Sturdivant Gang

Sturdivant Gang
A blockhouse similar to the ones that were attached to the four corners of the log house within "Sturdivant's Fort" by the third generation of the Sturdivant Gang in their late 1810s-early 1820s counterfeiting operation overlooking the bluff of the Ohio River at Rosiclare, Illinois[1][2]
Founded bySturdivant Family
Founding locationConnecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois?[3]
Years active1780s-1820s (three generations of family counterfeiters)
TerritoryConnecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Manville Ferry, New Athens, St. Clair County, Illinois and Sturdivant's Fort, Pope County, Illinois, present-day Rosiclare, Hardin County, Illinois
EthnicityEuropean-American
Membership (est.)13[4] or as high as 50-100[5]
Criminal activitiescounterfeiting
Roswell S. Sturdivant
Born1700s–1800s
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, or Tennessee
Diedafter 1831 (aged ?)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesRoswell Sturdivant, Roswell Sturdevant, John Sturdivant, Jack Sturdivant, Bloody Jack Sturdivant, Sturdivant the Counterfeiter
Occupation(s)counterfeiter, gambler
Known forBeing the co-leader, with Merrick Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang, and having survived a knife duel, with the legendary Jim Bowie
Spouse1
ParentAzor Sturdivant (father)
RelativesMerrick Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (daughter), Merriness Loveland (son-in-law)
This is an early 19th century horse-powered ferry boat the kind used by Ira Manville, early settler and town namesake of Manville Ferry, St. Clair County, Illinois who ran the Manville ferry until his death in 1821. The Sturdivant Gang had counterfeiting operations at Manville Ferry now present-day New Athens, St. Clair County, Illinois.
James Ford, the ferry operator and outlaw across the Ohio River in western Kentucky knew the Sturdivant Gang and helped them disperse their counterfeit money throughout the area.
Jim Bowie (pictured) fought a bloody knife duel with Bloody Jack Sturdivant an alias of Roswell Sturdivant at Natchez-under-the-Hill in 1829, where Sturdivant was badly wounded and Bowie spared his life.
Merrick Sturdivant
Born1700s–1800s
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, or Tennessee?
Diedafter 1831 (aged ?)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMerrick Sturdevant
Occupationcounterfeiter
Known forFor being the co-leader, with Roswell S. Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang
ParentAzor Sturdivant (father)
RelativesRoswell S. Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (niece), Merriness Loveland (nephew-in-law)
Part of a counterfeit coin mold similar to the type used by the Sturdivant Gang. The coin mold would come with two halves that would be lined with clay to make an impression of a genuine coin, would be poured into the funnel feeder cut into the side of the mold, and the fake coin later plated with a thin layer of silver. Legitimate coins were made by government mints and stamped from silver or gold coin discs as most counterfeit coins were molded.
The Spanish silver peso was the most common currency found on the American frontier. The Sturdivant Gang "coinied" this type of counterfeit money, which was minted in México and considered legal tender, in the United States, until the Coinage Act of 1857.
The U.S. half dollar was also highly desirable for the Sturdivant Gang to copy as it was readily available, easy to carry, and commonly used on the American frontier.
Reverse side of the 1790s U.S. half dollar

The Sturdivant Gang was a multi-generational, family gang of counterfeiters, whose criminal activities took place over a fifty-year period, from the 1780s, in Connecticut and Massachusetts, with one branch of the family going to Tennessee via Virginia and a second family branch going to Ohio and finally settled on the Illinois frontier, between the 1810s to 1830s.[6]

  1. ^ Nelson, Ron (1998). "To find a fort: The search for Sturdivant's lair, Springhouse Magazine, April 1998, Vol.15 No.2". Junction, IL.
  2. ^ Nelson, Ron (1998). "The Raid on Sturdivant's Fort: A Story Told by Documents, Springhouse Magazine, April 1998, Vol.15 No.2". Junction, IL.
  3. ^ Nelson, Ron (1998). "The Raid on Sturdivant's Fort: A Story Told by Documents, Springhouse Magazine, April 1998, Vol.15 No.2". Junction, IL.
  4. ^ Nelson, Ron (1998). "The Raid on Sturdivant's Fort: A Story Told by Documents, Springhouse Magazine, April 1998, Vol.15 No.2". Junction, IL.
  5. ^ Hall, James (1835). "Sketches of History, Life, and Manners, in the West, Volumes 2". Philadelphia, PA: Harrison Hall.
  6. ^ Nelson, Ron (1998). "The Raid on Sturdivant's Fort: A Story Told by Documents, Springhouse Magazine, April 1998, Vol.15 No.2". Junction, IL.