The Great Congamond Freight Heist of 1916

On January 4, 1916, Charles Grace, a night watchman for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H), discovered something troubling in Plainville, Connecticut. While inspecting a sixteen-car freight train on the New Haven line, he noticed a boxcar with a broken security seal. At first glance, the seal appeared intact—but on closer inspection, Grace saw that someone had cleverly twisted it back into place to conceal the breach. Sensing something was amiss, he began a thorough inspection of the entire train. To his alarm, eleven boxcars had similarly tampered seals—all carefully manipulated to disguise the fact someone had opened them. Grace immediately alerted trainmaster John Snezeley. A subsequent inventory revealed the extent of the theft: two bicycles from Westfield Manufacturing Company (later known as Columbia), a complete set of sixteen law books, a typewriter, seven chairs, sixteen pairs of high-end men's shoes, and—remarkably—two en...