Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Snyder Counties Prince Of The Tramps - Old Abe Lacey

 

"The most notorious renegades of this section are in all probability Joe Disberry, Abe Lacey, and Simon Girty.  Disberry and Girty passed from this world in 1819, and their misdeeds have lived after them. ....
Abe Lacey died at the Harrisburg Insane Asylum, and his remains eventually reached a dissecting table in Philadelphia, where his only known service was rendered to civilization" - Agnes Selin Schoch, 1934

Lacey had a passion for tramping, was stubborn as a mule and never did anything he was told to do.
Legend has it that his real name was Lawrence, and that he came from a wealthy family.  An early "disappointment in love" spurred his love of the nomadic lifestyle.  But that's all legend - nothing is truly known about the man, not even an estimate of his age.

He was described as big, fat, burly and independent.  He always wore black, and stuffed his pockets with newspapers.

He was referred to as the Prince Of Tramps, the original Snyder County Tramp. 

In his younger days, Lacey tramped barefooted, carrying a big stick.  He delighted in terrorizing women and children, scaring them into giving him food. He would never accept food offered to him (handouts), unless he scared you into giving it to him.

Lacey often slept in the local school houses, leaving them in a terrible condition when he left.

In his later years, requiring two canes to walk, a family in Richfield took pity on Lacey, providing "the pitiful old vagrant with a home."  He was not grateful.

Eventually he was sent to the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital for the Insane at Harrisburg.  Not because he was insane, but because no one else wanted to care for him in his declining health.

Lacey died in 1895.  With no family to claim his body, it was sent to a medical institution for cadaver research, "likely rendering his first service to mankind."

The Middleburgh Post in 1895 wrote:
Abe Lacey was a character the like of which we do not think exists. He was known as 'Old Abe Lacey'  (or Abe Lazy ) as early as the 1850s....... His depredations in Penns Valley alone would fill a volume, and if, as Shakespeare says, the good men do is buried with their bones, Abe Lacey will not be crowded for room in his coffin"

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More Local Stories & History Can Be Found Here:

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READ MORE
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Snyder County Annals
A Collection of All Kinds of Historical Items Affecting Snyder County from the Settlement of the First Pioneers in this Section, to the Names of the Soldiers in the World War, 1917-19 · Volume 1
By Clara R. Winey · 1919

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Abe Lacey, in the Snyder County Annals by Wagenseller



"The most notorious renegades of this section are in all probability Joe Disberry, Abe Lacey, and Simon Girty.  Disberry and Girty passed from this world in 1819, and their misdeeds have lived after them. ....
Abe Lacey died at the Harrisburg Insane Asylum, and his remains eventually reached a dissecting table in Philadelphia, where his only known service was rendered to civilization. Simon Girty, central Pennsylvania's most notorious renegade, who betrayed his own race to Join the Redskins and later during the Revolution turned traitor to Join the British forces, is such a lengthy story that we will try to relate it next week, with the usual much questioned accuracy. Simon; Girty was such a "famous" infamous man that some historians now have decided to make of him a hero."
Agnes Selin Schoch, for the Selinsgrove Times Tribune, 1934


1 comment:

  1. Is there a book, or collection of writings, of Agnes Selin Schoch available? A friend who I work with always enjoyed the local newspaper printings of her writings and I was trying to find something for him. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

I'll read the comments and approve them to post as soon as I can! Thanks for stopping by!