feb. 8, 1885. Prior to being released, he was given a train ticket and was told never to return to Luzerne County, the Record reported Feb. 9, 1885.
