An Ingenious Excuse: The True Story of Patrick Lyon and the First Great American Bank Robbery

On the morning of September 2, 1798, just after first light, the back door to Carpenters’ Hall is discovered ajar. Gold, silver, banknotes-the vast riches of a well-guarded bank vault-all of it gone without a trace. Frantic bankers secure an arrest warrant for the clever blacksmith who worked on the vault doors, a young Scot who crossed the ocean like thousands of others on America’s promise of liberty and opportunity. Bankers know him to be innocent but lock him up anyway, then leave him to die in their fever-ridden jail. An incredible true tale of history about the first big bank robbery in America. It’s a David and Goliath story about a recent immigrant who must uncover the truth about a robbery he didn’t commit.

“Is Mr. Lyon got clear, or is he condemned?”

Published by Little Creek Press in Mineral Point, WI