The Great Congamond Freight Heist of 1916
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 entire carloads, one of premium lumber and another of hay. (Railroad officials estimated the value of the stolen lumber at $3,000.)
As a major freight carrier in New England, the NYNH&H had issues with cargo theft —but never before on a scale or with the level of coordination seen in this case.
Alarmed, railroad officials dispatched veteran Special Agent John F. Mahaney to investigate.
A Clue in the Tracks
Mahaney, experienced in such matters, quickly identified a key detail: all the tampered freight cars had recently been sitting on a siding at Congamond Station, a small but busy railroad depot, in Southwick, Massachusetts. Due to the high volume of freight traffic through Southwick, it was not unusual for boxcars to sit idle on the sidetracks for extended periods— an ideal opportunity for theft.
Mahaney also noticed the finesse with which the security seals had been resealed and thought whoever had done it was familiar with railroad protocols—perhaps even an insider.
His suspicion turned toward the Congamond Station staff: Joseph Ormes Jr., the station agent, and Elmer C. Flinton, the telegraph operator. Though Ormes had experience with multiple railroads, he had only been assigned to Congamond Station two months earlier.
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| Congamond Station |
The Lake House Discovery
On January 13, Mahaney drove to Southwick and stopped at the Lake House, a once popular hotel frequented by railroad employees for its proximity to the station. There, in the barn loft, he found a stash of stolen items: two crated bicycles, white pine lumber, seven chairs, sixteen law books, and a box containing the missing typewriter, addressed to Mrs. Joseph Ormes Jr. of Wanamie, Pennsylvania. In a search of their rooms inside the Lake House, he found a pair of lightly worn shoes matching the stolen pairs.
At 1:35 p.m., Mahaney phoned the NYNH&H headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut, to report the discovery. The office informed him that Ormes had been there just minutes earlier—at 1:30 p.m.—to collect his pay. Moreover, Ormes and Flinton had told a telephone operator the day before that they were off duty and had secured employee-issued railroad passes to Buffalo, New York. They asked the Westfield-based operator to delay notifying headquarters until the following day that they were off duty.
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| The Lake House |
Escape Plans and Arrest
Mahaney loaded the recovered goods onto a sleigh and brought them to the Westfield police station. He obtained arrest warrants for Ormes and Flinton while the NYNH&H launched a full audit of its New Haven line operations.
Word of the theft spread rapidly among railroad circles, with telegraphed descriptions of the suspects circulating nationwide.
Meanwhile, a recent immigrant—likely Italian or Polish—arrived at the Congamond Station with a double truck team and several locals he had hired. He claimed to have purchased the Congamond Station from Ormes for $50 and planned on moving it to some nearby land he had bought in Southwick. When railroad staff confronted him, he produced a handwritten receipt from Ormes confirming the sale.
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| Congamond Station |
Back in Westfield, Mahaney discovered that Ormes and Flinton had advertised themselves as - Ormes & Flinton: Dealers in Hay, Grain, Lumber, and Feed. The business telephone number the men listed rang directly to the Lake House. They had even furnished their fake office with the stolen law books and chairs. Mahaney also found that the men had a lock-box for the business at the local post office.
On January 19, Mahaney received a telegram from Chief Special Agent McHugh of the Michigan Central Railroad: Ormes and Flinton had been arrested near Detroit, Michigan, attempting to board a California-bound train after foolishly using their NYNH&H-issued passes. A station agent recognized their names from a recently published newspaper article and alerted authorities.
The fugitives were held at the Hotel Norton in Detroit until Mahaney and Massachusetts State Police Detective Thomas Bligh arrived to escort them back east.
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| Joseph Ormes |
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| Elmer C. Flinton |
Trial and Sentencing
On January 22, Ormes and Flinton were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to charges of wholesale looting of freight cars—though many believed they would change their plea once the railroad completed its audit.
In a curious moment during questioning, Ormes told officials that he would thank the judge for a light sentence, and if it were harsh, he said he would ask for a geranium in his cell—to make it feel more like home. Flinton took a more serious approach and hired an attorney. Unable to make bail, the men were locked up in the Hampden County Jail in Springfield, Massachusetts.
At a court appearance on February 4, Ormes’s mother submitted a letter to the judge, pleading for leniency and promising to repay the railroad for the stolen goods.
Both men were remanded to the reformatory in Concord while awaiting appeal.
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| Hotel Norton |
On February 9, railroad officials sent Agent Mahaney to investigate after two freight cars loaded with coal turned up empty after passing through the Congamond Station. (At the time, Ormes was still in prison, but Flinton made bail and was released pending appeal.)
On May 8, the court delivered its final sentence: Ormes received nine months and Flinton one year in the House of Corrections.
Authorities believe the men were unable to resist temptation after coming across a carload of lumber on the sidetrack at Congamond—freight that they realized had earlier been reported as lost by a conductor. (The lumber was accidentally sent to Southwick and sidetracked.)
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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Approximately 16,000 feet of fine white pine boards went missing from a car at the Congamond Station. Some sources say 11,000 feet of high end, finished No. 1 white pine.
Joseph Ormes Jr. bounced around jobs between 1908 and 1912, including different positions for various railroad companies. It is unclear why the jobs did not last long. Flinton once worked for a railroad in New Jersey. They fired him when items turned up missing, but they never pressed charges because Flinton's mother reimbursed them.
In her letter to the judge, Ormes's mother blamed her son's evil associates for his downfall.
Some sources say that the telegram was sent to the Westfield police chief.
Authorities and railroad employees in Michigan were on high alert for the fugitives after police found a registered letter sent to an acquaintance of Filton who lived about an hour outside of Detroit. The letter was sent in care of and put to the attention of Filton.The acquaintance was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The pair were found guilty on the stolen lumber charge and not on the other stolen items. It appears that the railroad was reimbursed for the stolen goods that authorities traced. However, the pair would not admit to anything that the police didn't find.
Both men cried when testifying.
Some say the warrants were issued on January 12, however, the 13th appears correct.
The man paid $50 cash for the Congamond Station. He was going to move it to some land he bought and use it as a 1/2 house, 1/2 store.
It is unclear whatever came about from the missing coal.