They had unlocked the doors to escape in case they were discovered.
Mother was awakened during the night and said, "Mary, are you up?" No
answer. After a short silence she heard another sound and she called,
"Are you ill, Mary? If you are, I'll get up and help." Receiving no
answer, she reached out to light the candle, but hearing nothing more
she thought she had been mistaken and went to sleep. She arose early
and found the shutters unlocked and the side door ajar. Then she went
into the parlor and all the chairs had been taken from the front door
where they had been piled. She immediately realized that there had
been robbers in the house searching for the gold. She awoke the girls
and told them of what had happened, and you can imagine our
consternation. As long as we remained in the house we lived in fear of
a second attempt. The next morning sister Sarah was sent with the gold
to our friend, Mr. Butler, who was surprised and simply amazed at the
amount sister gave him to keep. He immediately put it into safer hands
at the mint where the gold was weighed and the value given in money
and placed in the bank subject to mother's order. When Mr. Butler was
told of the attempted robbery he immediately arranged to have the
house watched each night until our departure, which came the first
week in June, 1851. We left Cincinnati for New York and were welcomed
on our arrival by friends with whom we remained for a week.
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