Sturdivant Gang
| Founded by | Sturdivant Family |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois ? |
| Years active | 1780s–1830s |
| Territory | Connecticut, 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 |
| Ethnicity | European-American |
| Membership (est.) | 12 |
| Criminal activities | counterfeiting |
| Roswell S. Sturdivant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1700s–1800s Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, or Tennessee |
| Died | after 1831 (aged ?) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Roswell Sturdivant, Roswell Sturdevant, John Sturdivant, Jack Sturdivant, Bloody Jack Sturdivant, Sturdivant the Counterfeiter |
| Occupation | counterfeiter, gambler |
| Known for | For being the co-leader, with Merrick Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang, and having survived a knife duel, with the legendary Jim Bowie |
| Spouse(s) | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Azor Sturdivant (father) |
| Relatives | Merrick Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (daughter), Merriness Loveland (son-in-law) |
| Merrick Sturdivant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1700s–1800s Connecticut, Massachusetts, Kentucky, or Tennessee? |
| Died | after 1831 (aged ?) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Merrick Sturdevant |
| Occupation | counterfeiter |
| Known for | For being the co-leader, with Roswell S. Sturdivant, of the 3rd-generation Sturdivant Gang |
| Parent(s) | Azor Sturdivant (father) |
| Relatives | Roswell S. Sturdivant (brother), Stephen Sturdivant (brother), James Sturdivant (grandfather), Ruby Sturdevant Loveland (niece), Merriness Loveland (nephew-in-law) |
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, also, from Virginia via Tennessee and finally settled on the Illinois frontier, of 1810s-1830s. Although, they did not follow the same frontier settlement pattern, as most of the "Ancient Colony of Horse-Thieves, Counterfeiters and Robbers", who were usually from the region of the Southern United States, who moved west through the Appalachian Mountains and followed the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers into the Middle West.
By the 1810s, the third-generation, of the Sturdivant family counterfeiters, were organized by Roswell S. Sturdivant and his brother, Merrick Sturdivant, who led the gang, which was partially based at Manville Ferry, St. Clair County, Illinois, now present-day New Athens, and at Sturdivant's Fort, in Pope County, Illinois, now present-day Rosiclare, Hardin County, Illinois. According to the first Illinois census in 1818, Roswell Sturdivant and his wife were living in Madison County, Illinois.
Although, the Sturdevant Gang did not base their counterfeiting operations, directly, at Cave-in-Rock, on the Ohio River, in Pope County, Illinois, now present-day Hardin County, Illinois, they were considered, part of, the second wave of criminal activity, associated, within sphere of influence, of the region of the landmark Cave. The Sturdevant brothers ran their counterfeit money-making factory, inside a heavily-fortified, two story, log blockhouse, protected, from within, by a 6-pounder howitzer cannon, trained at the door and known as "Sturdivant's Fort". The blockhouse fortress was constructed to be strategically located downriver, at the top of a cliff, overlooking the Ohio River, and clearly visible from the Cave-in-Rock bluff. The former site of the Sturdivant Gang blockhouse, is now the location of the present-day Rosiclare water treatment plant, in Hardin County. The counterfeiters' blockhouse, was raided, by local law enforcement and regulator/vigilantes, in 1822 and by citizen mob action, twice, in 1823, which finally drove out the Sturdevant Gang, from the lower Ohio River valley. In his book, A History of Illinois from Its Commencement as a State from 1818 to 1847, Illinois governor, Thomas Ford incorrectly claimed, that the Sturdivant Gang was driven out, from Sturdivant's Fort, in 1831.
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